I still wonder though why wouldn’t they let people take a photo of their products, or something like that?

Coming from the UK originally, I’d agree that banks and energy providers are definitely some of the worst culprits for non-communication (Scottish Power were one of the worst).

If I was advising these companies from a PR point of view, I’d make it as clear as possible:

Businesses cannot afford to ignore social media. It never sleeps and very often its proponents and users are more up-to-speed on what’s happening with your business than they think. By staying silent, they’re missing a wonderful opportunity to engage unhappy customers as opposed to enraging them even more. Explain why rate cuts aren’t being passed on; advise when something can be done; invite the most vocal of criticizers to form a “customer board” that the company can open discourse with on a variety of topics.

In short, stop saying you don’t join social media because you’re scared people will say bad things about you – they already are.

Get out there and meet it head on (but with empathy and understanding) and you might just keep your customer base from going elsewhere.

WRT the general question on why businesses don’t make more use of SM, I agree – understanding is perhaps the main barrier; but then whose fault is this? Ours, as service providers for not being more convincing; or theirs, for not being open to new ideas.

I’d also suggest many businesses are aware of SM’s potential for negative feedback and stay away as the last thing they want to do is justify themselves to customers. Take Banks and Energy providers in the UK. They know they’re profiting by not passing on ‘rate cuts’, but have no intention of answering these criticisms, which would form the vast majority of postings. How would you advise these companies in their use of SM?

@ Derek. Perhaps now that the economy is biting so much, we’ll see more companies turning to the most cost-effective methods of promotion and advertising, and they don’t come better than social media. Whether they use it to its best is another matter altogether…

@ Lance. The My Starbucks Idea thing is such a no-brainer as well, it’s surprising that it’s not being used more. It’s like having an employee suggestion box for your customers, and what can be better than that?

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It just doesn’t make sense why more big companies didn’t hop on this as soon as possible.

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If a company wants to learn how to reach its audience in a efficient, cost effective manner, then they really need to think about using social media tools, such as Twitter, Facebook, etc.

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