5/02 2009

4 of 10 Social Media Commandments: Quality to Preference

We are still working through the 10 Commandments to Social Media and social media marketing. The 10 Commandments are taken from Marc Gobe’s book, Emotional Branding. He has a great list of the 10 Commandments of Emotional Branding and the points were pretty much identical to my views on social media.

What is the 4th Commandment? From Quality to Preference.

From Marc:

“Quality for the right price is a given today. Preference creates the sale. Quality is a necessary offering if you want to stay in business; it is expected and had better be delievered. Preference toward a brand is the real connection to success. (pg. xxx)”

When I relate this concept to social media I think back to the building of a brand and the development of a customer connection. The modern day consumer wants to feel an emotional connection to a brand. Each individual that interacts with your company or brand wants to MATTER. What does it mean to matter? It means you are constantly responding to problems and situations that arises pertaining to your product or service.

You can use sites like Twitter and Facebook to connect on a personal level with customers and clients. People EXPECT quality. There is too much competition in the world to tout a quality product. When it comes to the first and second levels of marketing quality is not going to sell your product.

Consumers want to see the human side of a brand. They want to become “friends” with a service. We strive for an emotional connection. Always. We are human.

And when you take your product or service from quality oriented marketing to preference oriented… you create customer evangelists that will flood the world with your story.

“–there is no stopping a brand when it is preferred.”-Marc Gobe