feedback, feedback, feedback

Central Park in New York City was designed as a democratic public space in the 19th century.

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Is all the talk about ROI, talk about “Close the loop”?

Generally we don’t like open feedback loops very much (unless we are ducking and diving). We like to see how we are doing. And if we can’t see immediately, we want an interim signal, or reassurances from an expert who knows what delays to expect.

I think the brilliance of social media is not so much that it creates sales. Its brilliance is that it allows feedback. And feedback is in both directions.

Moreover, social media is a conversation not a head count.

Social media allows us to continually reinforce the network. As far as we know, we have to do that or the links just fade away.

Sci-fi time

Imagine call centers organized around communities.

The number of calls taken would be irrelevant. After all, like police & crime, doing more work could mean things are going right or going wrong.

The first measure would be feeding insights about the community “upwards”, “ease” of making sales in the neighborhood, the balance of traffic (value added over problem fixing). I am sure we could think of a few more.

The second measure would be the ease with which changes in the business are communicated to the community. Have people been informed? How quickly? How well? Obama’s campaign is credited with telling people where their money was being spent - and he spent a lot $85m on ads - almost as much as the Republican Party and Clinton combined. When people see that we are responding to them, we reinforce our relationship.

Glocal, in other words. Global businesses built around local communities.

ROI

I’ve found it interesting to hear the emphasis on ROI in marketing. There isn’t the same emphasis on HR. Personally, having worked in a joint department of Marketing, HR, Management Science and Strategy, I think this is a lot to do with the feeling that Marketing guys have too much of a good time. So my cynical mind would suggest a two fold strategy:

Get them to do the numbers, organize the surveys, define the objectives! Put them to work in other words.

Also turn the ROI around. Help people envisage the community we are trying to create. We often don’t want one that is massive or overly enthusiastic. Do I want the whole village discussing their health for example? Do I want everyone at my coffee shop? We can also measure our social media about being clear where to stop. That will reassure the other functions who find marketing too “unconstrained”

Feedback. Close the loop. Well I am a psychologist. We know we hate being deprived of sensation, company, and recognition.

Can we raise the levels of contact, companionship, involvement? Do people feel that they belong? Do they feel they “own” us? Are we “theirs”?

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June 10, 2008 | Filed Under Jo Jordan | Leave a Comment