Social media doesn’t bite unless you ignore your customer, that is…

The Digital Revolution is well on its way to taking over our daily activities. Unfortunately, what should be approached as an opportunity to get closer to our customers is being used as just another broadcast tool or, worse yet, is being completely ignored.

If I have one piece of advice for today’s marketers, it’s to start investing more in customer-driven substance and value add instead of hype. I have said it before, and I will say it again: Let’s benefit from the opportunity this thing called the Internet gives us – the ability to have immediate feedback and direct communication with our customers so that we can develop those 4 Ps that will wow your customer and not just your ego.

Enough said: Let’s now focus on what I consider the top three customer insights you should take into consideration when engaging in social media:

1. Customers are Fed Up

“Fed up” is putting it mildly. The current feeling is that those who are supposed to lead and prevent crises are doing nothing for customers, so they will start taking matters into their own hands. The Occupy Wall Street movement, which received so much press just more than a year ago, is nothing compared with what may be in store. I would call it an appetizer of what is yet to come if consumers continue to feel unheard and ignored. And it is human nature to maintain a very short fuse under this emotional state. Never before have empathy or putting ourselves in the shoes of our customers have been as important as now.

As reported by The New York Times, the occupation may be over, but the idea of the 99 percent versus 1 percent lives on, and there’s a lot of implied power in those numbers. Would you rather be perceived in the “me” camp or the “them” camp?

2. Customers are Informed

Not just about the news and the latest reality show gossip, unfortunately, but about data that will help them make real thrifty decisions from the cheapest bathroom tissue within a 1-mile ratio (RedLaser, for example) to where the latest Louis Vuitton knock-off can be found (I will not share that site, as I do not condone piracy). It is no secret that under current conditions, “the 99 percent” have become extremely thrifty and increasingly smart about finding deals and value.