PORTLAND – Marketing experts have described 2011 as the year social media came of age, including local businesspeople who said they make key decisions now based on tweets and posts.
Facebook and Twitter have given people a voice unlike any that business owners have heard before.
Netflix was one major example – in 2011, the company lost hundreds of thousands of customers over its decision to split and charge extra for streaming videos. After a huge social media response, Netflix did a rewind and scrubbed the idea.
Bank of America also backed down after customers complained online about its plan to add a $5 debit card use fee. Kent Lewis, the president of Anvil Media in Portland, said social media users catch mistakes and spread news about them fast.
He consults companies to use social media as a tool for the good of customers and businesses.
“When you have a customer service team talking to customers through social media like they would over the phone or in person, then you've got something,” Lewis said.
He explained that it’s about connecting in order to develop brand loyalty.
Social Media can also provide instant research and feedback. But Lewis said it has to be a top-down company culture.
“Nike has almost 100 people dedicated globally to social media. REI is innovative, they've actually decentralized so that every store has representation, custom Facebook pages and all of that,” Lewis added.
The next step in a strong business plan, Lewis said, would be using multi-media.
(KGW reporter Joe Smith contributed to this report.)
