In the 24-7 social media world, the days of 9 to 5 are over. According to a February 2013 report from Cisco, “the number of mobile-connected devices will exceed the world’s population” by the end of the year. This widespread mobility gives customers plenty of opportunities to reach out to businesses from pretty much anywhere, so businesses have to be available to respond, and in some cases, put a message out preemptively.
People want to know what’s going on with businesses they patronize, especially when things go wrong. Take for, example, when Southwest Airlines’ Flight 345 from Nashville to New York’s LaGuardia Airport landed nose-first on July 22. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured (though one passenger is suing, claiming she was permanently injured), but the incident happened outside of “normal business hours.”
Standby for more information regarding #Flight345 BNA-LGA. We are gathering details and will post a statement soon.If Southwest wouldn’t have responded in a timely fashion on Facebook, Twitter and on its blog, people may have reacted in a panic, and Southwest would have been behind the curve. In this and many instances, the “classic marketing” availability as detailed by Robert Weller on Toushenne (“no support beyond regular working hours”) is just not going to work anymore.
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) July 22, 2013
“Social media marketing availability,” Weller says, is a “readiness to react to (negative) comments and customer requests.” This new way is better for customers for sure, as they can get their questions answered in a much more timely fashion. The only good thing about the old way was for companies: They were in total control of when and how customers could contact them. Though this new way availability can be tough on a company, the new way overall is better for companies too, as it enables them to get out in front of a crisis, like Southwest Air did.
The new world of social media marketing availability can sometimes serve a safety net to the classic marketing availability. Sometimes, to get an issue resolved, you would rather talk to a person by phone than via computer.
This was the case when the power went out on Friday night in Ponte Vedra, Fla. Beaches Energy customers were trying to report outages in the area, but they could not get through because the lines were busy. So, some customers got on Twitter to get answers. In turn, Beaches Energy responded and was able to “listen” to their customers and keep them up-to-date, busy-signal free.
We are aware of power outages in the area and are working to restore power as soon as possible.Please call 904-247-6171 to report an outage.
— Beaches Energy (@BeachesEnergy) August 31, 2013
Most times, “social media,” availability wins out over “classic” but companies do have to be wary of spreading themselves too thin across too many channels. Jay Baer asks businesses to ask themselves “Are you doing a few things great, or are you engaging in manifest destiny social strategy, and building a company outpost every time new real estate looks attractive?”
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