The social economy is always changing in our country. Like new technology, people who invest in the social economy should familiarize themselves with the new social economy policies and where they stand. Not to mention social media sites are always adapting to the economy and are prone to big changes for public use. The key realities of the new social economy that I think are the most important are understanding your consumers – their wants needs and desires, allow customers to shop whenever and wherever, understanding and recognizing new technologies either for marketing and/or sales purposes, treat customers with respect, and give the consumers straightforward pricing when advertising.
If companies get stuck in the “old” mindset of the social economy what it was like in the past, they will seriously have issues and struggle to stay in business due to the new social economy. This happened to Circuit City and they are not a company anymore. People are shopping online more than ever. Companies must be open to fulfilling online transactions and supporting consumers with their purchases. This includes offering impartial, professional advice on the latest and greatest technology and answering questions so that the consumer feels confident when making his or her purchases. Doing these simple steps helps to build trust with customers and customers will have a better experience shopping online and/or utilizing social media to buy.
Online sales are especially crucial during the holiday time. Depending on the company/brand, Black Friday could very well make or break consumers’ trust with a particular company/brand. Selling the products or services to customers that they need either online or physically in a store is very important. This is a step of understanding your customer and customers dislike when they are pushed to buy something that they do not need. Every dollar counts in our current economy and this is a perfect way to turn people away from buying from you if you “just sell” instead of selling the right solutions.
I found an article that was published earlier this year on The New York Times website and the author says, “Things like improved communication and collaboration from social media in four major business sectors could add $900 billion to $1.3 trillion in value to the economy.” He goes on to say, “There are challenges to using social media effectively, the main challenges are organizational and personal, as managers have to develop non-hierarchical cultures, where data and knowledge are exposed and shared, not hoarded.” So there is major potential to put more money back into the economy but sellers in the new social economy need to use some common sense. They need to learn and respect their customers. They also need to understand upcoming technology and more importantly, recognize the updated social media technologies to further support the new social economy.
-John
Video Games Galore 