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At Social Fresh last week, Amber Naslund’s keynote was all about the “Now Revolution.” The crux of her presentation (and her and Jay Baer’s upcoming book) is how the consumer has drastically changed from even a few years ago. We now want the companies we buy from to move as quickly as we do. If we ask a question on Twitter, we want a response within the hour, even if it’s 11 pm on the west coast. The real time nature of social media requires us to have someone constantly standing by the digital telephone. This fundamental change in what consumers expect demands a change in how businesses operate.
Here’s the thing I’ve noticed about this change: it scares businesses the crap out of them. I’m okay with them being scared, but this fear needs to lead them to respond. If you see a piano falling from a building (because that happens all the time), you can either react and book it out of there or get caught flat footed like the cartoons always do.
The unfortunate thing is that this fear is paralyzing many businesses. They’re scared they’ll mess up. They think that avoiding it will make them invisible. They don’t have the time or resources. I’ll take “Common Excuses” for $500.
The thing is, it’s our responsibility as marketing and PR professionals to 1) explain it to them in a manner that they understand the importance of adapting to the real time world and 2) help them figure out how to equip their business from the ground up to take on the real time revolution.
Here’s the kicker, folks. Yes real-time is a bit scary because at any moment, a PR nightmare could happen, a fake Twitter account can bet set up that entertains the world at the expense of your business, and an employee can (and probably will) say something they shouldn’t. However, if you equip yourselves to mitigate these risks (with social media guidelines, crisis plans, etc.), then there is a tremendous opportunity for businesses.
The Now Revolution works both ways. These days, consumers are closer than ever to the point of purchase. At any given time, they are seconds away from handing over their money. It only takes a few clicks. It’s all a matter of whether or not you’re there with them to make the sale.
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