It’s a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. -Lev Grossman, Time Magazine

The Urge to Connect

History shows that that when robust tools serve a powerful human drive, revolutionary changes occur. That’s happening now as social media enable people to satisfy their primal urge to connect with each another. Social media are ubiquitous, cheap, and accessible, and their widespread use is having a profound impact on business.

While the technology is grabbing the headlines, the more interesting story is how people around the world are using social media. They’re fulfilling their desire to connect with each other, forming communities in the process. The communities function like virtual beehives — amorphous, dynamic structures where members coalesce to share information.

Smart companies recognize the commercial value of communities. They treat community members more like stakeholders than consumers. Instead of broadcasting their messages at them, they engage followers in dialogue. In time, followers can be converted to evangelists.  In a hyper-connected world, evangelism carries messages fast and far, boosting the value of the brand.

Follow the Leaders…

I’ve lauded Zappos, Virgin America, and Comcast for their skillful community-building initiatives. Starbucks, WholeFoods, and BestBuy are also out in front with exemplary strategies. But, lately I’ve been impressed with JetBlue’s community-building strategy which can serve as a model for other companies.

The airline (@JetBlue) has been mastering the art of community-building on Twitter and, in the process, has grown its base of followers to almost 1.5 million.

Last August, the airline promoted its All-You-Can-Jet-Pass (for $599) to its community. To the company’s delight, the campaign went “viral” quickly, selling out earlier than expected after creating a buzz.

The campaign succeeded because JetBlue had already built a community of ardent followers where its message reverberated.  How did the company do it? The airline’s staff of rotating community managers engages followers in a manner reflective of the airline’s brand personality. Their tone is informal, conversational and hip — an attitude particularly suited for Twitter that traditional airlines can’t match.

The airline hasn’t been afraid to experiment in this space either. They’re learning about their community based on trying successive low-cost, low-risk campaigns.

To herald its new NYC-Barbados route, the airline announced a contest where participants take a photo in front of a New York landmark that incorporates both Barbados and JetBlue. The top 20 receive tickets to a concert featuring Rihanna, a popular Barbadian-American singer. JetBlue is counting on the community to spread the word.

So far, JetBlue’s social media strategy seems to be resonating with its followers. The size and influence of their community is substantial and growing rapidly. And, they’re harnessing the power of the hive.

Three Lessons from JetBlue

What can we learn from JetBlue’s success? Here are three things:

1) “Engage with” rather than “broadcast to” followers

2) Experiment to find out what works

3) Above all, stay focused on community-building

For me, social media stories always raise more questions: What can be done with new tools that couldn’t be done before? What else can we learn from leaders? And, how are they dealing with the new set of challenges that come with the territory?

One thing seems certain: for companies with the curiosity, imagination and the good sense to ease up on the reins-of-control, this is an interesting and promising space.

What do you think?  As always, I’d love to get your take on this post. What community-building “masters” would you cite and why?

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Want to learn more about this subject?

Read Clay Shirky’s book, Here Comes Everybody, about which he writes:  “… one of the things I most hope readers get out of it, is an excitement about how much experimentation is still possible, and how many new uses of our social tools are waiting to be invented.”

The book explores the broader context of communities including the sociological drivers. Here is a brief excerpt:

Human beings are social creatures—not occasionally or by accident but always. Sociability is one of our lives as both cause and effect. Society is not just the product of its individual members; it is also the product of its constituent groups.

The aggregate relations among individuals and groups, among individuals within groups, and among groups forms a network of astonishing complexity. We have always relied on group effort for survival; even before the invention of agriculture, hunting and gathering required coordinate work and division of labor. You can see an echo of our talent for sociability in the language we have for groups; like a real-world version of the mythical seventeen Eskimo words for snow, we use incredibly rich language in describing human association.

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It’s obvious that people like being shown appreciation, but there’s more to being appreciated than meets the eye. Social scientists say we’re hard-wired to respond powerfully to appreciation. In fact, the quest for acceptance and appreciation may be one of our stronger drivers.

When we’re validated by others, we’re inclined to bond with them. I call this the Validation Principle, and it’s one of the keys to building durable customer relationships.

Regardless of the product or service we’re offering, people are more likely to stick with our brand if we demonstrate genuine appreciation for them. The keyword here is ‘genuine’.

Emotionally intelligent business people have long understood and applied this principle. Now, social networks, like Twitter, make it possible for companies to show appreciation for their customers while also growing communities of loyal followers in the process.

Virgin America, JetBlue, and Comcast are examples of companies using Twitter to recognize customers for their loyalty.  One-by-one, big brands are jumping on the social media bandwagon.

I’m most impressed with how Zappos does it.  I started taking notice of Zappos after hearing their CEO, Tony Hsieh, at a recent conference.  He recognizes Twitter’s potential as a powerful customer engagement tool.

The company set up a Twitter micro site with a Beginners Guide to Twitter and a leader board where employees are ranked by their number of followers.

Zappos brings some natural advantages. For starters, a strong customer focus is embedded in the company’s DNA. Zappos chooses employees with strong relational skills, gives them the means for interaction, and provides thoughtful guidance without inhibiting their sense of expression.

However, Zappos’ most effective tool may be Hsieh’s own relational skills. Hsieh uses Twitter to “connect with” rather than “market to” his followers.  Through his modeling and encouragement, Zappos has mobilized 440 employees to show their love for Zappos’ customers using Twitter and other social media tools.

Unlike a lot of companies whose message is “Gee, look how cool we are”.  Zappos’ message is “Wow! Look how cool our customers are”.

The result? Zappos customers like being recognized for their loyalty. Many become evangelists who serve as Zappos’ de facto marketing force.

Zappos is a paradigm for how companies can use social networking to build loyal followers.  Other models for leveraging social media to boost customer loyalty are bound to emerge.  Which companies will find the most inventive ways to validate customers?

Twitter is a great channel for showing the people we serve that we appreciate them and that our success depends on it. As companies figure out how to use Twitter to validate their customers, they should discover that they have a powerful and cost-efficient customer loyalty tool at their disposal.

What do you think?  I’d love to hear your perspective.  Is it practical for companies to use social media to show their appreciation for customers?  If so, how would you recommend they go about it?

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Want more on this subject?

Read a related post on the role of relational competencies like empathy in business.

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