Bidiversity

The world is changing. It was not so long ago that if a company wanted to test-market a new product or launch a new, flavour, color, size or enter a completely new market, they would have to use tools like focus groups to try and gauge potential customer needs and their preparedness to pay.

Imagine if you could sample millions of people’s opinions instantly – find out what they were really thinking, not just answering because they had been promised a couple of bucks by a market-research firm. Imagine if you could monitor, in real time the sentiments of your existing customers – not because they had taken the time to write to you, but instead had let the world know of their joy or frustration with your offer.

Some of you, who are early adopters, will know that this is no longer fantasy. There is no need to imagine – the tools are there and they can be loosely defined as ‘social media’.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that social media is some kind of triviality or that it is ‘just for kids’. Tools like Twitter and Facebook are being used around the world for business. Bidiversity sat down with London based marketing expert David Fuller, CEO of Pilote, to find out how business and diversity can use Social Media.

Bidiversity: Social Media is something that many business people dismiss – is that fair?

DF: Like anything new, there is going to be misunderstanding which leads to distrust. Some of the media doesn’t help. In their quest to find a story that they think will sell papers, they focus on celebrities or get an academic to make dire predictions about the end of communication as we know it, but there are millions of people using these tools and many of them are using them for business.

Bidiversity: How can Social Media tools help foster diversity of thinking, innovation and creativity.

DF: The very essence of social media is that it has no limits. There are no glass ceilings, there are no barriers to entry, no huge investment is required. Anyone can say anything, which you might think would just lead to chaos, but out of that comes a filter – reputation. Building an online reputation, whether you are an employee, business owner, thought leader or brand helps you to corral ideas and diversity of thought into something useful.

Bidiversity: Can social media empower voices that might not otherwise be heard?

DF: The thing about social media that scares those who like control and hierachy and process is that social media gives everyone a voice. It’s skewed by publicity stunts, but in the end, information wants to be free and it will seep through. Type ‘Women in Business’ into Twitter and you will get a wide variety of voices – some who have had their opinion less than 12 minutes ago.

Bidiversity: Is it a fad, or is it a legitimate business tool?

DF: It might still be a fad, but I believe that if it is a fad, it will still be here for about 4-5 years at least. If it is a fad, the thing that will replace it will be built on social media and therefore anything learnt will not be wasted resources. The fact is that thousands of businesses from banks to bespoke pencil makers are using social media every day – some for customer service, some for market research, some for marketing and promotion and some for sales and business development. A web presence is not the same as a website and those who ignore social media as a business tool will lose business to those who don’t.

The hardest part about social media is knowing where to start. David is presenting a Social Media for Business Bootcamp Seminar in London on the 14th of October. For more information see the event page.