“If
I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster
horses.”
This
quote has been commonly attributed to Henry Ford, but he never really
said it. Regardless, this brings to light a handicap of social media.
Businesses
left and right are following the public into the realm of social
media hoping to hit the mother lode. One of the aims of businesses in
being present in social media is to get immediate feedback and a more
personal interaction with their market. However, should they believe
all the signals they get from these platforms?
Moz
describes this as "treating all customer input as gospel",
which could be a recipe for disaster. If indeed, people were given
faster horses, instead of the automobile, everyone would have ended
up the loser. One burger joint tried appealing to its customers with
the addition of fried chicken in its menu, only to lose a lot in ROI
since it wasn't its specialty.
Social
media has helped people open up about their thoughts and opinions.
Businesses are expected to lend an ear but not to take these as
“gospel”. Patrick Vlaskovits, co-author of The
Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development,
says an entrepreneur must understand his or her customers using
empirical, observational, and anecdotal methods; and not just chatter
on social media.
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