Be Authentic Online
One of our core company beliefs is that People do business with People. The blogs are where we can let our customers and potential customers know who we are, that we are not a monolithic inhuman corporation. We’re real people. In managing online identity, authenticity is key.
Now last week I mentioned that I blog as “Carmen Electrode” and “Joe Welder.” I’m sure you’re thinking, “how is THAT authentic?”
Good question. I’ve thought about it myself. First, I don’t think anyone really expects that Carmen Electrode is anything other than a construct of our company. Besides, she looks like this:
Joe Welder, on the other hand, is my boss’ nickname. It’s what his buddies called him when he was active in motorsports and worked as chief mechanic for a racing team. We have references to his nickname and his history throughout our company web properties.
When I post as Joe Welder, 99.9% of the time, the article originated with my boss. Occasionally I’ll send him an industry article and solicit his opinion. In both these instances I edit for clarity, for typos and for geeky grammar things like cohesion, passive voice and continuity. While maintaining his story, and his voice.
When I talk about being authentic, I mean that regardless of the handle you give yourself online, be real. Don’t just be marketing fluff. And you don’t have to be perfect. I think customers appreciate imperfections, as long as there is honesty and integrity, and as long as they feel valued as a customer.
In fact, sometimes you can turn those mistakes—and we all make them—into good stories. Just the other day, a customer called us and complained that we did not send the SYLVANIA tungsten they ordered, but rather GTP tungsten. What we had neglected to tell our customer, and all of our other customers, was that Sylvania Tungsten had become GTP back in 2008, and had only recently changed their packaging. We used this as opportunity to educate our customers about the change, reinforce our position as industry experts, remind them of our awesome satisfaction guarantee, and say “hey, we’re human!”
It’s not the mistakes you make it’s how you handle them. And really, it’s not a story if someone wants something and gets exactly what they… and blogging is all about telling stories and making connections with our customers.
Next time I’ll talk about how much is too much authenticity…
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Jennifer Simpson, aka Je Sais (I know)
DID I BLOG YOU?
http://akajesais.com/
