The Four C’s

The Social media? Get serious! reading explained how businesses should develop strategies for media activities using “Four C’s”.  I found this interesting and I hope my blog on this topic is useful to others...

1.    Cognize (recognize) is defined as to perceive, know, or become aware of. Businesses, in order to remain competitive and thrive in the social media age, need to become aware of media activities that are happening all around them and learn how to identify what is being said of their company, products or services.

2.    Congruity is a quality of agreement and appropriateness.  When there’s congruity, things fit together and make sense.  Businesses should make it a priority understand their customers’ wants and needs and listen to their input.  Complaints need to be addressed and rectified promptly. 

3.    Curate – a business must act as a curator of social media interactions and content.  "Who will represent the business online? How often and when should they chime into conversations?"

4.    Chase – Businesses must scan their social media environments to understand the swiftness of information that is posted, and how it affects them. Social media is constantly evolving, and it must be considered a priority.

Some businesses are hesitant to invest time and resources in social media, the 4 C's may help explain why they should.  For example, an Internet savvy consumer that chooses to vent a complaint may do so through social media and have their comments spread exponentially.  Let’s assume an average social media user has 100 online friends, and they vent their frustrations online about "XYZ" company. Then, that consumer could request that their friends re-post/re-tweet to their 100 friends, and so on. The number of people that could see this complaint in a very short amount of time is almost immeasurable. A technically savvy business might be able to remedy the problem before it gets to an unmanageable level.  On the other hand, this online “wildfire” could do wonders for a business if it was a compliment instead of a complaint.  This is a very strong argument for a business to take on social media and use it to their advantage.

 

Works Cited

Kietzmann, Jan H., Kristopher Hermkens, Ian P. McCarthy, Bruno S. Silvestre. "Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media." Science Direct Business Horizons, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, 2011: 54, 241-251.

 

Photo: http://allthingslearning.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/will-the-real-4cs-please-stand-up-again/