• by Tom Hespos , April 12, 2005

Advertising in online community environments has always had its share of complex difficulties, not the least of which is a loss of advertiser control. Many advertisers have strict rules about the types of environments they advertise in, and often those rules are reflective of guidelines regarding editorial dos and don'ts. Such rules make it difficult for a media buyer to recommend advertising with an online community, as consumer-generated content can run afoul of editorial guidelines.

Consumer-generated content can produce a negative brand experience. A negative comment about a product, service, or company represents the inherent risk in sponsoring or underwriting such content. But I would argue that for most advertisers, such risk is increasingly acceptable in light of the potential benefits of supporting user-generated content.

One of the central themes behind "The Cluetrain Manifesto" is that markets are conversations. The benefits to joining the conversation are many. Some of the best product development ideas can come from consumers who take the time to provide feedback. However, the biggest benefit I see is that providing a soundboard for your customers and leveraging that input in the form of actionable product and marketing strategy on an ongoing basis shows your customers that you care about their concerns.

Many companies regard this idea as dangerous. They may not be staffed to deal with incoming comments and criticism, which makes participatory marketing something to be feared. They may adopt a stance of avoiding the conversation entirely, opting to keep their marketing communications confined to push-only channels that broadcast product benefits or brand advertising. This can generate significant dissonance in the mind of the consumer, demonstrating that market conversations are unimportant to the marketer. Perhaps more importantly, the consumer may continue to be reached with commercial messages that don't have a prayer of resonating or changing the consumer's perception of the product.

The answer to the question of how to avoid this dissonance lies within the willingness of the marketer to join the conversation. "The Cluetrain Manifesto" stresses the importance of this throughout. While a company may not want to participate directly in market conversations, those conversations are going to happen with or without its input. Participating shows a willingness to work with the consumer, an understanding of the importance of customer concerns, and faith in one's own ability to create products and services that are relevant to customers and are as good as they can be.

Consider that market conversations are going to happen through all two-way channels, especially on the Internet. These will take place in a distributed fashion across the Web, USENET, discussion groups, bulletin boards, and elsewhere. It's not just a digital phenomenon either - haven't we always told ourselves that word of mouth is the most valuable and effective channels in marketing? Rather than fearing loss of control, what advertisers should do is support it and provide forums for two-way methods of communication in which representatives of the company can participate.

These forums could exist in many forms - an online message board, a blog, a discussion list. The format matters little. What matters is that consumers can freely participate and have their concerns heard and preferably, acted upon.

Fear of negative comments is not something that should hold up participation in market conversations. A company that can address criticism and provide meaningful feedback stands to gain much more than it might lose. In many market sectors, responding to a criticism with a fix, workaround, or simply an acknowledgement of the problem can serve to build brand loyalty and insulate valuable customers from competitors, particularly if those competitors can't listen to criticism and respond as well as your company.

It's about time that we stopped fearing consumer control. We should embrace it in a meaningful way, which entails listening to the market and responding appropriately.