I'm A Fan, Now What Do I Do?

 This is a simple question asked by one of our client's, A.C. Moore, Facebook fans. But, it is also a question that is asked by many retail executives once they concede to developing a social media and/or community presence. Social presence isn't enough. Having fan, friend or followers is only about 10-20% of the battle. It is the easy part. The hard part is the engagement and confronting the reality of what is on your customer's minds. The difficulty lies in not being ready for the onslaught of feedback that will collapse into the organization and will affect all core business functions of a retailer. When a brand like A.C. Moore that has tens of thousands of passionate customers that love their store that will manifest in both positive energy and negative input. Your brand is exposed from how your coupons are redeemed to how dirty your bathrooms are. The glass half-full retail executive reads this feedback as something she/he wouldn't have heard before the advent of social media and acts upon it as it trends. The glass half-empty retail executive thinks that these people should be tried for defamation of brand character and leans away from the dialogue. The consumers will win and they will expose all of the warts that a retailer has. The brands that accept that the fastest will win.