GM - Using Social Media as an Activator

GM is currently undergoing a monumental turning point in the entire century of its existence and the world is watching and waiting to see the outcome. Here we witness the real power of utilising a Social Media strategy during a crisis. ORM is largely thought of as managing reputation damage after the fact. The viral and subsequent live webchat on the GM blog is groundbreaking for ORM as it illustrates the power of using Social Media as an activator rather than a reactor for affecting change when your company is in a crisis.

GM has initiated the conversation about how the company views its future and invites the consumer to be a part of that future. What makes this move impactful is that GM is building on its solid investment in Social Media. Having already established an intimate relationship with its customers through its company blogs, GM can reap the rewards of this when the company needs it most.

In a radio interview he did about a year ago, Christopher Barger, head of Communications and Technology at GM gave some valuable insights on incorporating Social Media into the marketing strategy:

1. Understand that Social Media space is not about technology. At its heart is the online community's expectations of conversation, and their desire to respond and engage in a dialogue.
2. Before you begin, identify the influencers in your industry and what they are saying.
3. Examine what topics are taking off in order to understand what your audience is looking for.
4. You can't expect that if you build a social media platform the people will come. In the blogosphere, all fields are equal and you have to earn your credibility through consistent interaction. This means regular and relevant postings and rapid response to comments.
5. A defining quality of Social Media is the tone of the communication underway. Most importantly, this is not a platform for corporate messaging. People do not want to be spun or bombarded with slick advertising speak. They are looking for authentic dialogues.

One of the most important things we can learn about Social Media strategy from GM is the total adoption of the strategy throughout the different levels of management. This is evident in a posting by Fritz Henderson, President and CEO of GM, on their Fastlane blog: "We’re committed to open communications and I am personally putting a high priority on transparency. One way we’ll do this is by launching a series of live web chats on this website. I’ll kick things off later this week for one hour on Thursday, June 4 at 3 p.m. EDT. Following me, a steady stream of GM leaders from throughout the company will host additional chats, about two a week, on whatever topics are of most concern to you."