Until fairly recently, the consumer-brand relationship has been heavily one-sided. If feedback channels did exist, they were utilized more so to air complaints than to routinely interact with products/services and other customers who share similar interests. Thanks largely to technology innovations, this is no longer the case. Successful brands are utilizing interactive media to engage consumers and give a louder voice to customer evangelists.
Take Southwest Airlines, for example. In my opinion, they have positioned themselves as “the people’s airline” by inviting customers to vote on preferences and share their stories, while offering them the freedom to “move across the country.” Their blog, Nuts About Southwest, encourages dialogue between the company and the customer, and the customer and the customer, incorporating other social media tools, such as YouTube, flickr, facebook, Linkedin and Twitter (they’ve already expressed they won’t be going the way of American Airlines regarding the baggage fee via Twitter). These utilities not only allow users to share media, they have the capabilities to solicit a response from the consumer, whether it be ratings, comments, tags, etc.
It all begins with a conversation, by listening to what the consumer is saying and evolving your products/services to best deliver on expectations. Because they’re talking, whether or not you’re listening.