Relationships & the Groundswell - the Power of Human Connection

Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernof

When you think about technology, who do you think determines how it runs? Do the Big 6 that make up the media oligopoly control it? Is it controlled by our government? Who is actually in charge of the whole thing? 

It turns out, according to Charlene Li and Josh Bernof, authors of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, that the "most powerful force on the Internet" is people. Regular people, just like you and me! "Self-expression used to be private...or difficult...Not anymore." Nowadays, everyone has access to the tools they need to make the impact they want. That's where the groundswell comes into play.

The authors describe the groundswell as "a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations." Those who controlled the media used to have a lot of power. Not so anymore. 

"Media isn't neatly boxed into little rectangles called newspapers, magazines, and TV sets anymore." We have more diversity of connection options available to us than ever before. And customers are definitely taking advantage of it. We live in a world where rates of social connectivity are high and evolving at a rate impossible to keep up with. 

To survive, organizations need to utilize the groundswell and do it well or risk the worst-case scenario: becoming obsolete.

When looking at how to harness the power of the groundswell, one of the most difficult things to wrap our minds around is that it "weakens and undermines control." It sticks it to the man and says no thank you. Yet Li and Bernof also say that "businesses and other institutions are built on control." 

How, then, can we, those of us who work for organizations in marketing and PR positions, both have control and let it go? That's where the delicate balance of the groundswell comes into play. 

We need to understand a few things about people to understand how the groundswell functions. Li and Bernof cite a case study of Digg.com, where the "people on the Internet showed that they were in charge." It also revealed a sort of hidden secret about why we use technology: "The Internet allows people to draw strength from each other." 

The groundswell is all about relationships. 

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Human beings are social animals, even those of us who are introverted. We need human to human, person to person connection, and today that connection is mainly done via the use of social networks. 

"This movement can't be tamed. It comes from a thousand sources and washes over traditional business like a flood." So we'll have to admit that there is a decent amount of control we'll have to give up.  And therein lies our answer: we can't be traditional. That doesn't work anymore.

Our focus must be on relationships. We won't survive otherwise. We also need to understand that giving power to our customers takes some power away from us and we have to be okay with this. That doesn't mean that we need to sit passively by and let our customers erode our business tweet by tweet, though. 

The challenge for us when it comes to the groundswell is whether or not we are "accomplishing a useful business goal and, on top of that, how" we will then "measure that success" so we can prove that our "groundswell effort was worth it." 

Any type of groundswell campaign planning should start first and foremost with thinking about the human connection. What impact are we trying to make? What do we want our customers to take away from this? How will we ensure this is something our customers actually want?

Renowned speaker Simon Sinek has a very well-known Ted Talk Start with why - how great leaders inspire action. 

This video is a prime example of how organizations should be thinking. We always need to be answering the question of why - why should customers use this? Why are customers going to choose us over a competitor? Why are we doing this for them? When our answers center people and relationships first, then we will be able to successfully launch a groundswell campaign.

I know it may seem like a lot of work, and it definitely is. But with today's social climate, organizations cannot afford to do nothing. We must utilize the groundswell efficiently if we want to remain relevant. 

What are your thoughts about the groundswell? How can this be put into action? What should we as marketing and PR professionals be doing in our roles to advocate for and implement effective groundswell strategies?