UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging

Chapter 29. Experience Gap for Small Biz

THE EXPERIENCE GAP concept applies to small companies, too, even one-person operations. An experience can be anything—it does not have to be transactional. The experience can be any point of engagement, or even someone simply noticing something about your business. That's one of the things business owners need to be cautious of when using social media.

I love the fact that with social media I get to know business owners. I can learn not just about their businesses but also about them personally. Sharing this type of connection builds greater trust than any brochure, logo, or company mission statement could. But making a personal connection means that you also have to be careful what you put out there.

You see it happen on Twitter all the time, especially when people start talking about sensitive topics like politics or religion. A few months ago there was a huge protest in Toronto. A group was trying to bring attention to what it believed was our country's lack of involvement in what it viewed as a great injustice on the people of another country. I watched and observed closely, not to see people's opinions on the issue but to see what kind of opinions were coming out under company accounts. A "company account" is one that you run for your business. You see, sadly, many comments on Twitter that could be considered racist, ignorant, and bigoted. Not exactly the things you want related to your company.

The problem is that sites, especially ones ...