Robert Scoble is meeting with the Target Corporation this morning and is asking the blogosphere for advice for the retail giant.
Here are some ideas I think Target should consider. They fit within our agency’s Micro Persuasion philosophy of find, listen, engage and empower…
Find: As Robert says, Target should identify its most influential online evangelists and vigilantes and potential evangelists and vigilantes. Using PubSub and Feedster are a start, but I would not ignore Google too. At CooperKatz, we score each in-bound blog link/mention on a qualitative assessment scale from one to ten via a customized brand blog barometer. Target should be doing this as well.
Listen: Once Target knows who its influencers are, it needs to listen to them actively. The company needs to view each blog post as legitimate feedback. More importantly, it needs to identify what are the most powerful currents of conversation in the blogosphere – e.g. the ones that are the most relevant to the company and its products/services. I call this a company’s “higher holy calling.” Only after Target has completed find and listen, will they be ready to engage and empower.
Engage: Target has lots of opportunities to launch blogs that will help them engage in a dialogue with their constituents. Here is just a sampling
Empower: At the highest level, Target should use the blogosphere to empower people to tell stories. And what better people to empower than those they have helped through their corporate giving programs. Target already has a Flash-enabled section of their web site where they give people they have helped a voice. This is a good start, but why not also empower them to lead a conversations? Right now the stories are static. Bring them to life!
These are just my thought-starters. What are yours?
Links:
Robert Scoble
Target Corporation
Starting a conversation with Target
Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.
He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.
