What is crowdsourcing? According to Merriam Webster it's "the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers."
How can your business use crowdsourcing? I think the most obvious way is to help improve your products and services. Engaging with your customers, and asking them what would make your product more valuable to them couldn't be easier. Not to mention, it's practically free.
Need a new way to market your product? Ask your already established and loyal customer base what they are using your product for! How does it improve their lives? Once you've figured out how you've gotten some of your loyal and interactive customers, it's easy to see your strengths, selling points, and overall value to consumers.
Don't overlook all the free information that is right in front of you in the various social networking platforms where you maintain a presence. You can find all kinds of market intelligence on your customers that companies couldn't have dreamed of even 5 years prior.
A CBSNews.com article points out some things to take note of:
"Crowds are not employees, so executives can't expect to control them.
Indeed, while they may not ask for cash or in-kind products,
participants will seek compensation in the form of satisfaction,
recognition, and freedom. They will also demand time, attention,
patience, good listening skills, transparency, and honesty. For
traditional top-down organizations, this shift in management culture may
prove difficult."
All in all, crowdsourcing can do your business a world of good if you're asking the right questions and staying active in the process. Ask yourself, does your company have it's finger on your customers Social PULSE?
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