Facebook pages and trust: What are you really paying for?
I was recently in Oman helping a local regulatory body set up their first foray into social. Over the course of three days we worked together to get their Facebook page up and running, draw up a social media policy and some posting guidelines for their Facebook page. We also made sure that each one of the team had posted a comment onto their Facebook page by the end of the workshop.
What I found fascinating was that I knew they could set up their Facebook page without me. This got me thinking about what my value to them was? And my answer probably hasn’t changed since I first got into social a few years ago. The value I offered was not that I knew which buttons to click, or how you could add an image, or remove or edit a post if you needed to. My value to them was whatever they wanted it to be. And that ‘value’, that ‘whatever they wanted it to be’, resided in the fact that I was a safety net for them, a trusted adviser, someone whose hand they could hold, someone who was simply there when they needed it.
But how do you quantify that? How do you get someone to pay for trust? How do you get someone to understand that they aren’t really paying you for your time to set up a Facebook page, but for trust? The Facebook page becomes a proxy for that trust. I can quantify my time to set up a Facebook page, to create a social media policy or posting guidelines. I can put a cost against these things. But who would be willing to pay for trust? And yet that is exactly what you are really paying for…
Guy,
I guess the same is true regardless of whether you are buying a social media correspondent, cleaner or plumber.
They all need to have the “know how” but fundamentally it comes down to trust.
Which I guess is why John Lewis is always rammed on Saturdays.
James
Hi Guy,
I’m a climber. Not a good one but a keen one nevertheless and I know from experience that I would and will sometimes employ a ‘guide’ to go to areas that I want to visit or attempt routes that I want to do. Now, much of that decision will come down to risk and my evaluation of it. Whilst, I may have the skills and the knowledge to go and do this on my own or with my climbing partners there will be times when our assessment of the risk is such that we know it will be safer, quicker and more enjoyable if we employ a guide.
There are also other occasions where I may employ a guide to take me on a route that will push my limits and I know that I need someone more experienced to learn from and keep me safe.
I think your example is probably more akin to my first example of using a guide.
What do you think?
Adrian
Hello Guy
When we venture into the unknown we seek security. For some that security is a vision. For others it is vision plus method that tells them what they need to do step by step. For others it is vision plus guide. For others it is vision plus method plus guide.
You make a great point by trust. In the case of a guide the people who rely on the guide put their hopes, fears and trust in the guide. And that is where reputation comes in. It occurs to me that by simply being there you created a context for these people to be who they were being and do what they did.
Maz