MarketingProfs

Last week, McKinsey issued a new report about Web 2.0 technologies* and how they benefit the organizations that adopt them. Contained within the report was a minor nugget that should be of major importance: making customers happy is of huge importance!

The key finding in the report (available for free download) was 69 percent of respondents reporting a gain of “measurable business benefits” from Web 2.0.
In addition, more than half (52 percent) of respondents indicated their key customer-related purpose for Web 2.0 was “increasing effectiveness of marketing.” That’s really not all that much of a surprise. What is surprising (and wonderful) to see was 43 percent indicating “increasing customer satisfaction” and 32 percent saying “reducing support costs” as their key purposes for investing in Web 2.0.
Re-read that again: 43 percent indicated “increasing customer satisfaction” and 32 percent indicated “reducing support costs” were their key purposes for investing in Web 2.0.
Net-net, that means that MAKING THE CUSTOMER HAPPY was behind two of the top four reasons for adopting Web 2.0! I say this with no sense of snark or irony. This is a remarkable turn of events, and one that I am glad to see being reported by such an august institution as McKinsey.
After so many years of “us first” marketing, I’m thrilled to see “customers first” taking priority. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not naive and still think we still have a ways to go (“increasing marketing effectiveness” was first, after all). But I believe this is indeed something worth celebrating.
What do you think? Is this a true groundswell toward customer-centric marketing or merely a momentary blip?

* Without getting into an arcane debate, Web 2.0 was used in the report but connotes “social media.”

Tags: customer satisfaction, customer service, McKinsey, Social Media, Web 2.0