If you’re in the ad business, you’ve been hearing quite a bit about crowdsourcing. At its core, crowdsourcing is outsourcing a task to the “crowd,” with the hope that their collective wisdom will generate better ideas than a single person would provide. It’s easy to think of this “crowd” as an undefined and ambiguous group…but the reality of crowdsourcing is that the end product is only as good as your crowd.
Experts in Crowdsourced Customer Service
Crowdsourced customer service has become a way for many companies to reduce customer support costs. Like the FAQ, this was a logical way to answer questions before people decided to call or email. Technology companies were among the first to start creating customer communities, and it makes sense for them. A company like Apple can create a “support” community run by customers who are passionate enough about the technology to help other customers out. Yet this model of a fairly “hands-off” community doesn’t work for all brands.
One great example of this is H&R Block. I had the privilege of listening to Leigh Mutert at H&R Block talk about how they created the “Get it Right” community, which is staffed with trained tax professionals, not typical “customer support” staff. The simple reason is that when people need help with their taxes, they don’t want to hear from other people in the same situation. They want to hear from trained professionals. You can visit the H&R Block Get it Right Community here.
While this may sound simple, think about the logistical challenges of training these company representatives in a very different way of operating. In addition, H&R Block’s example points out the kind of commitment that is needed from a company that wants to introduce the crowd into customer service.
Experts in the Crowdsourced Agency
Much of the buzz in the ad world is around the new crowdsourced agency model. These new agencies are “outsourcing” the creative role to the crowd, with the promise of generating more ideas and creating thinking that’s more in touch with your customer, in some cases because it’s created by them. Yet just like a traditional agency, these new agencies are only as good as the talent they have working on an idea. The crowd these agencies are tapping into is full of expertise. They may be freelance designers, people in between jobs or creatives employed at other agencies, looking for something interesting to do in their free time. Whatever the case, it’s clear that curating a good crowd to tap into is key. Casting a wide net isn’t as important as casting the net in the right place.
There are, of course, many new agencies tapping into communities such as crowdSPRING that have built a community filled with creative expertise. Yet many of them are building their own communities to tap into as well. What steps can they take to make sure they’re getting the best talent? The proof at the end of the day is in the work, but I think we’re likely to see this “screening” or “filtering” evolve over the next few years.
Getting Experts Involved in Your Effort
If you’re an agency, you can use crowdsourcing as another tool in your creative arsenal. Identify the kinds of projects that make the most sense to use for crowdsourcing. These may include projects that require a volume of ideas, or projects that require quicker turnarounds or smaller budgets. Keep your internal creatives involved for creative direction and to shape how you work with the crowd.
If you’re a brand approaching the crowd for customer service, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, figure out what level of expertise needs to be involved. You can’t just create a community without some moderation, and it may not be your customer service folks who need to be interacting with your customers. H&R Block is a great example of that, but other industries might need to take the same approach. Does a clothing retailer, for example, need to include a stylist in a customer support community? If you’re looking for tools to start out with, try communities like Get Satisfaction.
Finally, it’s important to acknowledge that the idea of crowdsourcing isn’t a fad. We’re talking about it because people are changing. There’s great potential to be tapped into when crowdsourcing is approached in the right way.
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March 17th, 2011 at 11:31 am
[...] this model does not work for all types of products and services. An example given by one branding expert would be H&R Block: people working on their personal taxes may not trust assistance from other [...]