The Benefits of Transparency

One of the buzzwords in this brave new world of social media is “transparency.” In their book Trust Agents, Chris Brogan and Julien Smith note that “we are in a new era of increasing transparency” where secrets are becoming obsolete.

The content we post on social networking sites (comments, pictures, videos, etc) is there for the world to see, and it isn’t going to go away. What happens on the net, stays on the net.

A recent FTC decision is getting mixed reactions from the blogosphere. Without getting into details, this much needed update to guidelines on endorsements and testimonials basically pushes toward an era of full disclosure and transparency. Bloggers who get free merchandise or payment to blog about products will now be required to tell their readers about this arrangement. This is a good thing for both the bloggers and the advertisers. An atmosphere of non-disclosure breeds cynicism in an already cynical populous. And for the advertiser, non-disclosure opens them up to potential PR nightmares.

If you run a business or organization, or sell any sort of product or service, be transparent. Don’t try to hide things. The answers to your customer’s questions or concerns might be just a Google query away. Being transparent up front makes the members of your community feel better about doing business with you. Transparency opens up a dialogue with the most important people in your business: your customers.

In a recent Hubspot blog on Social Media Brand Building, they discuss four things they try to do with the Hubspot brand, the second of which is “create a transparent, web-savvy company.” This is great advice, because the transparency should run throughout your entire organization. Not only with customers, but with your employees as well. Employees who believe in the organization are more likely to become public cheerleaders. (Which is a good reason to encourage your employees to be involved in social networking. But that’s a topic for another blog post).

And this transparency isn’t just for bloggers. This will apply to all social media, from Twitter to Facebook, and all types of marketing.

The upshot of all of this? For advertisers, and for those of us who work in the social media field, we have been put on notice. I have yet to blog specifically about one of my clients, but if and when I do, you’ll know up front that they are one of my clients. If I get a book to review, I’ll tell you if I got it for free.

It’s all about trust. What you see is what you get. No hidden fees or small print. Customers appreciate this, and it might just be what gets someone to jump from being a “potential customer” to the category of “regular customer.”

Here’s a recent blog from Mashable that might help: 5 Ways to Make Your Business More Transparent.

If you own a small local business or organization, it would behoove you to embrace the concept of transparency soon. In a highly competitive, yet weak economy, those who dive into the world of social media and transparency first, will have a distinct advantage over their competitors.

And the issue of transparency isn’t just for business. In his campaign, President Obama utilized social media in an effort to gain greater access to voters, and allow them greater access to himself. A key component of his platform was one of government transparency as evidenced in this memo on the White House web page. Some, including a number of his supporters, are now calling President Obama to task on what some perceive as an abandonment of that policy.

So in addition to transparency in the business sector, where does transparency fit in in terms of the government (on all levels, from Federal to local)? And how has this administration fared in terms of transparency? Should we expect a greater or lesser level of transparency from our governmental bodies than we do from companies with whom we do business?

Note: this is not a political statement on my part, merely raising questions. I’m not looking for a political debate on this blog, but would love comments on the issue of transparency online.

What are you doing in order to be transparent? What social media policies do you have in place that deal with this issue?

Tagged as: blogging, Brogan, Community, facebook, Social Media, trust agents, Twitter