Corporate transparency is all about putting your company out there for the public to see, therefore becoming more transparent. In today’s world, where you can find out almost anything about anything, what does it tell your consumer when they can’t find you?
In the traditional sense, corporate transparency has meant being able to turn your company “inside out” for the public to observe. To have your history, reports, data, tax returns, all available and easily accessible for viewing. This became especially important when corporate scandals such as Enron and WorldCom came to light.
Companies have since embraced the importance to have transparency and taken the appropriate steps. But as consumers move to into a newer, much more accessible world of finding information, what’s next in terms of corporate transparency?
It used to be, consumers would go to your company’s website to find the information on the products, services, and prices they needed. Now, that’s one of the last places they go, if at all. If a consumer can only find information on you by going to your company’s main website, but nothing through general searches, this signals a red flag for the customer.
With the explosion of the social media sites such as twitter, facebook, and Linkedin, it is almost impossible not to find the kind of information you are searching for. It is in the best interest of companies to have an invested presence on these sites. It lets your customers know that you want to reach out and build a lasting relationship. This in turn builds customer loyalty and also can help grow your consumer base in ways you wouldn’t have been able to through just the traditional company website.
For almost every type of business today, it is essential that companies are proactive about the information that is available to the consumer. If you aren’t putting your company out there first, then someone will, good or bad.
As consumer interest grows more into having a multitude of avenues available to research a company or product, it seems that corporate transparency is moving towards this as well. You as a corporation need to have information readily available on your company website, as well as reach out the public on all these other sites that are becoming much more prominent in the consumer’s eye.
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Tags: corporate transparency, customer loyalty, facebook, Linkedin, twitter
