An in-depth look at why recognition is so important to customers and why it should be just as important to any organization or public figure involved with the social Web.

The other day I attended a Q&A event on Ustream with one of my favorite musicians and stopped to think for a moment after I’d submitted my question.

Had I sent in the question because I wanted to know the answer? Or was it so I could show to all of the other fans that this musician cared more about my question than everyone else’s — that I was finally recognized and noticed by a “hero” of sorts in my life and for a moment could be a fan above all fans?

While that certainly sounds like I was overthinking the moment, I started remembering back to all of the times that I had been noticed or recognized in some way in the last six months on Twitter, Facebook, etc. by other “heroes,” whether they be brands, celebrities, or notable industry leaders.

And what I discovered is that every time someone had actually responded to me, or recognized me, I couldn’t recall what they’d ever said, but could certainly recall telling as many people as possible, “OMG! (insert name/brand here) @ replied me!”

That was all that mattered — the mere mentioning of my existence, my 140 characters of fame, a kilobyte of recognition. I was, for the briefest moment, on the same stage as them and I mattered.

When @garyvee direct messaged me, I bought his book. When “Richard Castle” included me in his storyline on Twitter, I kept watching his show. When Kyle Hunter (local FOX weather guy) put my Twitter handle on TV for getting a trivia question right, I actually started watching the local news regularly.

If there’s anything that the social web has taught us, it’s that human beings value attention (a lot). In fact, there’s no point to even being on Twitter unless you value attention, as you’d only be tweeting to a silent, digital wind. Nor is there a reason to be on Facebook if you don’t have any friends or want their attention.

We value attention so much in fact that we spend up to nearly six hours per month on Facebook, threefold more than the time we spend on Google.

And while we also follow others and give them attention, in the back of our minds is the hope that they’ll then follow and pay attention to us.

More than anything, we want to be part of their stories, to be recognized as a member of the social web’s ever-changing cast on the grandest stage possible.

Cut to the chase: What does it mean for business?

The equation is simple: people want attention, they want to be put on the biggest stages possible and they want to be recognized for their 140 characters, their 10 megapixel photo, their clever fake movie title, their lightning speed answer to your trivia question, and so on.

They want to be part of your story.

On the other end is you, your company and your stage. But is your company willing to focus less on prizes and “recognition 1.0″ and more on giving your customers a platform to have their 140 characters of fame, their moment in your story?

Recognition 1.0

When you look at “recognition 1.0,” or say the more popular form of business-to-customer recognition and rewards programs, you see a very transactional, private model that is safe, methodical and gets the job done.

Think grocery store savings cards like Albertson’s Preferred Savings or Best Buy’s Rewards Zone cards. You come in, you buy stuff, you swipe the card and eventually your loyalty to the brand is rewarded with a few bucks back.

The customer is certainly satisfied by this transactional recognition by saving money, but not wholeheartedly satisfied. Not to the point where if Vons is nearby or if Radio Shack is on the way home that they won’t instead go there to get what they need.

They’re begging for real recognition, not some sales strategy.

A shift in customer mindset, technology

What we’re seeing more of today is active participation and engagement to gain recognition rather than simply the transactional, methodical, disengaged style of recognition 1.0.

But why? Why is it that people are more actively engaged in seeking this recognition from brands and their various “heroes”?

1. The stage is bigger now — it’s the world.
2. It’s easier to participate, don’t have to mail anything in or fill out an application in line
3. The activities are more fun, interactive and interesting

One might also argue that there has been a culture shift of sorts as so much has moved to the Web, but I’d argue that a lot of what we’re talking about here has always existed, it’s simply the technology that has changed.

Recognition isn’t new to business. The best of the earliest of merchants understood how to build brand loyalty through recognition; knowing every customer’s name or welcoming them at the door as if they’re coming into your home.

Recognition isn’t new to the Web either; it’s part of its history, from the first forums and getting badges for every 100 posts to becoming a Level 70 in World of Warcraft.

What is new, however, are the stages available. Where before it was limited to geeks wanting to talk sci-fi on a phpBB board or nerds playing MMORPGs (where recognition began online), it has now gone mainstream thanks to the likes of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so many more.

The very nature in which these networks are built is meant to encourage gaining social capital and recognition: we gain friends, followers and connections and are graded on how much we participate.

In short, you have to be active to be recognized.

These new stages (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) are much larger and have much more massive, diverse and dynamic audiences, and for anyone who seeks attention (i.e. everyone), these are addictive playing grounds.

Crowdsourcing

Brands are also getting in on this through the model of crowdsourcing and contests to help develop new products.

Starbucks is open to any and all ideas, Mountain Dew lets its fans be taste testers/developers, and Netflix recently improved its service by giving one team the recognition of being the best team of programmers out of thousands (talk about career advancement).

We, the consumers, gladly participate in the hopes of not only being recognized but also to improve the very products we love.

Google and Yahoo!, two companies I recently categorized as using the “crowdsecrecy” approach, or being more closed-doors rather than open, are now moving toward a more open style that, of course, involves recognition for its users.

What these companies and many more like them have realized is that once their customers are put on their stages on these social networks, they are not only capable of remarkable things, but they come out far more loyal than ever before.

Giving your customers a platform is being realized across every industry and many are shifting to this approach as we speak.

Going mobile

And the power of recognition is, naturally, spreading to the mobile stage as well, as companies like Foursquare get into the mix. Foursquare’s brilliant strategy of awarding people badges and ranks based on how many times they visit a physical location has already started a new model of advertising.

The more times you visit the cafe by your house, the better the chances that you will be crowned the “mayor” of that cafe, thus allowing you to get free coffee, so long as you are still the mayor.

Just ask Microsoft about the idea of badges and recognition — their incorporation of such a strategy into XBOX Live gave them (arguably) their only successful product of the new millennium. More than 17 million gamers are so addicted to this recognition that they pay monthly to continue it.

Recognition is an advertising model, a business model, an approach to product development, marketing and customer loyalty, and it’s quite obviously the most important facet of the social Web.

So why not set it as a top priority?

I don’t care if you’re a newspaper, a corporation, a celebrity, a service, a sports team or a small-town cafe: recognition should be one of your top priorities if you’re involved in the social Web.

A lot of companies already involved with social media marketing or just getting into it still think recognition is all about prizes. You’ve probably heard it before — you can’t get followers, fans or people who care without giving something away.

And sure, giving out MP3s to promote a new album or giving out an iPod to the 1,000th follower are both going to draw a lot of attention, but don’t underestimate the power of recognition.

It’s the difference between satisfying someone and satisfying someone wholeheartedly. It’s about turning a select few followers into “sneezers” as Seth Godin calls them, people who uncontrollably spread the virus that is your brand for you.

Think about this: if you focused every day on recognizing your customers more than you focused on setting up the next giveaway or any other form of recognition 1.0, how many more “sneezers” would you have? And how much money would you save?

Recognizing 10 people a day may seem like a waste of time, but even if you only converted half of them into “sneezers” and people who are truly, wholeheartedly satisfied, your brand will have gone more viral than any iPod giveaway could ever deliver.

Prizes, rewards and the many transactional forms of recognition 1.0 are not the secret to social media marketing success.

The secret is real, human recognition, inviting people to be part of the story, the cast, and for if only a brief moment, to be the hero on your stage.