The level of ‘connectivity’ in Alaska is pretty amazing. WIFI access, web enabled handhelds, digital mobile service and more. I guess I wasn’t surprised when I stumbled upon the most recent census stats for connectivity and found that Alaska is the second most connected state in the U.S. by household (behind New Hampshire only).

It’s no secret that Alaska is geographically isolated, but the people who live here are worldly and connected. They are very much in tune with the latest happenings around the world, and with the proximity to the Pacific Rim, Asia and Russia, their worldly nature seems to come naturally. Mix the geographic isolation with an inherent curiosity and you end up with a population that likely makes use of the Internet more efficiently than most areas of the U.S.

Businesses Lagging

So with such a ‘connected’ population, why are Alaska-based businesses lagging in their digital communications with Alaskans?

It’s true, most Alaskan businesses sport a website (it’s an expectation here). But when it comes to personal and social connection, Alaskans as business patrons are far ahead of the places they do business with. Alaskans love to be heard (just look at the comments section of most local articles at ADN.com). They are passionate people, and they are voicing their opinion on message boards, wordpress, blogspot, flickr, twitter, facebook, ning, bebo, myspace and more. Want proof? As of August, 2009 there were 174,240 Alaskans over age 18 with a Facebook account. That is more than one third of the total 18+ population of Alaska!

Missing the Conversation

So with all the conversations being held by Alaskans, do you suppose at some point they are talking about YOUR business? And when they are talking about your business, how do YOU know? What if they are saying something inaccurate about your company? Or worse, something damaging? If you are not actively participating in the conversation, how would you ever know? And how much damage could be done to your company reputation as a result?

Mining for Growth – Strategically

With internet connectivity and the growth of social media, the basic tenets of brand management have changed tremendously. A prior post on Brand Bytes describes managing your brand with social media, how brand management has changed and the importance of having a social media strategy in place to help you manage your brand image in the digital world. And a recent article (which had a brief appearance on ADN.com) describes how businesses are connecting with their customers via social media. A quote from Alecia Dantico of Garrett Popcorn, "The conversations were already happening. My job is just to join them."

It’s time for Alaskan businesses to begin engaging with customers in the digital world on a more social and personal level. Monitor a conversation, join a conversation, lead a conversation. Your customers are already here, it’s time that you start mining Alaska’s connectivity for your company’s growth as well.

Colin is a senior strategist for Flint Group and is an occasional contributor to the Brand Bytes blog. Learn more about Colin or the other 50 Flint Group professionals trained in social media strategy at www.aadlandflint.com.