If you were to describe the interaction between companies and customers on social media such as Facebook, the relationship status would read "It’s Complicated."
In fact, customers and companies often use social media for entirely different purposes. And the two meet in the middle randomly.
Here’s an example: Most individuals use Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other platforms for social purposes. By contrast, companies are jumping into the mix in the hope that they can recruit customer evangelists who will spread the gospel of their products and services inside their social networks.
Fact is, a recent survey revealed that 70% of companies use social media to garner word of mouth. Comparatively, only 38% of customers felt it was likely that they’d become evangelists after connecting with a company online.* (See this research and further stats.)
Nevertheless, let’s go back to our example of the connection between consumers and the companies they buy from. Think of a company such as Clairol hair color and its customers. Why should someone “Like” Clairol hair color on Facebook? (Keep reading to find out why.)
The research cited above shows that the customer’s main interest in interacting with companies on social media is to get discounts. Conversely, companies think this is the least important reason to connect with their buyers. To which I say, “Oh, really?”
I’ve observed tons of brands using social media for exactly that. Recent examples: “Like” LegalZoom.com and get entered into a drawing for iPad, or “Like” Clairol to be entered to get one of thousands of coupons for their new hair color foam product.
While this satisfies the customer desire for deals, it certainly doesn’t build or add value to the relationship long term. Once customers “Like” a company they may soon tire of the constant updates from that company in their Facebook stream. They may un-“Like” the company so that they can end the stream of promotions or what they may see as irrelevant content. And then the company loses the ‘value’ and so does the customer.
How can companies and customers meet on common footing?
Customers are always seeking value – “add value to my life.” That doesn’t have to mean just money saved; it can be something that they value (key information, access, first notice/ timeliness, etc).
Let’s look at airlines. JetBlue, Delta and other airlines have noticed their customers tweeting about their frustrations – delayed flights, missed connections and such. These companies are offering customer service via social media. You can see how that would be something that customers “value,” and the company gets value, too – a satisfied customer. This inspires customers to move from angry tweets to a follow up tweet about how they were rescued. This is a great alignment between companies and their customers with social media.
What about your company?
Think about what your customers most want from their relationship with you on social media. In fact, I’d suggest asking them.
#1 Find out what social media platforms your customers use (you can search for your company name on http://search.twitter.com to find out if anyone is talking about you on Twitter for example). Again, you could just ask your customers what social media they use.
#2 Find out what they’d really like to do via those social channels. Do they want customer service via Twitter? And do enough of them want it to be a good choice for your organization? Being affordable is important, but don’t forget the power of resolving customer complaints quickly (before they spread). There is a cost to negative word of mouth.
Not all customers want the same thing. Find out what they most need and then try a pilot test. Try to give them that – where and when they want it and see how they respond. You may just find a huge customer thank you for your willingness to engage with them where they spend much of their time – social media.
* An exception to this point is B2B focused social media. That is a focused market that is syncing up well on ‘social’ media – Twitter, Slideshare, LinkedIn, and the like. These platforms are effective for many industries wanting to grow, share, converse and learn.
0 comments:
Post a Comment