The Fallacy of Round the Clock Social Media
Posted on 30. Jun, 2011 by Jay Baer in Blog, Chris Hall, Guest Posts, off madison ave, real-time, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social crm, social media customer service, social media operations, social media staffing, Social Media Staffing and Operations
Guest post by Chris Hall an interactive content specialist at Off Madison Ave who specializes in writing for humans, not robots.
It’s 11PM and the world around you is getting ready for bed. As a mobile obsessive, you instinctually check your Facebook, Twitter and all the rest of your social media accounts while you brush your teeth, only to find that someone has interacted with your brand. The world stops – you must answer.
That’s the way my world has become at least, because in my mind brands don’t sleep. How could they? On Facebook for example, there are people awake at all hours of the night that may have a great questions, and the only way to provide the “human” experience that brands crave oh-so-much is to respond to them as if
they are talking to you directly – no matter when they happen to be communicating.
But how does this look to the other guy – the guy that is talking to your brand in the middle of the night? What your nighttime response does show is that your brand is willing to respond at all hours of the night, but is it really worth it?
Does Faster Matter?
Let’s say that this guy, who I’ll call Mr. X, is an average Facebook user. On a normal weekday he hops onto his page periodically and probably writes a couple pieces of content, probably in the form of posts or comments on other’s walls. Each of his posts probably gets 2-5 comments/likes, with 50% percent of those coming from his friend Joe who is inexplicably online 14 of the 17 hours that he is awake. Each time Mr. X receives a comment, there’s a little rush – a feeling of acceptance. And this feeling will be the same whether the comment is made that day or that week.
So let’s say that your “toothbrush response” gave Mr. X a slight feeling of brand satisfaction. He goes to bed thinking that your brand cares, but by morning life continues on like normal. He’ll go to work, eat some lunch and watch the seven YouTube videos that his friend Joe sends him on a daily basis. Looking back on the situation, do you think that Mr. X’s feeling about your brand would be any different if your response had come at 9AM rather than 11PM? Isn’t it likely that Joe’s feeling of brand satisfaction would be practically identical?
Give the Brand a Break
Brands are allowed to sleep. Obviously there are some brands that are exceptions to the rule, but the majority of brands out there should try to keep consistent hours… you know… to sleep and stuff. Keep alert in case of emergency, but when Mr. X asks a simple question, just let it go.
While social media is fast, consumers really can’t, and don’t, expect social media to answer any faster than an email or phone call would. What they want is real human interaction – and the only way to seem like a human is to act like one.
(Flickr image by Joi)
(Off Madison Ave is a Convince & Convert client)
4 Keys to Turning Negative Commenters Into Brand Advocates
Posted on 16. Jun, 2011 by Chris Book in Blog, chatterplug, chris book, Guest Posts, sCRM, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social crm, social media crisis management, social media customer service
Guest post by Chris Book, CEO and co-founder of ChatterPlug, a live customer engagement and analytics platform.
Nobody likes being told something negative about themselves. It stings, and as a business owner or manager, you immediately start kicking yourself for the missed opportunity. The key to surviving, however, is to embrace these negative comments for what they actually are: golden opportunities.
One of the beauties of negative feedback is that you always know where you stand. You know what went wrong and what you need to do to improve. There’s nothing more dangerous that a hollow review, or a 3 star rating. What can you do with that?
More importantly though, when receiving negative feedback, you have the power to turn the very same authors of this feedback into walking, talking, raving advocates for your brand.
If one of your customers is going to go to such great lengths to give you this negative feedback, whether tweet, Facebook post, comment card or review site, there’s clearly a great deal of emotion in the experience and passion within the individual. Anyone that has that much negative emotion can easily have an equal amount of positive emotion with just a little bit of TLC.
Here’s how:
1. Give a damn. And mean it
The foundation of any culture of listening – and in turn action – is simply caring. Take great interest in what your customers are saying, and demonstrate that interest publicly. Actively soliciting feedback from your customers in your store and on the web carries the sense that you are constantly striving to improve. Showcasing the ways that you make changes based on the feedback cements that idea. If you care about your customers, your customers are going to care about you.
2. Respond in real time
Your customers are INFINITELY connected. At any given point I can email, call, text, Facebook, Tweet or send up a good ol’ fashioned flare to someone that I’m trying to get in touch with. Why would paying customers not expect that same connectivity out of the businesses that they interact with? Your response time as a business is a direct indicator of how much you value your customer feedback. With each passing second, a wall is building up between you and your customer base that has expressed a certain level of dissatisfaction.
Further, while the ability of your customers to diffuse negative information about you increases, so does your risk for reputation hell. Each and every customer that you have now carries an audience with them. You can’t afford to have a single negative experience turn into the loss of hundreds of customers simply because you weren’t equipped to deal with customer feedback in a timely fashion.
3. Offer to make it better – yes, even if it’s not your fault
Anytime you receive negative feedback, you have the ability to showcase your businesses’ ability to go above and beyond to satisfy customers. In many of these situations the customer doesn’t necessarily deserve it, but that’s not the point. You have to account for the larger picture. Going above and beyond for one customer can touch far more potential customers and drastically improve your brand’s perception in ways that no other marketing tactic can. It’s not about that single customer at that specific point in time; it’s about using that situation to create a customer-oriented stigma for your brand. In a sense, these are investment opportunities with the potential for huge return.
4. Follow-up (The extra mile)
After you’ve immediately addressed and remedied the situation with your customers, follow-up. Ensure that you’ve rectified it not only your mind, but theirs, and let them know how much you’d like their business in the future. This gesture shows your customers just how committed you are to their long-term business. It also demonstrates the extraordinary effort you made to keep a customer happy – an action that should win back multiple customers.
There certainly is no magic pill that makes negative feedback sting any less, but by acknowledging it for what it really is, and creating a culture that embraces all types of feedback, you can dramatically curtail the instances of negative feedback and ensure that you’re turning each customer into a living, breathing billboard for your brand.
(Convince & Convert is a strategic advisor to ChatterPlug)
Customer Stalking – When Is Your Twitter Response Too Fast?
Posted on 18. May, 2011 by Neicole Crepeau in Blog, Gini Dietrich, guest post, LiveFyre, Mark Schaefer, Neicole Crepeau, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social crm, social media customer service, Twitter
Guest post by Neicole Crepeau, an Online Strategist at Coherent Interactive. She blogs at Coherent Social Media.
The other week, I was participating in Jay’s hashtagsocialmedia.com chat on social media. (It takes place every Tuesday at noon EST.) The exchange is below:
@jaybaer #sm107 BONUS Q4. How important is speed of response on Twitter? And can a company be TOO fast = creepy?
@neicolec: Q4: If support problem, no reply too fast. If I made a comment, a fast reply creeps me out. #sm107
It’s true. I get creeped out when a brand on Twitter replies quickly to a comment I just made. Probably a lot of people do. It may seem inconsistent and fickle, but we don’t always like a fast response to a brand mention on Twitter. In some cases, it might be best not to respond at all.
The key to deciding how fast to respond is to take off your business hat and put on your person hat. Think less about your business and more about appropriate behavior in a social situation.
Eavesdropping With A Purpose
The circumstance where I definitely do want a fast response is when I’m having a problem. I’ve had several companies respond quickly to conversations I was having with others about their products. Livefyre responded when I complained to my friend Mark W. Schaefer that my comment on his blog wasn’t uploading. And just last week, Triberr’s Dan Cristo helped me out when I told Gini Dietrich that I didn’t understand how to use Triberr. I was happy to have them eavesdropping, and happy to have them offer assistance.
In this circumstance, no response is too fast. Presumably, the customer has tried to figure out a solution on their own. By the time they reach out, they’re frustrated and maybe angry. They just want the problem solved now. (in fact, ExactTarget’s research on Twitter found that most customers turn to it as the third option, after they’ve been dissatisfied by a company’s phone and email response).
That’s one of the benefits of real-time monitoring and response—you may be able to intervene before the customer gets to the boiling stage. If someone is complaining about a problem, they are almost never going to be upset that you overheard, stuck your nose in it, and solved the problem.
Business hat: I’m monitoring conversations about my product. Someone just said they’re having a problem with it. I’ll provide good customer support by asking if I can help solve the problem right away.
Person hat: Those two tourists are looking at a map. Oh, I just heard one of them ask how to get to the market. I know just how to get there. Let me go over and help them.
It works in either scenario. If you were lost in the real world and someone offered to help, you’d feel grateful. (Except if you’re a New Yorker, in which case, mind your own business!)
Customer Service vs. Customer Stalking
Most of us who are digitally savvy know that we are being served online ads based on information that Google, Facebook, and others collect about our online activities. Many of us accept it as the price we pay for so much free content.
Still, if you visit Ford’s website, and then every ad you see for the next two days is for Ford, it kind of creeps you out. It’s like you’re being banner ad stalked. Maybe you know in the back of your mind that advertisers are watching you, but you don’t want it to be so obvious!
This effect is even worse on social networks. When you’re on Twitter and someone @’s you, you know that a person is talking to you. Even if it’s a branded account instead of a personal one, with a logo instead of a person’s photo, you are still very aware that it is a person tweeting to you. So, when someone tweets about the great deal on Wii’s at this or that store, just after you’ve made a comment that you’re thinking of buying a Wii, it feels like stalking. It feels like that person was spying on you.
Business hat: I’m monitoring the real-time conversation for opportunities. Someone just mentioned they are thinking of buying a new minivan. That’s a prime sales opportunity—at the point of decision. I’ll tell them we have good prices and give them a link to our site.
Person hat: I’m talking with a friend at a party about buying a new minivan. The sleazy guy at the buffet table behind us leans over and says, “I heard you mention you want to buy a minivan. I have great prices at my dealership. Here’s my card.”
Yuck.
Even something less spammy can be creepy. Let’s say I @ a Twitter friend in response to a question. I tell her that she should try Livefyre for her comment system. And then @Livefyre immediately tweets, “Let us know if you have any questions!”
I’m sorry. That’s asynchronous and icky. Livefyre might just be trying to be helpful, but it feels like they are spying on a private conversation, and are a bit too eager to please. Even though I clearly like the product and am suggesting it, I don’t like them intruding into my private recommendation to a friend.
That’s ridiculous, you might say. The conversation isn’t private. You’re on Twitter, for goodness sake. And it’s hypocritical. You didn’t mind them intruding when you had a problem.
It doesn’t matter if it’s hypocritical, though. People aren’t logical, and social rules are subtle and can seem capricious. Still, when they’re broken, we know. I may have a hard time explaining why that gentleman is standing too close when we’re out here on the street, even though it would be acceptably close in a crowded elevator. Nevertheless, if he’s standing too close, I’m uncomfortable.
So, let’s try our hats on again for this last situation.
Business hat: I’m monitoring the real-time conversation. Someone just recommended our brand of luggage. I’ll make sure they know we can answer any questions, and that they have my contact info.
Person hat: I’m on the subway talking with my friend about her travel plans. I recommend this great travel bag I bought. The guy behind us leans over the seat and says “I’m a sales rep for that luggage. Do you have any questions? Here’s my card.”
Creepy. You want to just brush him off. Chances are my friend is going to throw away that business card, even though she wants the luggage.
The next time you’re wondering how fast to respond to someone’s mention of your brand, take my advice: put your person hat on first.
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