Entries Tagged 'social media' ↓

Social media is gradually taking over our lives – at least that’s how it feels.

With over a quarter of all adults and nearly half of all teens now owning a smart phone (Ofcom, 2011) connecting to the internet on the move has never been so easy. In fact, it is now so easy it is beginning to affect the way we shop.

Social media has opened up access to retailers like nothing else before it. Now, it’s easy to send a tweet or comment on a Facebook page. Our complaints, compliments and questions can be fired at them with ease.

So how is that affecting our shopping habits?

Well, according to recent research by Reevoo, consumers said that social content is now beginning to shape their online shopping behaviour. Over half of all consumers found social media comments helpful when shopping online, with user reviews (48%) and friend recommendations (52%) being the biggest influencers.

The vast majority (88%) said they always consulted reviews before proceeding to the checkout, with 60% adding they were more likely to purchase from a site that carried such reviews.

Ignore social media at your peril

With online social interaction carrying that much clout, it’s imperative that businesses today engage in social media.

And that really does mean ‘engage’.

Merely having the accounts is not enough. You must also monitor them, respond to comments and questions, and be proactive by offering advice. And that means having a strategy.

More often than not, your customers’ first point of interaction with you will be through a social media channel. That means you must be alert to their tweets and Facebook comments and ensure your staff have a firm understand of what your policy is regarding complaints and compliments.

Taking in the bigger picture

You may think that your social media interaction with customers and their product reviews are separate entities.

To a certain extent they are, but your interaction as a company with your customers is bound to have an effect on the review they leave for others. Frequently, you see such comments not only talking about the qualities of the product in question, but also about the service levels received from your company.

Reviews are therefore seen as an endorsement (or not) of your company as a whole.

Therefore it is essential that you have a social media strategy in place, provide the best possible service at all times and respond to your comments in a timely manner.

We all know it’s cheaper to retain customers than to get new ones, so why are so many companies still so hell bent of grabbing more new customers?

Maintaining relationships can be time consuming, but the returns can be impressive. Social media has opened up a whole new way of engaging with and adding value to customer relations, so isn’t it about time you harnessed that power to boost your income from your existing customers?

If you’re not sure how to go about this, take a look at this following aticle on SocialMediaExaminer.com. They give you 5 tips to help you gain more revenue from your existing customers using social media…

Are you using social media to keep your existing customers happy?

Do you want to figure out how to drive revenue from existing customers through the social channel?

This post will give you 5 tips to gain more revenue from your existing customers using social media.

Why Focus on Existing Customers?

For many companies, connecting with their existing customers is a natural fit for social media. These companies are seeing conversations about their brands, their competitors and their industry that provide them with an opportunity to engage others in dialogue.

There are two types of strategies that revolve around existing customers on the social media channel. The first is to offer customer service help through the social channel. …

Let me ask you something. Do you enjoy networking?

By networking I mean the face to face variety.

It tends to be a marmite thing – you either love it or hate it. Me – I hate it.

When someone mentions networking to me, I immediately envisage a room full of people desperate to sell, but no one wanting to buy.

But networking doesn’t only happen that way.

Networking – the social side

Social media has opened a whole new way to network.

In my experience (and yes, there are exceptions and we’ll take about those later), most people who use social networking sites are there to chat, exchange ideas, offer advice and to generally have fun.

Did you see that? I used networking and fun in the same sentence.

It’s almost as though, because you’re not all cooped up in a room, people relax and chat more. They don’t feel as though they must leave with at least one sales lead (which, incidentally, is never the best mind-set for networking).

Of course, there are still those who believe that networking is equivalent to spamming. On social networking you see it through constant promotional posts and tweets; in real life is it the guy who immediately hands you a brochure before even saying hello.

One of the main benefits of social networking is that you can do it from your desk. If you’re snowed under it’s often difficult to make time to get out to an organised event. But if you dabble on the social side, you can easily fit in a few posts and tweets whilst sat at your desk.

After you…

There is another type of networking – you probably don’t even think of it as networking – and that’s when you meet people in everyday life.

How many times have you struck up a conversation with someone in the school playground, in the bus queue or on the train, and ended up talking about work?

It’s one of those questions you naturally ask someone you meet someone for the first time.

This type of conversation often leads to finding out interesting information because it’s far more informal and the person you’re speaking with is less likely to launch into their well-rehearsed sales pitch when not in a traditional networking environment.

Striking up a conversation

So we’ve looked at social networking and ‘free-styling’, but what about those dreaded formal situations? How do you make the most of them?

I don’t know about you, but my biggest problem with networking events is breaking into groups already chatting, especially if you don’t know anyone there.

If you have any strategies about that I’d love to hear them.

Normally, I’ll take the route of finding someone who’s also on the fringes and try to chat to them. Rather than opening with ‘Hello, my name is Sally and I’m a copywriter’, I usually ask a question about them – normally not work related.

If it’s a lady and she happens to be wearing a striking necklace, I’ll comment on it and start a conversation that way. Basically, I’ll comment on anything other than work, that way I get to know them as a person rather than them as a business.

That’s just my way of coping – what do you do?

Leave a comment below and see what tips we can muster between us to make your networking more effective (and less scary).

Can that really be true?

Well, it is according to a recent article in The Drum.

Apparently, a recent survey undertaken by TalkTalk Business discovered that only 1% of UK SMEs use social media sites such as Twitter and Linked In to generate new business.

Out of the 500 SMEs surveyed, 43% said they weren’t comfortable using social networking sites.

As a copywriter, I’ve been using social media for a while to offer advice, promote my business and make new contacts. It really isn’t scary – it’s just like chatting with friends.

Finding the comfort zone

Social media allows customers unprecedented access to companies these days. They can instantly send messages, ask queries and make complaints – perhaps that’s part of the problem.

But there really isn’t any reason for companies to be afraid of social media. Used wisely, it can open up new markets and even find new business partners.

Of course, once you put something out on the web, it’s there for good, so any company looking to use social media as part of their marketing must have a strategy in place.

Understanding your social media strategy

The first thing that must happen is for everyone to understand (that includes senior management) that the main goal is not to sell.

Social media is a long term commitment that should add value to your relationships with your customers.

Then you must determine what your goals are – whether you’re using it for PR, customer service or marketing. However you use it, your goals must be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely).

Of course, not every social media outlet is going to be right for your business, so do your research. Work out where you customers hang out and where your activities will have the greatest impact.

Once you start to use the platform(s) join in the conversation, don’t just lurk on the fringes. Chat with people, answer questions and offer advice. All of these activities will help get you noticed and increase your levels of engagement.

After a while, you may start getting questions coming your way. If you do make sure you answer them. Also, it’s worthwhile bringing your social media activities into the real world by going along to networking events and tweetups so people can put a face to the profile.

One more thing about Twitter, if a specific person within your company runs the account, make sure they sign their name to their tweets, or have their bio on your Twitter page. People like to know who they are tweeting with.

The best way to learn is to do

“Social media can prove invaluable as a new business tool and so it’s worrying to see that so few SMEs are embracing it. Its business benefits range from being able to engage and understand the needs of customers and prospects through to gaining insights into target markets and perceptions of your organisation or brand.

“There’s certainly scope for more SMEs to be educated on how social media channels can be applied to business and ne harnessed to benefit the bottom line.” Paul Lawton, Managing Director of TalkTalk Business.

I couldn’t agree more Paul.

Over to you

Are you one of the 43% or have you embraced social media as part of your marketing strategy?

Leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts.

Yes, love it or loathe it, Twitter is a fantastic platform for your business.

You can instantly connect with customers, you can act immediately, you can ask questions and get a shed load of responses – Twitter is amazing.

But are you using it to maximise your customer service and support?

To show you how it can be used to your advantage, I want to direct you to a great post I found on SocialMediaExaminer.com. Written by Leo Widrich, co-founder of BufferApp.com, it is a personal account of how Leo has used it to improve his company’s customer service and support.

After all, as he says, customer service is one area where you can really make your company stand out in a crowd – in the words of Gary Vaynerchuck (@garyvee):

“I genuinely believe that any business can create a competitive advantage through giving outstanding customer care.”

So, what are Leo’s tips?

Well, they go something like this:

• Use Twitter to give a rapid response
• Personalise your Tweets with your name or picture
• Use DMs to your advantage
• Use search tools to help people who aren’t even customers yet

So, if you want to improve your customer service and blow your competitors out of the water, have a read of 4 Ways to Use Twitter for Customer Service & Support.