Word of Mouth Marketing 2.0 (Part 1)
A public complaint can be useful, even though it seems embarrassing.
Social media. It seems like that’s all anyone is talking about lately, and for good reason. Social media is the new word of mouth. We all know how important word of mouth or person-to-person marketing is to businesses and organizations. If you’re not using social media to engage your clients, customers, donors and constituents, it’s like not picking up the phone when they call.
At Write Result, we know which conversations you should be listening for through social media and how and when to engage your audience. We’ll identify some of the top 10 conversations to listen for on our blog in the coming weeks. Let’s start with conversation #10 – The Complaint.
Complaining about a company, product or service was one of the most common initial experiences of social media. But why should someone’s complaint on a blog post, a twitter feed or their Facebook page about your organization be looked at any differently than a complaint letter sent to your customer service center? The public nature of social media makes it different.
Receiving a complaint from a client or customer is not a new experience for businesses and organizations. But responding to a complaint in social media requires a much more immediate action.
The culture of social media is one that values transparency, immediacy and validation. While you may not be able to solve the problem right away, just letting the complainer know that you are listening and that you want to do something about it right away can make a significant difference. You might be surprised at the positive reaction you will get just by letting people know that you’re listening, that you took the time to notice and reach out. Timeliness is key in social media. And timeliness is also one of the benefits of engaging your audiences through social media.
So don’t be afraid of complaints delivered through social media. Realize the opportunity you have to quickly and efficiently turn a negative into a positive and showcase your organization’s customer relations skills in a public way. This type of engagement will engender trust and loyalty, the ultimate return on investment!
