Marketing Tips and News

How important are customer referrals to you business? If you’re looking to improve your profits and expand your business, there’s no better way to bring in new customers than to have your current customers refer their friends to you. Not only does a referral show the loyalty of your existing customer, good word of mouth that drives new customers your way is immeasureable and the ultimate goal of any marketing program. It’s also one of the toughest marketing goals to achieve.

So why are you still spending your marketing dollars and time on traditional advertising? Direct mail, newspaper advertising and radio advertising are expensive and their effectiveness is hard to measure. Here’s where the value of social media comes in. You knew I’d get around to talking about this, right?

For example, what is the value of the exposure your brand receives when a potential new customer sees a friend recommend your brand on their Facebook page? I would argue that a friend’s recommendation, or fandom of your company or product on Facebook is like a customer referral times 100. That’s because the reach of social media is not only expanding every minute, it is also reaching audiences that traditional media is no longer able to reach.

Log on. Reach out. Spread the word!

The top social media tools used by marketers according to the 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report are as follows:

Twitter 88%

Facebook 87%

Linked In 78%

Blogging 70%

Are you or your organization using any or all of these popular social media tools from a marketing perspective?  A survey of current marketers using social media shows that most plan to invest more time in blogging this year. In fact, small business owners and non profit organizations are much more enthusiastic about utilizing blogging in their marketing mix than large companies or corporations. Why?

While the report doesn’t answer this question, I have a few ideas. Most of us who have been blogging 3 years or more are very comfortable with all forms of social media. But we’ve come to appreciate the impact and reach of the growing blog community. In fact, more than half of the top ten daily online media destinations are social media, with blogs being the most prevalent. That means blogs are beginning to – if not replace traditional media – at least be a credible influencer of what people now consider news and credible sources for information.

By blogging, you take a greater part in informing consumers, clients and constituents about your business or organization. That’s social media time well spent.

Have you thought about using social media to get leads and find potential customers? You should. Social media is the new word of mouth marketing and listening to it will help you find new audiences. The #8 conversation you should be listening for through your social media engagement is The Question/Inquiry.

If you provide health, medical and care services to help elderly adults stay in their home, listening to the questions people are asking about your industry can provide an opportunity to position yourself as an expert on the subject and help attract clients.

When people post a question using social media, they are doing so in the moment when they are looking for a solution. Listen, respond quickly, be a resource. The time you invest in this new form of word-of-mouth marketing is time well spent because you are speaking directly to someone who needs your services. It’s targeted, personal and impactful.

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!