Can Facebook be your Customer Service answer?

The numbers say yes!  In a Q2 2014 survey, 67% of brands that had questions posted to their Facebook wall, responded to them.  That's a pretty strong figure for customer interaction, which shows the true power of social media and how successful Brands leverage it for full customer interaction.

There is always a "but" in this equation, and in this case during that same period, 87% of the Brands examined did not have their Facebook walls open for comments.  In other words, these Brands failed to recognize the word SOCIAL in its overall strategy.  We're now in an interactive world folks, transparency in your Brand is necessary in order to create trust - open up man!

So what industries excel at Customer Service interaction on social media platforms...the Airlines!  Yes, those lovely companies that now charge you for that man-purse or laptop case, are the best at social response.

So what does this mean to you?  Open up the lines, answer those questions and create a relationship with your customers!

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Hello? I can't hear you! Four ways to get closer to your Customer's Voice

Listening... in business it's vital to understanding your customer's needs and pains.  As a salesperson, it is the key ingredient to a successful close of a sale.  In negotiation, the "he who speaks first loses" mantra deeply involves understanding your adversary's voice.

So, with all the chatter going on in this social media world, how do you get your customer to be honest with you?  As marketers, we thrive on data and feedback, but making sure the data is accurate and honest is a problem.  The noise of Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Pinterest, etc act as massive filters to your Customer's true voice.

What works these days?  Simplicity folks:  listen, be transparent in your open-ended questioning, ask permission, and by all means don't use today's latest and greatest buzzword.  The social media outlets are your tools, and can be utilized to get your customer's true voice.

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Surprise! Your Brand is a Media Company now!

What?  Not a funny April Fools joke Chris, we most certainly are NOT a media company.  We make fantastic widgets for crying out loud...

Not so fast my friend.  Look at your brand platform these days - website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube - all sponges requiring brand content and engagement with your core audience.  You are making videos folks, face the facts... YOU are a media company.

In the past, brands such as Tide, Coca-Cola, etc created aspirations for their core audience - i.e. the Brand trended the expectation to the masses - Good mothers use Tide, etc.  The Brand centralized the message back to its product/service. 

 

Nowadays, the customer is making that aspiration due to the immediacy of today's technological innovations.  Our focus as marketers is consumer driven based upon instant feedback received from - you guessed it - our Media Channels!  We are able to interact with our core audience in such a proactive way these days, that what is driving revenues - and Brand loyalty - is the content we create!

Read this article on how Red Bull has lead the way with this view of Brands as Media companies.

Case Studies: Have they become obsolete in the Social age?

In the promotional products industry, case studies are a vital bullet in a salesperson's arsenal.  A strong case study can show a company's creativity, it's project management capabilities, and most importantly it's solution-based initiative.  Case studies also show how important promotional products can be in an overall marketing strategy, and by clearly defining the ROI, gives the salesperson a competitive advantage against the typical "mom and pop" shop.

However, in today's socially-generated ratings world, the case study may be losing it's lustre.  The key knocks are that a case study has a limited shelf life, especially in the Millenial "what have you done for me in the last minute" mindset.  More importantly, a case study is primarily company-driven - i.e. it is designed to show the company in the best light possible. That's all well and good - but can sometimes come off as disingenuous, not a good look for most salespeople...

With the trend towards buying online in the promo products industry, the testimonial has the preferred vehicle of establishing brand trust - look at my website and you'll see the same!  I am as guilty as the next guy when it comes to not showing Case studies, I'd rather have a client speak to our reliability than it come from my mouth.

With Yelp and other review-based methods of 3rd party recommendations, the problem becomes that of control - you piss one person off and it can ruin a good Yelp day...  So, what to do as a promotional marketer?

The answer may be a solid blend of both, I know for me I will be including case studies going forward as a means of differentiation and control of my own brand.

Please read more on this trend Here

Brand Consistency: Did the new Apple iOS7 hurt?

Well folks, it's here - love it or not, we'll have to get used to it if we want to keep up with Apple.  iOS 7 is a complete change in brand consistency for Apple - the fonts, color schemes, motion and graphics, etc all have changed - so much so that our phones can be classified as brand new!  Apple has even enlisted its chief designer Jony Ives to describe how these design changes are a good thing - another departure from the Steve Jobs past.

These changes may or may not hurt Apple's brand loyalty - I am a die-hard Apple-ite myself, however, and it's a BIG however, drastic changes to your Brand WILL affect your business.

Consistent branding is not just a buzzword, it is the cornerstone of your overall business strategy.  All of the innovation in social media, advertising, and experiential marketing puts more ammo in our marketing arsenal, however staying true to our branding message is more important than ever.

Check out this infographic that Jessica Brandenburg created to visualize the importance of Brand consistency:

The modern Storyteller - YouTube!

Storytelling.  We all do it, heck we've all heard a tall tale or two hundred - and in my family that is one holiday meal!  So, what does that mean in the times of instant gratification and social media?

Our Facebook and Twitter feeds - along with every other social outlet - are full of videos that our friends, family, co-workers, etc. have posted at one point or another.  The bottom line is that people post videos and pictures for three core reasons:

1.  To amaze and entertain our friends
2.  To reveal aspects of our true selves to our network in order to build stronger relationships
3.  To help people by providing meaningful information and insight

Now think about it, who hasn't posted some crazy video of some person doing a stunt gone horribly wrong?  I am a consistent poster of articles and videos that relate to organ donation, or of positive affirmations.  And, who didn't receive some sort of political video/joke/picture during last years elections?

Great, you've nailed exactly why I post something on a personal level, so what does that mean for my brand?  It goes back to the first word in this post - Storytelling.  We are social creatures, and social media, particularly YouTube and Facebook, allow us to share the stories that Uncle Jack told us from back in the day, but utilizing visuals and acoustics to enhance the social experience.

Brands have been making TV ads for years, which is great for the Super Bowl, but otherwise you end up taking a shotgun to an archery contest.  Social Media allows a Brand to fine-tune its message on a personal level - by bonding with the recipient through those core reasons.  Creating a Brand Story that relates your product/service/mission/values to the individual promotes not only the Brand, but the social aspect that we all have to share.  You may have 100,000 twitter followers, but release a YouTube video that grabs your audience on a personal level, and that tweet may explode to Millions of people - and potential customers.

Read more on how to create a Storytelling experience with your Brand videos

Is your Brand Human?

A peculiar question, considering most of our brands are inanimate objects.  However, when it comes to promotion, personifying your brand does equate to increased sales, and in terms of the non-profit world - donations.

Take, for example, one of my favorite Brands - Apple.  Now, their products do rock, but you would think that an average consumer would be hard-pressed to drop $500+ on an iPad or iPhone.  However, with the way the Apple retail outlets are laid out, to the utilization of the late Steve Jobs, etc., Apple has been able to create a brand that has a humanistic appeal.

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