Everywhere I go people keep asking me the same question: What do I need to do to be successful with social media? It's as if they want the "secret formula" in the magic bottle.
Surprisingly there is one, but it comes down to how well you execute it.
Here's the secret:
1. Listen more than you talk. Instead of spending so much time trying to come up with content you can post, spend more time monitoring what your followers are saying about your brand, service, products and/or venue.
2. Respond! At one company I worked for in Seattle I set up a Google alert for news and blog posts. Each day I would see about 10-15 posts about us. I would respond to every single one, while someone else responded to social media posts. I remember the first time I responded to a blog post. It was from a family living in Denver. The father was so blown away that I thanked him for the post that he re-posted telling his followers, "You won't believe what just happened...." etc.
Nurture the relationships. It's more important to create community and have engagement in a two-way dialogue than getting Facebook likes. You could have a million likes and very little engagement---that's not what you want. It's about creating "relationships" with your brand.
3. Give Your Customers Remarkable Experiences At Every Touch Point: I mean every touch point from the person who answers the phone, to the person who responded to email, etc. You can spend all the time and energy you want on social media and if someone answers the phone without energy and enthusiasm----and helps the customer---you lose. A remarkable experience is one in which each and every customer will walk away saying to themselves, "That was a great experience." If someone orders a product online, make it simple and easy---and thank them.
I once had a dentist that surprised the heck out me. On my first visit---which was a cleaning---I received a call from the dentist that night. I tried to remember quickly if I had paid my bill. To my surprise all he asked me was how I was doing after the cleaning. The next time I went to that same dentist the same thing happened---the evening call. This time I asked him if he always called his patients. He told me that he would spend 30-minutes each night calling all of his patients asking how they were doing. He was sincere and genuine. That call made me want to recommend him and created a "remarkable" experience in my mind.
So does your dentist call you?
Do you ever call your customers after a sale and ask if everything is okay?
- Listen More Than You Talk.
- Respond to Your Customers.
- Give Your Customers Remarkable Experiences At Every Touch Point
