eMail is the most used, most valuable and highly prized real estate on the Internet:
The secret to keep your Facebook fans, your YouTube viewers, Twitter followers, Linkedin partners, Blog friends happy is summed up in one word: CUSTOMER SERVICE. It really doesn't get much simpler than that. What works to keep your customers happy offline, works just the same online. Customer service will keep you in business for many years to come and even if you decide to venture into a new business, your personal reputation will be branded positively or negatively by how you treated your customers.
Let's look at some ways to keep your social media groups happy.
Have a great product
Start off on the right foot and give your customers what they really want from you. It doesn't matter how many thousands of people are following you on the web, you need to step up and offer consistent quality in your products and services. Because if you don't that same crowd will turn on you like piranhas and bad-mouth your business on the viral network
Keep your promises
Be a business of your word and don't make promises you can't keep. If you promised to send free gifts to subscribers or to launch a product on a certain day or to give a special discount, then do everything in your power to make it happen as you said. You don't want to be leaving a trail of disappointed people who will never trust you again.
Respond Quickly
There are no excuses as to why you can't respond to a complaint, question or comment within at least one day. It might be a bit hard if you're running a one man show, but you can easily outsource to a social media manager or virtual assistant. If they are not responding fast enough, then you need to fire them because they are portraying the wrong image for you business
Positive Attitude
In business, it pays to be humble and willing to listen to what other people have to say, especially your customers. If you are really passionate about your business, it will reflect in your positive behavior as you handle your followers politely, happily and wholeheartedly. Getting short and frustrated even with finicky customer demands will backfire on you because all your negative communication will immediately be seen by all and sundry. And that will spread like wildfire through your social media network
Be human and personal
Always adopt a personal approach with your followers. Don't write to them as "Dear Subscriber"; instead be on a first name basis and write "Hi John". Infuse your personality into your customer service- even your quirkiness may stir up affection as people feel you are being real with them. Being human lets people know they are dealing with a fellow soul and not a computer software spitting out robotic answers.
Go the extra mile
The viral nature of social media your business' salvation or their nightmares so it's imperative as business owners to really go the extra mile to keep your followers happy. Sometimes even more than you normally would in your brick and mortar store.
I once read on a food blog how someone's kitchen mixer broke down and when she contacted the manufacturer, they told her to ship it them at her cost and they would see if they could fix it or not. What that company didn't realize this callous treatment was shared by this lady with tens of thousands of people who view her blog daily. Talk about bad publicity. If they had done their research and put on their customer service hat, they would have offered her free shipping and fixed the mixer for free or better yet offered a brand new mixer. Wouldn't that have been a cheaper and more effective marketing strategy than all their Adsense ads?
We can always get inspired and understand things better by reading success stories of other people we can identify with and that’s why I decided to round up a few stories about fellow local business owners who have successfully boosted their business even in this time of recession.
Caminito Argentinian Steakhouse, Northampton MA
This steakhouse has increased sales by 30% in one year, compared to a negative industry average of 15%. They have used various social media avenues such as-
* Their own cooking blog loaded with videos and photos with links to other social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, FriendFeed, Flickr and Delicious
* Their own YouTube Video Channel
Most importantly they monitor their web marketing using Google Analytics, news and alerts and use it to gain ideas to improve their products
Martell Home Builders
This company specializes in building new homes and sells 80% directly to buyers without the use of real estate agents. Their clients can monitor the status of their home projects by logging in to the site and receiving Twitter updates from the building contractor. Martell also runs an entertaining blog and tweets clients on important news in the industry.
Danny’s Meat & Catering, Racine MI
Short on cash, Dave decided to use affordable email marketing. He got people to sign up for a free email newsletter, by using a creative free gift offer as an incentive: free birthday steaks. In six months he grew his list from 30 to over 2000 subscribers, increased sales by 15% and reduced marketing costs. His creative marketing approach has generated free publicity after being featured on Fox 6 News.
Blenz Coffee, Vancouver, British Columbia
This chain of coffee shops used a social media sites’ search box for localized market research. Using Twitter’s advance search, they were able to find people within a 10 mile radius of their shops who tweeted about coffee –related terms. They then invited them to their coffee shops and also set up meetings with influential coffee bloggers. They have seen increased foot traffic and sales and were recognized as one of the top marketers during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Wiggly Wigglers, Herefordshire, UK
A gardening business located in a rural, farming community that has achieved global recognition and awards from the likes of Dell for its social media strategy that is run by the farmers wife called Heather! They have an active blog, 2000 member Facebook Group, tweet a great deal, have a YouTube Channel, a Wiggly Cinema and to top it all off, a weekly iTune Podcast that has thousands of listeners all around the world and that has received 5 star reviews. Not bad for a company that deals with a topic as ordinary as farming and biodiversity.
All these stories just go to prove that your local business can leverage the power of online marketing in ways that are relevant to your niche and suitable to your budget. Online marketing has leveled the business playing field so that you can compete with the “big dogs” in your industry for a fraction of the costs and get a slice of the pie.
How to drive mobile users to your local business website
There are about 4billion mobile phone users globally and a fast growing number are using smart phones like Blackberry, iPhone and Android. The advantage of mobile phones is they are affordable, their owners always have them on hand and they are always switched on. You really can’t say the same for their personal computers.
So how can a local business drive mobile phone users to their websites and businesses?
Text messages
This is the most direct way to contact mobile phone users and update them on promotions, events and other important information.
Email marketing
Most phones today allow users to access their email accounts from mobile phones meaning your customers can still read your emails and participate in sales offers.
Mobile ads
Your business can set up an ad campaign through mobile ad networks which can target mobile users within a certain radius of your business location. Just imagine a tourist or local native seeing your restaurants ad banner on his phone during lunchtime. Wouldn’t that be an extremely targeted and compelling marketing strategy?
Podcasts and Videos
Users can download your business podcasts and videocasts onto their phones. You should mention your business website address or embed it in the videocast.
Social media
Users can also access their social media accounts via mobile phones. All the more reason to open your account and keep in touch with new posts, tweets and RSS feeds.
Applications
In a study published in June 2010, The Nielsen Company showed the top mobile applications accessed by users include Facebook, Google Search, Google Maps, the Weather Channel, iTunes, Pandora, ESPN amongst others. That means your local business needs to have a presence on these applications. Optimizing your webpages for mobile users is a further step to take, so that if someone clicks on your website through Google Search, they are able to read your content. Mobile traffic cannot read regular websites.
Another point in the applications category to consider, is that local businesses can now be found by mobile users who have bought mobile apps from iPhone and the like. For example the Where Inc app helps people “Search out cool local places, events, things to do, and great deals — even coupons and special offers…. Discover what’s nearby with real-time reviews on restaurants, cheap gas, movies, weather, and more”.
If you consider the fact that the value of each email address in your customer list is worth $1 per month, you will quickly realize that your business must treat its list very carefully to exploit its full potential. The common mistake is to focus on building a list and forget about maintaining it. It’s always easier to keep a customer than to gain one. Here are a few best practices as you market to your email list.
1. Treat them with respect
Remember that your list is human. It consists of moms, dads, policemen, lawyers, plumbers, office workers, typists, students and business people to name just a few. As you keep that in mind, always address them as if you were standing at their front door or seated in their office. Proper social manners and plain decency will reap your business loyalty and mutual respect from them.
2. Communicate on a regular basis
Just because you gave your list a free gift and made killer sales after that doesn’t mean you should just dump them and only resurface when you have another product to sell. People don’t like to feel used and cheated. If your list only feels that they are a money-making machine for your business, they will drop you like a hot potato and unsubscribe faster than you can sign more up. Communicate regularly like once or twice a month but definitely not daily and when you do, just talk to them. Don’t use each and every email to try and sell something. Instead focus on becoming friends with them.
3. Let your list talk too
It’s really irritating and boring to be in a conversation with someone who does all the talking and doesn’t let you get in a word edgewise! Let your list also get a chance to talk back to you. Ask them questions, open discussion on a topic, have a contest- anything that will give them a sense of ownership and importance in the relationship.
Giving your list a voice provides feedback information that benefits your business because they will tell you exactly what they are thinking and what they want- that’s free market research information right there.
4. Position your business as an expert
The advantage you have as a local business owner is that more often than not, you are also a specialist in your business field and being in the online world, people respect and listen more to experts because of the large amount of junk information available in cyberspace. Leverage your specialist knowledge by becoming the person people go to for advice and help because you know what you’re talking about. Selling will become much easier for you because people will trust whatever you honestly recommend to them.
If your marketing campaign just isn’t working, or you’re just getting started, take a long look at what you’re trying to do. Is it exciting? Is it eye catching? Is it unique? If not, you’re campaign is likely too bland to get anywhere. It used to be that simply advertising your business could get you more than enough customers, but this is normally no longer the case. Look around you. There are advertisements EVERYWHERE.
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