Tip #5: Respond to Feedback

Social media also has a built in feedback mechanism, such as comments, ratings, forwarding links, etc.  As soon as you post, your fans and followers will be able to respond in real time.  Embrace this dialogue.  The more your customers talk about your product, the more exposure your product will receive.  And most importantly, join in the dialogue by responding to their feedback.  You don’t have to respond to everything, people don’t expect that.  Think of it like one of those entertainment shows where they pick someone out of the audience to come up on stage.  That person becomes a respresentative of the audience, it’s as if we are all up on stage with that person.  We feel included in the show.  So rather than be overwhelmed with having to repsond to everyone, just pick one or two people and respond to them.  When people see the product owner engaging with their audience, even if it’s not them personally, they will feel more loyalty to the product.

This is true even if people have negative feedback.  There’s nothing worse then sending a customer service email and never getting it retruned.  People complain because they need to be heard and they want things fixed.  For example, I had been having a battery problem with my apple laptop for months and was extremely frustrated.  But the computer was still under warranty and so I went into the genius bar.  They replaced with battery and external power supply cord.  That totally covered the cost of my warranty and all my frustration was gone.  If you listen, respond and do your best to help them out, your customers will continue to stay invested with your product.  People pay for service as much as they do their product.

So what’s the best way to respond?  Agree with them.  It’s an old trick I learned studying improvisational acting called, “Yes, and”.  Things move forward if you agree, stop if you disagree.  So agree with your customers and ad something.  For example, if a customer posts, “Loved seeing those photos of those muffins being baked” you might respond “Glad you liked them – maybe we’ll print them in edible inks as well.”  In my response, I agreed with them and added some humor, which is a great way to also keep things real and personal.  If they send a complaint, such as, “Hey, you’re sending me too many posts.  Stop it!” you might reply, “Yes, we sent to many posts.  We are sorry and are working on reducing our frequency.”  You may not be able to solve the problem right away, but by quickly responding you acknowledge that you heard your customer, are aware and are taking action.  If you are posting publically, this will also be seen by your other customers which can reduce the amount of negative posts as well.

Tip #4: Share in Real Time

Brand advertising through television and radio often try to convey a sense of real time.  They use the power of images and words to give you a sense that you are there, witnessing something happen.  But broadcast commercials are pre-recorded, editted messages and people now watch them with some detachment.  They know it’s not real.

A major reason why people are enamored of social media, is because so much of it is based in real time message.  The power of “it’s happening now” brings a level of authenticity and excitement.  When you share the process with your customers in real time, the immediate experience deepens their feelings of participation.  The same is true in television.  The biggest draws are live events – news & sports.  While reality TV is pre-edited, it has the feeling of being live because it’s capturing authentic responses of it’s participants.

But with social media, everything you do can become a live event.  So whenever possible, make your message “real time”.  If you are marketing a bakery’s new muffins, it’s not, “I baked the muffins” but “I’m baking the muffins”.   Always use the present tense.  Also, the more specific about details you can be, the better.  Posting a status update such as “Adding fresh eggs to the batter mix” adds authenticity and stimulates our imaginations.

It also invites real time response.  Embrace that as well.  Remember, social media isn’t just about how many connections you have in your network, it’s also about how rich and deep the interactions are you have with those connections.  Real time updates fosters a sense of immediacy that will increase your customers feelings of relevancy and engagement.

Tip #3: Make Them Insiders

Social media is one of the best ways of giving your  customers the “insider” experience.  There are lot’s of different tactics that you can use.  But they all must do one thing well – make your customer feel that they are in a privileged position.  They should feel that they are getting something special that they can only get because of their involvement with you and your social media.  The most common tactics are:

• Share the Process – by sharing the process, your customers feel like they are getting to experience the actual making of your product.  Think of them as apprentices.  Not only are they seeing your product created, they will understand and appreciate all the work which better enables them to accept and pay for the financial value you assign to it.
• Give a Tip – why do we love getting tips about anything and everything?  Tips are like free advice.  They are bits of information from an expert and when given freely, people feel grateful.  The value of the information is just as valuable as the act of giving.
• Express an Opinion – because opinions are subjective, they help to shape a personal voice for your marketing.  Many people are often cautious about how freely they share their opinions.  The closer the friendship, the more honest the opinion.  By sharing an opinion people will feel more connected.  Additionally, a strong opinion can jump start a valuable dialogue
• Ask a Question – more than wanting to hear an opinion, people want to share their opinions.  So ask for it.  Even better, respond to their answers.  And the coup-de-grace – Use their feedback directly in your business.
• Let them Share It – the most effective viral marketing is still word of mouth.  Social media tools enable a faster, more explicit sharing than word of mouth referrals.  Social media puts the tools in the hands of your customers.  This of course cuts both ways – bad news spreads just as quickly as good news.  But the medium is the real message.  You are allowing your customers to do the talking.  By incorporating their authentic interest and voice, the authenticity of your brand’s message is strengthened

Lastly, it is important that some of these messages should only be available via your social media channels.  If they appear in all of your other marketing channels, you will lose the insider value of your social media channel.

Tip #2: Sell Them the Experience

A lot of marketing is about the experience that people associate with the brand.  People pay twice as much for particular brands because the advertising and marketing images are associated with particular kinds of experience.  “Buy our product – you’ll have the same experience” so we’re told.

Social media takes it one step further.  It actually includes your customers as part of the experience.  And there is real value, not just imagined value.   Take the muffins from a bakery.  When you share the process, you are giving your followers and fans the virtual experience of having baked the muffins themselves.  Almost everyone I know loves the smell of freshly baked bread.  It amazes me how many times you go to an expensive restaurant and the first comment people make isn’t about the entrees or extensive wine list, but “They have the best bread!”  I really think people miss baking bread as well as many other experiences in which we were once directly involved in creating something, such as hand knit sweaters, organically grown food, custom woodworking, etc.

If you can fulfill a bit of that loss virtually, people will find a deeper satisfaction in buying your product.  They will feel, in some small way, that they are purchasing something that they witnessed being made.  They were closer to the creative experience.  By fulfilling this secret lost desire, your product will be more appealingly than your competitors.

So don’t just sell the product, sell the experience.

Tip #1: Share the Process

One of the best ways to use social media is to include your community in the process of your organization.  Let’s say, for example, you have a local bakery and you just started to sell cupcake versions of your popular carrot cake.  A traditional approach would be to show a picture and say “Now get your favorite carrot cake in cup cake size.  $2.25 each – only $1.50 if you say ‘Tweetcake’.  There’s nothing there to differ it from  regular website or email marketing.  With music and video, we’d call it a TV or radio spot.  But if you want to make it social, start early by sharing the process.  Post a picture of the batter being stirred followed by the muffins coming out of the oven with a cute message “Mmmm….piping hot muffins…don’t eat them yet – they still need frosting.”  A few posts like that and you’ll have people’s mouths watering. You will have pre-sold the muffins because people will have been thinking about them all day, not just at the end.  This is true for almost any product that is made.  The longer the process, the more opportunities you will have to connect with your customers.