During previous Twitter Chats we've talked often about all kinds of SEO and marketing lead generation issues, conversion and sales improvement tricks. But today we are going to talk about something different – The Force that drives your customers to become brand ambassadors and help you on every step of sales cycle.
How do you find the most loyal users? How do you engage them to become your ambassadors and choose the light side of the Force? How do you retain your credibility? Find all the answers in recap of our recent Twitter Chat with Jon Ferrara (@Jon_Ferrara), CEO of Nimble and Founder of Gold Mine, customer relationship management services.
And may The Force be with you!
The journey to the light side starts from loyalty. Most loyal customers are already on your side, so they more likely will become your brand ambassadors. So, how do you identify them in a sea of hundreds and thousands of your customers?
A1. They tend to identify themselves. Frequent messengers, commenters, reviewers, posters, etc. #semrushchat
— Reva Minkoff (@revaminkoff) April 15, 2015
People satisfied with your product and service want to share their good experience with others - find ones who is spreading the word about you or leave a nice comments about your work. “It's become easier with the explosion of social media. Usually your biggest fans are the ones that are interacting with you” - Direct Online Mktg @directom.
A1 Use monitoring tools to find your most frequent social engagers, talk to support teams to find who've had great experiences #semrushchat
— Leah Rose Spector (@leahspector) April 15, 2015
A1: We use this tool called True Social Metrics by @avinash! Shows you exactly who repeatedly engages with your posts #semrushchat — QueryClick (@queryclick) April 15, 2015
But social media monitoring is not enough - use all possible channels for identifying most satisfied customers. Most loyal users also the ones who “amplify your content & message without prompting” Tom Whatley @TheTomWhatley. Also ones who are engaged by email marketing efforts. Find them and bring them all together to the “fan club.”
A1 Curate the best ones from whatever platform you're on to a central platform to nurture, engage and reward. #semrushchat — Jon Ferrara (@Jon_Ferrara) April 15, 2015
Well, it’s easy to find ones who already communicate with you, but loyal customers are not just the ones who like social media, but those who vote for you with their wallet.
A1: If you're in ecommerce, the repeat orders list may tell you who the fans are. #semrushchat — Arvid Linde (@kensingtongreen) April 15, 2015
@semrush A1. Using Referral Programs is a great way to track and measure a customer who is both loyal and an advocate. #semrushchat
— Broke Bloke (@brokeblokeblogs) April 15, 2015
Generally speaking, pay attention to every user’s action that brought you a favor; every small interaction can lead to the bigger one and bring mutual profit.
#semrushchat A1: Loyalty is about a commitment to the success of your business. Loyal fans want you to succeed, and will help you.
— Adam Cranfield (@adamcranfield) April 15, 2015
And of course don’t just sit and wait until a flurry of thanks overwhelm you – earn the right to be mentioned and praised.
A1:Don't just look for happy customers, y'all! Find dissatisfied customers you can MAKE happy! You build loyalty through effort #semrushchat
— Peter Starr Northrop (@SEMStarr) April 15, 2015
What was the reason your users chose you in a first place? Of course it’s a product or service you offer. The biggest motivation to share new good experience for ones who already like you will be your new achievement. “Like Steve Martin said, "Be so good, they can't ignore you!" Kathleen Garvin @KGarvSEO.
Product and customer service are equally important.
#semrushchat A2: Improve. If your product/service is good enough, you don't need incentives.
— Dan Gullotti (@madvibes) April 15, 2015
The biggest motivation for all of us - to be heard, be special and have an opportunity to share voice. Doesn’t sound like a marketing to me - more like just a simple human communication. The thing is - connection is just the one thing that matters. “Personally reaching out makes a big difference too - it matters if someone actually connects with you” - Reva Minkoff @revaminkoff.
A2 Make them part of the inner circle. Feeling like you're in a club really goes a long way. #semrushchat
— Ian Lurie (@portentint) April 15, 2015
Every newsworthy event, new step in product development is good not just for PR, but also for client engagement. “Give them exclusive resources & incentives like content, press opps, social shoutouts, etc. Engage (two-way), reward, repeat” Leah Rose Spector @leahspector.
A2. Try to get them involved in the service/product improvement process. Users appreciate when their voices are valued. #semrushchat — Emeka Azuka Okoye (@EmekaOkoye) April 15, 2015
Be grateful and show your community members that they are valuable not just because of using your product, but because of their job, which contribute to the development of community.
A2: IYou gotta keep on mentioning them on social media networks whenever they are present. Reshare some of their content #semrushchat
— Erik Campo (@erikcampoparra) April 15, 2015
As we said – no marketing, just a human relationships. No trick needed if you want somebody to do something for you – sometimes asking is enough.
A2 A simply way to motivate customers to advocate for you is simply asking them for help. #SEMRushChat — Jon Ferrara (@Jon_Ferrara) April 15, 2015
Leah Rose Spector @leahspector recommends "one of the best Ted Talks she's even seen: "The Art of Asking".
But remember that nobody likes to be pushed.
A3: Make them want to engage. Don't expect it or force it. Saying "please" is good, but they need to want to do it #semrushchat
— Dan Smith (@itsdansmith) April 15, 2015
Don't take your customer's trust and respect for granted; otherwise your friends may turn to enemies! What are the worst mistakes which will ruin your relationship with clients?
A4: Ignoring/deleting negative feedback; not interacting regularly; only focusing on sales/push marketing, etc. #semrushchat — Medium Blue (@MediumBlueSEM) April 15, 2015
@semrush A4 - biggest mistakes include; lack of sincerity, sales only messaging and periods of inactivity after initial buzz #semrushchat — Lee Wilson (@LWilson1980) April 15, 2015
Traditional toolkit time! Use these tools for identifying and tracking most loyal users. We always say that no tool can replace a human brain, and for social media engagement, this fits perfectly.
A5 The Best Tool we use to increase consumer engagement & build strong brand is to empower our entire team to become social. #SEMRushChat — Jon Ferrara (@Jon_Ferrara) April 15, 2015
A6: I don't think a single channel is important, monitoring multiple channels is key. The folks I plug get back to me ASAP. #semrushchat — Colt SebastianTaylor (@ColtSTaylor) April 15, 2015
Totally agree with Colt Sebastian Taylor – priority channels will vary for different businesses. Therefore, we will not talk about personal experiences of individual companies, and focus on characteristics of certain channels.
Q6 The Best Channel for Inspiring, Educating, Engaging & Nurturing Customers is hands down @Twitter #SemRushChat
— Jon Ferrara (@Jon_Ferrara) April 15, 2015
Social media (especially Twitter) is number one in our list – because it’s “quick, easily accessible, & succinct” ThinkSEM @ThinkSEM.
If you are B2B, take a closer look at LinkedIn. Upgrade your page and be proactive in LinkedIn groups; take advantage of advertising.
A6. By advertising on LinkedIn, we got some good traffic on our site. Users who spent a lot of time and read several pages. #semrushchat — Ecreativeworks (@ECWseo) April 15, 2015
Don’t forget that personal approach is a cornerstone for relationship building – what can be more personal than e-mail?
A6 Email. You have more control than social, and it's a more personal conversation. #semrushchat
— James Svoboda (@Realicity) April 15, 2015
Use one or the other channel, depending on your goals.
A6: I'd say this depends on what's "effective". Email is always good for conversions, but social media fab for brand awareness #semrushchat — Dan Smith (@itsdansmith) April 15, 2015
Engagement process doesn't stop then you close your laptop – offline communication is just as valuable as online discussion.
A6: While Twitter and email were effective, NOTHING beat effective in-store communication for brick-and-mortar companies #semrushchat
— SEOcial (@SEOcial) April 15, 2015
Special thanks to the following participants:
@revaminkoff @sergio_redondo @portentint @TheTomWhatley @propecta @Michele_Welch @Ross_Quintana @Casieg @ECWseo @ThinkSEM @AdamDince @anneke_aswegen @Vertical_John @EricCozart @CarlaChich @MediumBlueSEM @gShiftLabs
