It is an interesting trend… to watch the conversations change in the world of social media. We have talked about becoming a better personal brand, and telling your personal story to the world. Now we are discussing integration with traditional media and we welcome the idea of the client becoming the sales person.
There is extreme value in building a customer system that encourages them to become evangelists for your brand. How do you encourage the mother who purchased a toy from your shop… to tell her friends? On top of that… how do you encourage her to do it… via social media.
Here are a few pointers on building a system to create create customer evangelists for your brand.
1. First. Make sure you prepare yourself for the focused effort of turning happy customers to loyal promoters and evangelists. Prepare your mind. You need to ask yourself if you care enough to spend more time making sure your customers are actually happy and fulfilled.
2. Use ExactTarget to build an email marketing list to keep in contact with current and future customers.
3. Import your email contacts into the social media sites you are using for marketing and promotion of your brand. Try to contact and encourage them to become involved in your brand :
Importing and Exporting Contacts Using:
4. Once you have connected to most of your customers start communicating on a daily basis with them. We are not talking about sending sales information or product information but asking about their day… etc.
5. Create a list of your high level and value customers. It helps to have a list in place to set some goals toward customer evangelists. Start out with 5 people or companies. You can create lists in Facebook and Twitter to manage multiple accounts. Also, Hootsuite has excellent features to manage groups.
6. Set up Twitter Searches for your valued client’s industries or services. For example, if you have an accountant as a valued client make sure you setup a Twitter search feed for accountant or tax advice. When someone ask for advice make sure you reccomend your client.
7. If the client has an event or seminar coming up in the area make sure you share that link with the multitudes of your followers online.
8. Recommend your client on LinkedIN. Why recommend on LinkedIN? It is simple. If you want recommended by a client on LinkedIN it is always better to recommend first. Do it and see the benefits.
9. Share an exciting story about your client’s business to your contacts. It is important to share the quality information even if it does not relate you your business. Add a client success section to every email newsletter you are sending out.
10. Ask for the recommendation. It never hurts to ask. Encourage your best clients and friends to tell YOUR story across the masses. Use a FLIP cam to record their reaction to your service and place the video on YouTube.
Remember it is important to give before you receive. Build a relationship with each customer and help them interact with their customers… and their business. Give them the ability to talk about your brand… and they will return the favor.
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Chuck Gose
I agree with all of them but #4. Communicating with customers on a daily basis? You could run the risk of either being annoying or sounding needy. I think consistent communication is good but daily might be a bit much.
Joey Strawn
Kyle, there's some really great stuff in here. The idea of taking customers from merely clients to evangelists is such a big idea that a lot of people are still wrestling with the implications of it. I think your #1 (Be Prepared) is where a lot of people fail because companies just aren't willing to step outside of their customer-processing plant system and actually make an effort to over-deliver on a personal level.
I'd also add to the list "Create A Central Community Hub Where Customers Feel Involved". I think it's important that businesses use at least one area (preferably their blog or homepage) as an interactive clubhouse or sorts. People like to feel like they are a part of something and when they feel that, they are more likely to share it with others.
Great post!
Serina Kelly
Love it! And about #4 – I took that as communicating with the masses daily – not individually. Be a consistent presence on there, and we will keep you top of mind. Hope you don't mind, but I am going to post an excerpt of this on my blog page to run next week with a link back to this site as it speaks volumes to what I base my whole business on.
Thanks Kyle!
Sophie M. Kilgore
Consumers are very volatile and can be loyal or disloyal at any given point. But you are right, we can make them actual religious followers. But that will entail the hardest path of strong customer care skills, solid product infos and a good incentive for loyal customers.