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Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool. So is social media. Getting customers talking about you online, maybe even before they’re customers, means good exposure for your company or brand. And they will talk. When it comes to sharing online, 39% of people do so to recommend a product or service. That could be your product or service they’re sharing about.
You need to be on Twitter
First, when customers talk about you online, make sure they have a way to reference you properly: a Twitter handle. Having a profile set up on allows customers to reference you directly with a link that will take readers to a profile you control.
Plus, making it easy to connect to you directly on Twitter means you’re more likely to see the conversation without having to dig for it. For posts you may not be mentioned in directly, do keyword searches to find out who’s tweeting about your business. There will be conversation happening, and you don’t want to be a passive observer. Make sure customers can see who you are and what you’re all about.
Here’s how you’re going to get them talking:
Talk to your customers
Don’t be afraid to get the conversation going
Rickshaw Bagworks is a great example of how to talk to customers. First, they identified that their clients’ social media channel of choice was Twitter. Then, they ask for Twitter handles as part of the purchase process. Before a new bag is shipped, they snap a photo and send a tweet to the customer to keep them excited about the purchase. It’s working: Sixty percent of customers respond with a reply or retweet.
Do you know who your customers are? Talk to them directly. If you can’t collect Twitter handles during a checkout process or otherwise, keep an eye on who’s talking about you already and encourage it.
Keep the conversation going
If I’m going to a new place or trying a new product that I’m excited about that’s on Twitter, I’ll be talking about it on social media. If no one talks back, I might not mention the company, brand or artist again. If someone does talk back, I will not only be more likely to mention them again online, but I’m likely to tell my friends who aren’t on Twitter how impressed I am with their customer interaction.
Reply
Add to the conversation by responding with a personal message. It doesn’t have to be complicated, and can include the original tweet so others see the kind message they shared, or not.
Retweet
If a customer has said something great about you, it doesn’t take much time or thought to simply retweet their message. It makes your customer feel valued and just spreads their endorsement even farther.
Favorite
Favoriting a tweet is also a simple way to show customers you appreciate them talking about you. It gives them a nod without actually adding what they said to your news feed. If they’ve mentioned you in a way that doesn’t necessitate a response or retweet, show them you noticed by favoriting a tweet.
Know your brand advocates. Thank them for mentioning you or acknowledge them in some way. If they are saying nice things, encourage them to continue. If they are saying mean things, address the problem so they will start saying nice things.
Your customers and potential customers are probably talking about you online, and you need to be there paying attention to get and keep the conversation going. Social media is social, so socialize with the people who buy your products; that’s what you’re there for.
At Allée we monitor all social media channels and we talk back. We do this for our own social media and we do this for clients because we understand that word of mouth moves quickly online, and we have something to add to those conversations. You do too; don’t let everyone else do all the talking!
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