‘As communicators we deal with crisis all the time. If we do our jobs well, most people won’t know they ever happened.’- Victoria Harris, PR Newswire

Do you have a crisis communication plan in this social media age? Why? Well because bad things do happen from time to time. More so if you are operating a big business. Ask Kenya Airways (KQ) or Mumias Sugar Company (MSC).

Any brand that does not have a crisis communication team (plan) handy is planning to succumb to crisis hits. You would rather have a crisis communication team ready, without any incident; than be without and go through an incident that will drive you out of business. It happened to PanAm. Do you remember them?

Pan American Airline’s flight was destroyed by terrorists over Lockerbie. The company suffered a PR disaster when it emerged that warnings had been given about a bomb on the aircraft. The fact that PanAm received an average of four bomb warnings a day made no difference to the public perception. Shortly afterward, PanAm went out of business. Just like that.

However, this article isn’t so much about having a crisis communication plan: rather how do we plan for a crisis in this social media age? The idea here is integrating social media into your crisis communication plan. For reasons known: social media is the new media, and its reach has made companies more susceptible to potentially damaging situations.

In a research by Altimeter Group: ‘It has been more than 10 years since social media began to disrupt organizations. In that time, it has gone from being a “bright shiny object” that confounded business leaders, to becoming a widely adopted means of customer engagement.' This is where the people (customers ) who hold your brand's life are.

As much as social media has dissolved traditional boundaries, creating a sense of proximity between brands and consumers, it has also made companies more vulnerable. Considering that, we have over 1 billion facebook users and 400 million tweets sent per day: how can we afford not to integrate social media into our crisis communication plan?

The other day: we heard of how James Mwangi - CEO Equity Bank, allegedly sexually harassed Esther Passaris - founder of the adopt-a-light program. The article by Cyprian Nyakundi was validated by Esther’s own comment on the matter. I imagine, this ‘expose’ must have caught James Mwangi, unawares. Right? As much as its toll has not been felt, we all know it has left a crevice. Through social media, many heard about this. Even before the mainstream media picked it up. Back to the matter at hand.

For you to develop a strong crisis strategy, there are best practices that integrate social media into the traditional crisis communications framework that are essential. You need to know these 10 things in order to leverage social media to manage and even prevent crises:

1. Implement Policies to Address Potential Vulnerabilities

Have you noticed the way, employees don’t quite know when they should or shouldn’t comment on matters touching on the company? It is not their fault. Who wouldn’t want committed employees? But, this is tricky grounds.

In this age, there is a thin line between personal and professional lives. Once, this is not clear, chances are high of employees commenting on topics, which would otherwise result in irreparable damages. What to do? The team responsible for handling any crisis: should have clear policies, detailing what participants (social media) should do or not do in particular situations.

For instance: In the event a customer comments negatively about a product, let the social media manager, and or marketing director respond to the comment.

2. Use Social Media as a Tool for Crisis Monitoring

Where else if not on social media? If you would like to know what people are saying about your brand, go on social media and do the noble thing: listen. Armed with this knowledge, why not use social media to track issues that might affect your brand? Your social media team should man the social media space ready to fish any comment that might otherwise result in a full-blown catastrophe if left unattended.

3. Understand the Response-ability of Social Media

Gone are the days, when you only had to be close to traditional media to know your roof is on fire. Traditional media’s, inaccessibility, made it take longer for word to spread. Today, residents in Nairobi, in a matter of minutes, will know what is happening in Garissa. To imply that social media has significantly altered the rate at which information is exchanged and consumed. 

Social media has substantially reduced the window organizations have to respond in moments of crisis. On facebook, it might take 12 hours to respond to a crisis, while on twitter it is a matter of minutes. This new normal has to be factored in. Not only should you have people ready to act during normal working hours: but also after working hours – Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm.

4. Establish a Framework for Response

In a crisis communication, we have what we call, a war room. This is where; the crisis team goes in to put out the fire and come out either victorious and or the people who brought down an entire organization. You would not dream to be part of that team. At least when things pan out differently.

Regardless of the outcome: it is important that you have all passwords, gadgets accessible for such a time. You should well in advance, establish who will be your fighters in the “war room” as well as which individuals will be making decisions and communicating directives to teams tasked with responding to events on the ground. This team should be ready at all times: more so during this time.

5. Build a Social Media Crisis Toolkit

Make sure to include social media when preparing toolkits for your crisis response efforts. These include standardized, pre-approved templates for blog posts, tweets, and other social media platforms that are in harmony with the rest of the brand's response efforts.

6. Know Where to Respond

With the many channels, you must know where your constituents are. The idea is to make sure that your message reaches your constituents directly. This proves that you are willing to engage with your audiences, in the forums where they are. Do not stop there. Make sure that you include all other communication channels.

7. Prepare Your Employees in Advance

To be forewarned is to be fore-armed. As management, you want to maintain a consistent message across the company. From customer care to the c-suite, everyone should read from the same script.

8. Establish the Proper Tone

Remember when you were developing your strategy: there was that section of choosing a company tone: formal or informal? In the wake of a crisis, you must not let that restrict you in your responses. Make sure that in your message, you do not come out as insensitive just because you chose to an informal tone when responding to a crisis. Just remember to choose a tone depending on the context and situation at hand.

9. Hit the Automation Kill Switch

With the many social channels owned by a company, the use of software to manage these channels has been necessary. But in a crisis, all these software must be shut down. Everything needs to be brought under the care of the crisis communication team. The reason is, in the event that your release a post off topic, you might just be seen as insensitive and carefree of the needs of the customers and all affected parties.

10. Be Honest, Be Transparent

Ultimately, in all crisis honesty will help you go a long way. “There is no such thing as too much information. During a disaster or crisis, Twitter, and other social media can provide an instant view of conditions on the ground.” – The Guardian

Continued transparency and communication will help keep the public informed and updated throughout the duration of a crisis. Even sharing bad news in these moments will be appreciated for its honest and will help re-establish long-term trust once the crisis abates.

It is always good to find someone with first-hand knowledge, to shed light on a given topic. And to also diversify my content, I sought the input of my colleagues in the field of Digital Marketing.

I tracked down Ricky Acheza, a digital marketing expert with 5 years’ experience working with local and international brands. He is the man responsible for building Internitup to be the largest higher education page on Facebook in East and Central Africa with a 25% organic engagement rate (Socialbakers, July 2014). Currently, he manages social media for Dudutech in Kenya and Rainforest Foods in the UK.

In short, Ricky knows how things work. Let us see what he has to say.

Actuate Digital (AD): Hello and thank you very much for taking the time to provide us with this interview Ricky. We will jump right in.

AD: What is your perception of Social Media in organizations in as far as its contribution to communication, marketing and or PR?

RA: With many people now on social media, and more joining every day, it is slowly becoming the easiest way for organisations and clients to interact. The near-instantaneous nature means that both parties get to send information and receive feedback faster than ever before.

AD: When using social media to push your organizational goals, in as far as communication, marketing or PR is concerned, what new 3 things have you learnt to date?

RA: They are:

• The number of followers does not matter, leads matter.
• In case of a crisis, transparency is key
• Teen talk is not for all brands

AD: What are the key secrets to a successful social media strategy?

• A good social media strategy should define the target customer and define a tone to address them
•  It should have the relevant KPIs clearly outlined.
• The purpose should be clearly defined. Be it brand awareness, lead generation etc.

AD: From your experience, do you think Kenyan C-Suite executives are warming up to the whole digital communications trends (social media)? Why?

RA: I think they are. I have come across companies that have existed in brick and mortar for decades but whose managers are trying to bring them online and social media. On a personal level, most of them have accounts on social media platforms giving an indication that they recognise it as a worthy medium to reach out to people.

AD: Tell us how you manage to execute your social media functions?

I use a lot of tools but my biggest three are a content calendar, Hootsuite and Google Alerts

Ricky’s Bio:

He is a Kenyan digital marketer with close to 5 years’ experience working with local and international brands. Having built Internitup to be the largest higher education page on Facebook in East and Central Africa with a 25% organic engagement rate (Socialbakers, July 2014), he now manages social media for Dudutech in Kenya and Rainforest Foods in the UK.

Steve Osomba, Consulting Associate: Shares his views on Social Media

Actuate Digital (AD): Hello and thank you very much for taking the time to provide us with this interview Steve. We will jump right in.

AD: What is your perception of Social Media in organizations in as far as its contribution to communication, marketing and or PR?

SO: The advent of Social Media has really changed the way organizations, commercial and Not for Profit engage their audiences. The communication between organizations and audiences was not easy back then but today social media has transformed all that with real time interaction with the customers. The result is that the organizations have come ‘closer’ to their customers making the customer-business relationship much stronger and in effect strengthening their brand in the marketplace. 

AD: When using social media to push your organizational goals, in as far as communication, marketing or PR is concerned, what new 3 things have you learnt to date?

SO: These three new things are:

▪ There is power in data. The insights are very useful in determining the appropriate content/messages that will likely be more impactful. Therefore, it is not just about posting anything

▪ Social Media is just a part of bigger maze in the efforts of Communication, Marketing, and Public Relations. As much as it has made things simpler in terms of reaching out to the customers, we should not forget other mediums.

▪ Social Media is a low budget-advertising medium that has relatively higher success rates compared to other mediums in terms of ROI. This can work perfectly for SMEs that have limited marketing budget as they work their way up.

AD: What are the key secrets to a successful social media strategy?

SO: I think the key secrets in social media strategy include having impactful content that is shared consistently and responding to queries in a timely and satisfying way.

AD: From your experience, do you think Kenyan C-Suite executives are warming up to the whole digital communications trends (social media)? Why?

SO: Yes, I believe they are and the reason being that digital communications is the future of doing business. Any C-Suite executive who ignores the wave of digital communications risks being left behind. In any case, customers are looking to engage with the final decision makers because they want affirmative responses to their enquiries. Currently, those handling social media platforms for various organizations are not delivering on this and customers are increasingly becoming agitated. The time for being ‘too big to handle such’ has run out.

AD: Tell us how you manage to execute your social media functions?

SO: Currently, there are myriad social media platforms and it will be quite challenging to use all of them considering all the forms of resources. To this end, I strategically choose those that would work for my company. Therefore, I prepare weekly social media calendar that details the various posts that I would share on each platform. I consistently do this every week and up to this very moment, the results are nothing less than impressive.

''...the key secrets in social media strategy include having impactful content...''

Steve's Bio:

He is a holder of Bachelor of Science in Communication & Public Relations from Moi University and a Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Marketing Management from Kenya Institute of Management (KIM). He is also a member of the Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK). He works with SMD Consulting Associate, a Strategy & Innovation Company as a Communication & Marketing Consultant. 

Social media optimization

I mean, you have your social media properties set up. Can’t you just continue posting content as per the schedule you set? Why the change of heart, yet you have made the bold first step?

Well, you have looked at your social media properties and noticed something, didn’t you? In comparison to other social media properties, you are not getting the traction you set out at the outset. Social media optimization (SMO) will help your corporation generate the publicity it has been working hard to get. Result, increased awareness.

So let us break down the 12 steps you need to take in order to optimize your social media properties aimed at boosting your social interaction and increase awareness. If you are ever having trouble, optimizing your social media properties, come back here and re-read this post to get a handle on the practice. Let us get started, shall we?

What are these 12 steps?

Start by defining your objectives and goals.

The decision to execute a social media program should not be treated casually. Similar to all other corporate programs, know exactly what it is that you want to achieve. Determine cues that will be used to measure progress.

As Lee Odden says, ‘Know your desired outcome at you start – for example, reputation, sales, influence, credibility, charity, traffic/page views.

Offer Value

Millions of social media programs exist in the social realm. But not all of them realize their set goals. Why? They fail to utilize this chance to share new knowledge with their audience. Do not make that mistake. Be there and be ready to share the most valuable content.

If apiece of content makes people seem smart, they are more likely to share it with their friends. And people like being the first to share information because it makes them seem cool and in the know – Mashable

Increase Linkability

To optimize a site for social media, we need to increase the linkability of the content. Adding a blog is a great step, however there are many other ways such as creating white papers and thought pieces, or even simply aggregating content that exists elsewhere into a useful format – Rohit Bhargava

Tag your content

Enable your content to reach a wider audience by using tags. A tag is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information (such as an Internet bookmark, digital image, or computer file). – Wikipedia. They help describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching. 

Make your content easy to access

Our audience have limited time to spend. Capitalize on that. By using short links that drive users to the exact location of your content prevents them from getting bored.

Content that is easy to view through short links (PDFs, video files, and audio files); travels further and is more trackable in proving it is driving visitors ultimately to your site – Rohit Bhrargava

Use permalinks in blogs for keywords and sharing

When you blog, permalinks automatically capture keywords in the URL titles that search engine look for when the crawl your site; at the bottom of your blog, they make it easy for readers to copy and share – Barn Raisers
 

Be Rewarding

In social media, we cannot go at it alone. We need to formulate a strategy, to court influencers, who help push the brands agenda. Whenever, you come across the content of these influencers, share it. This will give you visibility.

Show Humility

You are on a journey. Once you make it to the top, remember all the people that made it possible. Always show respect.

Let Go Of an Idea and Let Others Own It

In the spirit of social media principles, the idea of Social Media Optimization is now out there and belongs to the marketing and PR community. I strongly believe the future definition of this emerging marketing practice will come from the group – Rohit Bhargava

Know Your Targeting

Going into social media blind is not wise. Prior to anything, determine beforehand whom you intend to communicate with. Once you determine the audience you can appeal to, stick to that demographic. Those who you cannot let them be.

Be Useful

Add outbound links to areas that could help others. Folks will link to your social site and tag is as helpful or the ‘ultimate’ guide in that space. As this adds up, it will become more and more relevant in search engine results – Jeremiah Owyang

Stay On Top Of Your Game

With all the technological advances, you need to stay up-to-date. Learn of any new tool sin the industry. Know what the social media channels are up to. Never let any new development pass you by. It could be the break you have been waiting for to reach a million page views.

Over to you now reader. Give it a go and let me know how it goes.

This post originally appeared here.

How are you fairing on in LinkedIn?

To those of us working to break a niche in the world of digital communications – marketing, we should be curious. On my part, my curiosity has led me to severally observe how businesses doing so well on the social sphere go about it. To essentially find out what makes them tick.

I do not stop there, as should you. I delve further to observe those that are not doing so well, and find out why. Yet the two companies under observation could be in the same industry, netting same amounts in revenue, have almost equal numbers of employees, why the huge difference?

While on my fact-finding mission, I came across a blog post by Krista Neher, of kristaneher.com. Her post, quite informative, helped me reach a conclusion rather quickly.

In her post which she states bluntly: ‘…While I do not have all of the answers, one thing has become clear: Most businesses that do not get results from social media do not do it right.’ It then became clear, that those using social media, yet fail to get the desired results owe those bad results to themselves.

To continue she lists, some of the aspects that these businesses fail in and as a result fail their social media program. I will categorize them for simplification:

Content Strategy

• The content is not strategic
• They have no strategy                                            
• The content is not very interesting
• The posts are not structured well
• The audience is not clearly defined

 Copywriting

• The headlines are mediocre
• They do not post consistently

Incorporating talented graphic designers

• The posts do not have great visuals  

Krista's advise is to go all in when it comes to social media. I agree.

Many a times we have seen poor images used on corporate social media sites, unprofessional graphics, unattractive headlines and so on. Feel free to use the list to iron out areas of weakness as you revamp your social media program.

Post consistently. Use the best images in your image library (you should have one of these). Ask your colleagues to chime in on your headlines, if it works, keep it. If not, re-write it. Depending on the feedback, adjust accordingly.

Corporations cannot afford to stay on the sidelines anymore. The social media games are on. And whoever dances his feet off, will take home the pot of gold. Taking part is becoming a must-do. With that in mind, deploy your resources fully towards your social media program and watch as the magic happens.

I would like to hear from you on this. Leave a comment.

To read the original blog post, click here.

Social Communication

3 Steps To Becoming The Best Social Communicator

The world is moving at a steady pace. The advent of digital has revolutionised the way people do business. The way businesses do business. Digital has found its place of comfort in communication and marketing. Calling upon the need for business leaders/founders to socialize their businesses.

At the forefront of digital, we have the social web. According to PR daily, ‘In less than 10 years, social media has become communication professionals’ best friend and fickle foe. With relative ease, customers can be targeted, support can be organized, discussions can flourish, and grievances can be aired with ease.’

This creates the need for all of us in the discipline to hone our social communication skills. How do we deliver upon the promises of organizing support to customers having difficulty: contribute to discussions online and address customer grievances in real time? By learning how to be good social communicators.

To be one, you need to work on the following:

Creatively Respond To Positive Feedback

People like to be praised. It bolsters their self-esteem. The same is true of businesses in the social realm. Many a times, when all is said and done, we all expect good feedback. Especially when we have made the effort to reach out. It could be positive feedback, about your service delivery and or quality of products.

When it happens, take time to respond to that feedback. Bottom line:always respond. Be creative; mention the source in the post/comment. Acknowledge their contribution in pushing the brands equity a notch higher. Make them know that there contribution is valued.

Deal With Negative Feedback Quickly and Appropriately

This is what we fear most. Being put down. It happens to most of us during the course of our lives. In our personal lives, we are even allowed to take it personally. However, in a business set-up do not ever take this personally. Especially negative feedback.

Suppose, a customer posts a negative comment regarding your services: do not respond by telling him to go get the service elsewhere. As was the case with Kenya Power & Lighting Company (kplc) January 21st: during a total blackout in some counties. On one twitter handle, a user posted his frustration of staying in the dark. The social team at KPLC, response chose to respond by telling the user to try other lighting sources such as candles, lamps, etc. It was a nightmare, if no one noticed. Thanks to monopoly the user could not move. If there were other service providers, don’t you think the user could have jumped ship?

Instead, try something like promising to address the issue by either giving him a refund and or internally, find out what led to the negative feedback exactly. Give them assurance that something is being done to remedy and or rectify the situation to normalcy.

Remember, always be timely. A complaint responded to 3 days later would have done irreparable harm. Avoid this.

Make Social A Resource for Your Customers and Not Yourself

Go on the social web, with the intention to give, give and give some more. Make it you mission to give useful information to your audience, round the clock.

Post alert when you suspect the roads would flood. Notify users of the promotion going on and if possible give them a reward, such a coupon. Do not tire to give.

Offers, promotions, product launches, the whole shebang. By giving and giving some more, you increase your chances of not only getting deserving repeat customers but also, loyal customers who will go out of their own way to evangelize your product and or services.

Do you feel ready to go be the best social communicator on the social web? Give it a go and share your experience with me.

Five Things To Do, To Be On Top

Five Things to Boost Your Social Media Skills

Social media managers (communicators & marketers in general) need to sharpen their skills, now more than ever. As we continue to witness the immense growth of digital channels, it is incumbent that we continue to learn.

The question becomes, how do you stay up to date with changes happening this fast? How do you run with the giants and prevent a possible burnout, yet they keep changing and or adding features to the social sites, every single day?

It might seem daunting to stay on top of the game. Considering that social media is growing very fast, but we can do it.

All you need to do is, invest your time and a few shillings and you will be on your way to keeping your skills sharp. I read this piece of wisdom, somewhere and I am going to share it as I read it: ‘Make the time to invest in yourself.' Sometimes we are so caught up in doing our day to day jobs, that we forget the importance of learning new skills and practicing. Prioritize investing in yourself and your skills or you’ll quickly find that your skills are obsolete.’

To keep you on top of your game, here are five things you need to do:

1) Attend conferences/seminars

How many have you attended so far? Just the other day, an accountant friend of mine went to a seminar, on Corporate Tax, organized by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). In so doing, he shared with me, that he gathered valuable knowledge that he would not have, while at his desk.

This goes to show you, how important it is to refresh your knowledge. Conferences, and or seminars is where you will learn from experts and expand your knowledge repertoire. Conferences get you energized, allow you to network with other smart people and get the latest on industry trends, tools, strategies, and approaches.

2) Read a few books

Readers are leaders. I heard this way back, and I continue to hear it to date. In fact, among the 10 things that Warren Buffet does, before clocking out is he reads 500 pages every day. Moreover, this is a person the world, refers to as the Oracle of Omaha! Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and group are not far behind.

Reading a few good books about topics (social media) that you want to learn more about, will make you a leader in your field. Books tend to go into more depth than blog posts and are usually based on facts, data, and research vs. opinions. Brian Tracy says, if you read books on your field, it will take you 5 years to become a leader in your field.

3) Blog subscription

There are many blogs in the world, on any topic you think about. Choose a few blogs and subscribe to the RSS feed. Make it a priority to read a few blog posts or trade publications at least every other day. This will keep you up to date on new content and give you quick posts on new topics. Better yet, start your own blog. Share your work experiences.

4) Attend a training.

Formal training is great because it provides structure around learning something new. It is usually more comprehensive versus a conference or blog post, meaning that you will learn a topic from start to finish. Social Media Training is a great way to continue to advance your skills.

5) Follow great social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn)

It is a crime, if you do not have at least one social media account. If not at least three. With that in mind, where else can you connect and see what pioneers and or thought leaders in your field are doing than through their social media handles and or accounts? I get my best news from social media and enjoy seeing a mix of personal and professional content in my streams. Follow a few accounts to get breaking news and inspiration in your social media news feeds.

I am sure the list could be longer than this. Feel free to add your own to-do’s and share them with us. Until then, cheers to ever being on top of the game!

Would you like to connect with me on social media? Check out my accounts.

Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Google+

Sales ROI - Social Media

Social Media ROI Series Part 5: Sales

Members of the c-suite like this ultimate ROI. Will it boost our sales? They tend to ask immediately. Who wouldn’t? I mean, businesses exist to make sales. The more sales a business makes, the more profits it makes in that financial year. However, businesses involved in e-commerce, stand a better chance of reaping this rewards through social media efforts.

According to Peter Friedman, LiveWorld, ‘There are two types of sales ROI. Firstly, there is the direct revenue lift brands see when they push promotions through social.’

Direct revenue, because of direct sales; belong to the short-term category of sales ROI. In this category, all that businesses want is to sale, sale…sale! They will post a product, its price, and a bold call to action, prompting immediate sales. This is a characteristic of businesses in the e-commerce industry.

Through a social media program, a business can make direct sales (short-term) by offering their products up for sale and or through promotions. Through coupons and or sales promotions, products can indeed move. As we know, immediate sales, is what members of the c-suite want to see: making it quite a challenge.

‘Of course, short-term sales are not bad. They’re good—as long as the promotional push to make them happen doesn’t compromise building a social experience with committed, long-term customer relationships (and the revenue they create).’ says, Peter.

If your goal is to drive sales, it is advisable that you embed call to actions in your messages and or have some metric in place that will show you how you are doing in regards to making sales. For instance, having a link on social media that directs the visitor to a landing page and or sign-up to a newsletter page, and or build a mailing list. These are good places to start. The key is to have some way of measuring your sales efforts.

‘Long-term sales ROI generated from relationship-building ROI when customers become active with the brand community, form a deeper relationship, and build a space for the brand and its products in there and their friends’ everyday lives. Here is where we see increased loyalty, increased lifetime customer value, and enhanced revenue growth that is sustained overtime.’ says Peter.

Still on the path to making sales, businesses can decide to go the long route and or short route. Instead of hitting their visitors with hard selling messages, they choose to forge a relationship first. Then cultivate that relationship into a lifetime customer.

This is the best route businesses are always advised to take. In the process, they not only make sales but also, convert total strangers into loyal and lifetime customers. Who better to evangelize your products and or services other than your customers?

Research has shown that people will tend to buy more if they get recommendations from close relations, compared to advertising and or persuasions by a business. Then why not leverage this opportunity? Make her want to talk about your products and or services, wherever they are.

In the sales funnel, for which social media plays a critical part, its takes time to convert a prospect. Holding his hand all the way from awareness, interest, decision, and action needs patience. In addition, social media plays a pivotal role in taking a prospect through all the stages.

In conclusion, knowing social media ROI is key to knowing the value any social media program brings to the table. Without which, any social media efforts would be seen as throwing away money. Knowing which ROI to be on the lookout for helps in finding a way forward. Knowing what works and what does not.

If you missed my earlier posts on social media ROI, read them here. I would love to hear from you on this. Until then, happy reading.

Welcome to our place of business.

Social Media ROI Series Part 4: Relationship Building

We are all familiar with the business motto: ‘A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so.’

                                              

This motto has served many businesses in understanding that at the center of their operations is the customer. They (customers) determine the growth of a business. That is why organizations spend a fortune in recruiting new customers and still work round the clock to keep the old ones.

Knowing this, businesses then try to find ways to ensure that they build a formidable client base: which can be achieved through good customer relations. What businesses will realize is that social media can aid in cultivating good customer relationships, which will then lead to sustainable sales ROI.

“Delivering outstanding service [through social] creates impassioned advocates and can serve as a powerful marketing weapon for companies,” according to Jim Bush, Executive Vice President of American Express World Service, in a company press release. 

“For example, consumers who have used social media for service in the last year are willing to pay a 21 percent premium at companies that provide great service. They also tell three times as many people about positive service experiences compared to the general population. Ultimately, getting service right with these social media–savvy consumers can help a business grow.”  He adds.

Jim's testament, further proves the value of building relationships on the social web. On that note, social media delivers the following benefits:

• Customer Loyalty
• Brand Advocacy
•  Intent To Buy

Customer Loyalty

This is a result of consistently providing positive emotional experience, physical attribute-based satisfaction and perceived value of an experience, which includes the product or services.

According to beyondphilosophy, to build customer loyalty, customer experience management blends the physical, emotional and value elements of an experience into one cohesive experience.

It is said, retaining customers is less expensive than acquiring new ones, and customer experience management is the most cost-effective way to drive customer satisfaction, customer retention and customer loyalty.

Not only do loyal customers ensure sales, but also they are also more likely to purchase ancillary, high-margin supplemental products, and services. Loyal customers reduce costs associated with consumer education and marketing, especially when they become Net Promoters for your organization.

Brand Advocacy

The big and famous brands use brand advocates:  people who talk favourably about the brand and pass on positive word-of-mouth  messages to other people.

One thing a small business owner should know is that brand advocates are just as important to a small business as they are to the bigger corporations out there. People like to buy from companies or people that they know and trust, and they tend not to buy from those they do not.

However, how do you build that trust, particularly online? How do you get customers to come to you without spending a lot of money on advertising? By setting up a social site, and sharing topics that are of interest to your target audience.

Intent to buy

This is the ultimate goal of all business relationships. Yes, a business will feel good having a cohort of loyal customers. Having them (brand ambassadors) sell your business name, services and or products to their peers. 

However, building a relationship to the point that customers desire your products and or services and eventually decide to act on their desires, is the ultimate ROI.

For a business to walk the journey from building relationships and converting page visitors into loyal customers all the way to repeat buyers, takes good relationship building skills. Social media has provided a platform for which we can spend less, reach many people, and establish a connection. One that would eventually lead to sales. 

By monitoring the sales metric, you are able to quantify the value social media is bringing to the table. Understanding ROI helps us stand firm, and set our eyes on the prize.

If you missed by previous post, read it here.