mariare Social technology has empowered consumers, creating a revolution that has driven business marketing from broadcast to engagement models. And, as we know from Moore’s Law, this macro trend is never going back. As technology advances, consumers adapt and the foundation of how businesses market will continue to evolve.
Customers expect to be heard.
Technology has given your customer a voice. Rather, they’ve always had a voice, now they have a ready arsenal of tools to broadcast that voice, loud and proud across the Internet. This represents a tremendous shift in power from business to customer:
- What they say about your product or service has more weight than what you say;
- Your brand is no longer defined by your own description but by the voice of your customer;
- Your business or organization is no longer a pyramid but a flattened cluster of pods;
- Your message is no longer your own…
Your customer has a voice and they are not afraid to use it.
Listen to engage purposefully.
As with any relationship, whether personal or professional, listening is required to engage on a purposeful level. The same is true for your relationship with your customers. They have a voice and expect to be heard by the companies, organizations and people who wish to be in a relationship with them.
Listening leads to understanding which then leads to engagement with purpose.
Get started by listening in the social sphere of your customer:
- Monitoring what people are saying about you, your competitors, and your industry.
- Monitoring keywords and conversations on Twitter and other social media networks.
- Monitoring content on blogs and conversations across the blogosphere.
- Monitoring your competition and industry using Google Alerts and Blog Search.
- Monitoring threads within forums and communities using Board Tracker.
Engage your customer deeper:
- Soliciting customer feedback/testimonials within your social media presence.
- Searching customer review and Q&A opportunities to directly contact your customer or other audience members.
- Creating a hash tag relevant to your audience that allows direct feedback, questions, and dicussions with your customer or potential customer.
- Actively engaging customers and potentials customers through blog comments, paying attention to negative and positive feedback.
- Engaging customer feedback and input when developing new products and services throughout your online presence.
- Using polls and surveys to ask specific questions to gather information on your audience’s preferences, problems, etc.
Listen to the voice of your customers, they will lead you to a land of deeper understanding and purposeful engagement.