A Social Media cardinal sin - Social Media Snubbery!

There is a new form of customer service faux pas doing the rounds, and in line with a large percentage of business is online, and comes in the form of the Social Media snub. 

The old school and still very prominent snub, is in my book one of the worst customer service crimes and can offend a customer in many ways, take a look at the examples below:

-          In order to avoid dealing with you the receptionist ignores your presence and picks up the phone before you reach the counter

-          The bartender who serves all of the pretty girls/guys around you without even acknowledging your existence

-          Or the team members who are so fully ingrained in their conversation to even realise you are there and need their help

A snub shows blatant disrespect and is the biggest way to lose customers, resulting in them bad mouthing you, and sending them directly to your competitors without you ever having the chance to win them back or apologise.

Now the snub has gone online, and is in fact even worse in this form as there is no hiding from it. The disrespect you dish out here is in public and that can hurt a customer and you much more.

The problem is that is can be so easily done.  With so many companies engaging in Social Media without a solid plan, strategy or system, it is quite easy for posts to slip through the net, or remain unanswered for long periods of time

So what is a Social Media snub?

When a post is not answered on a social media site, whilst the page still responds to other questions, adds promotional posts or interacts with other users.

A social snub is worse than those detailed from the above as it is public, people can see that you have been snubbed and that hurts.

There is no mistaking it.  With some of the examples above the age old excuse of “sorry sir I didn't see you there” can be used.  The same can’t be applied on Social Media.  

Other posts are being answered, which in all terms and purposes makes the customer feel that they are not as important as others.

All of the above can have a hugely detrimental effect on your brand, not just from the person you snubbed but also from all of the other people who may now not post due to other posts on your page not being responded to.

6 Ways to avoid the Snub:

-Just answer the question

- If you cannot answer it just say

-Empower your followers to answer the question

-Acknowledge the post and say you will find out the answer soon

-Say you cannot answer the question but give them the details of the person who can

-Ask them to Direct Message you with their details and get someone to call them who can help them

Falling into the trap of thinking that Social Media is cheap form of Marketing or for SEO purposes may mean you are taking the eye off of the ball and alienating customers in the process.  All of this reinforces the need for a defined Social Media strategy for businesses of all sizes, working out a schedule and allocated team members to deal with posts, questions and complaints, alongside engaging in conversations and posting interactive content.

For more information on Paul you can follow him on twitter @paulsonso email him on paul@soandsomarketing.co.uk  and visit www.soandsomarketing.co.uk to find out more on measuring Customer Service and Experience.

So and So Marketing is a full service marketing and design agency based in Weymouth, Dorset and covering the South of England, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Somerset and Devon.

Measure and Incentivize your team on Customer Experience to increase repeat business and staff empowerment!

Does your business measure Customer Service & Experience?

Are you team incentivized purely on sales and revenue generated?

How about incentivizing staff on their customer interactions and the experience the customer has?

When companies are purely focused on sales and revenue it can often lead to potentially great sales but often poor after sales which in turn can hinder repeat custom, and effect that all important word of mouth and social media feedback.

Instead try increasing commission based on after sales questionnaires, or reducing it for poor results, create a Team bonus structure based on customer service results, and empower your team to come up with suggestions to make the customer experience that extra bit special, and reward them based on the results this brings.

Customer Experience awards and bonuses based on yearly, monthly and weekly results is also a great way to incentivise those not directly related to sales within your company and can help to make these employees feel an important and valued member of the team, whilst giving the business the opportunity to monitor both staff and company performance in this area.

In an age where the experience and service your company gives a customer can spread within a matter of minutes and  with consumers expecting more than ever,  can your company afford not measure, analysis and work to improve and excel in this area? 

For more information on Paul you can follow him on twitter @paulsonso email him on paul@soandsomarketing.co.uk  and visit www.soandsomarketing.co.uk to find out more on measuring Customer Service and Experience.

So and So Marketing is a full service marketing and design agency based in Weymouth, Dorset and covering the South of England, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Somerset and Devon.

SMS love competition winners announced

Just before Xmas we launched the SO and SO Marketing SMS Love Competition, whereby 3 businesses could win upto £500 worth of SMS marketing goodies, support and advice from good old me.

So I am please to announce the winners:

Advance Insurance from Wiltshire
Print Shop Express from Weymouth
Pebley Beach Hyundai from Swindon

Each business receives 500 free text credits, an SMS keyword and shortcode ie text SOANDSO to 63333 (you can if you want, go on give it a try) a free consultancy from me to discuss the best solutions and applications for their business, then we will set them up and run them.

I will let you know what solutions we come up with and what we have created as we go along and will feedback the results, good or bad, we are all about honesty here.

All of the winners are completely different types of businesses so I look forward to the challenge and seeing what sort of SMS solutions and apps we can create.

For further information on SMS and Mobile Marketing in Weymouth, Dorset and Wiltshire visit www.soandsomarketing.co.uk

You can also follow me on twitter @paulsonso

8 ways to generate your own opt in Mobile number database.

I have long been an advocate of the power of gathering opt in Mobile number databases, and how this type of database is the strongest in terms of marketing response rates.   97% of text messages are read within 5 seconds and response rates to text messages also beat all other mediums hands down.

On a previous blog I mentioned that rather than the short term and costly way of purchasing Mobile data from an agent, it is better to work hard and generate your own, so below I have defined 8 ways  that an opt in mobile database can be gathered.

1. Running a Text Competition.  People love competitions and winning prizes.  By running a text competition whereby the customer texts in via a shortcode ie 63333 to enter, they by accepting the terms of conditions of the competition and thus opting in directly to your database

2. Asking customers for feedback:  This can done via a Shortcode and keyword 

Example: text the word FEEDBACK followed by your thoughts on today's event to 87121 and you will be entered into a prize draw

This can also be done via a manual questionnaire and again you can collect Mobile numbers from these and create an opt in number by writing the Terms and Conditions correctly

3. SMS Text reminders are hugely popular and are a great service to customers.  We work with a number of MOT garages offering this service and there is never a shortage of people taking up the offer of a free reminder text straight to their mobile when their MOT is due. 

4. By putting a mobile Shortcode call to action on your marketing activity not only is this proven to increase response rates but also helps to generate strong leads and some great opt in mobile numbers at the same time

Example:  text the word CARAVAN and your name address to 63333 and we will send you our latest holiday brochure 

5. Via your Email Newsletter sign up. It amazes me that asking for a mobile number is so often missed off when companies gather data via their websites, after all it is just another field.

6. Manual Data Collection.  I love the art of capturing data in person, and often when at events, shows and exhibitions it is by the best way to do it.  Always ask for a mobile alongside your other info.  As long as the customer understands they will receive text alerts, messages and offers from you, and you explain this in print on the sheet they sign up on they are opt in.

7. VIP Club, this works in varying ways for different types of businesses but by getting customers to sign up to receive exclusive content, options to skip a queue  or other Text to gain:

Example:  text REQUEST and your song request to 63333

8. Offers: Everyone loves an offer and is one of the main ways in which people hand over their data.  This can be a manual sign up, via a website or via a text shortcode again, but is the purest form of opt in, so make sure you take those mobile numbers.

For more information on SMS Mobile Mobile marketing and why sending texts to your customers should be part of marketing plan in 2013 visit www.soandsomarketing.co.uk

Follow me on twitter @paulsonso

So and So Marketing is a full service Marketing Agency based on the sunny south coast of England in Weymouth,  Dorset.

2012 Marketing Christmas list, 2013 to do list..

On our recent email newsletter I put the below Marketing objectives which I feel should be on all Businesses Christmas lists, so which of these are you putting into place for 2013?

* AN opt in Mobile Database

* Social Media campaign aimed at your audience

* A defined way to measure customer experience

* A LinkedIn Company page

* A website fit for mobile

* Create Strategic partnerships

* A clear, creative and quantifiable marketing strategy for 2013

For more information on Paul and So and So Marketing visit www.soandsomarketing.co.uk email Paul@soandsomarketing.co.uk follow him on Twitter @paulsonso or sign up to their email newsletter by CLICKING HERE

DON’T SPAM, KERBLAM! Being more effective with your Email, Social Media and SMS Marketing!

It is all so easy to fall into the trap when working on SMS, email or Social Media campaigns of constantly trying to sell to your database and thus really just becoming SPAM. The problem is, this becomes boring to the majority of people, annoying to others, and what initially was a brand you trusted and opted in to be part of, now quite frankly bugs the hell out of you. So you either opt out or just ignore the messages completely, from the brands perspective a connection and possible customer is lost. Now when you send your database about an offer or info on something they really want to hear about you don’t have their attention or you cant reach them as they have opted out.

Back in the day when I was a Commercial agent for Sports teams and athletes I had a mantra that I would always speak to our sponsors at least 4 times during the season without asking for money. So I called them to give them free event tickets, make sure their advert was up to date in programme, ask them if they wanted to feature on our email newsletter ….. or just for a general chat. You can be sure when we needed a Man of the Match sponsored during or at the end of the season and their sponsorship renewal was up, they were always happy to speak with me and answered the phone.

The same applies to your database, send messages that show you care, are informative, useful, funny and not just the blatant sale, that way when you have something really great to sell, KERBLAM you have your contacts full attention and you have a good chance to bag a sale…

For more information on Paul and So and So Marketing visit www.soandsomarketing.co.uk email Paul@soandsomarketing.co.uk follow him on Twitter @paulsonso or sign up to their email newsletter by CLICKING HERE

Find a buddy and share the love - Generate your own database rather than purchasing one!

Pretty often we get asked by companies about purchasing databases of mobile numbers to send SMS messages to.  Yes of course we can, and have strategic partners whereby databases large and small can be purchased as well as owning some ourselves, but for the below reasons I would always recommend steering clear of this option.  Instead I would go for the option of working hard on creating your own opt in database, and/or buddying up with fellow companies who also have opt in databases.

Reasons against purchasing mobile numbers

·        -  PURCHASING A DATABASE IS EXPENSIVE

·       -   YOU WILL OFTEN BE CHARGED PER FIELD SO TO PURCHASE A FULLY TARGETED DATABASE WILL COST YOU

·         - YOU ONLY GET TO USE IT ONCE

·         - MANY OF THOSE YOU TEXT WILL NOT BE SPECIFIC SMS OPT IN (and will not be expecting promo texts from strange companies)

·        -  YOU RUN THE RISK OF ALIENATING THE VERY PEOPLE YOU ARE TRYING TO WIN OVER

·         - SOMETIMES THE DATABASE HAS NOT BEEN CLEANSED AND THERE CAN BE WASTAGE

·         - YOUR COMPETITORS MAY HAVE ALREADY USED THE DATABASE

Work hard to reap longer standing rewards

It takes longer, its hard work, but creating your own opt in Mobile number database is very rewarding.  In terms of marketing there is no comparison in terms of immediacy and response rates to that of sending  SMS text messages  and in particular when it comes to engaging via that form with your own opt in database.  These people are expecting to receive SMS messages from you, they are waiting to hear from you, and are interested in the content and offers you send to them, and a good % will utilise the call to action and take up your offer.

** The average response rate to a text message is 28%

** 50% of those who respond make a purchase

Find a buddy and share the love

An alternative way to use mobile data and reach new audiences is to form strategic alliances with other companies, which is something I have done with many of my clients to great degree of success.  In return for you texting your database an offer promoting your partner business, they will also do the same to their database, thus promoting the products to new people, adding value to your customers (make sure you don’t just send a blatant sales text so that you don’t alienate your customers. Send them an offer or add value to them in some way). 

TIP:  Always begin and make the Originator your company name so the customer knows that the text has come from someone they trust and who they have opted in to hear from.

An example is:

Ie:  Hi SO and SO customer, we are proud to share with you this exclusive buy one get one free offer in Cafe Weymouth on Coffee when you show this text!

In return an offer or voucher can then be sent to you partner businesses database which reaches a new audience, has been received by a trusting recipient who receives value from a trusted source thus endorsing your brand, and bringing in potential new customers.

For further blogs, insights and information on SMS text messaging visit  www.soandsomarketing.co.uk email Paul@soandsomarketing.co.uk follow him on Twitter @paulsonso or sign up to their email newsletter by CLICKING HERE