Social media has brought a brand new perspective to marketers around the world. A brand is no longer dictated by the company; a brand is defined by what consumers tell each other. In light of this phenomenon, companies are scrambling to purchase monitoring tools, outsource to social media and PR agencies, and engage in round table discussions about how to improve their brand's sentiment across all social media channels. It is important to realize that Facebook and Twitter are not the only platforms to focus on. These conversations are taking place EVERYWHERE. (Yelp, Foursquare, Google +)To all the marketeers: Focus on ratings and review sites.
All consumers, you and i included, owe a big Thank You to the social media pioneers like Facebook and Twitter. These platforms have humanized companies in a way that will never be reversed. This comes in two forms, positive and negative. We all know the positives like Coca Cola, which enabled its customers to pick the new Coca Cola flavor and those of us entrenched in the social media stratosphere have heard about Denny's incorrect Twitter Handle. You can find other disaster examples in this slide show. (http://www.slideshare.net/HorizonWatching/social-media-101-social-media-disasters)
So why do people "like" or "follow" company pages?
Is it for the coupons?
Is it for the promotions?
Do they want to feel included?
Do they feel "social" knowing their friends are viewing their actions? Everyone gets a little chill when someone likes their Facebook post!
Or is it much deeper?
#1 reason is for the coupons.
(http://socialtimes.com/want-more-likes-on-facebook-survey-says-coupons-are-the-1-marketing-strategy_b84713)
Saying Thank You is a two way street. Or is it? Most of the companies I speak with on a daily basis are concerned with addressing negative sentiment posts. They shower their unsatisfied customers with coupons and gift certificates to reconcile a negative experience. Individuals who realize the power of a negative comment on social media will abuse it. I know a buddy who wrote a letter to CPG firms and complained about stale cereal and bad tasting ice cream and he received numerous free products. A different buddy of mine wrote positive letters to these SAME companies and only received a thank you letter back. I agree with the term 100% satisfaction, but when does the consumer take it too far? Have you ever heard nice guys finish last? Companies fail to reward their brand ambassadors and this should be addressed. It's not easy, but if the right tools are in place, the rewarding process is seamless. My recommendation is to find an application that can automatically archive individual FB and twitter profiles and reward chief influencers and let go of the negative nancy's. Some are only posting negative things to receive free products anyway. If you need any help with monitoring and auto-archiving, please take a look at this website.
www.engage121.com
