You know, the problem with not being a professional blogger is that, when business comes your way, you kind of follow it in a mesmerized, moth to a flame sort of way... except that usually you end up better than the moth in that analogy.
In my last post I briefly spoke about the outcome of a lucky tweet, or at least, what seemed to be a lucky tweet. In fact, it wasn't luck, it was an honest response to an interesting challenge. It was also a brilliantly informed move.
Peter Shankman is a very well known guy at the moment. Here's a short bio about him, taken from Business Insider:
By responding to Mr Shankman's tweet in the way Morton's Steakhouse did, they gave great customer service to a well followed, high profile guy. Now, I'm not about giving celebrities or famous people extra stuff, but what is partly key to this is that he is high profile for the right reasons.
He's not high profile because he kicks a ball in a goal or can string some notes together. He's not famous because he owned some tech company in the 90's which went big. How he's earnt his "fame" (of course I'm using fame loosely here) is unimportant but what he is famous for is. What's he famous for? Marketing. Under marketing comes customer service. Shankman knows the value of marketing and knows the value of good customer service, so in repayment for the quality customer service he received he repaid them in value with a little blog post.
But, let's step back a bit further here. This isn't a post about Shankman, this is about remaining connected. Morton's Steakhouse exemplify this. Having an open channel for customers to connect to the business in a quick, almost throw away way is what has made the difference here. Without Twitter, this never would have happened - it was a total throw away comment. But also, without the business taking Twitter and engagement seriously, it may have never happened either.
What makes Twitter a beautiful resource for a business is the ease of connectivity. Whereas before you'd have to find the website of the business, locate the contact page, find an e-mail or a number, decide which is more appropriate, spend more time deciding what you're going to say... now a customer just has to take out their phone and, in what feels like a throw away few words, tweet the company. (Forgive me for saying this, but...) BAM, that company instantly has feedback from a customer. Honest, without much thought feedback. You're getting that customers thought then and there. Whether it's good or bad it's feedback, which is vitally important.
So, the customer loves it, but it requires a lot from the business. It requires you to be plugged in 24/7 to be able to respond to the requests, questions, feedback.
Social Media does not sleep. People are social all the time. If you're a 8.30-6 weekday business and suddenly an article appears about your business on a news website at the weekend and you're not online to capitalise from it, you've missed out. Likewise if a customer wants an answer to a question which is time dependent, you've also missed out. This is why many businesses outsource their Social Media, as it's cheaper than paying a member of staff around the clock, 7 days a week. Of course, having in-house Social Media Marketing is great, something outsourcing can't ever fully reach, but not all businesses are in that luxurious position.
Remaining connected to your clients through Social Media is so vital but is still so undervalued because people still just don't understand it. This is a smaller dot-com all over again. The businesses which have got a large and growing online following will certainly be doing far better than those who don't. Why? Because people care about that business with the quirky or informative twitter feed, who engages with them every now and then...
It's the equivalent of the local shop keeper who knows your name. Sure there may be shops closer, but because of that relationship you've built up, no matter how shallow, you'll go that little bit further. Twitter is doing exactly the same for businesses.
Stay connected.
In my last post I briefly spoke about the outcome of a lucky tweet, or at least, what seemed to be a lucky tweet. In fact, it wasn't luck, it was an honest response to an interesting challenge. It was also a brilliantly informed move.
Peter Shankman is a very well known guy at the moment. Here's a short bio about him, taken from Business Insider:
Peter Shankman is the founder of HARO and is generally regarded as one of the top marketing consultants and speakers working today. His clients include Saudi Aramco, NASA, The U.S. Government, Haworth, Disney, Foley-Hoag LLP, American Express and countless others.
He's not high profile because he kicks a ball in a goal or can string some notes together. He's not famous because he owned some tech company in the 90's which went big. How he's earnt his "fame" (of course I'm using fame loosely here) is unimportant but what he is famous for is. What's he famous for? Marketing. Under marketing comes customer service. Shankman knows the value of marketing and knows the value of good customer service, so in repayment for the quality customer service he received he repaid them in value with a little blog post.
But, let's step back a bit further here. This isn't a post about Shankman, this is about remaining connected. Morton's Steakhouse exemplify this. Having an open channel for customers to connect to the business in a quick, almost throw away way is what has made the difference here. Without Twitter, this never would have happened - it was a total throw away comment. But also, without the business taking Twitter and engagement seriously, it may have never happened either.
What makes Twitter a beautiful resource for a business is the ease of connectivity. Whereas before you'd have to find the website of the business, locate the contact page, find an e-mail or a number, decide which is more appropriate, spend more time deciding what you're going to say... now a customer just has to take out their phone and, in what feels like a throw away few words, tweet the company. (Forgive me for saying this, but...) BAM, that company instantly has feedback from a customer. Honest, without much thought feedback. You're getting that customers thought then and there. Whether it's good or bad it's feedback, which is vitally important.
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| The happiest winking Twitter bird I could find, especially for you, Reader |
So, the customer loves it, but it requires a lot from the business. It requires you to be plugged in 24/7 to be able to respond to the requests, questions, feedback.
Social Media does not sleep. People are social all the time. If you're a 8.30-6 weekday business and suddenly an article appears about your business on a news website at the weekend and you're not online to capitalise from it, you've missed out. Likewise if a customer wants an answer to a question which is time dependent, you've also missed out. This is why many businesses outsource their Social Media, as it's cheaper than paying a member of staff around the clock, 7 days a week. Of course, having in-house Social Media Marketing is great, something outsourcing can't ever fully reach, but not all businesses are in that luxurious position.
Remaining connected to your clients through Social Media is so vital but is still so undervalued because people still just don't understand it. This is a smaller dot-com all over again. The businesses which have got a large and growing online following will certainly be doing far better than those who don't. Why? Because people care about that business with the quirky or informative twitter feed, who engages with them every now and then...
It's the equivalent of the local shop keeper who knows your name. Sure there may be shops closer, but because of that relationship you've built up, no matter how shallow, you'll go that little bit further. Twitter is doing exactly the same for businesses.
Stay connected.
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