Friday, April 13, 2012

So What is Twitter and Facebook Good For?


This is true. But this doesn't mean to not have a Twitter account or Facebook page and be active with them. They have value. And while they won't drive your sales growth, they will impact your business. A Fan and a Follower is not someone who is anything more than a passive customer. Don't count everyone as a champion of your brand. But the people who talk with you can become brand champions.

So here are some reasons to not only have these accounts but to actively manage them.

1] Customer Service - people know phone calls and emails for simple things are dead. They won't go to your site and fill out a form. They are just going to tweet or post on your page that you blew it, or suck or they are pissed. This is a chance to fix things and make them feel you care. Twitter should be fairly quick response. Facebook people will give you some time.

2] Community Building - don't give this short thrift here. You can create a brand army by actively engaging and grooming customers. These people will have your back. They will eagerly promote your brand to friends. Our Chief Alien is part of Chobani Yogurt's Army. He regularly converts people in the supermarket dairy section without pay (well there has been a few free cups of Cho but no cash!).

3] Sharing happens - Who cares if only 1% of your fans see your posts or tweets and only 0.1% respond in some way. Every time a fan or follower does respond people in their networks have a chance of seeing this person identified with your brand. This will help you slowly gain more fans and followers. While sharing per person is very low with most twitter accounts barely used and Facebook users barely clicking Like or Commenting. Why not take what you do get and view it with value.

4] Fun Fun Fun - the networks really are fun platforms for consumer brands. So give them a reason to talk with you or talk about you or visit your page. While many surveys say people only care about deals, if that is what you use these channels for you are just degrading you pricing power and wasting your resources. Use these as value added channels. Run contests. Share interesting content about your brand. Tell your story. Highlight your employees. Showcase your customers.

5] Focus Groups and Listening - View your fan base as a large focus group. Gain insights. Learn about what you do right and wrong. Shorten the development cycle for new products. You can learn about quality issues really fast.

As you can see there is value to being present on Twitter and Facebook. They help give your brand a human face. And yes you can still pitch and promote things, you just can't reach most of your customers that way,

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