Speak and Listen to your consumers !
More and more businesses are getting on social networking platforms, especially Twitter. I’ve come across many (in fact, way too many) company accounts that are either pretty much inactive or can be classified as ‘spammers’. Sure, 140 characters is good enough for business advertisements, quick and cost-effective. What’s more ? It’s free ! But doing it the wrong way can actually backfire your plans and destroy all potential relationships you may gain.
From personal experiences, I think it is important for business to bear in mind a few tips before starting to reach out to your crowd on social networking sites, IMHO :
1) Know your audience, listen to their needs !
Recently there was this email spam from a certain property agency that pissed most tweeples off. As for me, I think it’s quite silly to email me (of all people!) who have yet to pay off my university debt to check out the new apartments in town. Seriously, do some research and know who are your target audience ! Obviously I don’t need a condo yet?!
I think it’s a good and important thing that companies are starting to ‘listen’ online to their consumer’s needs too ! I tweeted about looking for a short term rental apartment in Hong Kong just yesterday and I got a reply from @Ascott_Ltd recommending their serviced residences. Perfect example of listening to what your customers need and responding to what they are looking for, without sounding too pushy.
2) Don’t just be yet-another-brand, be personal !
It’s no longer about how ‘BIG’ your brand is but consumers need to be ‘entertained’. It’s nice to know there are ‘real people’ behind the online presence too. We like to see behind-the-scenes after a movie is out, so same goes for brands online. We’re not talking to bots afterall !
I personally like @standingsushi even thought I have yet to try their food. Mainly because I read about them on their blog and I really liked how they bring their concept across. And when I mentioned to my bestie that I want to visit @standingsushi someday, I immediately received a personal message to welcome my future visit. It certainly makes me want to go down and check it out personally (real soon!).
3) It’s about profit BUT more about relationship !
Be a ‘friend’ rather than an annoying salesman. You need to build a relationship based on trust, sincerity and constant interaction. Sure, not everyone can buy your products all the time but hey, no harm retweeting or spreading the message to others who can possibly do so if I like you. Don’t just follow everyone and expects to be followed back instantly. It’s not about the numbers either.
I like @thegardenslug alot as you can see from my tweets if you’ve been following. I started off not knowing what they have to offer but I don’t feel that their main objectives of being online is to force people to visit them but instead, to build a relationship with their customers. That’s definitely a (Popsicle) brownie point for me and when I visited them, I knew it won’t be the last time I’m going over because The Garden Slug won my heart with their friendliness and awesome food.
4) Don’t act like a naggy old fart. Stop repeating the same messages!
This is spamming. Quality over quantity. 987123415623 tweets about the same product isn’t going to get you sales. We get your message but we may not like it. In fact, count yourself lucky if you still have 1 follower at the end of the day.
5) Reach out – help – contribute !
Sometimes it’s not just about your brand. No one really cares about you on twitter since it’s such a huge community unless you reach out to them individually. Introduce yourself at the right time – don’t be too money-minded aka not too eager to sell your product/services. Promote others or retweet their messages is a good way to start, it’s not just about you afterall. It’s all about the charm and making people genuinely interested in you. Share interesting relevant links or include pictures or videos in your messages. People will follow you if they enjoy reading your tweets.
6) Customer is always number 1. (not entirely true but that’s the saying)
(Almost) Real-time customer service is probably the best thing that one can get from social networking sites. I like how @Starhubcares try to answer to everyone’s enquries and drop direct messages to assist you when you are getting pissed holding on to the phone for half an hour listening to that awful waiting tone. Sometimes it just takes a tiny effort to pacify your angsty customers and we like it when you are willing to listen to our feedback and improve. It’s a 2 way communication afterall.
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Of course I’m no expert and I may be wrong but at least that’s how I feel as a consumer. Any good case studies or examples that you can think of ? Or any other tips you can think of to share ? Open to discussion =)
PC Show 2009 Hype
Despite the economic downturn AND H1N1 saga, PC Show 2009 at Suntec was flooded by people. You practically have to squeeze and push (or in my case,being pushed) your way through the human jam. I guess the fact that I went there on the last day explains the crowd as well. However it didn’t take me long to notice that the down-escalators were packed with quite an amount of people who left empty-handed.
Question for all consumers out there : Why do you go down for PC Show ?
If you wanted to do market research, online is probably the best place to do so I believe. The entire price list is being uploaded and the leaflets were even scanned by kind souls out there. The price won’t be much of a huge difference on the spot as well, so isn’t it easier to find your “potential” buys before heading down for an aimless stroll with the smelly crowd in that stuffy hall ?
Another thing worth mentioning is the amount of leaflet littered on the floor – do these companies even need to print these leaflet outs ? I appreciate the people who shared the information online and taking the trouble to scan them in. I did my own research with those digital leaflets before heading down, that saves me alot of time and the hassle to go through the papers on the spot. Eventually these leaflets are of no use and it just contributes to the big hoohaa about “recycling” and “global warming” issues.
IF employment is the key factor here, then why not hire those part timers and train them properly to promote your products instead of getting them to stand around to hand out paper that are to be thrown on the floor after a few steps ? Kudos to this promoter at the S-brand booth for sharing his insights about the ext.hdd that I was planning to get. He was so sincere and honest about how their competitor ext.hdd is probably a more suitable choice for my usage instead of desperately trying to con me into buying their item. I actually felt like I’ll buy the ext.hdd from him instead if I’m less practical/logical ! I almost had a sorethroat from the “yelling” conversations because of the various sound setups. (haha)
My dad was complaining about how they should hold the PC Show at EXPO instead of Suntec after enduring the not-enough-parking-issue,the human traffic madness and poor air ventilation of the halls. From an event organizer’s point of view, I guess a centralized location matters most. However, I do agree on the poor air ventilation issue especially with the H1N1 paranoia, I was actually surprised to see no signs of any mask-wearers !
I guess it just annoys me alil when there are people who are there just for the sake for “yes,i’ve been to the PC show” or er…”experience the PC show hype” when they are not there to buy anything or without the intention to ? It causes people who really wanted to buy things alot of inconvenience and the crowd may not be necessary if not for these random aunties/kids/window-shoppers. In addition, after comparing prices online, I believe that Simlim or Funan provides the same offer etc. In fact, we got our webcam at the creative shop itself instead of PC Show which was pretty empty and better service provided.
Can you imagine if just 1 or 2 people were H1N1 carriers ? Sheesh. PANIC SINGAPORE, PANIC !!!
but of course I didn’t go there just for a “site visit” and I didn’t do my online research for nothing. (hur)
Loots : Seagate 1TB ext.hdd xtreme , creative live webcam , 2 HP printer ink
picture source : square75@blogspot
