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Posts Tagged ‘brands’

Is Customer Service Better in Social Media?

Is it just me or are brands more pro-active doing customer service in social media than they do in their actual brick and mortar stores or through their websites?

Dell (@DellCares) and Rogers (@RogersHelps) are great examples of a social media trailblazer and a late comer getting it right. Their social media teams are really showing other customer service reps how it is done.

Recently, some Twitter users were experiencing poor customer service at a bank. Soon after, tweets about the experience were posted, and very quickly calls from branch managers (who was notified by the social media team) were made. Social media works.

Social media lends itself to better customer service than your average website: I don’t see how filling out a “Contact Us” form can ever beat the one-to-one connection on Facebook or Twitter.

Why do brands listen on social media listening while many in-store representatives are tuning customers out? This is not an indictment of employees; it is a tough job dealing with people who sometimes don’t want to compromise.

If we can learn anything from social media, it is that listening really pays off. The other lesson is people will publish their bad experiences for their social networks to see, but not always publish the good moments.

What are some of the great customer service experiences you have had on social media? Has it outweighed your experience in store or on parent websites?

More: Check out this Mashable post looking at nine ways that top brands are customer service for better customer service. Dave Fleet has a good post on eight ways that brands can scale their social support efforts.

By Mark Evans - January 20th, 2012 - 3 Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

Is Facebook Killing Corporate Web Sites?

As more companies drive consumers to their Facebook Page, does it mean the corporate Website is going to fade into the background?

As Facebook continues to evolve its services, the need for corporate Web sites may start to shrink. Unless you have an e-commerce element to your Web site, Facebook can meet most of a user’s needs.

Clearly our love and adoption of social media has started to impact the need to communicate with companies and brands on their Web sites.

This has unfolded as Facebook has given brands the opportunity to create pages that have more bells and whistles. The customized tabs mimic a Web site, and let information, contests and multimedia content to easily exist.

The logic is simple: why would a Web user leave Facebook to travel elsewhere? They are voluntarily choosing to spend so much of their time logged in to and engaging on Facebook. Brands need to migrate more of their Web activity and communication tactics to social media, rather than try to trump it.

As well, brands that do not rely on e-commerce may want to look at investing more in their Facebook strategies. This is not to suggest companies should stop running their Web sites but it time to realize they have to put more money and time into managing fan pages, and connecting with their audiences on Facebook.

Corporate  Web sites will not be the “radio killed by the video start”, but the reality about social media is you need to anticipate trends. Your audience is telling you where they want to be and how they want to be communicated with. It’s time to listen.

By Mark Evans - November 25th, 2011 - 5 Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

No Like for You, Facebook

For most brands on Facebook, it’s all about the “Like”.

The number of “Likes” is a way to quantify the success of a Facebook Page, particularly given the increasing focus on ROI. It explains why brands invest so much time and effort to attract the “Like”, including the use of “Like-Gating”.

But there are lots of people who refuse to “Like”, which could strike you as “anti-establishment” given the pressure to “Like”. These are people who resist the temptation or the offers to climb on the brand bandwagon, even though they may actually like a service or product.

So Why No “Like”?

According to a recent study by ExactTarget, which can be downloaded here, the biggest reason people don’t “Like” a Facebook is they don’t want to be bombarded with messages or ads. This makes sense given how many brands tend to use Facebook as yet another marketing vehicle.

Another leading factor is people don’t want to provide brands with access to their profile information, which is a little surprising to see given how much information people disclose on Facebook. That said, there appears to be more concern about privacy on Facebook so giving companies direct access to personal information may be thrust into the spotlight more often.

Third on the list is people don’t want to push things into their friends’ newsfeeds, which is understandable given it is one thing to want information about a brand yourself but another to spread the word about that brand to your network. This is where Facebook’s new “Subscribe” feature could be useful as a way to quasi-Like a brand.

From a bigger picture perspective, there seems to be growing scrutiny of what consumers get from following or liking a brand. As much as it is great for brands looking to engage directly with consumers, there are questions about consumers get in return.

In a recent blog post, Brian Solis contends that if brands don’t provide some kind of value, it may cause consumers not to follow or like or, worse, un-follow or unlike.

Solis cited an IBM study that looked at what consumers want when they deal with companies via social media, and what brands think consumers want. The contrast is interesting and eye-opening.

What consumers want:

1. Receive discounts (61%)
2. Make purchases (55%)

What brands think consumers want:

1. Learn about new products (73%)
2. To receive general information (71%)

So, what do you want from a brand when you “Like” them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter? And what keeps you from liking or following a brand?

By Mark Evans - October 10th, 2011 - No Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

Do Brands Really Get Bloggers Yet?

“Many brands don’t have a clue how to work with bloggers. And bloggers don’t know how to work with brands.”
- Donna Marie Antoniadis, co-founder and chief operating officer with ShesConnected.com, which organized a conference last week in Toronto that brought together 200 of “Canada’s most influential digital women” and many of the country’s biggest brands. (Source: The Toronto Star)

Antoniadis’ quote is interesting and surprising given blogging has been around for nearly 10 years, and most companies recognize the growing importance of bloggers within their communications and marketing programs.

At this point in the game, you would think that brands would have a solid grasp on how to deal with bloggers – much they have a good understanding of how to deal with reporters.

But there is some truth in Antoniadis’ contention. For many brands, the extent of their blogger relations is probably limited to top-tier or popular blogs, which tend to operate and look like traditional media. This makes these blog easy for brands to identify and target, particularly if there are high-profile bloggers that focus on particular topics or sectors.

The challenge for many brands is reaching bloggers beyond the top layer. Part of the problem is there can be thousands of blogs, and it can be difficult to determine how much traffic they attract and how consistently they create high-quality content. This can make it daunting or impossible for brands to discover the right bloggers without spending an inordinate amount of time and effort.

For bloggers who don’t have a lot of contact with brands, it can be difficult to capture their attention or even get brands aware they exist. Many bloggers have little, if no, experience with brands so likely don’t know how to approach brands or who to approach. It means bloggers operate in isolation as opposed to being part of the brand mix.

So what can be done to close the gap between brands and bloggers?

Perhaps one of the easiest way to fix the gap is getting brands to embrace bloggers or, at least, provide them with an opportunity to get themselves into the spotlight.

It might be something as simple as having a form on a Web site in which bloggers can provide information about themselves so brands can get enough information to determine whether a particular blogger should be included without outreach programs.

The form needs to be obvious and accessible given many bloggers have no experience in dealing with brands or media relations departments. The forms also need to simple to complete but provide brands with enough data and information to figure out who needs to be inside the digital tent.

This is just one approach but the bigger idea is figuring out how brands and bloggers can establish and build new relationships.

By Mark Evans - October 3rd, 2011 - No Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

What Do Consumers Want from Brands?

Amid the fury among brands to convince consumers to follow, “Like” or subscribe, a key question is what consumers want from brands.

What are consumers seeking when they agree to formalize their relationship with a brand by hitting, for example, the “Like” button on Facebook? Is it simply the opportunity to win something or gain access to exclusive content? Are they seeking updates or information ahead the the crowd?

In other words, what are their expectations from brands via social media?

Aside from free stuff or the opportunity to win free stuff, my take is brands need to consistently do three things for consumers: entertain, enlighten or engage.

Once the follow, like or subscription has happened or the contest has been entered, consumers will stick around only if a brand keeps on providing them with some kind of value.

It could be valuable content or an interesting poll, a funny video or a helpful tips. Regardless of the value, there has to be a steady flow of it, otherwise consumers will lose interest and disappear.

They might not necessarily un-follow, un-”Like” or unsubscribe because that means taking the effort to do it but they will stop coming around, which is just as bad.

Truth be told, the expectations among consumers are high, which puts a lot of pressure on brands to keep their social media efforts vital and engaged. It also involves a heavy investment, which probably explains why some of the bigger social success stories are major brands with deep pockets.

So what do you think consumers wants from social brands?

By Mark Evans - April 15th, 2011 - 2 Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

The World’s Leading Brands by Social Media Presence

Interbrand recently published their annual “Best Global Brands List” for 2009, which includes 100 companies ranked on criteria such as financial data, the scope of international operations and their economic value added. The top five brands are: Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft, General Electric and Nokia.

Interbrand’s ranking methodology does not include social media activity or online sentiment, so we decided to take look at how the top-20 companies on Interbrand’s list stack up. After running an analysis using our flagship MAP service, we discovered there is not a direct correlation between the two lists. In fact, the only company that occupies the same ranking on both lists is Microsoft (#3). Here’s the complete report

Below are the top-10 companies on Sysomos’ list, and how they ranked on the Interbrand list.

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By Mark Evans - October 13th, 2009 - 9 Comments »
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Posted in Social Media, Technology

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