Tag: Customer Service

What Support Can You Provide Customers in Social Media?

In the Information Age, people have grown accustomed to heading to the Internet when they have problems, questions, or complaints. Successful companies understand the need to build a structure for troubleshooting, communication, and connection with their audience online. Social media marketing is known for being the place customers head when they need more information or they want to file a complaint of some sort. Why social media? Mostly because people are annoyed with long phone waits and cutting through corporate red tape when they have a problem that needs solving. Savvy businesses understand this and they have a plan for being present and responsive online.

Developing Systems for Social Media

Many customers will turn to social media as a way to connect directly with a brand. There are automation capabilities built into many of these social media platforms that allow you to be present for your audience and respond to inquiries, messages, and comments. Have a system or a plan in place to ensure that you are monitoring your social media engagement and being responsive to your budding social media community. This level of customer support and service is essential for successful businesses.

Processes for Troubleshooting and Concerns

As your business develops, are you documenting your policies and procedures for dealing with customer service inquiries, requests, and complaints on social media? You can create a document, with all pertinent information, on how to handle various issues as they arise and make certain that all team members who deal directly with customers have access to the information. This will ensure consistency across your company while keeping on eye on your brand integrity at the same time.

Create an Emergency Plan

Social media marketing is prime for public PR situations and crises so it’s important to be prepared to respond when one arises. It’s also essential to have a plan for power outages, cancellations, or weather-related issues – depending on what impacts your company. Your audience will turn to social media in an emergency situation and if no one is at the helm, posting updates and responding to questions, that may reflect poorly on your brand.

Many small businesses haven’t encountered much in the way of needing to communicate with their audience online but as that audience grows and the business and brand expands, this will change. Having systems and processes in place to deal with this before it is needed is just the type of forward-thinking strategy that keeps a business proactive instead of reactive.

Are you looking for a social media company to train your staff on online marketing strategies and equip them with the tools to maintain engagement, spark interest through Linkedin and other social media platforms, and build a solid foundation company-wide? Contact us to set up a training session for your sales team to improve your online marketing efforts.

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedInFacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+YouTubePinterestInstagram, and the tools to manage them.

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Using Newsletters in Email Marketing

September 15, 2011

Posted in Articles, Business Development/Planning, Sales & Marketing, E-mail Marketing Print By Hollie Clere

If you have a website, maybe a social media presence and the need to reach a large base of vendors, partners and customers, email marketing — and specifically email newsletters — are a great way to nurture those relationships. Sharing company blogs, links to company social media sites, company announcements and surveys are ideal for email distribution plus the cost for newsletter subscription services are low and the reach can be substantial.

So, where do you start?

Content. It all starts with content, including blogs, promotional pricing, links to specific sites and topics that could be of interest to the reader and are relevant to your company’s products/services. Remember to include only original information; do not plagiarize other sources. However, you may be able to secure permission from an author or publisher to use their work.

When developing your own content, think about every word as a driver for a specific goal. For example, if you are promoting a 10-day discount on widgets, you will want to specifically mention the widget, describe the details behind the discount, provide information on why the widget is a “hot” commodity, why the viewer should choose your widget and provide a link for the viewer to get more information about the widget.

It is also a good idea to embed images relative to your topic. Like articles, you need to have permission to use these images, so you should consider using your own photos/charts or subscribe to a stock photo service where you can purchase the rights to use the photos.

Length. The goal of the newsletter is to encourage the viewer to click through to a desired Web page with further information. Here is an example:

DISCOUNT ON SUPER FAST PINK WIDGETS
10% discount on our Super Fast Pink Widgets through October 21, 2011. Click here to receive your discount code.

or

5 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS MAINTAIN YOUR WIDGET
It is a good idea to maintain your widget by cleaning the parts monthly. (Insert the URL LINK to the page that talks in more detail about this topic.)


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