And why should you care?

With mobile applications comes mobile decisions, remarks, feedback and more importantly, instant pack mentality.

Consider this: I’m going into Boulder on this sunshiney day to enjoy a margarita on the deck of one of my favorite watering holes. When I arrive,  my Blackberry updates me to tell me of a couple of my buddies who are already here.  My other friends that aren’t even there yet see an update saying that me, Mark and Chris are all at said watering hole, and guess what? We’ve just encouraged a couple friends who were at another place to come join us. Influence is one thing, but what used to take a few phone calls to orchestrate now just takes one “checkin”. The checkin can come to my phone and be sent to multiple social media touchpoints instantly. A social empire is emerging whether you’re using it or not.

Let that sink in.

And let’s take it one step further. Upon checkin on Foursquare at our fictious watering hole, I’m presented with a message: “Show this to the bartender and get a free appetizer of your choice.”

Wow. Okay, yes please – and thank you.

The power of an incentive like that cannot be denied, nor can the positive and priceless word of mouth that will ensue.

The ideas for use are endless. Some companies are experimenting with digital coupons that can be tied into geolocation and others are offering specials that have the “members only” feel. When customers begin feeling like they are special or that they know an inside tip, you can bet you’re reaching them in a way that sets the groundwork for customer loyalty.

Be careful though, because good news travels fast, but your customers can share bad experiences just as quickly.

So, if have one iota of marketing or customer service sense, please listen up:

• Ratio anemia: Your engagement ratio sucks. 54/3,785, really? Who’s manning this account? It appears that our fictional character James is connecting to his buddies or employees from your company and some really important Twitter celebs. Don’t you really want people to talk about you, frequent your store, tell their friends about you? Then connect to each of them and stop playing hide and seek or worse, keeping some kind of strange “arms length” distance between you and your followers. Hug your audience.
• Diarrhea of the brand: While your brand is apparently the best on the planet, do you think that’s all we want to hear about? No, it’s not. Sure, some deals are great, but a mix would be better. Put an occasional offer or secret coupon. Make your followers feel like they’re “in” on something.
• Robotweets blow: Just like we hate automated telephone centers, we’d like to believe we’re connecting with a human behind the tweets. It’s okay to show some of “you” and many prefer it, just so we know you’re the real deal. We can spot robots pretty quickly, so surprise us: be authentic.
• Help is nowhere to be found: A steady stream of self-promotion is boring and well, self-serving. Let us see you helping other customers. Show us you actually *listen*. Tweet solutions instead of pitches. Reach out and assist people, we will be impressed.
• Lights are on….Where the hell are you?: The great disappearing act is just awful. “Set it and forget it” seems like such a great plan, right? Sign up for an account, tweet a few messages of nonsense, then disappear for months, but put on your website that you’re “on Twitter.” Ugh. If you don’t want the account, delete it. We’d rather just accept that you’re not on Twitter than come upon your moldy account and be disappointed by your lack of interaction.
• Pathetic RT pleas: Sure you want your audience to promote you, but we’ll do it if what you put out there has value to us. WE decide what has value, not you, and WE decide what is worth sharing with the people we’re connected with. If it’s really important and something that helps the community on the whole, the request for a RT is okay, otherwise, why not try RTing your followers?
• Hashtag abuse: #cars #usedcars #hybridcars #electriccars Get the idea? It’s obnoxious. Don’t succumb to this cheesy, overused tactic. It’s okay to use it for fun once in awhile, but when all your tweets are filled with hashtags that are really just “hooks” for people searching the term, well, we can see through that.
• Begging for followers: This is probably peeve numero uno for many. (In fact, I usually promptly unfollow people that ask for more followers or tell me how to get more.) You wouldn’t stand on a corner and shout out “Be my friend!” – or would you? Please don’t, it cheapens your brand and makes you appear pitifully weak.
• Partaking in auto-follower lists: A large number of followers does not equate to a large quantity of sales. If you want true-blue followers and an army of brand advocates, build your list for real and start talking with your followers. You might be surprised how such organic interaction translates into an engaged audience.

I promised a short list, so that’s mine. Do you have some points you’d like to add? Please do. There is an awesomely handy comment section down below and I’d be thrilled to hear your thoughts.

And by the way, I hope I helped someone avoid some costly mistakes. I’m available by phone, email or on Twitter if you want to talk more about this or just ask a question or two. Conversation is really what it’s all about.

Photo Credit David Reece with some flare by me.

When a customer reaches out and gives you feedback, be truly grateful. What they’re really saying is, “I want to do business with you, here’s what you can do to keep me.” This is priceless and you’re ahead of the game, they’re telling you they want to stay, rather than taking off.

For more on this, read this awesome report on the subject, Aberdeen – The ROI Of Customer Feedback.

Have your say: I’d love to hear how you took a customer’s negative feedback and turned them into a loyal customer or how you, as a customer gave feedback and saw immediate results or none at all.
(Photo Credit: thanks, Demi Brooke)

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