How To Turn Customers Into Brand Ambassadors

Scott Monty is the global head of social media for Ford Motor Company. He has a very interesting personal blog, where he shares his perspectives on business, technology, communications, marketing and the vast changes in the industry that impact leadership.

This week's post is particularly important for people who are looking to cultivate brand ambassadors.  Scott says:

"A surprising number of people won’t take action based on TV ads, the progress of social business, WeChat is in the sites of Chinese telcos, measuring sponsorship effectiveness, the role of PR in sponsored content, the #2 concern of the C-suite and more, it’s This Week in Social Media."

Working For Free

To work for free, or not to work for free. 

To over-service, or not to over-service.

Nobody wants to give away their secret sauce for free, but if you give a little of it away along the path to securing new business is it worth it?

Mitch Joel seems to think so.  

In his Six Pixels of Separation blog post, You Should Work For Free. You Should Not Work For Free, he makes a statement I wholeheartedly agree with: 

I don't believe in working for free, but I sometimes do.

Social Media Really Is Like Kindergarten

I wish I knew the original source of Everything I Know About Social Media I Learned In Kindergarten.  This is not a new concept, and I did a lot of digging before I settled on a link to share.

This is the best list I could find:

All I Needed To Know About Social Media I Learned In Kindergarten: 15 Social Media Tips 

Social Media and Customer Service

Social Media opens up a lot of doors for feedback - feedback from clients, competitors, vendors and just about anybody using the same social media platform you are.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't embrace social media as a great marketing tool, but it does mean you need to include customer service in your strategy.  

Most unhappy clients want the same things:

• To feel listened to
• To be acknowledged
• To be responded to in a timely manner

Social media is a great tool for appeasing unhappy customers.  Brands recognize the complaint in a public forum, responses happen in real-time and customer service representatives can move off-channel to address the concerns personally and privately.

There is no way to avoid feedback on your social media channels, so prepare your team to handle responses as quickly and professionally as possible.  Everyone who is involved with your social media plan should be trained in crisis communications so they understand how issues should be handled and what the brand's stance is on various potential situations. 

Throwing in the Social Media Towel

Many brands are hopping on the social media bandwagon.  At first, social media marketing is new and exciting, so teams are likely to generate lots of content and new ideas during the launch phase of social media marketing.

The trouble is that as time goes by, content creation reaches a plateau and the appeal of social media marketing begins to wear off.

Social media marketers often suffer from writers block, building a list of followers and persisting when it feels they aren't making any headway.  The pressure of generating fresh content and staying top of mind with an audience can drain the motivation right out of the social media team.

That said, how do you know whether it's time to take a vacation or throw in the social media towel?

Here are three signs that you might need to throw in the social media towel:

You aren't posting anymore
One of the most important things to consider before starting a social media campaign is whether or not you'll be able to maintain a posting schedule.  Once you establish your following, they'll expect to hear from you on a regular basis.  If you find your social media strategy going stagnant, you either need to put in more effort or throw in the towel.

You're not succeeding 
There are lots of reasons you may not be succeeding - perhaps you're trying to promote your company, but nobody is buying what you're selling.  Obviously, if you've just launched your social media program you may need to give your efforts more time before you write them off.  If you've been at it for a while and you're still not seeing the results you want it's time to either switch up your strategy or throw in the towel.

You're too busy
Whether you're overwhelmed with new business or job creep is reducing the time you can devote to your social media program, you may reach a point where you just aren't able to find the time to sustain a successful social media program.  If your social media marketing strategy has become a chore rather than something you want to do, it's time to seriously evaluate the benefits and costs of your marketing efforts.  You have three choices: find the time yourself, delegate the responsibilities to someone else or abandon your social media program.