Archive for Other Posts
10 Content Writing Tips/Tricks for Small Businesses
Posted by: | CommentsNote From Steve: This post is written by a guest blogger
Web content is the heart and soul of the internet. Every business should take time to write web content for their business. There are a few ways that a small business can help spread the word of their product or services through well-written prose. Keep the following tips in mind when creating new pieces for the World Wide Web.
Use Grammar and Spellchecking tools
Even the most grammatically correct person on the planet makes mistakes. With writing Web content, use tools to help keep your posts error free. These tools can be a coworker, a word processor grammar and spell-check tool, and various tools on the internet like After the Deadline.
Content doesn’t need filler
Make each post as informative as possible without using filler. These concepts and language aren’t relevant to the topic at hand. Filler is just there to take up space. Focus on what you are trying to say instead of heading off on a tangent about unrelated subjects. Also, keep your prose edited and tight.
Personalize the content
Be yourself when writing web content for your business. Readers like to come to a post and know a robot doesn’t write it. It helps make a person feel comfortable. Keep that human connection with your readers and customers. This will help bring views to your web content.
However, don’t get too personal
At the same time, a customer doesn’t want to hear the sordid details of your dating life. Keep the content focused on the business and not the personal life. Don’t be afraid to mention personal opinions and tastes, but keep in mind this web content isn’t a personal blog.
Use Private Label Content as a resource
This content is written by someone else but licensed out to your business. These articles can be used to help keep your content fresh. Depending on the writes, you can rewrite it to suit your style and tastes. It will take less time to rewrite a private label piece than to write the whole thing from scratch.
Keep your goal in mind
What is the reason you are writing this web content? Create a goal and keep that goal in mind. This will keep your content focused and free of filler.
Keep your customers in mind
Who is going to read your content? Readers will respond best when your content doesn’t speak down to their demographic. Keep in mind who buys your products and services. Write the content that best fits that market.
Become familiar with SEO and Search Engines
The main reason to write web content is to draw people to a website. Search Engine Optimization will help take your content to the top of Search engine stacks. Research this technique and how it is used on the various search engines.
Don’t fall in to pure marketing speak
Don’t let pure marketing forces drive your content. Readers want to see the human behind the web content, not just a wall of text pushing your product or service towards them. Marketing is fine but over marketing can drive people away.
Have fun!
This is an important but often overlooked key to good web content. Have fun with the posts. Don’t be a gloomy Gus when writing web content. Customers like to read a real human being that enjoys her job.
By: Search Engine People Blog – CC BY 2.0
An SEO Approach
Posted by: | CommentsNote From Steve: This post is written by a guest blogger
Looking back on 2012, it can be seen that the year saw an enormous amount of changes in the world of SEO. With Google implementing significant algorithm updates throughout the year, many saw a transformation in positioning that was unwelcome.
What did become clear was that many of the old ways of building links and carrying out SEO were no longer effective. Indeed, evidence started to emerge that suggested that some techniques, which had previously been successful, could now actively harm a website.
Popular online marketing and web development forums are full of stories about lost rankings, often as a result of Panda and Penguin updates. With this in mind, it’s suggested that a new strategy is needed in 2013.
Understanding what’s required
In order to understand the changes that are necessary, it’s useful to think about what Google are looking to achieve. The company will certainly be looking to maintain market dominance and that process will be seen to involve two significant strands of work.
In the first instance, it’s clearly critical that search engines users should get the experience that they desire. That primarily means producing results that allow users to find what they want.
The second element here is ensuring that income levels are maximized. This can be seen in a number of changes that have been made during the past year, including the addition of more results that directly make money for Google.
So how can you ensure that your website is included in the list of sites that are seen to provide the desired user experience? In essence, you need to show that you have a site that is informative, original, useful, secure and trusted. If you can demonstrate all of those elements, then you’ll be on the right path for success.
The problem is that achieving this means that you’ll need to avoid taking shortcuts. For many SEO consultants and some enthusiastic amateurs, that doesn’t sound like a great idea. We all want to get results quickly and it’s never nice to think that we may be left waiting.
Sustainability and SEO
But the truth is that SEO in 2013 is all about trying to build sustainable positioning. That’s not just about improving search engine positioning in the most direct sense. It’s also about demonstrating that you are here for the long haul.
So how can you go about achieving this? When writing content for your site, maintain a focus on users and potential customers. You need to get out of the habit of writing as though Google forms your main audience. The search engines are looking at other factors, including bounce rates and average visit times. In order to improve those metrics, you need to be providing authoritative content.
The days of outsourcing content creation overseas should be behind you. Your focus needs to be on quality, rather than the old target of quantity.
You also need to think more broadly about how you are engaging with users and other website owners. You certainly need to have a social media presence and you need to see that as being central to your approach.
The old techniques are losing their impact. It’s time for you to implement new SEO strategies.
By: Steve Jurvetson – CC BY 2.0
5 Reasons You Know A Website Was Designed By A Team Of Monkeys From The Zoo
Posted by: | CommentsNote From Steve: This post is written by a guest blogger
Have you ever wondered why some websites just look a lot better than others? When you visit there site it’s a much more enjoyable experience and it’s not something you find happens a lot in the online world. As soon as you start looking through it you are given some great information that can help change your life and it’s always easy to find. They make everything as simple as possible for you. It’s the kind of website that keeps you returning back for more and sharing with all your friends.
Then you have the others. They are called the others because everything about them is different. They seem to make everything much harder than it should be. It’s like they have been designed by a team of monkeys from the zoo getting taught how to build and sell websites. You don’t want your website to fall into this category, but maybe it does at the moment. We can look at what makes these websites so horrible and you can decide for yourself if there is anything you need to change about yours.
Oversized logo
A nice logo makes people feel nice and that is understandable, but it doesn’t mean they should be the size of a pineapple. When you look at some websites the logo nearly covers the entire page. People don’t care what your logo looks like and they definitely don’t want it getting in the way of the information they do want to see. If you want to design a fancy logo then do it, but just make sure it’s small enough to fit in a small corner of the screen.
Terrible navigation
People need a navigation bar because they want to find certain pages on your site. They don’t just come to look at the homepage, but that is what you would think when you don’t see a navigation bar anywhere in sight. They are usually near the top of the page because that is where people go to look for them. If someone lands on your site from Google and you make it difficult for them to search the site they will go straight back to where they came from.
A hidden opt-in box
You make your money by emailing prospects after they have signed up to your list. It’s much easier to sell something to people once you have built up a relationship with them, so obviously the opt-in box is vital. Now go look at most websites and they don’t even have one, but when they do it’s always hidden. That means less subscribers and less money. The other thing you need to make sure is that it’s attractive so more people will want to enter their email address.
Horrible writing
Even if you are the greatest writer that ever lived you still need to make sure you are laying out your articles correctly. That means having a different color for your sub-headings so people will feel like your article is in readable chunks. Images are also important because they give people something pretty to look at and it definitely keeps them from falling asleep. The last thing that people mess up on is having text so small that not even an eagle could read it.
A full sidebar
The sidebar is on a website for one very important reason and that is to offer visitors links to pages or products that can be found on your site. If you want to send people away from your site you might include social media buttons too. What it’s not there for is to fill with as much junk as possible. This looks dreadful and spoils a nice design. Start taking out everything that doesn’t need to be there and be ruthless.
Featured images:
- License: Creative Commons image source
- License: Creative Commons image source
- License: Creative Commons image source
How To Turn Real World Networking Into Online Gains
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One of the most important aspects of building an audience for your business is making connections with influential people in your industry.
From search engine optimization to increasing the traffic to your site, connections like this can be used to bring real benefits.
Although ranking highly in search engines is about providing high quality, optimized content, at the end of the day you need to think about the people who read your content and recommend it to others.
Being antisocial online and offline can hurt your business.
You don’t have to suck up to anyone or be a networking addict to get people to talk about you, but you do need to be sociable.
Here are some of things you can do to turn real world networking into online gains.
Organize events
Whether you’re planning an event to launch a new product, or celebrate years of success, events are a great way to get people taking about your brand.
They’re also the perfect opportunity for you to engage with your customers and answer any questions they might have.
But don’t think about events in a strictly offline way, because they are a great way to make a splash online.
Make sure your attendees have a great day and incentivise them to blog about the event.
In fact, you should make sure you identify influential bloggers working in your niche even if they are not existing customers and invite them along – they will appreciate you thinking of them and the extra exposure you get will be crucial.
By doing this, you’ll increase brand awareness and get some links back to your website into the bargain.
If you run an international business, you can also organize a webinar to make sure no one gets left out.
By doing something exciting and unique, you can get them talking about your brand and linking to your site, boosting visitor numbers.
Get involved in communities
No matter what business you’re in, you need to find out where your target audience is spending its time online and offline.
For example, if you make bespoke wedding invitations, search for blogs where people write about weddings.
If you sell books, seek out good blogs and sites where people write book reviews and make recommendations on what to read.
Find influential people and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
Join their email lists, subscribe to their newsletters and get to know them better.
Compliment them for their great work if they deserve it without making it look like you’re after something. Promoting yourself too quickly can turn people off.
Once you build a relationship with them, you can ask them to write a review about one of your products which will send some traffic and customers your way.
Offline, joining local business groups can help you make similar connections which can bring the same benefits.
Organisations such as chambers of commerce can allow you to find a whole new bunch of allies willing to help you boost your business online.
Successful business people have been using these kinds of organisation to network offline for centuries, now the savviest of them have started bringing those gains online.
Guest blogging
Offering free and unique content on authority sites in your niche can help generate traffic, especially if the site you’re publishing your content on has a huge subscribers list.
So if you’ve worked with someone in an offline capacity and you later discover they have an authoritative blog, then use this connection to secure a guest post on their site.
Ask the site owner to include a link to your site in your bio at the end of your guest post. If your post is interesting with plenty of useful information, it will get people’s attention and they’ll visit your site to see what else you have to offer.
Don’t keep your personal and professional lives separate
It’s always tempting to view your work and personal lives as being totally separate, yet increasingly the most successful people around have blurred the line between the two.
Look at how high-profile people act on Twitter – yes, they talk about their work sometimes, but they also present a human side which appeals to a wider audience.
But don’t view it as a one way street – it’s not just about your work life invading your personal life, things work both ways. Just because you’re with people who might be interested in your business, doesn’t mean you have to be selling.
When you’re attending conferences or events, try to connect with people on a personal level, not just because they are potential customers.
Meet for coffee or a drink, breakfast or lunch and make sure you talk about things outside of business.
If you are approachable, friendly and kind, people are more likely to help you out. In online terms, that means you’ll be getting the links and shares that lead to increased traffic.
Connecting face to face creates a whole new level of engagement that can last for years and brings great benefits, so make sure you’re not missing out.
Featured images:
License: Creative Commons image source
Finding New Internet Marketing Niches
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The internet has been popular for decades and it continues to grow at an ever-so-rapid pace. During the early 1990s, just about one percent of communication took place online. But by 2007-2010, almost 97% of communication takes place online. For internet marketers, this could be good and bad at the same time. Due to the increased number of online shoppers, all niche markets are grabbed immediately. For new internet marketers, they are left with just two choices. Either they fight against big competitors or they somehow find new internet marketing niches to concentrate on and obtain a competitive edge over others in the industry. If a marketer chooses the latter strategy, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Dog car seats? That’s a tiny niche!
Firstly, stay updated on all possible trends that come out. Every new gadget will come with an opportunity to create a niche over that gadget. Your job is to catch that niche before it gets saturated into the market. ‘Google Trends’ is a useful tool to find new niche markets. It shows the keywords that are popular among search engine users on a particular day. However, remember that a popular keyword today may not necessarily remain popular in about a week. Furthermore, keeping a close track on technology and business blogs will help you stay updated about the latest products. These blogs often have high traffic volumes. Therefore you need to be really quick in grabbing your preferred niche.
Another option in selecting a niche market is to discover it from scratch. There is no conversation topic that cannot be monetized or turned into a business. You could choose a broad topic that is of interest to you; for example – telephones, communications, robots, digital entertainment, etc and then narrow this topic into a profitable niche. If you have selected the communications topic, you could brainstorm narrower topics such as wireless internet providers to be your niche market.
The all new ‘Google Adwords Keywords Tool’ is another tool that will help you find a new niche market. With this tool, you can find how much worldwide traffic a particular keyword phrase is experiencing or how much competition that phrase has. In addition to that, you could simply select any one of the given categories and search that category for the most searched keywords within that category.
When finding a new niche using keywords, be sure to find actionable keyword phrases. Internet marketers should be aware that not all searches that people perform actually result in them purchasing something online. For example, if someone searches for ‘spongebob games’, they could be looking for birthday gift ideas or free flash games. Phrases that better guarantee a purchase are those which include words like ‘order’, ‘buy’, ‘get’, and so on.
Niche markets can also be discovered by identifying a certain need and then satisfying that need. Browse through online forums to identify problems that people are experiencing and try to use your products in a way that will solve their problems.
Every internet marketing niche may not always be profitable. But you have to closely monitor trends in order to locate untapped revenue potential. A little patience, with a whole lot of dedication will definitely help you to hit the jackpot.
Images by: Tony Alter – CC BY 2.0
Branding yourself and your business online – pitfalls and common mistakes to avoid
Posted by: | CommentsNote From Steve: This post is written by a guest blogger
In some form or another you will have come into contact with the growing excitement that surrounds online, social and digital marketing, and the way in which it can vastly improve your business. We’ve all heard of those massive success stories – of small brands going viral online – and it’s no surprise that we all want a piece of the action.
Being such a dominant medium in the media landscape today, branding yourself your business online is paramount to your success. However being such a widely used medium, social media is no secret to all business- so make sure you’re one step ahead of your competitors with these tips on pitfalls and common mistakes to avoid.
1. Keep in mind the mantra “Quality not quantity”, this couldn’t be any more true for the case of your businesses online presence. Regular updates are advised, but make sure the numbers of your posts aren’t jeopardizing the quality. Without quality, it won’t matter how frequently you post. Quality is the first priority; make sure you’re broadcasting the highest level of quality to attract customers interest.
2. You can’t escape social media, and why should you- make use of the multi-platform digital revolution by reaching out to a wide base of potential customers by linking up social media accounts. The more social media accounts you have the better, make sure you’re covering each popular social media platform to strengthen your online presence.
3. Add a personal touch to your site! Customers want more than a cold, impersonal and personality-less business. You can do this by small but effective touches, such as adding mini bios of your employees. Present your employees as a team of friendly faces that will not stop at any length to ensure the best possible customer service. You really need to earn customers trust in order to maintain a loyal customer base; customers want to know that you’re not just a voice on the other side of the phone line- but a friendly, highly capable employee keen to help them whenever they need assistance.
4. Every detail should be careful considered and constructed with your customer in mind, and this certainly includes the typography you use. Each style of typography speaks to a certain target audience, whether it’s something fresh and quirky for under 20 year olds, or something more formal if your business is in law or insurance. Small touches like these account for a lot, and make a difference to the overall look and feel of your website- so ensure you’re investing time and attention.
5. You will have been relentlessly nagged and lectured on the importance of logos- but a strong logo really is your way in to attracting a large customer. Customers want a business they can identify with, one they can spot and pick out from a crowd of personality-less businesses that lack a strong image. Again, your target audience and customer must be considered in the creation of you logo- make sure it’s something that will appeal and stand out to them.
6. Use images as a powerful tool to attract people to your page, and bring your brand to their attention. Images speak a lot more than text, when aimlessly looking at internet pages online, people either don’t have the time or interest to read a massive section of text. Whilst an interesting image has the opposite effect. This doesn’t mean going over the top here- no one wants to be bombarded with a dizzying array of bright, colourful and headache inducing images if you’re target audience is say- over 50’s.
It’s important to create the perfect balance here, taking your target audiences preferences as the main basis for any detail-big or small- that you include with your businesses online social media presence. With images, you need to imprint something memorable, quirky and very “you” as a brand in order to maintain customers attention. Stick with a theme and style and explore with images that customers can come to identify you with.
Images by: Loren Kerns – CC BY 2.0
Tweet To Become A Recognized Industry Expert
Posted by: | CommentsNote From Steve: This post is written by a guest blogger
Becoming the go-to company for advice in your industry means more Twitter followers and exposure for your company. Building trust with potential customers happens quickly when you offer valuable, original advice; sharing interesting facts via Twitter can quickly promote your company’s brand. As you become a recognized expert resource in your industry, followers will flock to follow you on Twitter. The key is to stay on top of your industry’s game and keep things fresh and engaging.
Stay Up-To-Date
Alert Twitter followers to exciting industry news. Staying abreast of changes in your field – such as new technology or laws that affect your business builds credibility fast. Follow important blogs and news sources for your industry, and share links to interesting and important news with your followers.By following established experts in your niche, you’ll gain access to the information they possess, which will in turn increase your knowledge. If you don’t show potential customers that your company is on top of new and exciting changes in your industry, followers won’t think twice before looking elsewhere.
Announce and Support Events and Conferences
Announce relevant events to your followers – link to tour calendars or schedules for events in areas relevant to your business and Twitter fan base. Don’t overwhelm your followers with events they may not want or be able to attend. Nevertheless, realize that sharing and supporting any interesting and relevant happenings in your industry boots your credibility.
Keep it Fresh
Share interesting blog posts that tell followers about news or other interesting information relevant to your business. Share interesting and engaging content – whether it’s your own company’s blog posts or interesting posts from others (not competitors, obviously). Also share your own original advice or information as often as possible – this way you become a more exclusive go-to for followers.
Focus on Building Credibility
It’s great to be interesting or clever, but equally important to gain recognition as the one to ask about the important things. While many use Twitter for pure entertainment, no one minds a wise word of advice. Make sure your Tweets are always interesting, important, and up-to-date. Sharing yesterday’s news is the last thing you want to do in the fast-paced realm of Twitter.
Be Opinionated
Comment on current events in your industry – and ask your followers what they think. Try not to be overly political, but answer questions followers may have about news that affects your industry. While staying somewhat neutral is important in certain situations, having a fresh response to hot topics in your industry will keep followers focused on you.
Using Twitter to help promote your business means getting and keeping a large following. Do this by engaging followers with relevant, fresh, and engaging information. As you establish your company as a recognized expert – one that is on top of the latest happenings and concerns in your industry – followers will stick around. The more interesting and credible you appear on Twitter, the more engaged your followers will become – and that means they’ll bring their friends along for the ride.
Images: Jeff Turner – CC BY 2.0
Facebook Is Not A Communication Substitute
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If you use Facebook for your business, know it’s meant to enhance your ability to reach out to your current and potential customers. It’s not a substitute for face-to-face dialog. Teenagers these days barely use any other form of communication and their futures are likely to be lacking in the ability to communicate effectively with people. It’s easy for adults to fall into the same trap. If you’re not already communicating with your customers, then don’t count on Facebook to make up for it. Nothing can replace looking someone in the eye, a hand shake or a smile. What Facebook should do is keep you on people’s minds and generate interest in having people come to meet you.
Some would never consider going on Facebook. Their impressions of the social network are that they are places where people talk about the trivial aspects of their lives. People worry about privacy issues and saying something that is meant for friends but is seen by strangers.
What it Should Mean for Your Business
Your business fan page is the place to keep it professional. That doesn’t mean you can’t comment on something related to your niche, but you do always have to keep in mind who your audience is and not offend anyone. Your page is the place to share what you do whether it’s photos or comments about your work. It’s a place to answer customer questions and comment on their interactions. It’s a place to give a good impression to someone who may never have considered using your business and to give your current customers a reason to come back again and recommend you. Your pages should let fans know how to get in contact with you. Answer questions, but don’t have wars with people who come along and criticize. The dissatisfied people are the loudest and want to be heard. Find a way to solve the problem in a diplomatic manner so other customers will respect what you say.
Networking to Build Fans
Like similar pages, preferably ones that have a huge fan base. Pay those pages a compliment by recommending something on the page to your own fan. Use the @ symbol before the pages’ name and you will put your message in front of that pages’ fans bringing some of them over to your own page.
Build relationships with like businesses that are not your competitors. If you do a favor and post something for someone, they may do the same for you. Share their coupon and they might share yours. Promote their contest, etc.
Facebook can be a great tool when you respect it for what it is and don’t abuse it.
3 Awesome Marketing Strategies Using Facebook Graph Search
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Facebook is already an awesome tool for marketing your business. If you don’t have a facebook page for your business, you need to create one and start using it to market your business. Especially, since Facebook announced its new product Graph Search. Graph Search will definitely be a game changer and it will help many businesses discover new ways to market to customers. The product is in Beta now, however, you can sign up for the waiting list so that you will have access to it before your competitors and start using the powerful tool to grow your business. Your business will benefit greatly from Facebook Graph Search in ways that may have never occurred to you.
What is Facebook Graph Search?
Graph Search allows users to find results of search queries based on their networks recommendations, likes, and interests. Graph Search was created for giving answers to user queries in natural language rather than in a link list. Graph Search combines user data and search engine data and provides search results that are user specific. The Graph Search algorithm finds the information in the network of friends of each user. The Bing search engine of Microsoft then provides the additional results.
Both small and big businesses will be going through some changes due to Facebook Graph Search since you can actually alter your demographics specific search. You can also get a clearer idea of what specific clients are looking for in you
Here are 3 ways in which Graph Search can help your business grow.
Your Business Becomes Easier to Discover
Graph Search will make your business easier to find. It will make information gathering for target audience more easily and quickly with opportunities to better help in targeting them and assist you in understanding your market. Dan Levy, Small Business Director of Facebook says that Graph Search can assist over thirteen million small enterprises become discovered.
Also, results can now become sorted by “Likes” on Facebook. For example, if you are searching for the terms “Italian restaurants in Chicago” the top results will be displayed based on restaurants with many likes. The newer service indicates that your Likes are now important tools for advertising rather than just a regular thumbs-up from your network of friends.
Target Advertisers
Facebook Graph Search will benefit smaller businesses due to the fact that more than ever, it will let them target their advertisers greatly. Through putting more focus on the search words that result in your company’s name, you can then find out who is most often looking for you. If you prefer a different demographic, you can focus more on the ads in a specific parameter of search. This means that small businesses will be able to put their limited dollars for advertising towards better uses.
Target Demographics Effectively
You will definitely be able to access your target demographic much better when clients search for you through Facebook. As long as you maximize Graph Search and make sure you are providing good customer service, are active in the community and have great content to share, Graph Search will help your business find new customers.
Facebook can definitely help your business grow and with the release of Graph Search there will be many more marketing strategies that businesses will discover. If you do not have a Facebook page for your business, you need to create one now. It is easy to create. Just go to Facebook and look for how to create a business page. Next, once you have created your business page, you can then sign up to be on the waiting list for Graph Search that way you will get access to the new tool before your competitors and start using it to your advantage.
How To Make Your Loyalty Program Social Media Savvy
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Customer loyalty programs have been around since most of us can we remember. As kids, whenever we’d receive a “Buy 9 Get 1 Free” punch card from our favorite ice cream shop, we were dedicated to only getting ice cream from there. But promising your customers a freebie in the future just isn’t going to cut it anymore, not if you expect your customers to turn to social media and promote your brand for you.
Social media has become a lot of things these days. We use them to communicate with distant family, reunite with high school buddies, and share hundreds of pictures of our new puppies; but social media is still evolving. Businesses are finally starting to catch on that the likes of Facebook and Twitter can be used to promote their brand, and the best part is that most of the work lies on the user, not the company. So how can you take the age-old loyalty program and apply it to new age social media brand development? Keep on reading to find out.
Incentive For Joining
In the days of punch card loyalty, the immediate gratification was that they’d “punch” the ice cream you just purchased, meaning you’d already be one step closer to earning your freebie. Today, however, most consumers care more about local businesses, trustworthy brands, and customer service than a free ice cream. In other words, simply joining the loyalty program isn’t enough of an incentive.
Try getting customers to join by offering notifications of members-only sales, coupons upon sign up, and access to behind-the-scene content. When someone Likes your company’s Facebook page, they can receive a free coupon, a free yogurt, or be automatically entered in a new contest you have going on. Ultimately, there needs to be incentive to join the loyalty program, not just an incentive after nine purchases.
If you can make a great offer to make people join your company’s loyalty program, they’ll have even more reason to talk about your brand through social media channels. If you have an ice cream and frozen yogurt shop, imagine the buzz a tweet can create that reads like, “Just signed up for The Local Ice Cream Shoppe’s loyalty program. Got a free ice cream in hand!” Before you know it, you’ll have many more customers coming in for a loyalty card.
Rewards For Sharing
Since you’re already thinking about how your customers can promote your brand and its loyalty program for you, think about showing your appreciation for when they do. Today’s consumer cares more about brands interact with them than how great their prices are. And with all the companies they can interact with on Facebook and Twitter, picking yours is something you should be thankful for.
Start monitoring your company’s mentions on social media platforms. When you see people leave positive reviews, mention their shopping experience, or tweet about how much they loved their fro-yo, give them a thank you and tell them to come back for another free yogurt. You can even encourage your customers to tweet and share their experience, and if they get enough friends to re-tweet, then they win a prize. Publicly appreciating your customers can be a great move towards building brand loyalty and trust while generating positive PR buzz.
On the other hand, you might notice some negative comments as you monitor your company’s presence on social media. A customer might have had a bad shopping experience, a heated argument with one of your employees, or compared your service to a seemingly better company. Don’t write these people off just yet, as they can still be perfect candidates for your loyalty program and generate positive PR buzz, too.
Publicly reply to your naysayers and offer to make their next shopping experience right. Tell them they can contact you directly, come into the store, or call you up on the phone to talk about their negative experience. Find out what went wrong, offer them a solution, and then get back on social media to put a positive spin on things. Your other customers will be sure to follow the case and they’ll feel even more loyal to your brand after they hear about your above-and-beyond customer service. Just because people are saying negative things online doesn’t mean you can’t make some lemonade out of lemons.
Loyalty programs have long been relegated to keychains and forgotten wallets. Punch cards get lost, rewards have expired, and there’s been little incentive to sign up in the first place. But with the advent of social media, you can turn your company’s loyalty program around. Incentivize your customers to join up, share your brand, and tweet about their experience. Keeping your customers happy in a public setting will paint your company out to be a trustworthy brand with a loyalty program worth joining.
