The right way for businesses to socially engage with their customers
Social media platforms have changed the way in which modern marketers create business plans and marketing campaigns to maximize customer reach. With the advent of these platforms, although companies and businesses are scrutinized by their customers with a fine comb, the rewards are equally promising. In essence, the markets have rapidly evolved from being a seller’s market to becoming predominantly a buyer’s market.
And this comes with no surprise. As people become more and more connected with each other, while still being thousands of miles apart, so does their ability to share their experiences seamlessly. Word-of-mouth has gained enough momentum in today’s world to make a significant impact on a business’ success. For instance, if a person purchases, uses and disapproves of the value that is provided by a company’s product, they’ll inform their acquaintances about it. And if it’s widespread enough, it can cause a considerable dent in the company’s generated revenue.
This radical power shift is the reason why most businesses are becoming more cautious and precise in their operations, and focusing their efforts on creating a product for the customers, rather than forcing them to buy a product that cannot provide them with much value.
However, as the number of social media platforms grows, simply extending their presence on each one of them without any material contribution to the customers can do more bad than good for the company. In the same vein, empty marketing campaigns and ineffective data management are some of the other obstacles that a business faces for efficiently interacting with their customers.
To circumvent these situations, companies must realize that they now need to build a personal, intimate relationship with their customers and aim to provide value to their requirements and needs. This is not only profitable for the business through more profits but also helps in maintaining customer retention and satisfaction, and building the right business image in their minds.
What this means for the internal workings of a business is that there is now a call for some re-alignment and re-structuring, and increased inter-connectivity. Adopting a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software service and integrating it with social media can be extremely valuable for any business.
Motivate your workforce :
Happy customers require happy employees. The reason for this is the blending of responsibilities within the modern business framework. The sales and marketing teams can no longer work independently in their own domains and must collaborate with every other department in the organization to produce mutually beneficial relationships with the customers.
With a CRM software tool, a central database can be shared by your entire workforce that collects and organizes customer data from the business’ social media channels. This facilitates an easier flow of information between teams and hierarchies and enables them to make data-based decisions on how to interact with the customers and solve their issues.
Aim for long-term relationships with your customers :
Viewing a customer as simply a potential transaction can be one of the biggest blunders that you can make. It is therefore important to realize that each customer is providing value to your business, and the loss of a customer means an exponential loss in its value.
A social media site is a perfect medium for understanding your customers in a more detailed and personal manner, and connecting with them organically rather than being too mechanical. Listen to their concerns and have friendly and polite conversations with them. Most importantly, always be there to listen to their concerns, issues and suggestions; failing to do this can irreversibly damage the business and destroy the brand value.
Your best customers are your biggest advocates :
When you successfully build a relationship with a customer, they can become your primary source of business, primarily by being an influential brand advocate and bringing in more business through their friends, family, and acquaintances. Your loyal customers can also attract more business by instantly engaging with a wide audience of people on various social media platforms.
Customers prefer to take their business to a company based on a familiar person’s positive experiences and their history of good customer support and service. This is also why customer engagement is a top priority for all businesses, whether they are old, large enterprises or new, struggling startups.
One thought on “The right way for businesses to socially engage with their customers”
Hi
Thanks for sharing the informative article!
The ever increasing number of users on social media platforms bodes good for Marketers for the myriad advantages it provides. The best asset social media provides is in the form of Social Data. Social data can work to the advantage of marketers for the returns it promises, as a recent McKinsey study found out that companies who put data-driven personalization at the center of marketing and sales decisions could look at a 15 to 20 percent ROI. What are your views on this?
Megan Barnett