Who are your Social Customers?
Influencers are a great way to connect to the audience you already have and to grow your social media. But influencers aren’t the only way you’re part of the social network. Lots of people who aren’t influencers are posting about your products and your brand…and you might not even know who they are. These are your Social Customers, the people who buy your products and talk about them online just because they feel strongly about how you’ve impacted their lives. Your impact is hopefully a positive one, but even if it’s negative, you need to know about it and be prepared to respond publicly. Listening to your social customers is an essential part of amplifying the things you already do that are working, and pivoting away from things your customers don’t like. Listening to, and responding to, your social customers will keep you ahead of the curve and keep your brand growing.
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Brand Co-creation
Today, a brand is a shared experience between the business and the customers it reaches. People, by nature, talk about what they like (and what they don’t), and nowhere is this more evident than on social media. Your customers are going to talk about their experience with your products, and listening to what your social customers say, and joining the conversation, can have a huge ripple effect. When a social consumer likes your brand or shares a great experience with one of several communities, the news will spread quickly. As a result, the brand's credibility keeps growing.
Consider who you are more likely to take a recommendation from: your friends, family members, and other people in your social circle, or to a brand’s direct advertisements to you? Right, you’re going to take the word of people you know long before what any ad says. You can grow your social media by following this principal.
If your social customers buy your products and can’t help but rave about them to their 50 friends online, you’ve just increased your reach by 50 people without having to spend a dime. However, ignoring these posts by your fans is like ignoring an email or a text message: if they don’t get a response, they don’t feel valued and might not be quite so enthusiastic in the future.
With a great social management platform like Hubble, you can listen in on what social customers are saying about your brand, and keep the conversation going by thanking them for the mention. This kind of connection is how you create customers for life. It’s not just about having a great product. It’s also about nurturing the relationships with your customers who enjoy the products you create.
Zero stars, do not recommend
You love it when customers rave about your products, but what do you do when they hate it? Some brands ignore negative comments, and might go so far as to delete negative comments and reviews. This is the worst possible tactic. Seriously, no one has all rave reviews, and your customers know when something is sketchy about the gaps in the comments.
Instead of hiding negative comments, engage the audience over what went wrong. You’re not just speaking to the one customer who complained. You’re speaking to your entire audience, and they’re watching to see how you handle the situation. Do you apologize and do your best to make it right for the customer? Do you acknowledge when things go wrong? Or do you argue with the customer and blame them for the bad experience…online, publicly? Remember, everything can be shared in a screenshot so it pays to remember that every interaction can reflect on your brand, and you don’t want to go viral for poor customer service. Grow your social media influence by shifting even the most negative comment into a positive experience.
The future is community
It used to be difficult to talk to a company about their products, and most companies were only listening to focus groups and marketing teams anyway. Today, there is no divide between brands and customers, and if someone can’t get through with an email, they’ll just @ you on Twitter for the world to see.
This also means you have an unprecedented opportunity to grow your social and create a community around your products with the people who love them. Social customers aren’t paid to promote your stuff, they just happen to love what you’ve made and want to talk about it. Reward them for their attention by offering them exclusives and getting them early deals.
There is nothing quite as irresistible to buyers as exclusivity and uniqueness. Social customers appreciate receiving personalized attention and customized services, which gives brands a competitive edge up front and loyalty benefits in the long run. Surveys continue to prove that social customers demonstrate loyalty and solidarity to brands that deliver a personal experience and care about their experience. Having a sloppy attitude or being careless with the attention that you’re getting from them might annoy your customers and tilt the scales in favor of your competitors.
Nurture the relationships you grow with your social customers by resharing their content, offering exclusives, or even sending them discounts and free products in appreciation of their loyalty. In this way you’re creating customers for life, and they’ll continue to rave about your brand to anyone who will listen.
What are the future prospects for social selling? There are many facets to this question, but the bottom line is that the future is virtually unlimited to grow your social media and amplify the reach of your brand. Social customers play a fundamental role in a world flooded with information, opinions, and choices. By focusing on your social customers you will remind your community not only of your existence and exclusivity, but also of your value - on a continuous basis. Make it easy to listen to your customers and grow your social media by choosing an app that’s designed with effortless growth in mind. Hubble not only manages your influencers, but also tracks your keywords and brand mentions so you can identify and reward your social customers.
