Article

5 ways to win at social media

Social media expert Dave Kerpen shares the secrets of using social media to increase the bottom line.

August 8, 2012

It may sound like an old-school business practice when it comes to navigating something as new as social media, but retailers winning in the online social world simply listen and respond to their customers. Ignoring what consumers are saying about your brand on sites like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter is no longer an option for retailers, Dave Kerpen of Likeable Media said Wednesday during his session at the Retail Customer Experience Executive Summit.

Social media shouldn't be about sales and marketing. It's a customer service platform, but retailers doing it correctly will see sales lifts, said the author of "Likeable Social Media," a book that teaches brands how to succeed with social media.

"Every interaction you have with a customer is marketing, is PR, is brand recognition," he said. "And you can easily turn around an (angry) customer from being a raving lunatic into a raving fan."

Kerpen during the session outlined several strategies that retailers can follow to increase brand recognition and earn loyalty from customers, which ultimately ends in higher profits. A few of them were the following:

• Listen first
• Responsiveness is not a choice
• Meaningful engagement cannot be mechanical
• Provide value
• Use social ads

Listen first

Customers using social media want to be heard, just as someone who would call a store with a complaint. Not responding to a consumer who has mentioned you on a social media platform is the equivalent of hanging up on a customer or walking away from someone who needs help in the store.

"You would never hang up the phone on a customer; you would certainly never hang up the phone of thousands of people were watching, and yet when brands don't respond to comments on social media that's what you're doing. They're saying 'F you' to the world that's watching."

Responsiveness is not a choice

In the past, ignoring the needs of just one customer may have not been detrimental to your business, but the whole world is watching on social media. If an unhappy customer tweets about a negative experience, all his friends see it. Retailers must respond and fix the problem as soon as possible.

"You're not just talking to the individual who is complaining; you're talking to the world that's watching." Kerpen said. "A great best practice is showing the world that you are answering a problem but taking it offline so a conversation doesn't escalate online for the world to see."

Meaningful engagement cannot be mechanical

Unhappy customers not only want their problems to be fixed, they want to see that someone actually cares about their experience, which is why you must use someone from your company or an agency to answer people in real language.

"Otherwise consumers are going to know it," said Kerpen. Part of the fun of social media is figuring out your voice. What does your brand voice look like? Are you funny, are you helpful, are you an expert?"

Provide value

Consumers recognize the different between marketing ploys and actually giving them value. For example, giving 1,000 people 10-percent off coupons is marketing; 10 percent isn't a great offer. Offering a 50-percent off deal, however, is better customer service because it is a valuable offer. Kerpen suggested giving better offers to fewer consumers, who are more likely to share their over-the-top deals with their social media friends.

Using social ads

Ads on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn can be targeted, which means businesses can filter their target audience based on likes. For example, a sports store may want to target only Facebook members who "like" football or a specific sports team. A store that sells running gear may want to reach only members who "liked" running pages.

"You know what's cooler than reaching 900 million people on Facebook? Reaching the 900 that are your perfect target audience," he said.

Read more about social media.