People are not using Twitter just to follow celebrities; they are talking and nagging about brands as well. The same is true for Facebook and even online stores. With multiple online channels to share opinions and vent anger, it is important to understand how brands are building trust and loyalty through social media & other online channels.
FATbit’s marketing team brings newest and golden examples of brands managing communication, engagement, and handling grievances online.
Let’s start with brand interactions on social media channels:
Personal interactions
Brands have become social media daredevils in the past few years. On Valentine’s Day 2015, @ConMend dared the global restaurant group, Pizza Express on Twitter to set him up for a free date. The brand responded and weaved quite a story with it. In addition to retweets and favorites, the story got more than 12000 upvotes on Imgur and free coverage on various web tabloids.
Here are some snapshots for you:
Brands, at least big ones, seemed to have figured out how to handle communications on social media to build loyalty as well as buzz.
(SMEs, are you listening?)
Hitchhiking interactions
Twitter brawls are common and entertaining but when it’s between Papa John’s and Iggy Azalea, the event is monumental. Few days before Valentines, the popular Australian artist tweeted that her number was leaked by the delivery guy and demanded an explanation. But this is not the best part.
DiGiorno Pizza gate crashed the Twitter conversation and earned internet karma and free publicity for its brand. Check out the snapshots!
While Papa John’s made the situation worse by trying to be funny with a pissed customer with 4.33M followers, we had a winner in DiGiorno Pizza. That said, hitchhiking interactions is more of an art. You need social media geeks by your side while doing this.
Generate hype & build brand trust through social media
Lightning response
If you think customer engagement on social media is not for serious brands, then, you are on thin ice. JetBlue is an American airlines company that not only answers normal enquiries but also spares time to answer disgruntled customers.
The best thing you can do on social media is response quickly and that’s what the airline is doing right.
Screenshots!
There are many other brands that do the same on social media, and it helps in business marketing on internet as well. If you are new to social media, then, reply quickly, be polite, and empathize (Just like JetBlue).
Read this B2B blog post to learn how to negative reviews with social media.
Action response
Just blabbering on social media will not get you anywhere unless you make a real effort to delight your customers. While we are mainly focusing on social media, there are other channels through which you can directly influence buying habits and show that ‘you care’.
Amazon and Coleman did something similar for a customer who wasn’t happy with his purchase. While the largest internet based retailer of the US responded to a negative review with a product replacement, the seller also made an effort to address the issue by direct action.
Here is a click:
Noticed something?
The reviewer shared the update on his own. Future buyers who come across the review will certainly consider both the companies –if not their product – in good light. So, this is something that you should do every once in a while besides branding on social media.
These are not the only brands building trust through social media and generating hype around their brand at the same time. Businesses across the world, size no bar, are doing the same through:
- Social media
- Discussion forums
- QA sites
- Review channels
Now, the question arise what kind of business or company do you want to be?
One that just cares about present or one that wants to invest in future.
Think over it.
(And don’t forget to share your thoughts or queries in comments section!)
Give your brand the advantage of active presence on social media
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Comments (1)
EASWERDRAVIDA
Great information.