Social Media = interacting with many people at once and creating different levels of relationships. It’s good customer service using different channels of communication.
If you ever worked in retail as an everyday sales associate, you know what I mean when I say “creating different levels of relationships”.
Some customers are one-offs (see them once and never again). Other customers, though, are regulars. Some are so regular that they can (and often do) become personal friends. How you interact with your customers has great influence over what kind of customer they become.
Take that sort of relationship-building and place the involved parties on opposite ends of the planet.
Previously there was no real way to mimic the face-to-face connection between individuals. Introduce the technology of social networking/social media, though, and bam – you’re now much closer to creating that person-to-person connection.
Simple, no?
The big hurdle shouldn’t be what social media is. It’s just good customer service, and I’m confident that everything I’ve said above is just common sense.
The hurdle, instead, should be more specific; more tactical than strategic.
What social media channels do you use? How do you use them? What goals are you setting for yourself with these channels?
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The word conversion means “to change something into a different state or form”.
There are many kinds of conversions in the online world, and not all of them relate to a payment.
Just like in the physical world, not every customer who enters a shop will walk away with a purchase.
With online channels, you can convert a visitor to a member; a critic to a supporter. “Winning the Hearts and Minds” of individuals who have never heard of you is no less valid in online conversions than it is in military strategy.
The key, of course, is defining a broader scope of goals.
Aside from a sale, what else can qualify as a conversion?
In a traditional brick-and-mortar store, a good rule of thumb is to provide the customer with exactly what they need.
It may be advice or a personal opinion, or it may be more information.
In the ideal situation, they have money in hand and are looking to buy.
Sometimes, though, the customer isn’t interested in interacting with you, and instead they simply want to be left alone.
In all of these situations, though, there is one goal in mind: you want the customer to come back. You want that visit to transform into many visits. You want that customer to become a regular customer.
Online, you do not know exactly what your visitors are looking for. So you need to provide all the options.
Even if you don’t convert a visit to a sale, you can still convert a visit to a return visit, or a return visit to a membership.
Broaden your goals, diversify your conversions.
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