10 Steps To Turning Customers into Evangelists Using Social Media

Yesterday we talked about the value of turning customers into evangelists when using social media. I wanted to give you a few pointers on how to accomplish the task.

25 Steps to Turning Customers into Evangelists Using Social Media

1. First. Make sure you prepare yourself for the focused effort of turning happy customers to loyal promoters and evangelists. Prepare your mind. Maybe yoga?

2. You have an email list right? Use your email list to make sure you are connected to your customers on the social sites you use frequently.

Importing and Exporting Contacts Using:

Facebook, LinkedIN, Twitter, and Plaxo.

3. After you have imported your contacts into the social media sites of your choosing… make sure you add and contact them through the sites.

4. Once you have connected to most of your customers start communicating on a daily basis with them. We are not talking about sending sales information or product information but asking about their day… etc.

5. Create a list of your high level and value customers. It helps to have a list in place to set some goals toward customer evangelists. Start out with 5 people or companies.

6. Set up Twitter Searches for your valued client’s industries or services. For example, if you have an accountant as a valued client make sure you setup a Twitter search feed for accountant or tax advice. When someone ask for advice make sure you reccomend your client.

Disclaimer: You do not have to always monitor the Twitter search but it is good to have around. I know we all have about 5 mins of free time a day.

7. If the client has an event or seminar coming up in the area make sure you share that link with the multitudes of your followers online.

Share it as an RT in Twitter

Share it on your Facebook Wall

Share it as a status update on LinkedIN

8. Recommend your client on LinkedIN. Why recommend on LinkedIN? It is simple. If you want recommended by a client on LinkedIN it is always better to recommend first. Do it and see the benefits.

9. Share an exciting story about your client’s business to your contacts. It is important to share the quality information even if it does not relate you your business.

10. Ask for the recommendation. It never hurts to ask. Encourage your best clients and friends to tell YOUR story across the masses.

Remember it is important to give before you receive. If you help your clients become thought leadership in their industries or grow their business using the Internet they WILL become your evangelists.

The 4-Touch Points of Productivity in Social Media

This is an old post that I have re-formatted because it still fits in with small business social media and social media strategy.

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Use the 4-Points Model to be Productive in Social Media

When using social media you should keep in mind the 4-points model. There are 4 points social media applications should touch in regards to your daily life: Business, Local Business Networking, Social, and Information. Choose four main networks where you spend the most of your time.

I use LinkedIn for business applications, Smaller Indiana for local business networking, Facebook for social application, and Twitter for information. LinkedIn can be described as my connection rolodex. Facebook is to keep me updated on my friends and acquaintances from college and high school. FriendFeed is a wonderful information aggregation tool where you can follow influential people and the information they share. Smaller Indiana is a great place to connect to local professionals and share ideas on how to make Indiana a better place.

We have rounded out the four touch points to a more “proactive” arrangement: Business Interaction, Business Productivity, Social Development, and Education/Information. An example of each can be seen below:

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Social Media Marketing to Increase by 48%

Thanks to Chris Baggott at Compendium Blogware for pushing this data at me. I have seen the graph before but not the updated version. Chris’ post talks about the merit of SEO and email marketing being at the forefront of the increases in online marketing budgets over the next year… I wanted to focus on the third one..

Social media marketing.

It is encouraging to see social media marketing and SEO sliding into the top three spots in the online marketing budgets of companies all over the world. It shows that businesses owners from all over the world are taking a closer look at sites like Twitter and organic search engine optimization in the form of blogging (guessing there).

What does this mean to the business owner?

In my opinion, you should follow the trend or get left in the dust.

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Multnomah County is Kicking Your Butt in Social Media

We are finally getting to the point where government entities are starting to enact social media initiatives. This from Frank Mungeam, staff writer of Kgw in Portland:

“Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler is taking criticism for a new county job that’s just been posted.

The official title is Social Media Coordinator.

The qualified candidate will be paid between $60,000-$70,000 to use social media sites to reach out to the residents of Multnomah County.”

In my opinion this is a brilliant move on behalf of the county. They want to start communicating on a different level with people throughout the county and social media is one way to do this.

There are people in the area that are doubting the validity of the position which is not a complete surprise to me… although disturbing. The members of Mult. County are disturbed with the price tag of the position ($60,000 – $70,000/year). While this is a high price to pay for a social media advocate but sometimes the price is high to adapt to changes in communication.

If you want an example of the best way to look at shifting your paradigm as a business owner.. listen to this:

“I am taking a lot of heat for this, but so did the poor guys who claimed that someday those crazy flying machines would replace the railroads. – Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler”

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The Strange World of Social Media

The majority of us are strangers right? I mean… we talk on a regular basis and exhange links but there are few that you can actual call “trusted friends.” And yet we love what we do. 

I love getting up in the morning and having multiple conversations with people all over the world. I love sharing content with enlightened minds just trying to understand concepts of design, marketing, social media, the Internet, and life. 

The majority of us are strangers but we share a common bond: interest. There is a common thread that ties all of us together: the social web. Our interests keep us coming back and keep us in the loop.

When marketing and creating relationships with customers over the web it is important to remember this… the killer of all.

Your customers want to relate to you and in the strange world of social media it has become easier to relate, share, and communicate. 

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Number One Rule for Realtors Using Facebook

I stumbled across this video today (via Ribeezie) from CyberHomes. It is a simple (shockingly simple) video that describes the number one rule for realtors using Facebook.

Do not lead with advertising. Get to the heart of the individual. Let them know that you care about what they think. They could care less about a home offer, or a discount, or a new showing. They care about the person behind the message. Period.

Is Email Marketing Better than Social Media?

I was thrown into a conversation through the Understanding Marketing blog surrounding the concept of email marketing being better than social media… or vice versa.

I tend to agree with the editor over at Understanding Marketing when they say:

“So there’s a big conversation on which one is better. Here’s what I say – Who cares!? They both serve your audiences in their own way.”

I couldn’t agree more. There shouldn’t even be an argument over which medium is better. You should be using both mediums to develop your marketing strategy. Email has been successful over the years to drive valued buyers to a landing page, website, or phone. Social Media is used to build a brand, tell a story, and start a conversation.

They are two different mediums.. two different uses.. two different outcomes. If you are wanting an idea about how to combine the two mediums… Here is something to chew on:

1. Social Media is available to start building brand awareness around a specific product or service. It is also there to truly empower your employees and clients to talk about your company.

2. Email is the second tier of communication. Once a potential client buys into your conversation through social media.. Email can be there to deliver relevant and sales material to push the sales across.

These are just two uses for the HUGE mediums of email and social media. How do you combine both strategies?

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Social Media Lab Developed to Help Interns and Biz

Thanks to my partner in crime at Brandswag, Brandon Coon, for sending me this article on a Social Media Lab in Oklahoma.

There is a company in Tulsa, OK that is taking the concept of marketing and education in social media and magnifying it by 1000%. Cubic , a creative marketing and advertising company, has developed a Social Media Lab that is dedicated to teaching young professionals and business owners the front and back of technology and social media.

Check out the article and read the background behind the idea from Cubic.

I like the idea of the Social Media Lab because we need (as a culture) to start helping the masses understand the concepts of social media technology and the Internet. It is important for the learning curve to start collapsing from all sides. I am glad that tech and new media companies are taking this upon their shoulders.

From SMASH to the Social Media Lab, education is going to be the leading focus of many social media and new media marketing firms in the near future.

What do you think about the Social Media Lab? Do you think it will work?

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90% of Your Business Will Be Digital or WOM

A fellow employee at Brandswag, Colin Clark, wrote  a blog post about the 5 Ways to Prepare for the year 2011. Now this is an interesting post title in itself. What is the deal with the year 2011? I finally had the chance to read Colin’s post which is centered around a comment by Seth Godin. Seth has predicted that the majority (90%) of your sales will come from either digital marketing or word-of-mouth.

Talk about a crazy prediction… or is it?

Is it so hard to believe that the majority of small-to-mid size business leads will be driven by customer referrals and communication online? We are experiencing a complete 180 in terms of communication. Brands are being controlled not by the owner of the product or service but by the users.

Customer experience has always had a small hold on brands but with the Internet and social communities… the definition of YOUR product and service is no longer… under your control.

Where do you go from here?

Learn. Read. Jump in.

And when I say read… I mean go read Colin’s blog about the 5 Ways to Prepare for the Year 2011. The year of communication.

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NonProfit Organizations Love Social Media Too!

I had the pleasure of speaking at the Fundraising 2.0 conference on Friday and I wanted to make sure that everyone on the Internet knew that non-profit organizations get a bad name sometimes for hating on social media (the fear factor)… well sometimes. I recorded this video to show that people are getting excited for social media and the future of communication! Check it out.

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