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What Are Your Customers Saying About You?

Meredith — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:49:34 +0000

In my recent blog on Business Networking Web 2.0 Style I posted a video from YouTube which made some eye opening claims about the prevalence of Social Media. It raises many issues which are very relevant to the way we do business today, and small business owners would be well advised to consider them.

Many people still dismiss social media as a passing fad. According to ComScore, over 70% of Australians visited a social networking site in June this year, up 29% from the previous year. Facebook visits grew from 3 million to 6 million and Twitter grew from 13,000 to 800,000 in the same period in Australia alone.

This kind of growth and reach is hard to ignore.

And for those who regard social media as the domain of Generation Y, demographic data show that the largest age group on Facebook are 35 to 54 years old, and over 40% of Twitter users are 35 to 44 years old. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year old females!

“80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices, what does that mean for bad customer experiences?”

The viral nature of networks means that our business reputations, good OR bad, can potentially travel around the world in minutes. It is also said that 25% of search results for the world’s largest brands are user generated content, and over a third of bloggers post opinions about products or brands. What are these people saying about you?

Consumers trust peer recommendations more than any other kind, including paid advertising in traditional media, so the implications here are enormous.

With the amount of news and other content being shared via social media, is it any wonder that almost all the major newspapers are experiencing decline in circulation?

Implications for Business

So what should businesses be doing to avoid being left behind? Some possibilities are:

Analyse and use consumer generated insights to drive sales and marketing related business decisions
Provide a means to engage with customers through company hosted blogs and online forums
Monitor what your customers are saying online, and view negative feedback as an opportunity for growth and improvement
Use multiple channels of social media to predict and monitor customer behaviour.

Business Networking Web 2.0 Style

Meredith — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 07:58:31 +0000

Nine years ago this month I launched my business on an unsuspecting public. Nobody had warned me at the time that in addition to being an accountant, I had to be social as well!

Much has been written recently on how to use [insert favourite social media application here] to win the hearts, minds and business of new and existing customers. Being a non-typical Generation Xer and an early adopter of computer / internet technologies, I’m loving the opportunities being opened up by Social Media.

When I first started my business I joined the local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, breakfast referral groups and so on. Every so often I’d go to networking events which were not unlike what I imagine speed dating to be like. Get as many contacts and business cards as you can then move on to the next group.

I had far greater success with the regular meeting groups which weren’t JUST about speed networking. I’ve always preferred to establish some kind of rapport with someone, and this doesn’t happen during a 30 second conversation in a noisy room.

If I felt I knew a bit about the person, then I would be more likely to do business with them. And for me, this is where the strength and power of Social Media lies.

Why I’m Loving Social Media

Over the last few years, most of the friendships I’ve made with people have been online. As a result, I’ve come to know people all around the world and even had the pleasure of meeting some when travelling overseas. This non-confrontational method of communication suited my anti-social self down to the ground.

As a result, I’ve found it very easy to slip into a similar style with my social media interactions. Getting to know like minded people via Twitter, Facebook and so on has led to new connections which have already led to new business.

Face to face interaction obviously is still required, but breaking the ice online first has made it far easier for me personally to make new business contacts. And there is no doubt that social media will change the way we all need to do business.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8[/youtube]

This video is in a similar vein to one I posted previously (with the same backing track too) – and is deserving of a whole blog post discussing some points it raises!

Facebook for Businesses

Meredith — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:30:09 +0000

There has been a lot of hype in recent times about social media, and you may well be asking yourself if it’s a useful business tool. Here I will look at one of the fasted growing social media outlets – Facebook.

To give you an idea of the sheer size of the Facebook community, here’s an interesting statistic. If Facebook were a country, it would be the 8th largest in the world, with a larger ‘population’ than Japan and Russia. At the beginning of 2009, there were over 150 million users. And while it started out as an outlet for college students it now comprises users around the world of all ages, education levels and interests. The fastest growing demographic currently is users over 35 years old.

So why use Facebook as one of your promotional tools? There a a number of reasons:

it’s FREE – setting up a page for your business costs nothing (unless you purchase paid advertising)
you can build relationships and communicate with your customers with relevant information, updates and special events (for example, a new product launch)
you can build visibility and a reputation as an expert in your field
there is a vast database of demographic information which you can specifically target, should you choose to advertise

Leveraging the Power of Facebook

Once you’ve set up a Facebook page for your business, there are a number of things you can do to start the ball rolling. You need to get some ‘fans’, have interesting and relevant content, and links back to your business’ main website. On your website’s Home Page, put a link back to your Facebook page. Include a link in your signature block on your emails, blogs and forum posts, and become a fan of other business pages. Join some networks. Just participate, and you will begin to build a following!

Tips for Business Facebook Users

For a business page to become a fan of another business page, go to the other page, and click on ‘Add to Favourite Pages’.
To add extra information such as contact numbers, emails etc, there is a handy Facebook application called “Extended Info”. This makes updating and customizing your business details so much easier.
If you have a personal Facebook page, send an invite to your contact list to become a fan of your business
Use the ‘Discussions’ tab to showcase information and post more detailed updates
If you have at least 25 fans, you can now have a URL which looks like “www.facebook.com/your-business-name”, which is far more user friendly (and search engines love it too!)

What Are Your Customers Saying About You?