Customer Service Via Twitter Can Help Business Reputation

Great customer service can be the ultimate marketing tool. This isn’t anything new or earth shattering, but it is sometimes forgotten and plays in the shadows of big time advertising and marketing campaigns. In the world of social media, we are always formulating strategies to engage customers by listening to them, participating in conversations with them, and building communities to support them. We have tools from Facebook to Twitter to Wetpaint to facilitate all the above. We have online ads, sponsored blogs, and affiliate programs to draw customers to our products and services. But when it comes down to it, what is it that the customer wants? To experience a personal interaction. To have a voice and be heard. To trust.

Customers are engaging in global conversations about your products, and if you’re not engaged and listening, it isn’t going to matter how creative or how glossy your ad is, your customer will be clicking on your competitor. However, with more and more social media tools becoming main stream, you as a privy business can engage. But first you need to realize that gone are the days of passive customers.

Customers are using communities to tell their friends about products, they are writing online reviews for all to see, they are tweeting about their positive and negative experiences. Customers are reaching a mass audience shouting praise or resentment for your business. “This rallies in an exciting new age for consumerism and how we do business. The internet is word of mouth set on fire, and can be your best friend or your worst enemy.” (Singer, 2008)

One way to make it your best friend is to use Twitter as a customer service tool, and if done properly, it will serve as a great marketing tool as well. As Grunig, Grunig, and Dozier said in Excellent Public Relations and Effective Organizations:

[W]e show that the value of public relations comes from the relationships that communicators develop and maintain with publics. We show that reputation is a product of relationships and that the quality of relationships and reputation result more from the behavior of the organization than from the messages that communicators disseminate. (James E. Grunig, 2002)

Let me give you an example. A few weeks ago my bank statement arrived showing I had a service charge of $5.95. I didn’t know what the charge was for so on Monday morning I called Bank of America (BoA) to ask why I was charged. The customer representative told me that because of the type of account I have I’m required to have a monthly direct deposit, and since I didn’t have a deposit last month I was charged the fee. The reason I didn’t have a direct deposit last month and the reason I wasn’t going to in the foreseeable months to come is because I had recently been laid off. Needless to say, I wasn’t too happy about this policy the bank was now enforcing. After learning what the charge was for, I hung up the phone wondering if there was anything I could do. I decided to test the waters of the social media world. I tweeted about my experience with BoA. Within 15 minutes, someone at the other end of the cloud answered my tweet to my surprise. In less than an hour, I was connected to someone who could help me, I spoke to a very nice gentleman in the Chairman of the Board’s office, and he was able to solve my problem. I was astonished at the level of service I had just received from BoA. I honestly couldn’t believe I had such a personal interaction with one of the biggest banks in the world. I immediately tweeted about my experience in which I received this tweet. Throughout the day, I updated my Facebook status to tell my friends and family about my BoA experience. For the next week, I told people about it when I spoke to them. It really made an impression on me. Just by using Twitter and listening to their customers, BoA was able to help and build a relationship while at the same time improving their reputation, marketing their services, and enhancing WOM.

BoA isn’t the only company providing customer service via Twitter. More and more businesses, large and small, are learning that there are low cost, flexible, measurable ways to improve customer service, and in turn, relationships and reputation. (Brogan, 2008) Matt Jurmann at Chromatic, Sarah Perez at ReadWriteWeb , and Jon Swartz at USAToday list just some of the companies using Twitter for brand management and customer service:

· Comcast

· Southwest Airlines

· NetworkSolutions

· Dell Computers

· Twirl

· FireFox

· Verizon

· DISQUS

· PepsiCo

· JetBlue Airways

· Whole Foods Market

Lastly, there are tools that are available for companies to use to measure and track customer satisfaction. The key is to listen so you can join in the conversation. Here are just a few tools:

Pipes: track brand, product, company, CEO mentions on a slew of social media sites, including flickr, twitter, friendfeed, digg etc.

Twitalyzer: is a unique tool to evaluate the activity of any Twitter user and report on relative influence, signal-to-noise ratio, generosity, velocity, clout, and other useful measures of success in social media

TweetScan: performs real-time monitoring

Monitter: Monitter makes it simple to track multiple keywords on one page using columns. Create a new column for each new keyword or keyword variation you want to track. Monitter will update in real-time whenever those words are mentioned on Twitter.

Tweetbeep: If your brand isn’t getting dozens of mentions per hour, or if you want to be sure you’re catching everything, Tweetbeep will check Twitter for you and send you emails with all of the mentions of your brand, as well as links so you can easily save tweets or write a response.

Radian6: are now offering social media analysis and monitoring solutions for PR and advertising professionals

Remember it’s not the few tweets alone that make or break you, “it’s the exponential potential of “ReTweeting” (RT) by other Twitter users that can rapidly spread across the micro-blogosphere, to the blogosphere, and eventually to highly trafficked news websites and blogs. Just as negative tweets have the potential to quickly spread and destroy a company, positive tweets have the potential to quickly spread and strengthen the image and credibility of a company.” (Jurmann, 2009) It reminds me of the line in Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” Build the credibility, increase the transparency, show you care all through customer service and the reputation and customers will follow.

Works Cited

Brogan, C. (2008, April 9). Customer Service Needs New Channels- Or Does It. Retrieved from Community and Social Media: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/customer-service-needs-new-channels-or-does-it/

Ibsen, D. A. (2009, March 21). Customer Service & Support: The Forgotten Marketing Tool. Retrieved from Five Blogs Before Lunch: http://daveibsen.typepad.com/5_blogs_before_lunch/2009/03/customer-service-support-the-forgotten-marketing-tool.html

James E. Grunig, l. A. (2002). Excellent Public Relations and Effective Organizations. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.

Jurmann, M. (2009, February 13). 7 Impressive Twitter Customer Service/Brand Management Cases. Retrieved from Chromatic Blog: http://www.chromaticsites.com/blog/impressive-twitter-customer-service-brand-management-cases/

Parr, B. (2009, May 9). HOW TO: Use Twitter for Customer Service. Retrieved from Mashable: http://mashable.com/2009/05/09/twitter-customer-service/

Perez, S. (2008, April 10). How to Get Customer Service Via Twitter. Retrieved from ReadWriteWeb: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_get_customer_service_via_twitter.php

Singer, A. (2008, August 7). Great Customer Service: The Ultimate PR/Marketing Tool. Retrieved from The Future Buzz: http://thefuturebuzz.com/2008/08/07/great-customer-service-the-ultimate-prmarketing-tool/

Swartz, J. (2009, June 25). Businesses Use Twitter to Communicate with Customers. Retrieved from USAToday: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-06-25-twitter-businesses-consumers_N.htm

Trust, Influence, and Social Marketing

“Social marketing is about influence.” “Women, ages 35-44, make up the biggest demographic on Facebook.” “When purchasing a product, word-of-mouth (WOM) is the most valuable and trusted source at 65%.”[i] As I heard these tidbits of data in class Monday night two words kept coming to mind…. “Mommy Blogs.”

I follow a few Mommy Blogs that range from close friends posting pictures and stories for family and friends to “famous” award-winning Mommy Blogs, such as, http://thepioneerwoman.com/ and http://www.dooce.com/. The blogs that have become jobs for these women are due to the content that they produce, whether it is pictures, stories, or advice, in turn, they have created a following that is very loyal.

With this said, as Brown shared statistics and theories in regards to advertising, I began to think about “product placement” on the Mommy Blogs. These vehicles already have a following so what better way to target an audience. There are two main ways to advertise on a blog, 1) buy advertisements (both Pioneer Woman and Dooce are represented by Federated Media) 2) get the blogger to mention your product. My interest lies in the latter due to the human interactive nature an endorsement fosters, as well as, the trust element that comes into play.

The Pioneer Woman[ii], for instance, endorses products by conducting contests and giveaways with the prizes being gift cards to merchants that she shops or actual products that she uses in her own home. The approach she uses to “attract” her readers to the products is one that merges help, training, user review, and word of mouth. She has built a trust among her readers, while at the same time has become someone who they feel is their best friend; they relate to her and see themselves in her.

When she gives away an HP printer, Canon camera or Microsoft Zune, she might give a tutorial on it, or write about how she uses the product. This approach helps and teaches her readers how to actually use the product and at the same time her tone is “if I can figure this technology out so can you.” So if there was a mom out there that didn’t feel confident in her technology skills or her ability to use the product, Pioneer Woman makes them feel at ease and gives them a confidence boost. Now, the reader starts thinking “well if Pioneer Woman can do it and says it’s easy, then, I can too.” All of a sudden they are purchasing the same printer or camera Pioneer Woman uses.

Another tactic she uses is posting items that her readers will want to print, such as her recipes and her photos, and at the same time giving away an HP printer. She basically leads them to buying the product.

recipes you want to print + printer to print = conversion

This seems like a great strategy for advertisers; however, what if we took a look at the side of the reader, the consumer. Can the reader really trust the Pioneer Woman? How does the reader know that HP, Canon, or Microsoft isn’t paying Pioneer Woman to say great things about their products? Now the reader starts to feel duped by Pioneer Woman, therefore, questioning the product and at the same time the authenticity of the blog. So is it wrong for bloggers to blog about products while at the same time accept a form of payment? This very question has incited a heated debate that is going on in the blogosphere, and has most recently spurred the government to get into the game.

This strategy is called sponsored conversation[iii], and according to Jeremiah Owyang, sponsored conversations have been going on for years in different mediums, from television to movies to podcasts, and they aren’t going away. However, this doesn’t quiet the arguments.

On one side there is the contingency that believes sponsored blogging is just another form of paid media and that specific conditions should be followed. Forrester’s Sean Corcoran states the requirements are: 1) sponsorship transparency and 2) blogger authenticity.

“Sponsorship transparency means that both the marketer and the blogger must make it absolutely clear to the reader community that they are reading paid content – think of Google Adwords “Sponsored Links.” Blogger authenticity means that the blogger should have complete freedom to write in their own voice – even if the content they write about the brand is negative.”

On the other side, there is fear of becoming “cheap tools of corporate interest” as Marshall Kirkpatrick writes in his ReadWriteWeb post posing arguments against Forrester’s document.

Now the government is stepping in with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) expected to release new guidelines later this summer clarifying “that the agency can go after bloggers - as well as the companies that compensate them - for any false claims or failure to disclose conflicts of interest.”[iv]

As a reader of blogs and a consumer, I like the intent of both Forrester’s requirements of transparency and authenticity and implementing future FTC guidelines; however, I don’t think it will save us from ourselves. We, as consumers, must take responsibility in self-policing and making judgment calls as to what is authentic and what is not. The issue around sponsored conversations in the blogosphere isn’t black and white, and isn’t going to be solved with guidelines. There are too many nebulous topics that come into play, but isn’t that why we like the internet? I read blogs because they are “…personal, informal, off the cuff and coming from the heart - unfiltered, uncensored and unplanned;"[v] however, if they are anything but this, I have to filter it appropriately. The bottom line, it comes down to trust, trust in my judgment, trust in the blogger and trust in the company behind the product.

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[i] Holly Brown, Managing Director. MRM Media

[ii] Pioneer Woman only uses sponsored conversations on rare occasions http://thepioneerwoman.com/category/contests_giveaways/about_contests_giveaways

[iii] According to Forrester Research, a sponsored conversation is a marketing technique in which marketers provide financial or material compensation to bloggers in exchange for their posting blog content about a brand.

[iv] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/21/AR2009062101107.html

[v] Sam Bayard, a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society

Life from the Window of a Train

The countryside passing by…colorful wildflowers, lush trees, folks plowing farmland, fresh hay bailed, American flags flying on houses and mailboxes. The train continues down the track “clickety-clack, clickety-clack”, the rocking and the rhythm can lull you asleep. I stare at the tracks thinking back to the time they were laid, who were the men that came before me that worked in the heat and cold to build the railway? What fascinating stories the rail could tell if it had a voice. I imagine those that rode the train in its heyday, dressed to the nines, who were they? Did they have the same dreams and fears I have? “Choo-Choo” the horn blows at each railroad crossing. The train elicits an excitement in people as we pass. It never fails, the people wave, and I wave back and smile. It’s some kind of connection.

Oh how I hope riding the rails isn’t a thing of the past to be left to a bygone era. There are just some things that we were meant to save, that were meant to last. And this is one of them. One example of almost (I hope we’re not too late) losing not only a historical monument, but a functional and practical building is King Street Station in Seattle. It has been deteriorating for years. There once was a gorgeous crown molding ceiling in the lobby that at some point some idiot thought it would be “better” to cover it with a drop plaster board ceiling. As the years went by, the city continued to let it go, not recognizing what a gem it was. And now, finally, they have decided to restore it, which is wonderful. But why did they let it go in the first place? Was it that we moved on to bigger and better things? We got greedy with time and resources, and thinking that newer was better. Isn’t that where we are today? Isn’t that line of thinking what got us in the predicament we’re in today. Sometimes learning from the past and keeping things the same isn’t so bad. I’m afraid we’re going to do the same thing with our railroads if we’re not careful. We’re going to forget about them, and then it will be too late. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. With a little love and care our train system could be quite an ROI for American taxpayers. Have you ever noticed that things built “back in the day” were built to last and what’s funny, is a lot of times they do.

So here’s my shameless plug: If you get a chance consider riding the train instead of taking that flight or driving the car. I promise it will be an experience you won’t forget.

I remember as a child waiting to see the end of the train, it was the best part, it was the Caboose! I haven’t seen a Caboose in years. I hope the rest of the train doesn’t end up wherever the beloved Caboose is today. And the train pulls into the station. Right on time.

If you’re interested follow Amtrak Vacations @AmtrakVacations for vacation ideas or the Southern Pacific 4449 @sp4449 for the adventures of the historic steam engine locomotive.