Author: Mauricio Escobar Mármol

TOP SIX TIPS WHEN MANAGING DIFFICULT COMMENTARY ON SOCIAL MEDIA 

Reading an article published on The Deal Magazine (notes from Liem Viet Ngo, Lecturer Australian School of Business and Brian Giesen, Strategy Director at Ogilvy) about how to deal with negative social media commentary from consumers, reminded me key fundamental aspects I have been practising for clients when managing difficult commentary, complaints and “trolls” ( people just just love being cynical, sarcastic or just on-going complainers).

Key rules when dealing with difficult commentary:

• NEVER ignore commentary. Become aware and take note of this people.
• Respond within a DAY. No excuse for brands to open Facebook pages or twitter accounts if they cannot respond to complains, questions on the day. Remember than when responding your brand not only get noticed by your fan but also by her social network of friends and followers.
• Do not argue online. Move conversations to private email or even better to phone conversations.
• Find out ALL details of complains. Sometimes I have had people who do not even know what they want OR even worse they are complaining for a service they have had at other competitor’s business.
• Not all complaints are equal and need different treatment. Some can wait, some have to be followed up immediately. Find out how influential the person is and prioritise accordingly. Go to their Twitter, Facebook, flickr, accounts and find more about them in their public profiles.
• Focus on your brand DNA. Do not let social to distract you or confuse your customers. Talk what you are mean to talk. Let the other commentary to other brands.

As Liam quoted in the article, the meaning and value of a brand is co-created, curated and shaped by customers today.

You (as a brand captain) need to help customer’s co-create, curate and shape the perceptions, visions of what the brand is today and it is going to be in the future.

Cheers and have a nice week :)

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Google Adwords -Top tips  - Super easy to implement and save you money!

1. Link your Google Adwords to Google Analytics so you know what search terms really convert. TOP TIP! If you do not know how…give us a call or find instructions here :) Tip: To make the Google Adwords/Analytics linking work you need to also ensure the Auto-tagging box (under My Account>Preferences>Tracking) is ticked. If you do not this the linking will never work

2. Do not procastinate and run different ads: Google will automatically show the best performing ad (best ad with highest Click through rate).

3. Be smart with your ad text: Google allows you for intercapitalization (once capital letter per word) and use of symbols ($#@&%_+) One symbol per ad.

4. Strong ad call to action: what do you want people to do when reading the ad… be clear and concise.

5. Run image ads: If Google Display Network is on. Take advantage and run iamge ads. If you have the images and need to crop them or polish them; use Picassa; free image editor software for images. It will help for static images but not for rotating or animated images.

6. Optimize image ads: start with “broad reach” and if you are not happy then you can use the “network tab” and select specific websites you want your ad to appear.

7. Use adextensions within your Google Adwords ad: This will help you with your Click Through Rate. It will allow your ad to show any of this options:

• Location extension: Show a link within your ad of your Google Places
• Call extension: Show a link within your ad with your business phone number.
• Site links: Show extra links within your ad to popular/relevant pages of your website.
• Products links: Show extra links within your ad to your top/relevant Google Merchant pages.
• Social links: Show a link within your ad that goes to your business Google + page.

8. Get free advice! If you are in Australia, you can reach Google Adwords Customer Service team on 1800 211 552, Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm EST . Have your customer ID ready. Their team is fantastic and super useful to answer any question you might have.

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• Learn more how Google can help your business.

- Cost to bring a new consumer.

- Average customer life time value per consumer/customer segment.

That’s it.

Once you know this, you can optimize your comms plan accordingly.

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The customer experience deficit - Opportunities for Growth in the Retail Industry

As customers now move between online and offline channels…websites, mobile, apps, stores, tv, catalogues, telephone calls, social media; it is extremely important for brands to offer seamless customer experiences across different touch points.

HeadLondon assessed 100 UK retailers customer experience and included real sales correlation with Oxford Economics data Retailers sales data.

Below are the key findings if you have not had the chance to read through the HeadLondon research:

Enable customers to choose a purchase path that suits them best and his/her data to be updated on multiple channels.

Successful retailers offer customers the opportunity to move between touch points with contextual and relevant customized information. Customer browsing and purchase data channel transferal is key. Tesco does a great job on allowing customers to have a consistent view of past purchases on all channels.

Create links between channels

Carefully plan the consumer journey between channels (touch points).

Use mobile websites and mobile apps appropiately.

The Study found that using branded utility makes apps desirable.

Apps are not suitable for casual encounter with retailers. As users make an effort to downloaded, they have to provide real value. They work for loyal, repeat customers.

My tip: Apps that helps users achieve a goal or solve issues on the go are powerful.

Mobile websites unlike apps are perfect for casual interactions. Ensure your mobile website solve a need that your consumers might quicly need to have access on the go.

Treat customers support as a critical part of customer experience

The most advance retailers were found using social media to address customer service issues. ASOS was one great example of resolving customer issues on social media channels. EasyJet was another great example using twitter to respond to passengers questions and complains.

Merchadising a Digital Store.

In-store experiences were found already rich and seductive with hard-to-resist environments. However, the report indicated that online product display is better described as “finding” rather than “shopping”. Majority of online shopping carts are  long, flat product listings organized by category. While users browse online pages, there is no inspiration (as opposed in-store). H&M demonstrated some of the best online merchandising through trend based content and the dressing room feature where users can put products together and buy the whole lot in a click.

Personalizing online.

Personalization technology can offer tailor online experience to individual customers that cannot be achieved in the physical store. Retailers need to build knowledge databases around customer habits, likes, items bought and other behaviours. Retailers then can use that information to make relevant recommendations. Ocado was nominated as top one on this category. I would say Amazon does a great job too.

What brands should do to make service innovation happening

- Scrutinize customer behaviour and needs.

- Offer compelling and indispensable experiences to meet those needs in-store, online and mobile.

There was an interesting page that defined “What makes an exceptional shopping experience today”

Below are findings:

- Cross Channel personalization: offer recommendations based on what users have previously bought via any channel.

- User selections (basket and wish list) persist across-channels, alternatives, ranges or matching items are offered.

- Ability to reserve in one channel and purchase via another.

- Fullfilment info to be provided across channels (email, mobile, sms)

- Unexpected but pleasant surprises on receipt of an order. Example: wrapping, scents, gifts.

- The customers is encouraged to contact the retailer at any time from any channel inc social media and receives a direct, prompt and relevant response.

- The customer is able to sef-serve for common queries. For example, finding manuals, answers to common questions, getting additional product support.

HeadLondon  report writers were Paul Jervis-Heath and Lola Oyelayo.

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