Rushing into social computing initiatives without clearly defined benefits can equal failure for your company
Over the course of the last two years I have found that there are a lot of companies that are not leveraging their Internet marketing initiatives. This frankly is inexcusable because it means that you're ignoring consumers who are trying to engage you or learn more about your brand/products at a time when they have little loyalty to any one brand.
The biggest issues that I have seen are:
(1) Not tracking search engine optimization past click-throughs to your site. Click throughs mean little today a look at your bounce rate can tell you that.
(2) Not evaluating paths through the site that lead to conversion and optimizing your site to increase conversion.
(3) Using only one homepage for website visitors and returning visitors.
(4) Using content that sounds too much like a sales brochure.
(5) Not acknowledging that your audience is comprised of people not segments to be bundled together.
(6) Finally, not refreshing your site enough to engage visitors who return. This perhaps is the biggest obstacle to overcome because there is a feeling that once your site is up it's done.
However Jacob points out the "iceberg" effect; that is that you need a hell of a lot more resources below the water line than what you see above the waterline. If, for example, you don't have a plan in place on who is going to monitor your social media, who has authority to resolve customer issues/problems and what is considered success in social media your just conducting an exercise in mental masturbation.
The social media
integration Iceberg
effect
Planning
of social media is just as important as
implementation and that includes resources.
Companies recognize how important the quality of
service is when it comes to customer acquisition
and retention, and that a drop in customer
satisfaction can have a significant impact on a
company’s success or failure, especially in
social media where consumers want answers right
away.
Customers expect MORE
from your company
today.
Never underestimate the power of one unhappy
customer.
90% share bad experiences with friends,
colleagues and ‘followers’ online. With Twitter,
Facebook and other social media networks,
individual bad experiences become amplified and
are eventually reflected in customer satisfaction
ratings. Adding fuel to the fire: Management’s
statements about “putting the customer first”- if
not backed by action, or worse are made in the
context of headcount reduction – backfire as
lipservice.
Calling is still tops in customer service but the
web is
becoming more important.
Are you willing to risk losing customers because
of poor
social media integration with customer service ?
