4 Things To Remember About Building Loyalty in 2012

“If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.” That’s a direct quote from retail magic-maker Jeff Bezos, CEO at Amazon.com.

That’s why your 2012 digital marketing strategies should reflect the realization that every action your business takes is now public. If you were careless in a customer care email, or a sales representative was pushy, these are all things that can get put on blast on blogs and social networks; Sometimes by celebrities, authors and other influential people. If you think back honestly, how many times have you not bought a product, or not visited a restaurant based on a single negative comment you might have heard from a friend or through a Facebook post?

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So this upcoming year, in terms of managing your online reputation, remember these four things:

• Social media is the water cooler of the Internet. The only way to get to know your customers is to start asking them questions. You’re doing a great job curating conversations and promoting your content creatively; Now, do more.
• Customer service is the new marketing. The fact that any interaction with a customer on the phone, in email, on Twitter, Facebook, or through any other social network may end up publicly applauded or reprimanded should keep you in check. But is your team on the same page?
• Subscribers exist in every form. Whether you’re collecting email addresses, Facebook fans, YouTube subscribers or Twitter followers, you’re still building a list meant to drive website traffic and sell products. Develop unique selling propositions for each, but treat each list with equal value and subscribers with care.
• Search engine optimization is a retirement plan for your blog posts. Every evergreen blog post that you write should be optimized to be found today, tomorrow, next year, and the year after. These long-tail posts bring in new readers, subscribers, followers and fans.

If you’re ready to train yourself and your staff on how to run a profitable and community-driven social media campaign, or would like to schedule a WebEx that addresses questions specific to your online publishing strategy, please contact Kim Mateus, via email or phone (401) 293-0401.