Customer Feedback is Shaping your Brand
Traditional marketing has, in the past, been a series of very prescribed messages and controlled delivery over an email, website or social outlet. But these messages are less and less believable. Consumers today are veering away from those tailored messages and instead going straight to Customer Feedback.
We hear over and over again from businesses that managing the messages that come from the customer world is next to impossible to control. But there is something that can be done. You can take control of the message!
1. Sharing is Caring Make sure your clients have methods of sharing their feedback. Sounds basic and silly right? But it all starts with listening. Customer Feedback and Online Monitoring are the basics and you can either track what people are saying or (the smart choice) use a tool that tracks, monitors and replies on your behalf. A business that is not listening appears unengaged and silent and will not survive in today’s marketplace. Proof? A study by Moz shows that 67% of consumers are influenced by Customer Reviews.
2. Listen up! Customer Feedback is one thing, but if you aren’t listening then what’s the point! Using a tool that helps monitor and acknowledge clients and what they are saying is a great start. First, look at the negative feedback. If a trend is showing, make small changes to show you are listening. Then follow up (yes, write those customers personally!) to let them know that you heard them and made changes based on their feedback. This cycle turns unhappy customers into advocates of your business and that’s huge!
3. Put your Promoters to work For those that are promoters or those who love you show them the love right back. Take the time out to tell them you are really pumped about them (make it personable don’t ever use a canned response in these instances). Then revisit tip #1 by giving this group of customers an even more robust way to give feedback: posting reviews, posting images of a finished project/example of them using your service to their Social Media pages, or even giving a video-testimonial.
4. Fun First At the end of the day, this social world should be fun for us all. There are endless possibilities for contests, hashtags, specials that align with something unique to your business. Give your customers something fun and interesting to do. And hey, if it doesn’t work so well just try something new!
5. Never ever ever Spam! If something feels unauthentic or spammy it most likely is. Today consumers and customers see right through impersonal or salesy messages. When communicating with these wonderful potential ambassadors be honest and personal. In this day of oversaturation of marketing and messages those personal things go a long way.
We can give you oh so many more examples, but rest assured that by hitting all these points you take control over the message instead of the message taking control over you! And if you need help listening to your customers, our Customer Feedback Tool is a great start.