Are you paying attention to your customers and the influence they wield? In “The Social Quote” this week, we feature Dave Kerpen, CEO and Founder of Likeable Media.
Customer Influence - what power do your customers wield online?
The Quote:
“It’s important to think of every customer as an online celebrity with followers, friends, & above all influence”
The Source:
Dave Kerpen’s New York Times Bestselling Book: Likeable Media – How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistable Brand and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (and Other Social Networks)
The Takeaways:
I love this Quote. Customers are your biggest word of mouth asset. Did you know that it takes roughly 5-10 times more effort to get a new client through your door (virtual or otherwise) than it does to retain a current one? You do the math – where is your time better spent? If you do as Dave Kerpen recommends and you “delight your customers” then you will keep them happy and loyal and wanting to do repeat business with you.
More importantly by enchanting them into becoming raving, referring brand advocates, they will leave your business wanting to tell everyone about you and they will return with their friends. They will tell everyone not only about what you do, but why you do it. It’s the same online – your customers do have influence.
It doesn’t matter how many friends and followers they have, the fact is that one excited, raving referring brand advocate is better than 1,000 likers who never engage with you and won’t share “you” with their circle of friends and family.
Facebook is first and foremost a means of keeping in touch with your target market – think about your ideal client and who they are. What keeps them up at night, what do they want from you? How can you give them what they want online? What content, tips, information, engagement are they after? Talk to some of your “ideal clients” and ask them about what they love about you! How do they like to engage with you online? What products, services and information are they wanting from you? Then do more of that!
Keep in mind at all times that whatever experience your customer has could well be the experience of their friends, as he or she will share what they love about you (and on the flipside, what they don’t love). So, yes: think of them as a celebrity!
Want More?
Find out more about Dave Kerpen and his team of social media thought leaders at www.likeable.com or drop by one of their Sunday night #LikeableChat sessions on Twitter to engage with Dave and his team at 10pm ET (US). Always packed full of great nuggets of social media strategy – in a Q&A format to guide the chat. And I definitely recommend that you subscribe to their weekly Likeable Newsletter or subscribe to their blog via RSS.
Have you read “Likeable Media” or followed Likeable on any of the social networks? What is your tip for treating your customer like a celebrity online?
Donna Moritz is a Social Media Strategist and Visual Marketing Specialist – and founder of Socially Sorted, in Queensland, Australia. Donna loves to help small businesses and companies use visual social media strategies to get more reach, referrals and results for their business. She has been a contributing author for Entrepreneur.com, Social Fresh and Amy Porterfield and has been featured on Forbes and Yahoo Small Business. Connect with Donna on Google+ and other social media networks below.
