Satisfied customers leads to repeat business and referals
The key to turning your business into a social media marketing success is focusing on what is already making your business great, then enabling your customers to spread the word about your exceptional products or services.
Here are some practical ways for linking your customers’ experience to the power of their endorsement, which will, in turn, bring more customers to your business:
1. Start with exceptional service – Provide your customers with positive, memorable experiences which will help to set you company apart from your competition. When you’re customers are passionate about you they will spread the word about your business to their friends and colleagues. For any social media marketing campaign to take off, you need to have all-out fans willing to share their great experiences.
Eugene Wood, Licensed and Certified Massage Therapist
Recently I went to Eugene Wood for a massage and got such a tremendous relief from tension in my neck, shoulders and back he did not have to ask me to speak about it. Everyone who I met heard about it. I took the time to Tweet and Facebook about it. I felt so good after that massage, I found it very easy to share my experience and was able to use social media to reach more people. I am a convert. I recommend my friends and family to him as well as going back time and time again for his special touch.
2. Engage your customers with interesting content through E-Mail Marketing - Great service is a first step in building a passionate fan base, but the next step involves extending the experience outside your four walls. E-mail marketing helps you reach your passionate customers when they are not in your store by sharing news, tips and other information through periodic communications.
The benefits of e-mail marketing go beyond simply keeping your customers informed. The basic act of asking for an e-mail address strengthens the bond between your business and your customers because they are entrusting you with a piece of their personal information. In addition, e-mail newsletters are easily (and often) forwarded to and shared with friends making this a simple first step towards leveraging your customers’ contacts, if they choose to forward along your messages.
James Erhlein of Extreme Wellness Spa runs an excellent email marketing campaign with the help of Skylark Networks and The Hispanic Network. The weekly and monthly news letters, done by Robert Saunders of Skylark Networks, are well crafted and beautifully laid out with offers you find hard to refuse. You feel compelled to forward them so your friends can benefit from these offers. Maria Morales-Prieto of The Hispanic Network distribute these newsletters through her extensive network of business owners and professionals.
3. Help your passionate customers spread the word- Forwarding an e-mail newsletter is still a great way for your customers to spread the word about your company, but social media marketing provides a lot of other ways, too. Make sure you put the top social media sharing button, like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, in your emails to make it easy for your emails to be shared. Put them at the very top of the newsletter so that it is very noticeable.
Relax, Refresh and Rejuvenate at Extreme Wellness Spa
4. Turn casual acquaintances into passionate customers through smart use of your Facebook Business Page - Sharing information with friends is essential to social media marketing and using Facebook Page to engage your most passionate customers will quickly increase awareness of your business among their contacts. This is why providing content to your most passionate customers is so important: Give them something worthwhile to talk about, and they will gladly share it with their friends. Some examples of items your business could post include:
- Details on new products, or changes to existing offerings
- Specials, deals, discounts and coupons
- News on upcoming events
- Information about community functions and charitable organizations your business may be participating in
- Offers, prizes, rewards and contests
If the ultimate goal is to convert as many people into passionate customers as possible, then it all comes back to providing a great customer experience. Use social media marketing to lure customers into your business, where you can wow them with the kind of exceptional service they heard about from their contacts. And if these new customers heard about your business via social media, try to get them to sign up for your e-mail newsletter while they’re there. When they do, you will know you are on your way to another passionate customer, and your efforts will spin onward to their friends.
Do share with us how you get your satisfied customers or clients to speak highly of what you do to their family, friends and business associates.
