Category Archives: Brands

Social Media Fatigue is here

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More people are increasingly feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information as well as lots of noise that comes their way through social networks.  This is in addition to the information they continue receiving through TV, billboards, magazines and other forms of traditional media.

Is it any wonder then that there’s a growing sense of fatigue?

Has social media reached the tipping point?

Sitting with a client recently, he put me on the spot quoting from a research report published in a local newspaper about how people do not want to be bombarded with brand messages in their social networks.  The report indicated that the reason individuals get on to social networks is to connect with their friends and “meet” new people; not to receive corporate messaging about some new offer or product discount.

While I am sure majority of the people reading this were not around in the 1920s when TV signals were first transmitted, I am certain there was hue and cry when advertising began appearing to interrupt important news about the great recession.  Social media is still relatively new and as such the discomfort of having commercial messages is an expected response.  The key difference and benefit of Web 2.0 is that individuals now have a say on which brands they want to hear from.  Social media is permission-based, which is a big win for the consumer and can be a big headache for the brand.  Customers will give you permission to engage with them if you offer them value through the content you have on social networks.

The excitement of all the available social networks has resulted in the overload that is causing some users fatigue.  Over time, one realizes the need to scale down once they have identified the most relevant channels for their requirements.  When you walk into the gym, hopping onto the cycle machine and then onto the treadmill followed by lifting all the weights and trying out every other piece of equipment is likely to land you in hospital with multiple injuries not to mention extreme fatigue.  Trying to be on all social networks with equal levels of engagement and participation can feel a little like the gym situation I have described above.

For any brand, investing in research to establish where the majority of your customers and prospects hang out on social media will help you narrow down to the channels where you need to feature most prominently.  Failing to do this exposes you to the risk of having social media assets that go unattended for long periods of time.  I cannot overemphasize how detrimental this is to any brand.  Research has shown that 49.5% of customers are far less likely to buy anything from you if they find a bunch of unanswered questions or complaints from other customers on your social media site.  A social media policy will greatly help to address some of these issues before the crop up, and failure to have one is among the key risks companies faces when engaging in social media marketing.  Read this article for details on other risks to avoid.

To avoid the fatigue, establish the right and relevant number of social networks and dedicate sufficient resources to keep them lively.  The many complaints and alarmist reports are just growing pains. Social media is only in its infancy.

Social media blunders – How to survive them

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Making a mistake isn’t the worst thing that you can do; failing to learn from the mistake is. We tend to notice and sometimes make a big deal of other people’s mistakes quite a lot.  The fact is we all goof at one point or the other and some mistakes are definitely more costly than others.  In the social media world, we have all come across goofs of massive proportions where people give away their real intentions and location while having called-in sick.  Others get busted having less than honourable relationships by their spouses. The list is endless and I am sure most people have a story of a nasty error that we either made or by someone close to us.

The situation isn’t very different in the business environment; people make grave errors that do cost businesses money, customers and their reputation. Over the last four weeks I have observed as these type of situations played out on cyberspace.  Here are two situations with crucial lessons for anyone using social media for business.

Situation 1: The unhappy Zuku customer

Zuku is Wananchi Online’s flagship brand providing triple-play services to the East African market.  On their web site, they pride themselves as an “East African brand that aspires to bring our customer superior entertainment experience at an affordable price”.  From testimonials of a number of Zuku customers, at least their internet connectivity meets this description.  The TV offering is an arguable point and I don’t know much about their voice service.  On 2nd November 2011 one of their customers was not having a good day with Zuku and put up the tweet below.

The customer, @carolmusyoka used Twitter to get not only Zuku’s attention but that of other customers and potential customers to highlight the experience she was having dealing with the brand. In a short span of time, a number of other Zuku customers pitched in with their thoughts on Zuku’s customers service (or lack of it).  From a safe distance it appears Zuku eventually made contact with their customer on phone but remained mum on Twitter where they actually have a presence @Zukufan.  This was a major error on their part given the attention their brand was raising on Twitter, the sentiment of which was mostly negative.  By 4th November, @carolmusyoka was still waiting for a solution and more Twitter users were weighing in with their thoughts and experiences. From the barrage of tweets, one user shared this link from another Zuku customer who was quite blunt about both their TV service and their “customer disservice” as he called it.  The issue dragged on for a few days with the Twitter timeline with #Zuku references reading like a script from a horror-comedy screenplay.  A week after this saga began the tweet below was put up.

Zuku decided to take leave instead of taking action and responsibility on the platform where their brand was suffering the most! Right there, they provided the latest case study in “how not to run your social media marketing”.  They eventually reactivated their twitter account and have recently been on a following spree but questions still abound on whether they are using the channel better to keep their customers informed and happy.  The @ZukuFan handle is protected, meaning that they screen those wishing to follow them and those who read their tweets. That feature wasn’t meant for any serious enterprise.  Reminds me of a Bible story where some people were asked if they would light a lamp and keep it covered. If your business is on social media you are there to be seen and heard by as many people as will be available to listen.

Situation 2: The failed airline promotion

Australia’s largest airline and flag-carrier Qantas, is no stranger to social media.  The airline has built a reputation over its 91 years of existence.  On 22nd November 2011 the Qantas marketing team launched a Twitter campaign where the winning tweet would be rewarded with a Qantas first-class gift pack.  The @QantasAirways account has over 68,000 followers and as such, running a campaign using this channel was bound to get some good conversation going. 

The background to this however is that the airline had been grappling with negative publicity following disputes with three unions that led to the eventual grounding of the airline’s fleet on 29th October 2011.  Before fully resolving the customer dissatisfaction issue as a result of this, the company launched a campaign to try and engage it’s customers more on social media.  With the hashtag #QantasLuxury, customers were to respond to this question: “Tell us ‘What is your dream luxury inflight experience?’ #QantasLuxury”

The good:  Within an hour, the #QantasLuxury was trending across Australia.  A social media expert, James Griffin of SR7 said there were on average 51 tweets per minute on the topic.

The Bad & the Ugly: Fresh from having thousands of disappointed customers following the grounding of the fleet, the tweets were not flattering and had nothing to do with the intended campaign.  This became an ideal outlet for the airline’s customers to vent their frustrations.  Here are a few of the tweets:

“#qantasluxury is chartering a Greyhound bus and arriving at your destination days before your grounded Qantas flight”

“#QantasLuxury- When the passengers arrive before the couriers delivering the lockout notices do”.

“Getting from A to B without the plane being grounded or an engine catching fire. #Qantasluxury”.

While there was nothing wrong with the campaign itself, what the airlines marketing team totally got wrong was the timing.  They were insensitive to the issues many of their customers were still dealing with following the industrial disputes leading to the fleet grounding.

In March 2010, Nestle foods hit the news with one of the classic goofs that played out on Facebook following the actions of GreenPeace, an environmental lobby group.  You can read more about it here.

While these examples may represent some extreme situations, making mistakes on social media doesn’t mean an end to a brands engagement online.  If and when they do happen, the brand needs to ensure that it remains focussed on meeting customer expectations and directly addressing the issue.  Diverting the attention of Fans and followers will only aggravate them.  And obviously, so will deactivating your account or profile. 

These types of mistakes can be avoided by having a clear strategy and policy for your business on how to run your affairs online.  In the policy, there will be clear guidelines on a number of important issues such as:

  • ·         who the authorised spokespeople are
  • ·         the average lead-times to respond to customer queries
  • ·         transition and handover procedures in case the site administrator changes roles or leaves the company
  • ·         how to manage spammers and inappropriate content that external parties put on your social media channels

In the situation where you find yourself in a reactive situation, employ all reasonable principles that you would if the mistake had happened with a customer in your office, while remembering that there are hundreds or thousands of other customers watching closely.  Here is another interesting perspective on how to proactively use social media especially for the airline industry for crisis management.

The bottom-line here is that social media will not fix other broken elements of the business.  Every business will be challenged with some aspect or the other relating to their products or their customers but this shouldn’t also be an excuse not to engage in social media.

Social media marketing isn’t a band-aid for a broken business; it’s about using it to improve a business that has the basics right.

Are 90% of the Likes on your Facebook Page by staff and relatives?

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I was sitting with a prospective client recently when she made a comment which I have heard in different forms almost each time I engage with clients. “I created a Facebook page and the only people who’ve liked it are a few colleagues and friends! How do I increase the number of likes?”

Setting up a presence on a social network is simple. The challenge most online marketers’ face is what to do after that. Their frustration grows at the lack of new followers or likes and more often than not it leads to total abandonment of the very pages they enthusiastically created. The tragedy with this is that for most customers it is sometimes better not to find the organization they are searching for, than finding it and realizing that their social media page has received no attention for over 4 months!

The size of audience you attract on social networks is largely a function of one key element: relevant content. Social networks and the internet in general is really crowded with information, some important, some life-saving, some helpful and others plenty irrelevant. The situation will only get worse as the amount of information increases. Why then should anyone spend a few more minutes on your blog or Facebook page? Connecting with your customers and prospects takes more than copying that latest press release or publishing photos from a recent CSR activity. Here are 3 tips on how you can improve your connection.

  • Think like your customer not like you: I know that sounds a bit crazy but the content that you want to share as a marketer may not be what your audience wants to hear. The easiest way to do this is to think of the situations where you are the customer. Which Facebook pages do you “Like” and which blogs do you read faithfully? Evaluate whether you present the same value that you find in these to your customers. When your audience is clear on what is in it for them, the closer you are to building a loyal and larger following.

 

  • Begin by utilizing the offline content you have: Online marketers often believe they must come up with fancy new ideas and content to put on their web sites, blogs or Facebook pages. While that is excellent where possible, do not disregard the loads of content you and your colleagues you have created in the past. This may currently exist in the form of White papers, presentations, proposals and other offline marketing material. Do not fall for the temptation to do a quick copy & paste; most of the documents I’ve just mentioned will be lengthy and may contain more than one key topic. As such, it is recommended that you spend some time reformatting and breaking this content down to bite-sized chunks that are easier to consume in social media sites. Remember to keep your audience in mind while doing this. Avoid jargon and the use of company acronyms and terms that may not mean much to external audiences.

 

  • Share new or ongoing specials and offers: You could share any specials that you may have running or create exclusive ones for your online customers. This one has been used with great success by many organizations to increase their online following. When the audience knows that they will receive a discount, free gift or other concession because they belong to a select club of Twitter followers or blog subscribers, they are more likely to click on the all-important link that you want them to. Once you get them in, you must ensure you keep them engaged; remember they still have the option to unfollow, dislike or unsubscribe. Don’t give them a valid reason to.

You can find other perspectives on this topic in this great article “Why people don’t want to follow you on Twitter or Like you on Facebook”.

I welcome your comments on this topic below.