Could “ethical” bribery be setting your business up for failure?

If your company’s social media interactions revolve around advance announcements of sales, special offers and insider-only promo codes – to the point where receiving these things is the primary motivation for your fans and followers – then you’re essentially bribing customers to stay.

In this case, social media merely provides a pleasant, whitewashed cover for the bribery.

Thus, the very activities you’re hoping will improve your relationship with customers might well be actually hurting your reputation with them, making those customers less likely to pay your full price without balking.

This article will reveal four ways to build customer loyalty without bribery.

The Slippery Slope

How did your efforts get so off-track?

The downward slide started when you confused customer retention tactics with building true customer loyalty.

Here’s Harvard’s resident expert on service excellence, Francis Frei, explaining the difference between the two:

Francis Frei

“When companies pay customers to try out their products and services, it’s part of a customer acquisition program.  When companies pay customers to remain customers, it’s part of a customer retention program.

When companies invest in activities that increase customers’ willingness to pay, they have a customer loyalty program.  When a loyalty program works, it increases the chance that your customers will choose you over a lower-priced competitor.”

In other words:

• Retention programs bribe customers with frequent-flyer miles and “buy 10 get 1 free” cards.  They add economic incentives for current customers to return for their next purchase.  This is hardly a bad thing, but when done too often, it habituates customers to incentives, which promotes economic considerations over brand preference.
• Loyalty programs increase brand participation among high-value customers to forge bonds that trump economic decisions.  This can mean getting their input on strategic decisions, providing insider-only access to certain products and privileges, and more.  After customers have helped design the next-generation widget, they’re emotionally invested in buying and using it.  Even more so if, as a privileged insider, they’re provided with early access to those co-created products, or even exclusive access to special products as a sign of recognition for their efforts and input.

So what does this have to do with social media?

With social media, customers wish to interact with each other at least as much as they do with the business.  So to create a real customer loyalty program – and the premium price differential that goes with it – you have to create a customer community.

What’s that you say?  You already have a community?

What you likely have are thousands of single customers who have given minimal consent and “opt in” to receive communication from you. That’s not a community.  Heck, that style of one-way communication isn’t even a relationship.

Fortunately (and as you might expect), an appropriate social media strategy can transform your email list into an actual community.

Here are the 4 key elements to real communities along with the primary ways social media can foster each of them:

#1: Repeated Interaction

If I go months without seeing or talking or cross-posting or interacting with your company in some way, well, you’re probably a pretty peripheral part of my life.  The same goes for your customers.

But a sincere email traded back and forth once or twice a week for a couple of weeks in a row changes all that.  You’ve gained top-of-mind awareness as a conversational partner.  Your company has gone from an “it” to a “person” (or a “thou” for you Buber fans out there).  You could rightfully consider me part of your community.

And yet email is an extremely clumsy and intrusive platform for this kind of exchange.  Facebook, Twitter, an online forum, a Wiki or even blog comments all represent far superior methods of fostering this kind of day-to-day interaction.

But take note: what you’re looking for is back-and-forth between members, and between your company’s representatives and members.  One-off comments and one-way communication won’t cut it.  For a dramatic illustration of the difference, just compare Copyblogger’s comment section to your own blog’s comments.

#2: Interaction Involving Built-up Meaning

If your forum members or blog commenters or Twitter followers don’t have inside jokes, community-specific allusions, and their own slang, you probably don’t have a real community. It’s a harsh standard, but it’s the truth.

Unfortunately, you can’t create these things for your community.  You can only create an environment that will foster their creation. And the best way to do that is through engaging in projects that matter, which leads us to principle #3…

#3: Actual Consequences of Community Interactions

Something has to be at stake.  For communication to move past chit-chat, social grooming, and opinionated bloviating, there has to be a task or a mission or a conflict.

When people work toward a shared goal – when tomorrow’s discussion builds on today’s and so on – then decisions matter. Prior conversations matter.  And that’s when allusions, references, inside jokes, and slang build up as a natural result.

To continue with the Copyblogger theme, the whole “third tribe” meme that started off with a simple blog post and evolved into a separate community and learning site is a perfect example of this.  Third Tribers know exactly what is meant by that term, and by allusions to James Chartrand’s Underwear.

So to achieve Real Community Elements 2 & 3, you need to come up with a galvanizing goal – a project that people want to be a part of and would be willing to donate their time, efforts, and skills to.  Provide the platform(s) for interaction and the galvanizing goal and you’re off to the races.

Seth Godin routinely does this by providing an impetus and platform for meet-ups,  collaborative projects and ways for his fans to help him support his book launches.

#4: Separation of Outsiders from Insiders

Back during the initial flap following the iPhone’s barely-two-months-from-launch price drop, Seth Godin suggested that Apple offer early adopters the following considerations:

“Free exclusive ringtones, commissioned from Bob Dylan and U2, only available to the people who already had a phone. (This is my favorite because it announces to your friends – every time the phone rings – that you got in early).”

“Free pass to get to the head of the line next time a new hot product comes out.”

“Ability to buy a specially colored iPod or an iPod with limited-edition music that no-one else can buy.”

Rather than dealing with price drops by providing discounts or store credit, Apple could have provided increased recognition and therefore increased loyalty and willingness to pay a premium to maintain that loyalty and recognition.

Yet despite being one of the clearest paths to high profit margins, most companies fail to do these kinds of things at all, let alone do them through the very platforms and technologies most suited to them.  Instead they misuse social media and abuse their brand equity through ill-advised retention strategies.

What Loyalty Programs Does Your Organization Have?

How have you transformed your company’s email list or “group” into a real community?  What galvanizing goals have you used to inspire community involvement and crowdsourcing?  What special recognition do you give to your brand insiders?

Let us know your thoughts and ideas in the box below.

One of the big concerns about using social media for business and marketing is time. Social media activities do pose a risk of drawing you in and taking up a huge amount of your day just interacting with people.

Add that the technology is changing all the time.  It can seem impossible to keep up with all the tools, software, techniques, etiquette, and social media best practices.

It’s hardly surprising that people are looking to social media consultants, agencies and contractors to take on their social media activity. But should you? Let’s explore this.

The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Social Media

Getting outside help is a good idea, especially if it keeps you from making blunders which could negatively impact your image and reputation. It can also help you short cut the route from absolutely square one to gaining the benefits and return on investment that you look for.

There is a danger though in that many companies are not just looking for help but offloading all their activity onto an outside agency who is not integrated into the company but still representing them in social media.

This might seem strange to see coming from a social media consultant. You would think perhaps that I would be all in favor in social media gurus getting more paid work. Actually, I see it as a problem and I think it is the consultants job to help clients draw the line.

Consultants, I feel, should focus on training you or your in house staff, or helping you recruit someone with appropriate skills who can join the company and learn its culture and processes. In my view the consultants job is to get the company to the point where the consultant is hardly needed any more, apart from to be on call when there is a question or issue that needs their help, or when there are new developments and changes that need to be brought to the clients attention.

Get help, coaching and advice? Yes, of course. Would I suggest you Outsource everything? No.

Now, don’t get me wrong, not all outsourcing is bad, and I am fully aware that your time is likely precious, scarce and in demand!

Points to Consider:

• External people do not have all the facts – There is a limit to how much you can train someone who is outside your organization and more than likely sat in an entirely different building. If they are constantly checking information and requesting answers, how much time are you going to save?
• You could be locked in or even held hostage – The deeper you get into outsourcing the harder it might become to extricate yourself and take it in house. Can you be sure that if the relationship with your outsourcer goes bad that you can continue as if nothing has happened? You might find your following is not your audience at all, or that with a few clicks they can make you look very bad indeed.
• Outsourcers are not empowered to make decisions or take action - If someone contacts someone within your organization with a problem they can usually get the issue sorted pretty quickly. An outsourcer on the other hand might have limited options or be little help outside of their “script”.
• Company culture should be communicated accurately – It is hard to communicate a company culture that you are not part of.
• Internal staff have more motivation – When you work for a company you feel more ownership and loyalty than someone who is outside and detached.
• Industry terms and details can confuse outsourcers – Customers of the company, media contacts and real niche geeks will all use the industry jargon and shorthand. How much of this can the outsourcer pick up, and will they be convincing?
• A large benefit of social media is networking – If someone is only there to look like they are engaging a niche, then your company will not get the full networking benefits that social media provides. Do you hire an actor to go to industry events and exhibitions for you?
• You might risk your brand on the communication of a freelancer - Can your outsourcer be trusted to say and do the right thing when it counts?

OK, it might seem like I am being overly negative and pessimistic, but there are some areas that are pretty safe to outsource provided you monitor and manage the situation well:

What Can You Safely Outsource?

1. Content formatting and editing – You might not be the best when it comes to grammar and design, but have something to say. That’s fine, get someone to take on the polishing provided you communicate using your own voice.
2. Friend Requests – There is nothing wrong with having an assistant filter out the obvious junk from your following, lists, friend requests, networking contacts and so on before you give them the final approval.
3. Research Content – You might find an outsourcer can find information faster and higher quality.
4. Bookmarking Submissions – Repetitive tasks where you are not dealing with people can be handled by an assistant or software, providing you stick to the service rules and only contribute good valuable content.
5. Audio and video editing – If your multimedia abilities start and end with hitting the big red record button, no worries – get a professional to tidy, enhance and add effects. They can advise you on how to make the best of what you have too.
6. Content uploads – Your time is best served adding to your bottom line, not watching progress bars!
7. Brand monitoring – Rather than sit watching reports and streams of search results, have someone else monitor your brand mentions and jump in to respond as and when necessary.
8. Transcriptions – If you work best with your voice rather than writing, speak and record and get your content transcribed. The audio can be used as a podcast and the written version can be used in blog posts or as social media responses.
9. Blog and fan page housekeeping – Deleting spam, checking links, handling competition entries, and so on, can all be given over to an assistant.
10. Software and IT management - Get someone with technical skills to look after your software upgrades, data backups, security, and so on and you will be able to relax knowing it is all taken care of.

Bottom line: Avoid outsourcing your relationships.

Where outsourcing works best is when a personal response is not necessary, when anyone can follow a simple system or where the task is taking your work and enhancing it. It is at its worst when the experience feels fabricated, deceptive or dismissive.

So what is the answer?

In my view the best answer is to either train someone in house in social media with ongoing support, or bring someone in with the appropriate skills, a passion for your product, service or niche, and make them part of your organization with important contacts on speed dial for when anything out of the ordinary happens.

Do you outsource any part of your social media activities? Perhaps you perform outsource services? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below…

Looking to grow your blog following? You might be surprised that the best way to gain a following is to focus on other people’s blogs.

Outreach is key to having a blog that actually works for your business, yet it’s the one element many professionals ignore. And it’s contrary to most competitive thinking because it involves spending time away from your blog.

Done correctly, however, reaching out to other bloggers in your field will actually create more business opportunities, increase traffic to your own blog, and enhance your business brand more than any other tactic you could employ.

Here’s how:

In taking this one step, you will be setting yourself apart from the majority of business professionals who skip implementing this important element in their blogging plan.

What do I mean by blog outreach? I’m talking about strategically participating in the blogosphere with the goal of boosting your visibility, driving traffic to your blog and enhancing your credibility.

It’s not just about spreading your own message, although that’s important. Outreach is about building community and personal relationships among your peers, your colleagues who are also writing blogs, and the people in the blogosphere who are reading blogs in your industry. And yes, some of those people may be considered competitors.

Don’t be afraid of your competitors; you can learn from them and connecting with them may present new opportunities for your business.

Find Blogs in Your Niche

Where do you start? First, you need to find a few blogs in your industry that you enjoy and will consistently read. Choose blogs that will give you content ideas along with the relationships you’re seeking. Blogs can be found in practically every professional and business niche, and a quick visit to a few websites can help you find them.

Technorati is the web’s largest blog search directory and is a good place to start. Be warned, this site can be overwhelming the first time you visit. You can search for blogs or blog posts by keywords in your field. I recommend you set up an account and make sure your own blog is listed so it can be found by others.

Use Technorati to find blogs and blog posts relevant to your niche.

Another site is Google Blogsearch. Like any Google search engine, it’s going to return a list of links based on your keywords, only this time the links will be sites for blogs and specific blog posts.

Use Subject-specific Directories

My current favorite for finding the best of the best in subject-specific blogs is Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop.com. It’s a curated site, which means blogs must be approved in order to be included. You can create your own collection of blogs to watch and read. Here’s an example of my Alltop list of business blogs.

TIP: Make sure you submit your blog for inclusion on Alltop.com!

There are more than 200 blog directories, some of which are subject-specific and others are general. Blog directories come and go, and each has its own list of criteria for which blogs it includes. You want more blog directories? A comprehensive list of blog directories is posted here.

Engage in Smart Commenting, Building Relationships

In all likelihood, you will find many blogs in your niche that have similar audiences. What do you do when you find one of these good blogs?

Start engaging! Read and comment on posts that interest you. Smart bloggers allow comments, although sometimes they are moderated to keep out the spammers. Always include your name, blog URL, your email address and your thoughtful, useful comment.

The guidelines for commenting are simple: use common sense and respect. There are no rules, but being courteous will help you establish positive relationships within the blogosphere. When you comment on a blog, follow the same etiquette that you’d follow in conversation at a cocktail party.

In other words, you’re not going to approach somebody at a cocktail party and say, “Hi, my name is Joe and you should buy my widget.” You would be a little more subtle. Listen and add to the conversation in a meaningful way. Talk with and get to know the other person first. Start establishing a relationship.

Share Expertise, Not Marketing Offers

Using blogs to promote your business requires you to act like a professional when commenting. And etiquette dictates that you don’t promote your business on another person’s blog. Instead, share your expertise.

You can demonstrate your expertise in many ways. Add something the author may have overlooked. Add historical context or suggest a book in which the ideas are discussed. Add your perspective, experience and opinion.

Be polite and add something new to the conversation. Writing “Nice post, I agree” is not adding to the conversation.

If you think this all sounds very basic, please just bear with me. Every business owner has a different level of familiarity with the online world, particularly the world of blogging. I see these mistakes every day in comments on my blog as well as on those I read.

So what does this all mean?

Resulting Visibility = Opportunity

By engaging with other bloggers (in other words, your colleagues), you are making yourself known (visible) and laying the groundwork for creating opportunities to partner with them.

Often you need to actively reach out and build relationships with the people you want to work with. Start slowly and see how your relationship unfolds. When you find a good match, you’ll know.

Keep in mind that opportunities can show up in many forms: new leads, new clients, more traffic, and media attention. A pithy comment on a colleague’s blog may attract the attention of a journalist doing research on the subject.

Blog outreach is an important part of effective business blogging. The more you’re connecting outward, the more you’re going to be drawing traffic and opportunities inward. It doesn’t require a lot of your time… 20 minutes a couple of times a week to read and comment on relevant blogs can pay off big in the long run.

Action Challenge: Since I know from experience with my clients that most business bloggers don’t comment very much on other blogs, I challenge you to find three blogs in your industry that are publishing top-notch content and subscribe to get their blog updates. Read and comment on the blogs two to three times a week for the next month. Let me know what shows up for you in the way of new connections, traffic and opportunities!

Have you tried any of these approaches? What are your thoughts?  Please comment in the field below.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dip108/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

In this interview I talk with Scott Monty—head of social media for Ford Motor Company—and the man in charge of Ford’s social media presence and initiatives like TheFordStory.com.

When you think of Ford, you might think “old American car company.” However, under the direction of Scott Monty, Ford has become one of the leading big businesses in America using social media to connect directly with consumers. And it certainly seems that Ford is on the right track to success, recently reporting 1 billion dollars in profit!

In this video, you’ll learn how Ford uses TweetUps to help Ford executives connect with customers across America and how Ford is humanizing its brand. Scott also provides advice to other businesses that are looking to capitalize on social media. Scott also has a little fun, as you’ll see…

VIEW VIDEO HERE NOW:

What did you think about the video? How has your opinion of Ford changed in recent years?