Friends, Not Followers: The Power of Two-Way Conversations
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As the person who built DAVIDsTEA's social strategy, Youri Hollier can honestly say that its friendly online presence took extreme dedication and effort. His years with this company left him with a recipe for successful social media interaction he loves to share. This session dissects the investment needed to create valuable two-way interaction, analyzing the brands getting it and the steps needed to make responses appear effortless and informed. From internal communications plans to granular profiling, best practices on response time to researching for intel on your clientele, learn how to assemble the pieces of a brand truly attune to its customer’s needs and wants.
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Friends, Not Followers: The Power of Two-Way Conversations
- 1. @YouriHollier Friends, not followers The Power of Two-Way Conversations
- 4. Speedy Response Time Westjet @Westjet Hello, any news on the delayed WS1208 into La Guardia? Okay, thanks! We are currently showing you departing at 3:20pm. @Westjet Any reason for the hour delay? Would that be weather related? No, it looks like a delay due to minor maintenance.
- 6. Know your audience Nike Running
- 7. Place your screenshot here Know your audience Nike Running
- 10. Their opinions matter Lush Cosmetics
- 11. Schedule follow up posts
- 12. Go above and beyond Tesco
- 13. “ “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” - Dale Carnegie
- 15. Send reminders
- 16. Passive sale
- 17. Encourage Trial
- 18. Talk Specs
- 23. “ “A conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue...” - Truman Capote
- 25. Brand Advocacy Friends talk kindly about their friends. Feedback Creative input or product ideas. Support Defense against trolls or naysayers. Intangible ROI Forgiveness Less frustration if things go wrong. Content Loyal fans produce free content. Engagement If you engage, they’ll reciprocate.
- 26. “ “The ROI of social media is that your business will still exist in 5 years.” - Eric Qualman
- 27. Takeaway When you treat your fans like friends, trust grows and sales follow. After all, a loyal customer is the best type of customer.
Editor's Notes
- Make friends with your customers. A loyal customer is the best kind. These lessons are as old as business itself. Yet for some reason, brands have forgotten the “social” in social media and use it exclusively as a loudspeaker for their cause. My goal for today is to impress the philosophy of “friends, not followers,” and how this can help your business. I’ll start with a story that you’ll be able to identify with.
- For anyone who bikes, there’s no sight more painful than this. But for one customer, a bike company’s social media relationships saved this from becoming a reality. Back in 2014, a friend of mine, Neil Bearse, was working for Budnitz Bicycles out of Vermont. He got a message from a San Diego bike shop employee who had fallen in love with the company on Twitter. They start to chat, and this customer is such an advocate, that Neil sends him a couple of t-shirts and a beer wrench as a token of appreciation. Flash forward a year, and the guy’s Jeep gets broken into. Of all the things they steal, the beer wrench is one of them! So Neil sympathizes and decides to send him another one. A year later, a customer’s son decides to take his dad’s $6,500 bike out of a spin... *I saw some cringes in the audience…* Naturally, as kids do, he leaves the bike unattended and the bike gets stolen. Fortunately, the thief was only out for a joyride and ditches the bike in a patch of grass… in front of a bike shop… see where this is going? The same bike shop employee from before recognized the model, and thought it was weird that it was left unattended for so long. So he brought it into his shop for safekeeping and DMed Neil. From there, the CEO was able to contact the bike’s owner, BEFORE he even knew his bike was stolen. And all because Neil had created a friendship with this customer. On an unrelated note, in the 4 years I’ve known him, I’ve never actually met Neil in person. But we forged a friendship through my social media work at DAVIDsTEA. So if there’s at least one takeaway from this, it’s that if you’re ever looking for new friends, just take on the social media for a company.
- So then how do brands like Budnitz get here? For one, it helps to have a Neil. But more importantly, you need to create a conversation. But as we all know, conversations don’t just happen, you have to actively engage to get the ball rolling.
- Answering customers quickly is a crucial first step in creating conversation. Imagine you were supposed to pick up a friend from the airport but you were late… you’d call, right? In travel, every second counts. Westjet typically responds within minutes, The result is high levels of customer satisfaction Practical example: imagine a customer had to make a repair on a bike, but needs details on parts. The faster you can give it to them, the faster they can repair their bike and go riding, the happier they’ll be. It may seem obvious, but it’s amazing how often this is overlooked. To succeed, social media coordinators need to be well informed and have a direct link to key players. If they can’t get information quickly, they lose their effectiveness.
- Some places are obvious (Facebook and Twitter) but it’s important that you answer your customers where they are. You wouldn’t ignore a friend if they tagged you on Instagram or sent you a Snapchat message - your customers are the same. Key takeaway: There’s no shortage of places to respond, so priorities need to be set, but to think that 1 person can handle the volume is a mistake. Social teams should be a minimum of two people. Try scheduling your social coordinators time by platform the biggest platforms (FB + Twitter). One week on, one week off. Doing the same platforms day after day is tedious, and is the fastest way to burn them out. But also give them niches that they can be proud of. Ex: assign one to Pinterest and another to Reddit, so that they can become the experts.
- So you can probably guess who this word cloud is for… The point here is that it’s important to know your audience.
- Friends are friends because they share common interests How do you do that? Look at their profile bios for inspiration. Research their tweet history As you interact more, bring up past events. Key takeaway: social coordinators should learn to be genuinely interested in what their fans are saying.
- Friends know things about their friends and have inside connections, jokes, etc. That’s why it’s so important to relate to your fans. If they reference things, piggy back on them. Don’t know what they’re talking about? Google is your best friend. Take your time in answering - do research if needed. Key takeaway 1: You want to be seen as an authority on everything, and someone they can talk to about anything. Key takeaway 2: The more you keep the conversation going, the easier this will be and the more quickly they’ll grow fond of you. Plus, it makes it easier to remember them if you share long conversations.
- - This is pretty straightforward but important to reiterate. - Whether it’s industry slang or just appealing to your demographic, it’s important to speak their language. - But whatever you do, don’t force it. People see through it. You need someone who actually has a stake in making the brand resonate. - Key takeaway: Tone is extremely important. Is your social media coordinator up to speed on the brand tone? Have they sat with your coppywriter?
- - Whether they’re recommending or complaining, at the end of the day, customers want to be heard. - You wouldn’t brush off a friend’s idea, why would you do the same with customers? - No matter what, it’s important to let them know you’re listening. - And actually follow up! Who knows, this idea might not sound good to you, but it could help your product team. - Bring recommendations to brainstorms. - Key takeaway: Even if you know it’s not a good idea or you think the customer is in the wrong, it’s important that they think they’re being listened to. At the end of the day, most people just want to be heard.
- If you were doing something important, like a race or a vacation, your friends will always follow up on it. So why shouldn’t brands. Hootsuite is a fantastic tool for scheduling in advance, but bar that, a Google calendar reminder or some other calendar works well too. N.B. If possible, try to add the post’s link to the calendar so it’s easy to find if needed. This also works great for birthdays, exams… anything where the customer gives you advanced notice. Take away: It’s easy to be proactive and little gestures like this go a long way.
- Go out of your way to solve problems.
- How do you do that? This quote shares a good lesson.
- Now that you’ve set the ground work, it’s time to convert! Sometimes when there’s low hanging fruit, it’s easy to jump right into a sale. But more often than not, I try to recommend and inform, rather than hard sell.
- Remember from before how we set event reminders? Same goes for product launches! This is an easy conversion, successful because we had the patience to convert. We knew that the product was launching in a couple of months, and baited the hook! Take away: set yourself up for success down the road. Not every sale has to happen today. Bike example: you’ve got new winter riding gear dropping next season… talk up how you wish you could bike year round and hit them with a follow up tweet when it does.
- Sometimes, providing a use case is enough to draw a conversion. Bike example: imagine sharing a video of a rider doing something unbelievable that can only be done with certain components… customers will want to recreate it, and your brand will be top of mind. Take away: Social coordinators should be armed with related content. Make sure they’re synced up with the content team and have access to content archives.
- Suggestion is a powerful thing. Whether it’s a similar product or the chance to experience something new, encouraging trial through social is a great way to push conversions. Bike example: If someone has tried a certain type of seat for downhill, ask if they’ve tried another? If they say no, go into why it’s a superior model. Take away: give people more of what they like! And don’t be afraid to ask what they’re currently using.
- When in doubt, talk specs and their benefits. They’re the biggest selling points, but they don’t sound overly salesly. Paint the right picture, and customers will bite. Make sure the social coordinator know your products inside-out. Competitor knowledge is also helpful.
- Imagine this. A customer has just bought a bike. A very expensive bike. Naturally, the first thing they do is post about it across social media. From this point, I know I have something to upsell, but you can’t just jump into it.
- Acknowledge vs. Engage Of course it’s important to acknowledge them. But they’re incredibly excited. They’ve been wanting this bike for years. Now’s the perfect time to make a connection with them.
- Using lessons, we want to start a conversation
- Get more info. Build a connection. At this point, I have no idea what Big Timber is like, but I can easily do research. http://www.trailforks.com/trails/big-timber/
- The hot topic right now is social ROI. How do you prove its value? Why should I invest? Etc, etc, etc. For me, social media is a tool for brand awareness and customer loyalty, but if you’re under the gun to prove its value, an attribution model may be in order. Because if you want budget… as elegantly put by Dale Carnegie.