Social Media and Community

One of the best ways to create loyalty among customers and prospects is through social media. There are several reasons for that.

1. It's available 24/7. People can find out all about your company, the good and the bad, any time of the day or night.
2. It can be anonymous. People can be hesitant to respond to online offers, but it may peak their interest enough to start researching your product online. Then maybe the next time they see your promotion, they will respond positively.
3. It creates a feeling of loyalty and community. You just have to look at all the brands on Facebook to see that people will show off their preferences to their friends and families by "liking" a company or brand. If you use your social media wisely by responding to customers who have issues and thanking those who praise your product, you can have the kind of relationship that lasts for years.
4. Social media is fast. People are quick to let everyone they know if they've had a bad experience and even quicker to post when they've had a great experience. Using your online tools to create the right experience for every customer, whether online or at your brick and mortar, has to keep up pace with social media in order to respond to your customers' needs.

All in all, when I hear a company say they will just assign the social media work to their associate or coordinator level staff, I just shake my head. Social media is the frontier and we're just scratching the surface. You need someone with management authority to monitor and work your social media outlets on a full time basis. If they're doing their job right, it is a full time job and should be given the same respect as other marketing functions.

That's it for now. Tune in soon for more marketing and public relations thoughts.