Tag Archives: Customer Service
Keep It Simple: Content Marketing & The 7 Step Recipe for Success with Clients
Oftentimes when you give a formal name to something, the initial concept which it is based on grows into what seems to be a heavier, more complex issue. Content marketing is a huge case in point. The term has become so important in online marketing success, that people are often intimidated by the concept.
- What are we going to write about?
- What kind of “content” can we use?
- We don’t have the time, how on earth will we figure this all out?
What does it take to be engaging?
The answer is simple, it doesn’t come from hours of sitting around meeting tables writing content topics and editorial calendars. It comes from taking the issues and interests of your target population, listening to your employees and your customers and simply extending responses to the online world.
Java U, a Montreal based coffee shop had an awesome example of “real” content that makes for great community engagement. Aside from having great coffee, the staff who works at the Ste-Catherine Street location are always friendly, and quite “engaging”.
They smile at you, they remember your favorite drinks, and when you talk to them, they are genuinely interested. They make it pleasant to come and see them. They take the time to know you. Does this sound the the recipe for success when managing a brand online?
Brilliance & Authenticity Come Naturally
A few months ago I noticed something new at their cash. Instead of having a simple tip jar, they started putting out two tip jars, and on each one they would write something different. What they chose to spotlight often allowed for some expression of personal taste or style. The first one I really noticed was “IronMan” or “Batman” (see photo in the collage below).
Where did this idea come from? Was it a long meeting where the top officials at Java U sat down and drafted hundreds of options? Or had a long discussion on how to come up with some “engaging activities”? Was it out of a marketing book? The idea has been in the franchise for years, and the weekly topics come from Phaedra, one of the Java U employees who so obviously cares and loves her job. With simple execution and leadership values that not only allow for but appreciate & encourage creativity at work, this totally fun and easy idea keeps clients smiling.
@JavaUMTL on Ste. Catherine employees are given the opportunity to be creative. I love their tip jar campaign, where every week they put choices for people to “cast their vote” This week: “Don Draper or Don Draper?” I guess the choice is obvious here!
I asked Janet Lane, inspiring leader and General Manager for all the Java U stores about the initiative, here’s what she had to say:
“This is why I love hiring artists in the cafes – they are always full of creativity and know how to spark customer relations…..Phaedra who comes up with the weekly ideas is awesome!” She also added, “Bimal Das, is doing an awesome job of managing that store and always comes up with customer centric ideas, like keeping the loyalty cards on the wall so customers who don’t want to carry them around, always have them nearby.”
Sometimes the best examples of strong content marketing & outstanding service come from the simplest ideas.
So what’s the recipe for success in business which also carries through online? It’s simple:
- Hire people who care
- Create an environment where creativity is not only appreciated, but encouraged
- Spotlight your employees and your customers (notice how Janet attributed all this success to her awesome barista & store manager?)
- It doesn’t have to be complicated, if it makes your customer smile – you’ve won.
- Encourage participation with your efforts – but don’t make people go out of their way! The tip jars show clients you car about their opinion, their choice – yet don’t ask them to do anything out of the ordinary.
- Provide light entertainment and a possibility for discussion.
- Be consistent. The tip jar topics change every week. I for one look forward to seeing what Phaedra comes up with! It always makes me smile. Do something that keeps people coming back and having fun.
Some of the tip jar “campaigns” from Java U over the past weeks. It doesn’t have to be complicated to draw people in.
Yes, there is a lot more to content marketing than just one campaign, but the lesson from this very simple idea is as solid as they come – it doesn’t have to be complicated, it just has to relate to your clients and give them some value.
Next time you are racking your brain struggling to think about what you can write about, take a moment, look around ask the people on the front lines of your business what they think. Take the pressure off – a little creativity and fun might just solve all your problems and win the hearts of some new fans.
Giving that little extra:
Want to be inspired by what some other businesses do to make their customers feel special? Check out Stan Phelps’ excellent book: “What’s Your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth“ The Ebook is free on Amazon, today only and a great place to get inspired.
It’s the little things that often make the biggest impact.
What do you think? What kinds of small gestures or ideas have you come up with in your business that yielded high engagement or results?
Cultures of Success:Your Job Is to Make Me Look Good | A Two Way Street
“Your job is to make me look good.”
The first time I heard someone say that, I thought, what an obnoxious saying. Lately, the more I think about it, the more I see it is true. The phrasing is a little rough, but the reality is there, all of our jobs are to make someone look or feel good. If we do this, we will have success.
I’ll take care of you, you take care of me.
- Your clients want you to make them feel valued and while you are at it save them or make them money and help them be successful.
- Your employees want the same thing
- Your company wants the same
- Your Facebook fans and Twitter followers also want this – give them something to share that makes them funny, smart, helpful, compassionate…or smile.
You get the picture.
At the end of it all, you want this too.
You need to surround yourself with people who “make you look good”.
As I was thinking about this, I came across this tweet from tonight’s “Lead From Within” twitter chat:
A10: The people we surround ourselves with make the difference between failure and success! #leadfromwithin
— LaRae Quy (@LaRaeQuy) April 10, 2013
The quote is right on.
Forget about the Jargon : Focus on Community
Forget about marketing, about objectives, about all the jargon that leads you to read more about how to be successful online (and off) and stop for a minute and think about how powerful it is when you have a community around you who cares, who supports you, who believes in you and essentially through all that makes you feel good, which in turn makes you look good.
I am thankful for my communities, for these people every day.
If a brand accomplishes this, then I am beyond “wowed”.
When you take a look around, who is driving your success, and how do you help lift the people around you get where they are going?
How often do you think about that, and how often are you focused on making people look good?
Focus on that. It’s a two way street, and if you focus on your side…the rest just follows.
What do you think?
- When you think about the people around you, about your success, what are your keys?
- More notably, what happens when we don’t make the people around us look good, when there is no support, when people are out for themselves? Isn’t that what really drives the differences between success and mediocrity?
We are living in an interesting time, where social media allows us to live in this environment where people & brands who work as a team, who share and are giving and who recognize others see success – it’s not unlike the “real life world” – it just is a little harder to see. If you take a close look whether it’s in the workplace or in circles of friends, it’s those groups who have the confidence and generosity to spotlight those around them, who provide opportunities and share freely, who create cultures of success and creativity.
It’s not about social media. It’s about leadership, life and curating positive behaviors that attract & keep positive people around us – cultures of success.
5 Ways to Use Video for Employee Engagement
The core of your business: Your Employees
People often spend so much time trying to figure out how to reach their customers, grow sales and use social media for these purposes that they are at risk of forgetting the key members of their community: their employees.
Video is a powerful tool for employee engagement. People often think “video” then limit their thinking on what they can do with it. Companies should not limit themselves to focus on product or service offerings when they have a whole cast of stars within their team.
Here are 5 Ways to use video to spotlight your employees
…and in the process increase their engagement and create opportunity for your community to also get to know your business better.
Breaking Down Social Media : Finding a Soul in Brands
The term social media is largely misused and misunderstood.
You can’t have one social media strategy, or just decide to “do social media”. You have to realize what the term represents, that’s the first challenge I see when I speak with most people considering social for their businesses.
The Basis of Media
When you are speaking about using social media as an outreach tool in the general public the first thing you have to realize is that none of those people are reading “these” articles – the dialogue we all have about it on-line , its of no interest to them.
The people you are trying to reach are living their lives. Reaching them becomes marketing – just as you try and do in magazines or radio ads or newspapers. That’s the media part of the term.
In turn, from a business owner’s stand point, making decisions about social media use has to come from understanding deeper objectives and being in touch with your organization as a whole. Social media is not a new marketing strategy or sales vessel. It’s not a substitute for customer service. It’s not about broadcasting a new logo or flooding a channel with messages, it’s about a mindset.
What is the “Social” Really About?
Social is about this ability for consumers, employees, and all people to be connected. People using the on-line space to further their knowledge, interact with others, do research, play games, express themselves, grow, laugh, be entertained and of course throughout all this to share… The social part is about where you are reaching them and it’s the entire basis of all these pillars of social marketing success.
I think sometimes businesses, people looking into social and marketers forget the why of why you have to be genuine, or why the goal is
Social Media Changes You and Society – The Human Connection
A knock came at my door about an hour ago while I was having a good and valued discussion with my daughter… My daughter went to look to see who it was, coming back to report she thought it might be some religious group. I got up to check for myself – I don’t really appreciate people knocking on my door – mainly because of special times like this, having a good discussion – then someone tries to just step in.
Usually I would have ignored it, but when I saw the girl on the other side, I could tell it wasn’t a “religious intervention” visit, and thought, let me see what she wants.
Changing The Buzz Words in Social Business: “The Impact Equation” Delivers #ImpactEQ
The Impact Equation by New York Times bestselling authors Chris Brogan & Julien Smith is set for release on October 25th. I was thrilled to get an advance copy for review and am so honored to be able to share my experience in reading it with you here.
First things first, a little Q&A on who should read this book. In case you’re wondering if this book has something in it for you.
Q1: I’m just a business person, not a social media expert, is this book right for me?
A: Yes. It’s perfect for you. No social media mumbo-jumbo here. Just practical, real life information that you can understand and apply to your life and business right away.
Q2: I’m in the field, I’m already a “social media expert”, why would I read this?
Social Media Timing is Everything: Understanding Automation’s Role in Community Engagement
Robot (Photo credit: ewen and donabel)
Are You a Robot?
We have heard a lot of talk lately about the risks of automation in social media. Many people seem to believe that automating tweets, or posts work against social media best practices. In particular, genuine communication.
I think that the key to assessing this is in knowing the objective of your social media activities. In addition, the role that your social accounts are playing for the community they serve.
Manpower is a huge issue in this as well. Do you have a community manager who is dedicated to only running social media, or do you have social media as a “part” of the person’s role?
Automation used right doesn’t mean “impersonal”
There are positive ways that automation can be used which also respect and maintain the human touch. Here are some examples:
1. Scheduling Updates that contain photos, videos or your own posts to strategically appropriate times on both Facebook and Twitter
This content should be generally in line with your objectives, and the message you want to share within your community. There is no reason not to schedule these things. It allows you to be consistent. A huge factor in establishing a strong social media presence.
2. Scheduling distribution of articles via Twitter or Facebook so that the proper exposure is attained on peak hours in multiple time zones.
3. Automation responds to various needs and can help teams work together
Automation lends a Helping Hand in Time Management
Where “Automation Is Anti-Social” – What Not to Do.
It’s all about Balance
- Time for Blogging or other content creation
- Time for broadcasting the content
- Time for dialog and interaction based on the content & Identifying Opportunities for engagement elsewhere (ex: Social Search) <;- The most important aspects
- Time for analysis of interaction and results
The Appropriate Use of Automation
Automation does not Equal Auto-Pilot
- What is the acceptable delay to respond to comments on Facebook, Twitter, Your Blog?
- This will depend on the nature of your business, and the role your sites play.
- Itemize the type of content your organization is willing to automate.
- Example, blog posts, photos, videos, status updates, Direct Messages. Make sure to answer the question for yourself, what value does automating the selected items give your public, and your company. What are the potential risks?
- Ensure that there is a regular check point to follow through on these automated posts.
- Will it be every day, every hour? Set an expectation so you don’t lose yourself in the automated process. You want to respect the whole reason you are using automation – to stay connected. Leaving it on Auto-Pilot is not acceptable, and in theory does not meet the reasons you are doing it in the first place!
Providing Value
Do you use automation to expand your capabilities in social, or were you thinking it could just put your activities on auto- pilot while you head out to the beach?
What do you think?
Do you have any tips to add?
We Are Your Competition : Social Media & Your Business – Do You Make the Cut?
What happens when you bring social into the workplace?
- Employee voices become important and heard
- Issues rise to the surface, as a result they get addressed, and things become stronger and better
- Your product quality becomes a spotlight – open to attack at any time- therefore will be reinforced by integrity
- Your Customer Service comes under scrutiny – you have to live up to your promises – you are accountable
- Your fans become advocates
- Your critics become the force turning you onto positive change
- You actually start to listen
- Feedback is real and not solicited
- You have the world to answer to. Not just your boss, not just your team or one client. The world.
- You, as a company, must define and know who you are. You don’t just recite a mission statement, you feel it and live it. (If you don’t understand this, read my recent post on Branding)
How long are you going to stand there and watch things pass you by? How long are you going to stick to what you have always done, while the world and your consumers change around you?
It shouldn’t be that way, it shouldn’t take all this to make you do all these things for your businesses, but social does do this for you. If forces you to question, to reinforce, to be greater.
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- That is why for any business who truly wants to be great (or thinks they are already) – getting into social is one hell of a great way to get your business in order!
Every aspect of your business must be aligned.
What’s Holding You Back?
All your fears of getting into social, all your concerns – I believe they all stem from your unconscious belief that you, in fact, are not able to operate in the public eye.
Maybe that’s what companies who are not yet using social, who are dabbling in the sidelines should really think about.
Do you really have what it takes?
Then get on board. Get your business in order. Start showing the world what you’ve really got. Show your employees, your clients and your community. That’s how you’ll grow. That’s how you’ll be better.
The Alternative:
Stay where you are and keep doing what you always did – but keep in mind, some of us out there are pushing ourselves to our limits, setting the bar higher, working every day to keep being the best – and guess what, we are your competition .
Good luck.
Fast Track Marketing: QR Code Driving Fans Closer |Strategy|Engagement
QR Codes are a tough sell in social media circles. Despite this, the average consumer surely sees multiple codes a day scattered on business cards, ads on walls, magazines, newspapers, billboards, TV ads, and even restaurant menus. In recent research from ScanLife, a popular QR Scanning App, the data not only shows consumers scanning when they are on the go, but even when they are at home! If that doesn’t indicate increasing comfort with the convenience of the QR method of communication, I am not sure what does.
Why do so many oppose them in the social marketing field? The QR code may seem “boring” to a graphic artist, or annoying to a social marketer, but to the average consumer armed with a smart phone and a scan app, I’d go as far as say it can be magical. You never know what lies behind the code until you see it.
Go ahead, scan me 
~Wasn’t that fun?
The State of Mobile
According to Cisco‘s Mobile Forecast Highlights, in North America, the number of smartphones grew 58% during 2011, reaching 138 million in number. They further predict, in their VNI Mobile Forecast Highlights, 2011 – 2016 that in North America, the number of smartphones will grow 1.8-fold between 2011 and 2016, reaching 253 million. Why is the potential application of QR coding important? Look at it as your added opportunity to entice the mobile user, to connect somewhere that everyone is becoming increasingly more comfortable.
According to a recent Scanlife report in the second quarter of 2012, the company’s QR codes got 16 million scans, almost 10 million more than what it saw in the second quarter of 2011. in addition the rate of scans per minute Scanlife is seeing has increased by 5 times compared to the same time last year. You can check out a pretty awesome infographic here.
Why Aren’t You Seizing The Opportunity?
QR Codes are one of the easiest ways for consumers to easily respond to an ad, and get the information they are looking for. They allow the
7 Days to Breaking the Barrier To Blogging
Whether you are a social media professional, or a business person working on understanding social media, blogging is a key area that needs to be worked into your strategy.
Not Another Blogging Post
This post isn’t about the benefits blogging will bring when you incorporate SEO. This post isn’t about the fact that by blogging intelligently in your field, you can establish authority and build your reputation on a larger scale than just in your limited social circle (IRL). This post isn’t even going to touch on blogging best practices, content length, the importance of pictures or any of that. This post is addressing the very basics: How do you start to blog when you have no idea where to begin? How do you help push to break the barrier stopping you from blogging?
