Social Media Campaign – an oxymoron?

Posted on by RichardAKent

Many many so called experts and social media agencies speak of the need for brands to launch a social media campaign.

To me, a campaign implies a start and a finish. In the old days, a campaign had a launch date and an end date. That was great – budgets could only go so far. But to speak of what is possible, or rather what should be more pressing for a brand today, by bracketing this activity as a ‘campaign’ surely misses the point.

The media is here to stay, we all agree about that. But remember, businesses don’t control the message anymore and so to imply that an activity can end once embarked upon is slightly confusing?

Once you dive in, you’re in to stay. The winners recognise this. They are resourcing up for this and have changed their organisations to account for it. You can’t dip in and out.

Amazingly, results from the Alterian Engaging Times Summit in Chicago last week show that ‘Less than one percent cited that the most important objective was to offer customer service.’

Let’s hope their customers don’t mind! Clearly the allure of what’s possible in this space is drawing marketers to expensive productions like moths to a flame. Maybe they are just paying lip service to saying they are prepared to engage?

But as was said at the Summit “Don’t bother wasting money on social media until your organization can competently handle a customer phone call or email.”

Customer care comes first and last. Never take your eye off it.

“Doing to is bad. Doing with is good. Doing for is great”

Posted on by RichardAKent

Is the most memorable quote from Stan Rapp at the ‘Engaging Times’ Summit held in Chicago this week:

Two more:

“Today’s consumers are the most narcissistic in history. We’re all looking after brand I.” another from Stan.

“Don’t bother wasting money on social media until your organization can competently handle a customer phone call or email.” Don Peppers

The first is a succinct observation on fact that millions of us now manage our own “I” brand, primarily through Facebook. The second, a warning to those who think this funky stuff looks too cool for school and want to jump straight in.

The link between the two is not just that they are from two of the most important thinkers in marketing in the last 25 years, it’s that those of us with “I’ brands are all too willing to trip companies up when they let us down, don’t deliver and disappoint us. And this negativity can be devastating. Just ask Tiscali Talk Talk and SouthWest Airlines.

Here’s another quote: “Customers wouldn’t feel the need to embarrass us en masse, if our customer service channels weren’t so completely broken.” Bob Knorpp, The Beancast

The marketing buzz in the US right now is about two things – listening and engaging. By connecting the two, businesses and organisations can respond to the conversations their customers and prospects are having. That’s great. But, the real winners are those who have taken an additional, crucial first step; accepting that the world has irrevocably changed forever and that they no longer control the message.

It’s not a comfortable thing for businesses and marketers to acknowledge. But those who think they are in control are doomed. Maggie thinks that by turning her toy steering wheel in the backseat while Marge is in the front, she is driving the car. Some marketers are labouring under the same illusion as little Maggie Simpson, and she never grows up!

The good news is that those who get it – really get it and are prepared to accept the letting go that this entails, can win and win big.

While @ThatKevinSmith and his 1.6m followers are destroying SouthWest Airlines because he was too fat, United are issuing extra airmiles to people tweeting about delayed flights from the departure lounge. By the way that’s ‘delayed’ not ‘adjusted’ as SouthWest refer to their changes in flight schedules!

The thousands of employees that make up Best Buy’s twelpforce are answering customer service issues minute by minute under some common sense and open ended guidelines – if you don’t know, don’t publish, never use the customers name etc. etc.

They have wiped out Circuit City and made Radioshack a virtual irrelevance. Best Buy are now in UK – be afraid!

So whilst there are huge opportunities to grow sales, increase web traffic, develop new products, carry out research, or whatever your objectives are through social channels, the first place to look is your own backyard.

Are all of your customers happy all of the time? Of course not. What aren’t they happy about? Address these things first. Turn negativity to positivity without asking for proof of purchase first!

Whilst the Old Spice campaign was brilliant in its design and execution, don’t get carried away. Make sure your house is in order before you dive in.

Hats off to H&R Block

Posted on by RichardAKent

To a Brit, H&R Block are an unfamiliar entity. Only really visible between January and April, H&R Block ‘stores’ pop up in malls, in bleak looking offices inside Sears and by gas stations and are supported by huge TV campaigns.

For those who don’t know (and I had no idea), they are tax specialists.

Everyone working in the US is legally obliged to submit a tax return to the IRS every year for the preceding calendar year.

So for my first experience at filing a federal tax return I visited my local H&R Block.  Being a slightly unusual case – legal non-resident alien (or whatever I am) – meant that additional form filling was required by my tax advisor Bruce. But we got there in the end. Or thought we had.

Six weeks after filing the return I received a letter from the IRS telling me it had been rejected. After speaking to Bruce, we filed again. Six weeks later, another rejection letter arrived with no explanation.

Now I was due a pretty hefty rebate and the delays were proving annoying to say the least.

Having failed to get any help from the local office, which had returned to a dormant off season state, I contacted H&R Block on Twitter. They were back to me inside 12 hours and before long I was in regular phone contact with Britney who has played a blinder in resolving my issues – a nice compensation cheque is on it’s way 🙂

So, a first hand example of how a huge business has utilised social media tools to help me directly.

Anyone got any other positive stories?