Here is an interview that was posted earlier on an other blog, about Twitter and marketing. I republish it because it contains quite some interesting insights.
In an eBook Len Cercone from US-based agency CerconeBrown&Company writes that one of the mistakes of social marketing is believing that a Facebook page or Twitter account will attract prospects.
Cercone explains (I quote from the paper): “Maybe it’s a hangover from the dot-com boom, but too many companies think that if they build it, they will come. Sadly, it just isn’t so”.
He continues: “Think of it like this: If you want to sell a house and your only promotion is a sign on in the front yard, you won’t get much traffic. But get your listing with multiple directories, agents and promotional vehicles and you’re suddenly open to more prospects. The real key is the content in those listings. They must give prospects the valuable information the want in a way that’s easy to use, pass to a friend or client and, ultimately, act upon.”
In an interview, Cercone further developed what his views on social media marketing are.
Cercone: “It’s the same thing with online and social media marketing. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and every other site on the Net is just a channel to broadcast your message. Each has its own tone and tact, and each serves a purpose for your mission. But it’s the aggregate of these places and forums that hold the power of the Web.”
And then about Twitter:
Cercone: “Twitter is beginning to find a legitimate place in corporate marketing. In many ways, it’s is becoming the company-to-customer equivalent of IM: short bursts of information that keeps people posted up to the minute. These bursts are being used by companies like Best Buy’s TWELPFORCE to help make interactions between customer service and consumers open, fast and effective. Before Twitter, a call with customer service was riddled with angering phone trees, insane wait times, transfers and, if we were lucky, searches on a self help site. Now with Twitter, companies can quickly see across thousands of conversations to identify issues and solve them en masse. So instead of hundreds or thousands of customers feeling left one there own with electronics headaches, Best Buy can talk to them all faster and with better outcomes”.
For Cercone the power of Twitter seems to be in listening to consumers and in customer service.
Referring to the example of Best Buy he continues: “The result is happier customers…the very definition of CRM. We are seeing increasing requests to help set up similar systems from companies that range from automotive insurers to food distributors.”
You can download Len Cercone’s eBook, “The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Social Media Marketing” here.
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