| Posted by Ann D. at 12/13/2010 10:43 AM CST on Chicago Business |
By Ellen Malloy
Let’s face it: At any time of the year, but especially during the holidays, it’s tough for small businesses to compete with malls and big boxes and their colossal and formidable marketing machines. What they’ve got, you can only dream of, such as:
- One-stop shopping
- Enormous parking lots
- Epic marketing budgets
- A nearby Orange Julius or an in-store Starbucks
- Full-page newspaper ads
- Doorbusters and insanely cheap prices, and
- Appearances by the Man of the Hour: Santa
I’ll stop there, because this list is already more than a little depressing. But you, my dear small-business owner, you have something very special – something that, like Rudolph’s red nose or a little dreidel made of clay, you really ought to cherish. For what you have is something the Targets and Walmarts and Orchard Valley Spring Grove Shopping Centers of the world will never have, and that is this: fiercely loyal customers.
Whether you own a custom furniture store, a chef-driven Spanish restaurant or a travel agency, these loyal customers are your secret weapon. They are the ones who walk through your door or ring you up every year at this time like clockwork, looking for the perfect gift for their hard-to-buy-for sister-in-law, making a reservation for the staff holiday party, or booking their annual family vacation to Cancun. They like you – they really, really like you! – and that’s great news, because repeat customers are key to boosting profits.
To keep 'em coming back, you have to keep treating them right. People often choose to patronize small businesses precisely because they enjoy the personal touch. They don’t want to be like – or feel like – one of 16 billion served. They don’t want to have to ask for it their way – they want someone to remember what their way is and anticipate their needs before they even place their order.
Your personal relationship with your customers is your edge. It’s your chance to fell the Goliaths of the retail world with a simple gesture: an invitation to loyal customers for a special trunk show with free wine and hor d’oeuvres; a special menu whipped up to wow the company that has hosted its holiday party at your restaurant for the past 10 years; a list of new Cancun attractions for families, e-mailed to your customer before she even has the chance to ask.
And social media can help you.
Sure, on the one hand, social media allows even the biggest corporate machines to paint on a human veneer: Nearly 3 million people “like” Target on Facebook (though it’s worth noting some 83,000 also are boycotting Target on Facebook). Walmart notches just over 2.5 million. We’ve grown so accustomed to our hyper-connected world, even giant corporations can seem that much more accessible through the wonders of the Interwebz.
But smart small businesses are using Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and the like to connect with their customers in truly meaningful ways, rather than simply another advertising platform – and for those that get it right, it’s adding up to more loyal customers and more sales. It’s true: Online connections cannot displace the real-life hospitality you extend to your customers when they walk through your doors. Social media simply gives you a tool to maintain that rapport with your clients between visits. Same idea, broader reach – and with the added benefit of giving your customers the tools to become your best sales people, by liking, retweeting, forwarding or otherwise sharing your online hospitality with their friends.
So if you’re with me – and I have a feeling you are if you’ve read this far – here are some tips for using social media to nurture and leverage your relationship with your customers:
Stay in touch. Make it your 2011 New Year’s resolution to be more proactive about collecting customers’ contact information so you can stay in touch with them throughout the year. For starters, be sure to get their e-mail addresses and ask for their social-media contact information as well, so you can follow up with customers using their preferred method of communication. If you haven’t sent an e-newsletter in the past, the holidays are the perfect excuse to start. A Happy New Year’s e-mail – or a simple message such as “Thank you for doing business with me this holiday season” – would be a great way to start.
These kinds of non-sales oriented messages are equally welcome on Facebook and Twitter, as are updates that keep your customers in the loop and provide them with useful information. For instance, if you are closed on an odd day each week, like Tuesday, it would be helpful to remind people. If you sell gardening supplies, you could send seasonal reminders and tips for doing things like tilling and pruning. The bottom line: Social media can’t just be about promotion. Use it to provide your customers with fun, useful and valuable information, and they will continue to follow you and buy from you.
Share the human side of your company. Point your followers to pictures from the staff holiday party (perhaps only those taken before the bowl of eggnog was drained). Share links to MP3s of the music you listen to at the shop. Explain why you stock an exclusive brand. The human touch will endear you to followers and get them excited about helping your business succeed.
Play favorites. When customers go the extra mile by following you on Twitter, liking you on Facebook, or checking in on Foursquare – effectively broadcasting their endorsement of your business to all of their trusting friends – it seems fair to reward them. You could simply send a message to your social-media followers that gives them a one-day head start on your sample sale, or an extra 20% discount on sale items. (Tip: Make the announcement real news, not just the same “Monday Happy Hour” loop every week.) Or you might decide to have a little fun with it, a la this great post from Jennifer Van Grove of Mashable, by creating a contest, game or long-term loyalty program for fans and friends. Either way, it’s perfectly acceptable to take extra good care of your social-media followers; after all, they’re likely to reward you by sending new customers your way.
Learn what makes your customers tick. Here’s the thing: It’s called social media, not antisocial media, because social media is a dialogue, not a monologue. A lot of businesses don’t realize this, and they just promote, promote, promote. Those that have wised up know how beneficial it is to have regular, two-way conversations with existing and would-be customers. You don’t have to analyze sales receipts or retail trends to guess what your customers want; with social media, if you ask the right questions, you’ll get great ideas for serving your customers better, straight from the source.
Note: This includes customers who aren’t very happy with you. When you find a dissatisfied customer on social media, reach out in a positive way to try to right what went wrong. You may not succeed in winning them over, but I guarantee you won’t if you don’t even try. So take your head out of the sand. You may be surprised at how much you can turn someone around by being an honest human.
Do well by doing good. Consider inviting Twitter followers, Facebook fans and other social-media friends to an event hosted at your business – not to sell to them, but to give back to the community a little. Choose your favorite local charity, pick up some bottles of wine and fine cheeses, and charge a wee donation at the door to benefit said charity. Then mingle! Spend time in real life meeting the people who like you online, and you’ll cement hardcore customers – and build community to boot.
Help others promote you. Make it easy for your customers to promote you by using social media. Here’s how it works: If you post your promotions on Twitter with a link, and I am a fan, I can retweet (forward) your tweet and expand the reach of your efforts. If you have an event and post it on Facebook, I can "Like It" or "Share It" and expand the reach of your efforts. If your staff also comments or tweets about the event or promotion, I am even more likely to see it.
On the other hand, if all you do to share your promotion is send an e-mail newsletter, I can't share it with my entire network. I may forward the e-mail to some friends but probably won’t, and definitely won’t send it to everyone I know.
That’s the power of social media. So here’s my final tip: Don’t be afraid to ask your loyal customers to share your stuff. People have choices, and your loyal customers – especially those who have scored brownie points by becoming your online buddy – have chosen you. Let them know you appreciate them, and you’ll strengthen your community of loyal followers, so when you need their help, they’ll be willing to give it to you.
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