by Emily Leye | Jan 30, 2023 | Customer Service, New Blogs, Social Media, Website Design
Why is marketing important? A primary benefit of marketing for your company is that it engages customers (current and potential) and helps them decide whether to purchase your goods or services. Without marketing, your potential customers may never know about your business.
Even though marketing is crucial, business owners frequently slash it first when recessionary worries are pervasive. You might be surprised to learn that reducing your marketing spending during a downturn is one of the worst things you can do for the long-term success of your company. You are putting your company at risk of losing market share, even if it might initially seem like the appropriate decision.
Let’s dispel a few of the most widespread myths about marketing.
#1. I don’t need to do any marketing because I’m so busy and have plenty of clients already.
This is a myth because marketing must be consistent, and the pendulum can swing the other way at any time. For example, if your primary marketing strategy involves billboards, don’t suddenly disappear! Consider your current strategy – are you mostly online or in printed marketing material? If you are investing in a good social media program, remember that social media is all about connecting and staying connected. This is a social marketing strategy and effective to keep and grow relationships.
Think of it this way. You’re too preoccupied to socialize right now. But what about in 6-12 months when you aren’t as busy? Without nurturing and connecting, your relationships will have faded, and you’ll be scrambling to re-establish yourself in the minds of your customers, spending a lot of time (and money) trying to reconnect.
#2. I need to save money, and marketing is an unnecessary expense.
Marketing is more than just an expense. It is a primary source of revenue for most successful companies. One of your company’s objectives is to generate a certain amount of revenue.
During a recession, it is more important than ever to remember that loyal customers are the most reliable and long-term source of cash flow and organic growth. Marketing is not an option; it is a priceless “expense” that is a must for helping to continue generating revenue.
If you spend your marketing dollars wisely and consistently, you will always be the first business that comes to mind when a customer needs your products or services. If you reduce your marketing, someone else’s business will be the first to come to mind. When something is out of sight, it is out of mind.
#3. I have my own website. Someone will find me if they want to.
Ask yourself these questions: How will people find you if you only have a URL and a website? How do you get people to visit your website? SEO alone will not result in a sale. You must have an online presence in more than one location – the internet is a traffic jam.
As we mentioned in a previous blog post, social media provides a ton of opportunity for engagement, allowing you to rapidly react to and reply to customer comments and queries, as well as urge followers to visit your website for more information. Using social media to enhance the human aspect of your business generates an emotional connection, which builds relationships and nurtures trust and loyalty.
#4. For referrals, I only need word of mouth.
Without a doubt, word-of-mouth marketing has numerous benefits. When satisfied customers enthusiastically recommend your company to their friends and family, it helps grow your business.
It’s crucial to keep in mind, however, that many people in today’s culture conduct their own research before even contacting a service provider or making a purchase! Marketing plays a significant role in increasing customer satisfaction as well as boosting awareness and loyalty for your company.
It is beneficial to align good customer service with your marketing efforts to achieve your company’s long-term objectives. Excellent customer service may encourage someone to leave an online review and getting more positive reviews increases a company’s credibility. Remember, much of today’s “word-of-mouth” happens online!
Social media marketing is invaluable for boosting your business’s reputation as well. Simply listening and responding to posts about your company on social media can help you improve customer satisfaction. Businesses that communicate with their customers can increase customer loyalty.
#5. I can handle it myself.
You realize the necessity and value of marketing. However, most people believe that social media is as simple as creating an eye-catching post. Be warned: this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Customers may stop following your social media profiles if you don’t create engaging and unique content. A good mix of blog posts, videos, GIFs, customized graphics, and curated content (content from reliable sources that you want to share) will keep your content fresh and engaging. Your content should be closely related to your overall marketing goal.
Many businesses struggle to create engaging content that reaches their target audience consistently. To promote your products or services, build a community within your target audience, and drive traffic to your website, it takes time and patience to thoroughly research and then create or curate content for social media platforms. An effective social media marketing plan should involve strategic planning, proofreading, and editing before any content goes out on your social media platforms. Choosing which platforms to publish on should also be researched.
We can help you develop and execute a social media plan that works for your business. For more information or contact us online. We’d be happy to email you our guide to planning your social media strategy.
Over to you
A recession can be worrisome, especially for small businesses. However, it can also provide a unique opportunity for them to focus more than ever on their marketing strategy and gain a competitive advantage. Those companies that continue to market themselves during a recession will remain at the top of the minds of their customers. When customers require immediate assistance, they’ll know where to go.
Written by: Jennifer Hanford, MYOB Blogger
by Emily Leye | Sep 20, 2022 | Advice, Customer Service, New Blogs, Social Media
Social media is all about interacting with others, especially as a business. Your goals should include engaging with customers, building relationships, and staying at the forefront of their minds. That is how you achieve repeat and referral business. Using proper social media etiquette is just as important as the other elements of content creation and engagement. Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to acing social media etiquette.
Separate Your Personal and Business Accounts
Most people primarily use social media to stay in touch with friends and family. Of course, many businesses use social media to raise brand awareness, drive traffic to their websites, and even generate sales. Perhaps you find it annoying when friends use their personal accounts to promote their businesses. By running separate accounts for your business, you are respecting your friends who are only interested in what’s going on with you. On the other hand, using your business account for personal use could make your company appear unprofessional.
Avoid Misrepresenting Your Company
There are many good reasons for a business to establish a positive social media presence, such as reputation management, growing a base of devoted customers, and gathering feedback. However, it is critical that you represent your company openly and honestly online to build trust with your audience. Even seemingly minor embellishments to make your company appear better can cast significant doubt on the overall integrity of your business.
Respond Mindfully
It makes sense that you may get annoyed if someone disrespects your business or leaves a negative review on your social media channels. But keep in mind that you are speaking for your organization before you react and respond. An explosive or negative response could give prospective clients an unfavourable impression of your business. Before responding, take some time to collect your thoughts. Remember to be as gracious and kind as you can when handling critical feedback. Making that extra effort helps to build and maintain trust with current and prospective customers.
Refrain From Sharing Too Many Posts
Regardless of your social media goals, delivering value to your audience should be top of the list. Some businesses make the error of thinking what is valuable to them is also valuable to their audience. As a result, they exclusively use their social media platforms for advertising and sales. Being informative versus annoying is key.
It matters how frequently you publish on social media, and your profiles may be affected in various ways depending on how often you share posts.
Neil Patel states it well in an article from Forbes:
“If you post too infrequently, your audience will forget that you exist and you will quickly fade into the deep dark recesses of their minds. However, if you are posting too often, you will become a complete nuisance and they will dread seeing your posts overcrowding their feed.”
Always Review Your Posts for Grammar and Spelling
This past April, we explored the topic of grammar in our blog post, “Grammar & Brand Messaging for Your Business.” We mentioned that improper grammar can completely affect the interpretation of what you are trying to communicate. In other words, your company’s overall message is at risk of being confusing and even completely misunderstood. Because business social media accounts are public, many more people can see any mistakes. Simply double-checking a post before you send it out can save you a lot of embarrassment!
Over To You
We hope these pointers will enable you to engage in more fulfilling social media interactions. Are there any you would add? Please keep in mind that if you need help creating and managing social media for your business, we are available to help.
Written by: Jennifer Hanford, MYOB Blogger
by Emily Leye | Apr 4, 2022 | Advice, Business Tips, Customer Service, New Blogs
Have you noticed that a lot of businesses are willing to engage through online channels yet fail to provide any phone support these days? All too often, the online chat supports those businesses offer are auto-generated generic answers that are less-than-helpful. Let’s say you’re unable to log into one of your social media networks, either because you’ve been locked out or because the platform is down. Having the option to speak with a live person and resolve the issue over the phone would be helpful, right?
Research shows why people are becoming increasingly frustrated with online support:
- 55% of customer requests for service on social media are not acknowledged.
- 72% of Facebook interactions are never completed, in any channel.
Source: Huffington Post (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/50-important-customer-exp_b_8295772)
Why going back to the basics to develop relationships can humanize your business?
In the long run, the ability to humanize your business through live phone support can certainly help your company stand out from the crowd. Human nature dictates that people prefer to do business with real people rather than logos and bots. And although face-to-face meetings and phone calls were once the norm for business representatives, artificial intelligence (AI), email and social media have contributed to a decline in personal human interactions over the last decade or so.
As well, too many companies are overlooking a key aspect when prioritizing the digital experience: talking on the phone with a real person is faster, easier, and more effective than typing messages back and forth. It may seem old-fashioned, but in reality, most people still want to talk to a knowledgeable human being – especially when they have customer service issues or are making major purchasing decisions.
Businesses may be losing potential revenue by hiding their phone numbers and making it nearly impossible to reach a live person. Customers who are irritated have little patience for automated support, and even those who aren’t irritated will notice when your company interacts with a human touch. However, savvy business owners understand that relationships are the true currency of business. And, amongst the rise of AI, humans now have the advantage of offering something unique and compelling to customers.
Ready to provide a “Talk to Human” option? Proper phone etiquette will go a long way
If you are ready for your business to be more “human” again but haven’t picked up the phone in a while, then you may need to brush up on your phone skills. Having a repertoire of good customer service terms on hand will help you communicate with your current and potential customers more effectively.
Here are a few impactful customer service phrases to consider:
#1. “Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”
In fact, the customer who reports the flaw is actually assisting your company with quality control. In these cases, the very least your company can do is express gratitude through this simple phrase. Being courteous does not cost you anything. It is important to be genuine with this as people are smart and can detect if you’re being insincere.
#2. “I will look into this for you.”
Even when you are unsure of the outcome, it is essential that you express a willingness to find the answer. Because one of your goals is to boost your customers’ trust in your brand, this helps demonstrate to them that you’re a professional who gets things done.
#3. “I apologize for the inconvenience.”
If a customer is dissatisfied, it is critical to demonstrate empathy, validate their complaint and let them know that you understand their concerns. Apologizing to a dissatisfied customer and admitting the error is preferable to making excuses.
Source: Qminder (https://www.qminder.com/blog/customer-service/customer-service-phrases/)
Over to you
At the end of the day, it is important to provide your customers with as many contact channels as you can effectively manage. Consider having a “talk to human” as one of those options; it will likely result in a positive experience for both sides!
Written by: Jennifer Hanford, MYOB Blogger
by nhleye@gmail.com | Jul 26, 2021 | Business Tips, Customer Service, New Blogs
“Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanter’s wand — itself a nothing,
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyze the Caesars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! Take away the sword,
States can be saved without it!”
– Edward Bulwer-Lytton, novelist, and playwright
Have you noticed that nearly everyone has something to say these days—especially online? It’s not your imagination! People have become increasingly emboldened by having the opportunity to use social media as an outlet for their individual voices. Most of the time, people use their social media platforms to share positive, funny, and uplifting messages, whether their own thoughts, or through memes. Unfortunately, on the flip side, we see more than our fair share of negative messages as well. In either case, once something is said on the internet, it can exist indefinitely… there is no going back.
In one of our recent blog posts, “Service for the Customer,” we addressed the importance of providing excellent customer service as one way to avoid receiving negative reviews online. However, you will always have at least one disgruntled individual who has no qualms about letting you know how unhappy they are — either on your social media platforms, within your blog comments, online review sites, etc. – nor will they hesitate to make their feelings known to the public.
Along with the opportunity and easy access to do so, each of us has the power to use words, both positive and negative, to express ourselves. So, what’s a business to do? Here are a few ways you can “sharpen your own sword,” so to speak, and make your words – and those of your audience – matter.
Acknowledge ALL comments
Although it’s tempting to simply ignore or delete the negative comments, it could end up being one of the worst things you do as a business. For one thing, it will give an unhappy individual yet another excuse to continue negativity towards your business. Every comment, whether positive, negative, or neutral, should be responded to since doing so helps you better connect with your followers by opening the lines of communication.
For customer service purposes, every negative review provides an opportunity to turn the situation around for a win! It’s not always easy, but it’s important to always be polite and professional when communicating online with your followers. Avoid swear words, even if they’re using them. Be mindful of your loyal customers; if they happen to see you being rude to others, it may affect their opinion of your company as well as their decision to continue doing business with you.
Note: Spam and vulgar or offensive comments are definitely exceptions and should be reported and deleted.
Own it!
Mistakes can happen in any organization. Quite frequently, brands are called out by their audiences for what may seem to be a minor error, such as a typo or misspelling. However, there are times where a major blunder could occur unintentionally, such as internet controversies, offensive posts, inappropriately timed posts – perhaps due to prescheduling – or engaging in an online argument with an individual that goes sideways.
Regardless of whether the blunder is tiny or gigantic, the first step to take as business owner is to apologize. Even if you disagree with the individual, saying, “We are very sorry,” goes a long way to start the process of resolving or avoiding further conflict. The damage is done, so attempting to cover up or ignore the mistake will only make the situation worse for your business. Instead, immediately accept responsibility and take ownership for your error with a public online apology. When issuing your public apology, make sure you are sincere. Most people can tell the difference between a fake one that translates to an ‘Oops! We got caught!’, and a genuine, heartfelt sentiment. Your audience will appreciate your honesty.
Obtain positive feedback and customer testimonials
One of the most effective ways to reduce impact of a bad comment on your company image is through earning positive reviews, which will far outweigh the negative ones! If you’re not sure how to ask for feedback from your customers, HubSpot offers a few tips to help you get started:
1. Ask the customer in person.
2. Leverage moments of customer happiness.
3. Begin with an open-ended question.
How will you use your words today?
Taking the time to share kind words online, such as a recommendation for a local business or nominating someone for an award, can be powerful and even life-changing for them. This makes the metaphorical pen very mighty indeed. Which takes us back to the famous saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” According to one interpretation, writing is a more powerful tool than violence, and a pen can accomplish far more than a sword. It implies that the power of writing is timeless, whereas the sword’s power is fleeting. Our words have power, so we should always consider using them in a positive way and on a regular basis.
by nhleye@gmail.com | May 31, 2021 | Customer Service, New Blogs, Website Design
In this digital age, having a website for your company is essential. However, keeping your website and its content up to date is equally important. Your website is, without a doubt, a representation of your company. In fact, it may be the only part of it that some people see. As such, keeping your site updated and relevant will go a long way toward generating a positive impression on both current and potential customers.
Here are a few reasons to keep your website up to date:
- Your website can help your business generate revenue, increase brand recall value, promote goodwill among clients and target audiences, plus deliver powerful marketing messages around the clock, 365 days a year!
- Keeping your website’s material current contributes to the development of relationships between you and your customers, which ultimately helps to build trust and credibility in your company. Customers are most likely looking to your site for relevant information that helps them stay in-the-know.
- Customers are likely to feel comfortable using your services when your company has a high-quality website. Plus, your website can help its visitors feel confident that they will have a positive experience in all aspects of your business.
- Because search engines like Google place a strong emphasis on local results, having a website is even more important if you are a local business. More people are using the internet to find local businesses than ever before so if you don’t have a website, they may be unable to contact or locate your company.
- When your company has an updated website, you will have an increased ability to communicate with customers in real time. This is especially true when your website’s content and social media are integrated. Your social media pages all work together to increase your website traffic and boost revenue.
- The ability to attract new customers is one of the most compelling reasons to invest in updating your website. Since the visitors to your site will be at various stages of the sales process, including researchers, comparers, and buyers, you’ll want to make sure you have offerings for them all. The goal is to convert website visitors into leads, so speaking to their needs and providing them with a clear action plan to take the next steps will help make the process smoother.
Let’s get started.
We build WordPress websites for our clients and provide them with two hours of training after launch to teach them how to make minor changes on their own. We recommend WordPress because it is customizable and user friendly.
Are you ready to talk about your website design and management? Fill out our contact form and we’ll get in touch!
by nhleye@gmail.com | May 17, 2021 | Advice, Customer Service, New Blogs, Social Media
Imagine you are out window shopping one day. Suddenly, you come across a lovely new store with an incredible selection of exactly what you have been looking for! How exciting! You cannot wait to start shopping, so you walk on in. However, once you start looking around the store, you start to feel a little uncertain about shopping there. Something just doesn’t feel right, but you can’t put your finger on it. Then suddenly, you realize what’s going on…there is not a single person around to talk to. Not one.
Who is going to answer your questions or help you with your purchase? What if you buy something but need to return it? Who is minding this store? Unless you prefer a completely automated shopping experience, you are probably going to leave this beautiful store and never return.
Surprisingly, albeit it virtually, this scenario occurs on a regular basis for many of us on our favourite social media pages. And, unfortunately, there are far too many pages with large numbers of fans who receive no responses to their questions or comments. With someone to “mind the store,” so to speak, these pages would potentially see increased reach and engagement, as well as more trust and brand loyalty from their fans.
Why is community management so important?
There’s no doubt that social media use has exploded since 2004, and the numbers of users continues to rise. As a result, community management of social media pages on the major platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn has become a critical component of customer service. Good community management is key to retaining current customers as well as acquiring new customers, especially through referrals.
Are you still not completely convinced? Check out these statistics:
- As of 2020, there are 3.78 billion social media users, which equates to about 48% of the current world population. (Statista)
- 71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend that same brand to their friends and family. (Ambassador)
- In 2020, nearly 6 in 10 consumers preferred visiting social media pages of brands before deciding to visit their websites (an 81% increase from 2019). (Digital Information World)
Clients and Community Managers work together!
The relationship between a client/brand and its Community Manager is critical for a variety of reasons, but especially because it requires complete confidence for them to delegate the critical task of engaging with their consumers on their behalf. Although it can truly be challenging at times, it is important to understand both the tone of voice, and the industry jargon. This ensures that engagement with the clients’ followers on their social media pages is reliable and genuine.
Community Managers are on the front lines to promote and protect their clients’ reputation. This includes responding to negative feedback and all comments in a timely and respectful manner. All in all, the client is counting on their Community Manager to “mind the store”. By interacting with customers through social media platforms you are showing them that you care. What may seem like a simple gesture will often go a long way toward establishing positive customer relationships.
Let’s Begin.
At MYOB, our Community Managers research your brand and competitors to develop a strategy to meet your marketing goals. They will prepare an audit of your existing accounts and offer recommendations to move forward. MYOB can help you mind your own business better!
