“You are in queue, please wait.”
“Aap qatar mein hain, kripya pratiksha kijiye.”
If this makes you feel angry and helpless all at once, then congratulations, you too have experienced the good ol’ customer service of the 80s and 90s. An era when customer service was king and all the customer could do was wait and wait and then wait some more to finally be heard and sometimes maybe served.
Contrast this with 2022.
Airline lost your luggage? Tweet at them.
Your favourite tea brand did not live up to your expectations? Slide into their DMs.
Had a great customer experience at your local coffee shop? Make a reel on Instagram with your favourite barista as collaborator doing his moves to the latest Harry Styles song and tag the coffee shop so they can reshare it too.
As you might know, building a successful brand is about consistency. Small steps performed regularly to bring brand reality closer to brand goals. In the digital world, these steps often involve marketing to new eyeballs on social media, such as Instagram, Facebook, Youtube etc, and search engines such as Google and Bing. But one of the most important steps to ensure that these new eyeballs and customers stay is to build and nurture a lasting relationship with them with genuine and helpful customer service.
For customers and businesses alike, social media has become an easy and effective way to connect and engage with each other. Whether it is feedback received in-the-moment of the customer’s experience, the launch of a new line of products, the brand’s stand on a social issue or even engaging with other brands. Social media has made it easier for brands to become more human. By standing out and staying connected. But you might be wondering: how does one begin treading these social media waters as a brand? How much is too much? And what tone should a brand adopt?
The digital marketing mavericks from Flora Fountain, the top social media marketing agency in Ahmedabad have come up with some simple steps for brands to follow on social media to build customer relationships that last. Let’s
Social listening
It is important for a brand to have its ear to the ground on the internet to know what people are talking about it online, what trends are being followed by its potential customers. This activity of monitoring various digital platforms, topics and keywords to identify important mentions of the brand and its related topics is called Social Listening.
Brands can modify and enhance their promotional campaigns and customer communications based on this information collated through social listening. While there are many paid online tools available to assist with this actively, the top digital marketing agency in Ahmedabad Flora Fountain does it the old school way, by regularly scouring through platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, etc. through targeted keywords, phrases and topics.
This way, the social media managers are able to assist their clients in resolving their issues by offering insightful responses to their inquiries, and make better educated selections.
Read more Marketing on Snapchat! Yeah..we’re not kidding.
Taking feedback & acting on it
Feedback helps brands understand what their customers like, what are their pain points, evaluate how their target audience perceives them. With social media making communication between customers and businesses all the more direct, the cycle of feedback has become quicker and hence brands have to be all the more quicker in responding to them.
Show the customers that their inputs are valued by putting their suggestions and requirements into visible action. From launching new products, services or any interesting and useful feature, implementation of customer feedback received through DMs, reviews and other avenues can help brands gain their trust and loyalty. It shows that you hear their concerns and needs and you’re willing to act on it for their benefit.
Be relatable
Another great way to maintain a great relationship with customers is to be relatable to them, their thoughts, conversations and ideas. Make social media a fun place to be for the customers by aligning the brand’s voice with that of the customers, is what every digital marketer working with the best digital agency in Ahmedabad or anywhere would say.
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Kamaii, a homemade meals ordering app partnered with Flora Fountain, a social media marketing agency in Ahmedabad to tap into the local audience with some fun and puns. They share humorous content, jump on memes they can relate back to their brand, and they take any opportunity they can to champion the comfort of fresh, home cooked meals.
Read more Kamaii ki Kahani – Marketing a home-cooked food ordering & delivery app
Sharing User Generated Content
People love sharing pictures of the various products they use and tag brands on their respective social media handles. This is called user generated content, that can be utilised by brands on their social media pages to reinforce the love and trust the user has on them, and build a community of such loyal customers.
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The best example for this can be found on the social media pages of Wagh Bakri Tea, India’s most trusted tea brand. Backed digitally by the top digital marketing agency in Ahmedabad, Wagh Bakri runs campaigns where users and creators can share pictures and clips of them enjoying a piping hot cup of their tea, and Wagh Bakri shares the best ones on their pages. It’s important though, that brands seek permission before reposting a users’ photograph onto their account.
Provide value and solve problems
Social media platforms are of course a great place to advertise products and service, but customers value a brand more when they do more than just selling. Solve problems of customers, answer their frequently asked questions, share their good reviews. This is another great way to build a strong relationship with the customers.
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One of India’s top car detailing franchises, CarzSpa Detailing Studios have a great mix of posts on their official Instagram page. They showcase their products, visuals from the various detailing activities that take place at their studios and further share informative posts that busts myths, answer FAQs and some fun questions to engage with their audience while educating them.
Ensure there’s a good balance between your promotional content and the educational and free value you provide to your audience.
Feeling all set to build a thriving community of customers on your social media page too? Get the backing of the best digital agency in Ahmedabad to help you navigate your relationships online and add great value to your brand and business. Reach out to us on hello@florafountain.com today.
Vasim Samadji is a partner at Flora Fountain, where he leads the Business and Marketing Strategy divisions. In a world where everyone is used to sugarcoating, his directness is often considered rude. But that shouldn't be a problem if you like the no-nonsense approach. Because he is a seasoned professional...