Today's social media boom is not a brand new phenomenon, but rather part of a 30-year period of developments in communication technologies. Check out the Brief History of Social Media to find out how we got where we are today. Although big technological advances were made, the point of it all is still the same - We are social animals and need to connect with people around us. We want to stay informed, be recognized, make friends, feel needed, respected, and special.
All these and many other needs can be satisfied through the use of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and other social media outlets. Each day more businesses decide to get on the "social media horse" in order to stay up to date and connect with their current and potential customers. However, many get entangled in the race of acquiring as many "friends" or "likes" as possible (ex: facebook), while failing to make real connections with their audience. Real life, day to day interactions with people are the ones that actually matter. It doesn't take a lot to click on a "follow" link on your customer's Twitter and increase a list of your contacts by one meaningless name. It takes a lot more effort to regularly read this person's tweets, re-tweet, reply to the comments, assist events, send personal messages, and basically personally interact with people.
Only when some or all of the mentioned are done, the customer acquires a face and becomes a real person to the business, while the business becomes real to him or her. Meaning that the most likely, you will get the same kind of attention and treatment in return (which can be easily transformed to brand loyalty). I actually have achieved many of my business goals by using social media with a "personal touch" approach.
In April, 2009 I became a part of a brand new business project. A friend of mine, together with his "angel investor" decided to open a boutique boxing gym and bring me on board as a general manager and social activities' coordinator. At that time I was a legal assistant in my second year of college. I had never managed a business project before and had recently gotten a Facebook account. While we were working on the building remodeling, ordering all the necessary equipment and recruiting our future trainers, I started my own social media campaign. I basically began "stalking" and adding friends of friends and also random people from Miami on my personal Facebook profile, who were interested in working out, boxing, outdoors, training, weight loss, and similar activities. At that time Facebook didn't have as many restrictions as it has today, so it was easier to add people I didn't know without being blocked by the website for privacy infringement.
A lot of people accepted me without questioning who I was (because in many cases they were friends of friends). Others questioned, and I explained that I was opening a new, state of the art, boxing and fitness facility in Miami, and I would like to send them an invite for the grand opening and some free passes. A lot of people liked that and added me. Those who did not, made me a huge favor, because I didn't have to loose time appealing to those disinterested in the project. With all this in mind, I built a solid opt-in, potential client base, with a genuine interest in my business and all this was done through MY PERSONAL FACEBOOK PROFILE. Therefore, people didn't only see my business side, but also my personal life. They had access to my pictures, my real friends' comments, my ups and downs, and other personal information, which can be intimidating at times, but it created strong life-long ties.
Well, once the base building was in progress, I created both, Facebook group and a fan page to interact with potential clients. I continued commenting on people's personal profiles, and pictures, wishing happy birthdays, organizing events preceding the gym opening such as FREE boot camps and training sessions on the beach, in order to create comradery and meet up in person before the opening. At times it was discouraging, because a lot of people would accept my event invites on Facebook, but just a a few would actually show up on the day of the event. To attract more for the next time, I kept documenting everything and tagging those who showed up in pictures and posts.
I also maintained an email database of "gym friends" and updated them once a week on the construction progress and otherwise generated pre-opening excitement. This physical and virtual construction process took us about nine months. On the opening day we had a lot of old and new friends dropping by to check us out - the WORD OF MOUTH was out on the street that we were the most fun and friendliest boxing gym in Miami :) !!!
After the opening I added Twitter, Youtube, and a new e-mail newsletter to my arsenal. I also added each and every of our customers to my personal Facebook page (one of the reasons I have over 4050 "friends". I never stopped adding personal approach to the marketing of Biscayne Boxing. I keep posting, commenting, tagging, and re-tweeting on my friends' and clients' profiles daily. It requires dedication and hard work but it is paying off because they do the same for me. They recommend the gym to their friends and family, they allow me to take pictures of them working out and post them all over the web. My clients are the source of what I consider to be the best type of advertisement for small businesses - the WORD OF MOUTH advertisement. And as far as the brand loyalty goes, I just cannot complain. Our loyal customers and friends have been with us through the good and bad times, always patient and understanding. They know that while things do not always go as planned because of life's unpredictability, we put our 100% effort and souls in what we do and we appreciate each and every one of them tremendously.
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It is incredible how people are so interested in knowing and following people just to read and keep updated with their status and tweets.
ReplyDeleteYet, having these social networks has become an important part of being in a way, socially acknowledges. For example, a majority of my friends had a twitter, and they would tell me how they could not believe that I didn't have one and how I was missing out. I felt compelled to do so and made an account. Now, I use it on a day to day basis to see any interesting things and news my favorite artists and celebrities have posted.
I also think it is amazing that you have used the potential of these social network sights to your advantage and have used it to create customers and help people become aware of the company you manage.
Aileen
It is amazing how a little time and effort to connect to your audience can go a long way. I am impressed by the personal and emotional connection you made with your current and potential consumers. It is sad that not many companies do the same. Maybe because some businesses are so large it would be too time consuming to do the same? However, I believe that when a business grows to become large they lose sight of the purpose and potential of a social media outlet and lose the true connection with their audience. Congratulations to you and your staff for making that difference!!
ReplyDeleteThank you girls! :)
ReplyDeleteYour persistence paid off. Social media marketing failures are usually the result of either lack of patience, or lack of valuable content.
ReplyDeleteI keep two follow lists, one of friends, the other of sources that provide something of value to me (information, resources, humor, industry trends, education). Personally, four posts in a row of marketing rhetoric without providing anything that is not self serving and your off my 2nd list.