Open the dialogue. Look at Vail Resorts. They’re not out telling you, ‘Come spend your money.’ They’re out telling you, ‘Track your improvement,’ or, ‘Measure how much fun you’ve had at one resort over another. Track how well you do against people that are skiing in the areas that you’re skiing. Build competitive communities. Engage with us.’ It’s a pretty powerful message.
Encourage people to give feedback not just on what they’ve bought from me but what other things are they doing with other products.
The consumer responds to not being sold when you just open the dialogue. Don’t promote when the consumer is looking for you to engage. Consumers sometimes will tell you, ‘Sell me this. I’m ready to buy this.’ And then you do, because they’re looking to make that transaction. But in the social world, make sure that you’re taking advantage of engagement as your strategy, not strictly selling. There’s a time and a place for it.
Integrate social strategy. If you listen to the conversation and people are completely agitated with you and you’re British Petroleum, it might not be a good time to try to sell them (gasoline). It might be a great time to tell them [about] the Save the Whales donations that you’re giving.
The data will tell you that. That data can come from all of the channels you choose to interact with consumers in. Don’t only look at what you’re hearing socially, but look at it in terms of people buying at the pump, the transaction volume decreases, people not going into your convenience mart. There’s all kinds of ways for you to see how the consumer feels — beyond social — that should indicate what you should or should not say, what you should or should not be selling (and) when you should or should not be doing it.
How to reach: Alterian Inc., (312) 704-1700 or www.alterian.com.
