Another Look Connecting Your People to Your Customers

Via the social media experience.

Companies need to understand that social media is people connecting with other people.

And it is a conversation not a lecture.

Here's some tips from MarketingProfs.com:

Tips From 'The Office' on Social-Media Customer Engagement

The hit TV sitcom The Office has extended its brand reach and consumer appeal through clever uses of social media. "Although there are only around 23 episodes [per year] ... the show has become far more than just 30 minutes of weekly airtime," Case Ernsting writes in a recent post at the SEO & Marketing blog. "In fact, these half-hour installments have proven to be the axis for a very extensive and enthusiastic leap into new media."

Among the show's social-media efforts that have reaped a huge fan following are these:

• Character blogs at the show's website, and character Flickr accounts and Twitter handles.
• Interactivity—such as a recent Fanisode that allowed fans to upload their own remakes of scenes from a previous episode.
• Multichannel integration: The show's new-media devices act as magnets that draw fans to the website again and again.

Such uses of new media is an example that businesses of all types can follow, Ernsting says. He offers tips based on the show's success. Among the ideas he presents:

Model your social-media campaigns around your people. Make your customers fans by "providing insight into the things that make your company tick," Ernsting suggests. Let your staff's individual personalities shine through.

Build brand loyalty based on emotional connections. What about your brand resonates with customers? Think of ways to translate that appeal to social interactivity.

Match the medium to your message. Consider, up front, which social-media outlets best match your outreach, Ernsting advises. A call-to-action message? Consider Twitter. An image-based campaign? Use Facebook.

The Po!nt: Find your audience appeal. Consider using social media in clever ways to illuminate the uniqueness of your product, service—or staff. You could have a hit on your hands!

Source: SEO & Marketing. Read the full post.

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