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• 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation
• 7 out of 10 consumers will leave a review for a business if they’re asked to
• 54% of people will visit the website after reading positive reviews
• 74% of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more

[bctt tweet=”Provide a way for customers to leave feedback, and then ask for a review after the sale. #onlinereviews” username=”rallioHQ”]

Once you provide that social proof, it becomes much easier to drown out or manage any negative reviews that trickle in. From there, you can begin to engage with potential experts and influencers who can promote your brand even further.

And if you’re looking for a way to manage, respond to and solicit testimonials and online reviews, leave a comment below or email us at hello@www.rallio.com. That happens to be one of our specialties!

It’s no secret that social media trends shift quickly, sometimes before you even realize they’ve come and gone. So I can’t promise you that all of the following trends will stay relevant. However, I can say with confidence that this is where you can expect to see social trends going for the foreseeable future as we head into 2017.

1. Social Media Use Continues to Rise

According to the Pew Research Center, the share of Americans who use Facebook is on the rise, with eight in 10 online Americans (79 percent) using the social platform. Of those, 76 percent are logging in daily to do everything from catching up on the latest news to searching for employment. Instagram and Twitter trail behind at 32 percent and 24 percent respectively, with younger generations tending to use these platforms more than older Americans.

With such strong statistical support for the use of Facebook among online Americans, it’s clear that brands cannot afford to ignore the platform as a means of reaching customers. In addition to using other marketing mediums such as email, consider implementing a Facebook strategy that includes both engaging content and advertising to get in front of more eyeballs.

[bctt tweet=”Brands cannot afford to ignore #Facebook as a means of reaching customers.” username=”rallioHQ”]

2. Customers Want Real-Time Responses

When customers speak on social media, they expect brands to be listening … immediately. Search Engine Watch reports that more than 70 percent of Twitter users who interact with brands expect responses, and 53 percent want to hear back within the hour. “That percentage goes up when someone is issuing a complaint to a brand, with 72 percent saying within an hour is a reasonable time to hear back from them on the issue,” the author writes.

With complaints in particular, customers who don’t get timely responses are likely to tell friends and family and even escalate their concerns to other mediums. So while Twitter might not be your primary method of reaching customers, you need to have an ear open and a presence there, as well as a means of managing customer inquiries that originate on social media.

Bottom line: Implement both the human power and the software tools needed to track customer engagement so you’ll always be ready to respond to both positive and negative customer inquiries and comments. If you need help identifying the best software to get the job done, go to www.rallio.com or email us at hello@www.rallio.com so we can walk through the options together.

[bctt tweet=”When customers speak on #socialmedia, they expect brands to be listening … immediately.” username=”rallioHQ”]

3. Social Commerce Shows Promise

According to research by Statista, 93 percent of millennials pass their time on social networks. Combine that data with the above stats on Facebook usage, and you can see why brands want to know how to monetize all that traffic.

It remains to be seen whether social commerce will take off as a solid means of revenue for companies. However, if there’s one thing we know about innovation, it’s that people will continue testing and researching ways to do just that.

Pinterest shows particular promise in the social commerce space. Although social media still only accounts for a small percentage of traffic to commerce sites, reports Business Insider, “there are signs that Pinterest could help drive up social commerce as the platform gains momentum.” Be on the watch for shifts toward social commerce across other platforms throughout 2017 and beyond.

4. Video Content Is Still Big (and Getting Bigger)

Did you know that Snapchat has over 10 billion views daily? That’s billion, with a B, and that’s no joke. It’s a huge opportunity for brands to step up their brand marketing strategies, not only on Snapchat, but on other mediums as well.

As more brands use video marketing, it will be increasingly important to get creative with your approach. Rather than just post your thoughts about an event, let users live vicariously through you! Show them what it’s like to be there so they actually feel like they’re part of the event. Think live videos, virtual reality experiences and real-time posting that gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the real-life experience. The sky is the limit!

[bctt tweet=”Rather than just post your thoughts about an event, let users live vicariously through you! #VideoContent” username=”rallioHQ”]

5. Employees Are Brand Ambassadors

All of those people on social media aren’t just your customers or prospects. They’re your employees, too! Anytime your employees post something related to your brand, they’re serving as brand ambassadors, spreading the word among their friends and followers.

A great example is Adobe. In her article “How Adobe Empowers Its Employees to be Brand Ambassadors,” Lydia Abbot, a blog editor and content marketer at LinkedIn, writes about a fascinating discovery made by Adobe’s Head of Social Business Center of Excellence, Cory Edwards.

“Cory was struck one day when he saw the results that one employee’s social media efforts were driving,” she writes. “That month, this particular evangelist had driven more revenue for the company than its branded social networking properties, like @Adobe on Twitter.” That discovery led to the development of the company’s Social Shift Program, which educates employees about social media guidelines and best practices and empowers them to be brand ambassadors.

Likewise, you can develop your own social advocacy program to encourage employees to generate exposure for your brand via social media. As customers get to know the people behind the brand, they’ll gain trust in your company, engage with you and share content with their networks. Over time, you’ll have a team of brand ambassadors not only in your employees, but in their respective social networks, too.

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Of course, these are just a few of the trends you can expect to see developing in the coming months. No doubt there will be others that take even greater precedence. I’d like to hear from you: What other trends do you foresee gaining momentum? Which trends do you think won’t last?

Most of all, I’d like to thank you for being a part of the Rallio community. We’re looking at big growth in 2017, and I can’t wait to share more news with you going forward.

 

 

Recently, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when I came across a post by an acquaintance of mine who is a business owner. He was expressing disdain at a Yelp review left by a customer, and rather defensively, I might add. This post was on his private Facebook page.

At the risk of outing anyone, I won’t go into details about the nature of the business or the review. However, I can say that this is a service business where customers show up at specific times to receive a service.

Out of curiosity, I visited the business’s Yelp page to read said review. In a nutshell, the customer said she showed up at the right time and what she thought was the right place, only to find a locked door. And now the post is living there on the Yelp page, unaddressed.

Now, obviously, I don’t know if this customer’s complaint is legitimate or not. It doesn’t even matter. All that matters is that a customer took the time to write a less-than-glowing review. What happened next was an opportunity to diffuse the situation in a very public way, or to pretend like it never happened. In this case, the review is out there for the public to see, with no response from the business owner. And worst of all, the business owner took to his own Facebook page to complain about the review, to the support and cheers of his friends.

You’re Only Hurting Yourself

You might get temporary relief from venting to friends when a customer complains about you. By all means, chat with them privately about how much you can’t stand when customers do XYZ. But for the love of everything holy, keep it off your social media pages, even those you think are private. And for sure don’t get unruly when you respond to a customer directly.

It just doesn’t make you look professional when you come across as defensive, even in a so-called “private” environment such as your personal Facebook page. You never know who is reading your posts. I mean honestly, I read the post myself and am pretty disappointed at the lack of professionalism. It’s not likely I would frequent this business knowing that I could become the target of the owner’s rants in the event I have a complaint.

If you’re going to own a business, know that at some point, you will need to deal with customer complaints. The way you handle them can either help or harm you. If you handle them promptly, courteously and kindly with the goal of bettering your business, everyone wins. If you have an attitude that your customer is foolish for even having a concern, eventually people are going to catch on that you can’t take criticism, and they’ll go elsewhere, to your competitors that keep a cool head in customer service situations.

[bctt tweet=”If you’re going to own a business, at some point, you will need to deal with customer complaints.” username=”rallioHQ”]

About That Cool Head …

Customer complaints and negative online reviews can come up unexpectedly anytime. It’s critical that you have a way of handling them before they blow up into major reputation-management nightmares. This article from The Atlantic has some good tips about handling Yelp reviews specifically, and in general, follow these tips to get complaints addressed efficiently:

Tip #1: Act Fast.

Aim to respond to customer complaints within an hour. Even if you don’t have all the answers yet, you at least want to acknowledge that you are listening and happy to help. If it’s a situation that you can clear up quickly without a lot of interaction, post something right away so both your customer and anyone reading the post can see your response. If the situation requires further discussion, ask the customer to message you offline with contact information.

And then approach the next interaction with the goal of resolving the complaint to the customer’s satisfaction. Acknowledge and apologize for any mistakes on your part, and promise to do better next time. Empathize with the customer and take defensiveness out of the equation (remember, it just makes you look bad).

Note: If you need a quicker way to see that you’ve got a negative online review, get in touch with us at sales@www.rallio.com. We have a couple of different technologies that can alert you when these reviews land.

Tip #2: Be Genuine.

Canned responses have no place on social media (or anywhere, in my opinion). Take the time to address the concern authentically, personalizing it to the situation. It’s like when you’re on hold and a voice comes on to say “Your call is important to us. Please continue to hold and we’ll be with you shortly.” Does it make you want to throw the phone across the room? Thought so.

Now how about when a real human gets on the phone and talks to you kindly and courteously? Do you feel validated, maybe even breathe a sigh of relief?

Yeah. It’s like that on social media, too. Be real.

Tip #3: Create a System.

If you don’t have a system in place for handling complaints, it’s easy to have knee-jerk reactions or for your employees to do so. To avoid such situations, create a document that details what to do when the squeaky wheels start spinning.

This document should list all of the people authorized to handle customer complaints along with their contact information. Organize it in “chain of command” fashion so that employees know the correct point of contact for different types of complaints, from the tame to the more irate. That way, responses will always be timely and handled by the appropriate person.

Tip #4: Be Amazing.

Don’t stop at handling the complaint. Go above and beyond to not only resolve the complaint, but also to make the customer feel significant and appreciated. Your customer might just end up loving you and telling everyone about your stellar service. Remember, a freebie such as a free cup of coffee goes a long way toward generating good will and a loyal customer!

[bctt tweet=”Don’t stop at handling the complaint. Go above and beyond. #CustomerService” username=”rallioHQ”]

Tip #5: Follow Up.

Don’t assume an issue is resolved once you’ve handled a customer’s complaint. Wait a few days, and follow up to be sure the matter has been adequately addressed. Not only will you ensure complete customer satisfaction, but you’ll also get a chance to gather feedback that you can apply to future customer service situations.

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What’s one customer complaint you’ve handled effectively? How about one you’d like a do-over on?