Social Media has opened many doors to businesses and consumers. They are able to communicate, research, review, learn, network, and experience life differently from that of over 10 years ago. Social media has made life easier, yet at the same time more complicated. Businesses are able to interact, respond, and promote. Consumers are able to review what others are saying, research for options and opportunities, learn from others, and speak more openly. Social media also allows everything to be more transparent. This can be a bit scary for some and exciting for others.
Sometimes communication can be difficult and sometimes not. If a business is not active with their online appearance and interaction, as a consumer it may be difficult to communicate with them. For instance, Elf's web presence on it's Facebook page is semi-active posting a few times a day. When viewing some of these posts, there are customers inquiring about an issue and yet never got resolved. The communication there seems a bit scattered and pushed aside, if you know what I mean... I love ELF products, however, after seeing this makes me feel a bit uneasy to purchase their products from their online store. Just like texting, online communication can be a bit difficult and could create a bad taste for the other consumers/readers. See the following link for their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/elfcosmetics/.
After attending a concert this past fall at the venue, Soma, in San Diego I made the effort to post a review, which rarely happens. The review was bitter sweet as was my experience there. The venue needs improvements with its presence inside and out. It wasn't until over a month later, they had responded to my review. This was a bit weird and I felt a little less of a valued consumer to this business. Even though the communication was a bit delayed, the response was nice and personable. I'd go back to this venue if there are some changes made. See the following link for their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/somasd/.
Owning a business takes a lot of communication and interaction, whether it is internal or external with other businesses and consumers. It is essential for a business to be interactive with consumers and the communities. With social media opening this door for communication to be widely available, I believe these opportunities make it easier for businesses to survive and grow even more so. If I owned or when I do own my own business, my interaction with my consumers and communities should be one of my upmost priorities in running my business. To respond to either negative or positive comments, a business should try doing so by private message or a phone call to better communicate and to limit any other negative comments to be visible. This could hinder your business, thus making it harder to bring up your scores or repair any damages made from the negative comment.
Positive reviews are always easy to respond to, however, as a business responding is and should always be a top priority. Whether it's negative or positive, a business should respond in a personable and professional way.
If you owned a business what would you do? What would you like to see from a business to respond to you when you post a negative review?
I agree 100% Davina about costumer communication and engagement being vital. I think clear and honest communication can lead to long lasting and loyal costumers. I've also learned it's ok to let some costumers go and new ones come. Some costumers no matter what you do will be unhappy and ultimately aren't worth the fight and you as a business owner absolutely have the right to not deal with that. Overall though, if you can keep the majority of your costumers happy that is best for business.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point here on unhappy customers! Never thought of that! It's like you know this but hearing it in a different way makes things clearer and much more easier! Thank you for your comment!
DeleteYou are so absolutely right about timing being so important with social media. I think in this age of instant gratification, it almost comes across as too little too late if a business takes more than a day or two to respond.
ReplyDeleteVery true. People want to be valued as a customer.
DeleteThank you for your comment! :)