By Deanna Rose
Why you need to stay in the Facebook conversation
The last time you were looking for a new pediatrician or dentist, did you Google one — or did you ask your friends, family and co-workers for a recommendation on Facebook? When one of your Facebook friends asked for a good local restaurant to try, did you reply with your favorite little Mexican eatery? Lately, more and more people are turning to their social networks to get recommendations on almost EVERYTHING.
Facebook has become so much more than the chat-with-friends, share-pictures-with-family social media site that it started out as. Now it’s also about asking for advice, getting deals, complimenting businesses, complaining about services and handing out recommendations.
Not convinced? Check out these recent stats:
- 80% of people try new things based on friends’ suggestions via social media
- 74% of people encourage their friends to try new products via social media
- 72% of people stay more engaged with the brands they like via social media
Businesses now have to have Facebook pages to be able to stay in the conversation — because without a Facebook page to gather personable info from, potential customers will keep looking. Customers want to see the people behind the business, beyond the basics of a static website.
But even more than just having a basic Facebook page, it’s important for businesses to maintain that page, engaging with and responding to fans in a consistent and timely manner (especially to any negative comments!).
Take a look at this recent chain of fan posts from a national women’s clothing store’s Facebook page (on the right):
After posting a simple comment, a customer received one reply from the business but failed to hear back when she continued the conversation.
Then, additional women chimed in: all agreeing that they’d rather take their business elsewhere. And other people visiting this business’ Facebook page were left with the impression that the business just didn’t care.
That’s not the kind of reputation you want, is it? Didn’t think so.
We know it’s time consuming to make sure you’re replying to every single comment or question that is posted on your Facebook page, and coming up with intriguing content to keep your fans checking your page — that’s what we’re here for at Hay There Social Media! You can focus on your business; we’ll just focus on carrying on the conversation.
How long have you waited to hear back on a comment you left on a business’ Facebook page? As a business owner, do you put a priority on answering customer questions on your Facebook business page?
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Strong post, Betsy, with a vivid example on a company that seems to be chronically unresponsive.
I was curious to see if New York & Company, which is identified in your ‘FB complaint’ image, was apologizing or responding to gripes such as those shown. Turns out they still aren’t, and fresh ones are on their Facebook page (below). Well-chosen case study
* Monica xxxx xxxxx: I’m waiting for the 60 dollars off over 150!! Come on NYC, I need to empty my shopping cart 😉 Wednesday at 7:53pm
* Mary xxxx: I bought this dress on Fashion Night Out September 6 at the NY&CO on 58th street and I met and took a picture with Stacy London. Still waiting for that picture to be posted or sent to me. Wednesday at 10:33pm
* LaShanda xxxx xxxxxx: By the time I got off from work to check online for this dress…it was gone 🙁 I’ve been looking for it in stores for the past two weeks. They don’t have it and don’t seem to know what I am talking about when I describe it. Yesterday at 8:38am
* Adebanke xxxxx: I got an email from NY&Co saying we should use the savings mailed to us and it is valid through October 1st. I usually get discount mailings from them but didn’t receive any this time. It’s been very inconsistent for many months now. Does anyone know the code please? Yesterday at 10:54am
Hellooo? Anyone there at NY&C?
Hay there Alan, thanks for visiting our blog! Our team member, Deanna, certainly assembled some strong examples in this post of how ignoring customers can be so damaging..and almost hard to watch. We appreciate your further research and follow-up that contributes to the case study! Before the days of social media, we consumers weren’t really able to see if a company didn’t respond to its customers; now this is visible for all to view and judge and because of the internet, its archived for future reference.
Companies of all sizes have been exposed to the notion of using social media marketing for some time now; however, it still seems that social media as a vital customer service platform is still being overlooked. Good customer service = good marketing. Written posts, good or bad reviews and conversation with one’s business via Facebook, YouTube or blogs all contribute to a strong online strategy. We hope small businesses can learn from some mistakes by a company as large as this one.
Thanks again for your comment!