Get to know your customers online! Where are they and what do they do?

             

Where are your customers online? The internet features millions of portals and hundreds of social media companies! If you know the companies that they patronize you have only just started: there are groups within the various groups that you may further want to identify. For instance in twitter, facebook and linkedin there are various groups and followings that you might want to probe and understand. Your admittance to these groups would enable you know your customers more and provide them with the content and the products that they want.

         What are your customers’ social behaviors online? People have various behaviors online: some just read material and leave, others contribute. Some troll and abuse other people. While there are a slim group of people who would actually take their time to research the material concerned and make sure its authentic before the launch. 

         What social information or people do your customers rely on? Like we just said,  each customer has his peculiar behavior some latch on to certain groups or people to inform them of happenings or events or to get opinions.  

 

          Today’s customer turns to friends and online networks for advice and help making buying decisions both big and small. He or she trusts the advice of those people more than she trusts marketing messages. So who are those people and how can you further your cause through them? Icons and influencers are on line variously. Some may tweet about one thing and before you know it, a buzz is created. Those are the influencers we speak about and you would do good to get to know them.   I have noticed over time that more people find their voices on line than in the physical contact arena. The freedom to express themselves whether they are speaking rubbish or making sense seems to make some of them say very strange things. The modern customer is quite savvy and has usually   done a lot of research outside typical marketing channels before going to brands to initiate a possible purchase. I wanted a buy a lap top once and I checked out laptops online looking at the costs and the features and accessories before heading for the market. Once the customer has begun talking to a company, he expects to be treated respectfully, not sold to or pushed upon.

         Today’s customer wants a relationship with a brand. Even if the interactions involves little person-to-person contact, he expects a level of honesty and attention that companies do not really provide. This is a problem that companies that market on line have to work towards solving.

          We have to warn that the modern customer is no longer part of a demographic or market segment. He might fit into a specific group you have identified, but he will never be satisfied if treated  as a statistic and will change loyalties if a beloved brand starts treating him as anything less than an individual. Individual specialized treatment is the answer. The modern customer does not necessarily want brands to make every suggested change or fix every perceived problem; he or she wants confirmation that a complaint or comment was heard, acknowledged, and taken into consideration.  The customer with a presence online does not want to have to call customer service to get basic questions answered or support issues solved. If an answer can be found online, they will track it down. If they can reach out to support via an online channel or support forum in a way that does not demand full attention or take them away from the task they are focused on, its even better.

         The  customer considers customer service in the larger context of a brand, not as  separate and disconnected. Good and bad customer service directly ties to future purchasing decisions and recommendations to friends,family, relatives and associates.

         So start by knowing if your customers are online and what groups they are likely to patronize. Also get to know which sites they love and what content they like. For instance, most boys and men like sports, the competitive kinds like football, basketball, wrestling etc. Bringing them news and views in these areas with the product or the service they provide could get them glued to your site or product. Ladies on the other hand prefer stories about beauty, fashion, food and relationships. Again our choice of content would determine who we attract. People love to read updates about their interests. Facebook, twitter, YouTube and Linked in presently have a large following, but things are changing fast with the introduction of Wassup and other media.