For the next 12 weeks we’ll be covering some great ways that you can engage with your Facebook followers. Watch for our Wednesday posts and learn not only some great social media company techniques, but also some tried-and-true marketing practices.
Here are just a couple of the exciting things we’re going to hit on.
- The “damaging admission” and how to use it to your advantage.
- How positive reviews can actually make people love your company more than you’d think.
- 3 ways that you can show your customers that you really care about their needs.
Let’s jump right in and get to lesson number 1.
1. Pictures. Whether it’s on your website or on your Facebook page, people love to look at photo galleries. No site should be without some sort of gallery. You don’t necessarily have to post photos of your company picnic though. Think about creative ways to show your product. One of our clients owns a brewery and restaurant in Fort Collins. It’s called Coopersmith’s Pub and Brewing. They sell t-shirts and hats and every year ask their patrons to enter their photo contest. All you have to do is take a picture of yourself wearing your Coopersmith’s clothing at locations around the globe. People have sent in their pictures on the Great Wall of China and even at the top of Everest. That sort of gallery not only shows that Coops has loyal patrons, it build loyalty and builds a community. It forever cements the relationship with the guy who sent it in. Once your picture is added to the Coops Facebook page, you’ll tell your friends to check it out with a sense of pride. You’re famous now! Why not tell the world. So not only does a gallery on your Facebook page build relationships, it increases traffic as your fans share the gallery with their friends.
Have you noticed how even the news broadcasters are getting into social and are showing the photo of the day with the weather report? “Here’s a gorgeous sunset over Horsetooth Reservoir sent in by Gertrude from Fort Collins.” Why would they do that? For one, it shows that the news channel cares about their viewers. It makes them seem more personable. The personal touch that a viewer-submitted photo gives is similar to a hand-written note. People love photos so use them to your advantage and create a photo gallery on your Facebook page today.
2. Fill in the blank. This is a great way to get your followers to open up and engage with you. It’s been shown time and time again that people love to give their two cents. If you ask people for their opinions, they’ll share them, most of the time. However, some people have a difficult time thinking of something to say. You have to get them started. Ask them to fill in the blank. For instance, “The best thing about working with Red Rocket has been ______.” That sort of jump start fuels the reader. It gives them just enough to get them started and they take it from there. If you just say, tell us about your experience, you’ll find that you get a much lower engagement rate.
3. Questions. Don’t forget the obvious way to get people to engage. Ask them questions. People love it when you ask them about themselves. It makes us feel important when someone asks about what we think. Ask them for their opinion. It can be as simple as “Cream or no cream?” or how about “Who do you think will win the Superbowl next year?” And don’t forget about hot topics that get people fired up like politics. “Do you think Obama will be re-elected?” Those sorts of questions really engage viewers and readers will often feed off of the other comments that they read. Before you know it, one question can lead to hundreds of comments.
4. Trivia. There’s a reason why Jeopardy! has been on the air since March 30, 1964. People love trivia. They love to learn little facts that are digestible because it makes them feel smarter. Who doesn’t want to feel smarter? Use trivia on your Facebook page to engage people. It makes them think which makes them associate intelligence with your company. When you teach them something, there’s a tiny part of their brain that feels that they need to reciprocate and give something back to you. That might be all that it takes to nudge out the competition when it comes down to choosing who they do business with next time.
5. Quotes. A famous quote is like a beautiful photo. Everyone enjoys them, especially if they’re relevant to what you do. Use quotes to convince people of your position. If you’re selling flowers, use a great quote from Shakespeare about roses. If you’re selling consulting, use a quote from John Maxwell about leadership. A famous quote can sway people to believe what you want them to believe. People are influenced by famous people and a quote placed at the right time can really be powerful. In fact, Abraham Lincoln once said, “A great quote is worth more than all of Solomon’s gold.” Just kidding. He didn’t say that.
6. Videos. Everyone loves videos. In fact, I read recently that 78% of people are more likely to click on a video than they are to read content on a page. Plus, funny videos have a tendency to go viral. Just yesterday someone on our team gathered everyone here at Red Rocket around her computer to show us all a 5-minute video of a dancing dog. Sounds silly but it kept our attention for the full 5 minutes. If a video is on your website, that’s great. People will likely watch it. But if it’s on your Facebook page, people are likely to share it with their friends. They’ll share it and those people will share it and those people will share it. Facebook has an exponential sharing effect and you should take advantage of it.
7. Get your followers to check-in.
My old college roommate one sharp guy. He’s one of those guys that dabbles in a lot of things and he’s really great at everything he tries. Whether it’s archery or surfing or programming or engineering, he’s great at it. While he’s not employed as a social media rock star, people know he’s great with computers so a friend asked him for help with their coffee shop’s social media. Tim came up with a great little promotion that has proven to be a big winner for the coffee shop.
Here’s what they do. They periodically post check-in promotions on their Facebook page. It sounds something like this, “Free coffee for the next 10 people to come in and check-in on Facebook.” Since they’re located near CSU in Fort Collins, their customers are huge Facebook users. The college students see the post, flood into the coffee shop and check into Facebook on their phones. When they do that, they essentially advertise to their friends that they’re enjoying coffee at this coffee shop. Within minutes of the original post, the coffee shop has gotten huge visibility for the cost of 10 cups of coffee. Pretty smart. I told you Tim was smart.
8. Celebrate anniversaries and milestones. When your company reaches a milestone, share it with your fans. Don’t let an opportunity like your 10th year in business go un-noticed. Change out your Facebook page graphics for the event. Promote it with a video. But don’t forget to thank your fans because they’re the ones who made it possible.
9. Call to action. Far too many people forget to ask their customers to take the next step. If you want people to share your content, ask them to share it. If you want them to call, ask them to call. A call to action is very powerful. How can you expect people to do what you want them to do if you don’t ask them to do it? There’s nothing pushy about asking your fans to share something if they liked it. After all, they’re on Facebook because they like the format. They like sharing content. Plus, once you get one person to share it, then the next person who visits is more likely to take a similar action because their trusted friend already endorsed it. Research shows that people are far more likely to enjoy something that was recommended than something that was not recommended. I’ve seen studies that show that people who have read a positive restaurant review rated their dining experience higher than those that didn’t see the review. People actually think food tastes better if they’ve been told that the food tastes great. There’s a hamburger joint in Fort Collins called 3 Guys and their walls are plastered with testimonials and newspaper reviews. As you wait in line, you see posters that say, “Best French Fries in the Country! – New York Times” or “Delicious burgers! – Miami Herald.” It’s brilliant. Not only does it make you want to buy fries with your burger, it subliminally makes you enjoy the fries more than if you hadn’t read that poster.
Sorry I got off track a little when I was supposed to be talking about the call to action but sometimes a bird walk is fun.
10. Challenge your Customers. Who doesn’t love a challenge. “Take the Activia Challenge.” That whole yogurt campaign is based on a 14-day challenge. You would think that yogurt is yogurt, but when Jamie Lee Curtis tells you that you’ll feel better after 14 days, and she backs it up with a money-back guarantee challenge, who isn’t tempted to see if she’s wrong.
You don’t have to sell yogurt in order to have a challenge. How about challenging your customers to find your logo hidden in a photo or challenge them to be the first to call. A little competition can really get people fired up. Some people love a personal challenge, others love a team challenge. Either way, most people are motivated when you present something difficult and ask them if they’re good enough to measure up.
11. Pull Back the Curtain. When you show your vulnerability, people feel empathy. If you’re open and honest with your customers, you’ll forge bonds that normally wouldn’t exist. In marketing, this is a common practice. It’s intentional and effective. You’ve probably seen sales letters or T.V. commercials that use what’s called the “damaging admission.” That’s where they reveal how they used to be fools but now that they’ve been there and done that, they know better. Domino’s pizza did that last year. They ran a whole campaign that pulled back the curtain and showed how their pizza used to taste like cardboard but now it was new and improved. Boy was it successful. They showed hidden-camera footage from their focus groups. People said things like, “Yuck. This is aweful.” Or “This is flavorless.” Then the CEO came on and admitted how embarrassed he was when he heard stuff like that so he and his chefs reinvented the Domino’s Pizza recipe. They started over. New ingredients. New cheese. New sauce. New spices.
I have to admit, I was a sucker. I had to see if the new pizza was better than the old. I ran right out and brought a couple home for dinner. Turns out, we pick up a couple Domino’s pizzas every Friday night now and watch movies with the kids.
This “damaging admission” technique worked so well, they just started another similar campaign. This time, they’ve reinvented their cheesy bread sticks. Same routine, but this time their chefs are talking about how embarrassed that their cheese sticks were so bad.
The reason this works so well is because we’re not used to people being open and honest in today’s society. We’re trained from a young age to be superficial. You say, “Good morning, Bob. How are you?” Bob replies, “Great. And you.” “Couldn’t be better.” What a load of junk. Seriously. You just ran out of the house and were yelling at your spouse 10 minutes ago. Couldn’t be better? You don’t want to unload on Bob and tell him how you’re really doing any more than you want to hear how Bob is really doing. It’s just a formality. So when a company reveals their sensitive side, it makes us go, “Whoa. What’s going on here. If they’re this open and honest, then they must be telling me the truth.” Isn’t that right? If they admit that their old pizza really sucked, you have to try the new one because they’re telling you it’s so much better.
When a Pizza Hut ad runs telling you that their new pizza is better than the old one, you just think, “Yeah, sure. I hear that all the time.” It’s like new and improved. Or faster or better. We’re getting immune to these claims. But when the claim is preceded by brutal honesty like Domino’s did, you have no reason to not believe them. Suddenly it doesn’t seem like marketing or advertising. It seems like a relationship. The irony is, it’s probably more calculating and strategic than a Pizza Hut ad saying their new pizza is new and improved.
Toyota actually capitalized on this technique last year when they were having so many recalls. BP used it after the oil spill. It’s perfect for damage control, but even better when there’s no reason for damage control. Here’s why. You expect Toyota and BP to admit fault. It’s all over the media. There’s no denying that they did something wrong. But when Domino’s admits fault, it’s out of the blue. It’s that much more impactful because they are coming out and admitting something that could have remained hidden. Powerful stuff.
Anyway, back to Facebook. You don’t have to run TV ads for the damaging admission to work well for you. And you don’t have to use it so intentionally that you feel like you’re a slimy marketing guy. Maybe just admit that you’ve had some issues lately and your inventory was back-ordered because of a strike. Whatever the reason for your recent complaints. Facebook is a great place to admit your faults. People are willing to forgive, if you demonstrate that you’ve learned from your mistakes and are making necessary adjustments. Just look at Toyota. They had a banner year.
12. Surveys and Polls. A few weeks ago we talked about how people love to be asked about themselves. Ask any one who’s taken a Dale Carnegie class or who has read his book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. It all starts by showing an interest in the other person. And what better way to do that than by asking them to take a survey? Yes, long surveys can make people wince but a short one-question poll is a very effective way of learning about your audience while giving them a voice. Ask them what they’d like you to begin offering. Ask them whether they prefer free delivery or 5% off. This shows you care and want to tailor your business to meet their needs.
Use these 12 tips when increasing your engagement with your Facebook followers or building other social followings.