Companies seeking to improve their business, gain new customers, and provide excellent feedback are often trying new avenues of communication. Direct marketing, viral marketing, guerrilla marketing are some of the newest avenues which have joined customer support call centers, websites, and email as ways to communicate with customers and potential customers. Some of the most effective, however, are social media platforms such as MySpace, which present an inexpensive yet highly targeted method to reach customers.
Social media is considered to be content that is written by individual Web users and posted online, accessible to many users. Social media platforms include social networking sites such as MySpace, as well as blogs and forums. With over 70 million users in the United States alone, MySpace is a wide-ranging social media platform. It makes tremendous economic sense for a business to consider utilizing MySpace, and similar social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs, as a means of reaching customers.
Social media applications such as MySpace allow users, who may be individuals or groups, to create individualized spaces that open communication with other users. Businesses may build pages that allow customers or potential customers to review information about their products or services, and to communicate directly with the customers via posting messages on the site.
MySpace and other social networks also offer companies some unique customer service opportunities. Gone are the days when a customer might tell a few friends about his or her experience with a company, whether positive or negative; now, their blog posting or MySpace page can inform hundreds if not thousands of friends about their opinions of products or customer service interactions. Handled correctly – with rapid follow-up and resolution – a company can turn an online complaint in a public forum into a great opportunity for resolution and customer satisfaction. The company that isn’t Web-savvy enough to monitor these posts or respond to them, however, will soon be left in the dust.
Of course, the converse is true too: when someone has a great experience with a company, they’re very likely to spread the word online. Happy customers will let others know of their satisfaction and generate interest in the company. This, in turn, can lead to new business and revenue growth via word of mouse advertising.
Employing social media platforms such as MySpace opens many opportunities to enhance customers’ perceptions of a company and learn more about it. Many customers use social media platforms to research products. They seek reviews other users have posted to provide them with insight into satisfaction with the product. In addition, customers may use MySpace or other applications to refer products or services and make recommendations. By establishing their own MySpace page, companies create a space in which customers can do their research, make their references, and make recommendations. This can affect the overall feeling customers have about a company’s customer service, as it provides them with additional means of asking questions and receiving answers.
Companies can get the most out of social media platforms such as MySpace by updating their pages on a regular basis and monitoring what their customers are saying. One of the most ideal factors of social media platforms is the ability to communicate directly and receive quick responses. Monitoring posts and providing customers with feedback will help to ensure that customers are receiving quality customer service.
Many people are searching for businesses they can trust, learn from, and relate to. Being able to communicate directly with providers of goods or services, and receive timely feedback, as well as being able to communicate with other customers, can provide a point of entry and connection between customer and company. MySpace and other social media platforms can help facilitate this connection and help your organization grow its customer base and its revenue.
