There's nothing we love more than solutions—top-notch insights from top-of-the-line experts that help solve common marketing problems. Once a week, this column will pose a problem, and invite a MarketingProfs speaker—past, present, or future—to help solve it for you.
Here's this week's solution.
EXPERT: Michael Brito, Social Media Strategist, Intel
Michael blogs, communicates and build relationships through social media for Intel. He'll be speaking the upcoming MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer.
PROBLEM: "Hey! They Like Us! ...Now What?"
You've made a big splash through social media. Folks have shown up in droves! Now, what do you do to make them stay?
SOLUTION: You might think that the most important thing to do in social media once you've made a splash is to listen to what folks are saying about you. But Michael Brito says it can't stop there: "Listening is overrated," he says. "A lot of companies are listening, but they're doing nothing about it."
The first big step in building strong customer loyalty, Michael insists, is not just listening but also acting—"embedding yourself within the community as a brand, and becoming a trusted voice there." The challenge for every brand in social media, he says, is to "become believable." And that means winning consumer trust.
EXAMPLE: Here's how Intel recently scored big with consumers through social media after a big commercial splash:
- In May, Intel launched a "Sponsors of Tomorrow" commercial featuring Ajay Bhatt—the co-inventor of the USB. Its catch-phrase, "Our rock stars aren't like your rock stars," aimed to "put a human face" to the Intel brand, Michael says.
- For a split second, one of the Bhatt fans in the video rips open his shirt to reveal a T-shirt emblazoned with Bhatt's image.
- Intel was bombarded with requests for the T-shirt! (Who knew?)
- Here's where the company did a really cool thing: It ran a T-shirt contest through Twitter. The 100 lucky winners would get an Ajay Bhatt T-shirt for free! Intel promoted the contest through Facebook and its consumer-focused blog.
RESULT: Intel experienced a wonderful blast of engagement on Twitter, Michael reports; to keep consumers engaged, it rewarded T-shirts to specific tweeters daily.
ULTIMATE RESULT: Intel now runs an Ajay Bhatt fan page on Facebook. Michael reports that Intel staff are regularly interacting with the fan base at this page and "growing relationships." Problem solved.
Don't miss Michael Brito's presentation, Building Customer Loyalty on the Social Web at the Digital Marketing Mixer, October 21-22 in Chicago.
