I am annoyed, maybe even a bit peeved. I have been suffering through a fruitfly invasion in my home for the last 2 days. ARGH! As I have been attempting to remove them from my house, I was struck at how difficult they are to kill one by one. As soon as I have them between my hands and am ready to slap, they move out of the way. Do I need bigger hands? More hands? A flyswatter? No. I need a trap, a way to be more effective to get several of them gone at one time.
BAIT
So I set a homemade eco-friendly trap. What happened? Some flies got into the trap, which was great. But a lot of other ones just hovered around the trap. They wouldn’t go into the trap. Maybe I was attracting more fruitflies to the house (going through the screens) with the bait. Hmmmm.
LISTEN
At the same time I was also dealing with a few crickets in my basement. I like to choose the sounds I listen to when I work or sleep. And it is usually just one really loud cricket, that will really annoy me. So you have to listen….really well and pinpoint exactly where it is, the time of day it is active and where its favorite hideouts might be. Then you need to get it to the next phrase, which is…
CAPTURE
Both the fruitflies and crickets remind me of good social media strategy. You need to become a spider: set a trap–that is your website (ok, no pun intended with web, at all). But you need to create the bait that gets your visitors, friends, followers, fans, prospects, customers and vendors over to that site. That is where social media comes in. People are going to fly around and buzz by. They might hover or lurk around on your Facebook, Twitter or YouTube social media for a long time before they take the plunge and go to the website bait. Focus on one social channel: create good content and engage fans, so the fans can find you and go deeper, learn more and get caught in the web of content.
Then you need to listen, listen carefully. Strike content gold and pinpoint exactly what your customers are saying. What do they need from you, more online pricing, a new quote system, something you can address in your FAQ’s on your website? Are they giving you some customer service or product advice? Baiting and Listening can get the people to the site and if your site is engaging you can capture those sales for life. Now before you get too excited, I am NOT saying that customers are pests, in fact, it is quite the opposite, they are the lifeblood of business and very necessary to growth, especially repeat customers. This is where the spider analogy fails–it only can use a customer for a one time transaction, where a good customer will repeat the purchase if they are happy.
We have several clients who have learned the art of getting people to the various social platforms and then directing them to their websites, where the real content resides. Are you working on those social analytics and uncovering what your customers want from your on and offline experience? Let us know if you need help creating the right bait so you can listen to your customers’ needs. Be like Charlotte and spin your own “Terrific” website to capture your sales.
photo credit: UmphreyBogart
follow us socially