Social Media Experience

The importance of positive Word of Mouth (WOM) to retain customers and acquire new customers is something every company should be aware of and should learn to manage. Why? “Referral from a loyal customer (Promoter) has a 92% retention rate vs. 68% for a customer acquired from advertising.” (Source: Bill Bleuel, PhD., Graziadio Business Report.)
Word of Mouth is organic. It is not associated or driven by a company’s direct marketing efforts. It is directly related to a customer having an emotionally and physically positive customer experience in which they connect to or live a company’s brand promise.

The Internet and Social Media

Want to understand the emotional and physical customer perceptions of your company? Never before has it been so easy for companies to listen to both customers and employees. Tapping in to the internet and social media, a company can easily pick up threads of how their company is perceived both internally and externally.
If you are really curious about how strong emotions run, Google some typical emotions like “love” and “hate” [your company name]. Love, really? Yes, even in this economic gloom and doom, there are positive threads to be found. You’ll learn just as much by reading about companies that are still loved by their employees and customers alike.
Want to know how your company is perceived? Google [your company name] “sucks” and brace yourself for potentially bad news but don’t forget to search for the positive perceptions as well. Understanding what your company is doing well (that results in positive WOM) and maintaining/increasing what your customers perceive as positive is just as essential to your company’s sustainability as fixing the problems customers are complaining about.