Why people stop following you. Tips to keep your newsletters, Facebook comments and twitter feeds fresh, compelling and interesting.
Just like marriage, there are the all so familiar phases of the relationship between consumer and brand; the initial “spark” where you’re enthralled by a company’s ad on Facebook or a witty tweet. Liking, Following or subscribing to a newsletter represents your commitment.
After the initial “I do” there follows the critical Honeymoon phase. You want the spark to continue, and it’s only fair to expect the same level of exciting entertaining news which enticed you at the start. To keep you happy, a brand has to get the balance of over-tweeting irrelevant rubbish to long periods of silence perfectly right.
“You never called!”
We’ve all heard of a “Facebook Cull” when you defriend someone if they’re not interacting on Facebook at all. What’s the point in them taking up space in your friends’ list if they’re just sitting in silence? Well, the same can apply to brands. A quiet brand must mean they’re disinterested in advertising to you. If they’re not shouting about themselves, then obviously they can’t be doing well. No news isn’t always good news… “Unlike”!
“I need some space…”
If you follow hundreds or even just dozens of people on Twitter, landing on the home page can be infuriating. The guerrilla marketers are instantly apparent, monopolising your feed with desperate tweets that have been posted every minute on the minute for the past 48 hours. Tweets like this just come across as a brand being “needy”. “Look at me! Love me!” it pleas… “Unfollow” you say.
“It’s not me… it is you. You’re boring”
Your brand might have the frequency just right for sending e-newsletters, Facebook updates and tweets. You’re not inundated with messages and you become comfortable with the level of contact. However, originality and compelling news that you fell in love with at the start of your social relationship has evaporated. After a few months, you become bored with the same old re-cobbled content, and you unlike, unfollow or even unsubscribe.
“I’m a brand. How do I get a consumer to fall in love and stay in love with me?”
As a consumer, liking a Facebook page or following a brand on Twitter is a commitment. Signing up to a newsletter is probably the biggest commitment of all. These days, we are all to wary of sharing our information. We don’t want to give our email addresses away to anyone. Before signing up, a consumer wants to know what benefits they’ll receive. If a newsletter subscription widget just states “sign up”, we don’t know what we’re saying “yes” to. We would be more confident and convinced to sign up if we read “Receive our latest news and the chance to win our competition. We won’t share your information with any third parties”.
So once a consumer has agreed to social matrimony, the email newsletter campaign begins. To get this perfectly right isn’t easy. To give you an idea of why people unsubscribe, a recent survey by Exact Target discovered the following:
When tailoring your newsletter, you shouldn’t change everything at once. If there are a sudden rise in unsubscribers, don’t panic and change layout, frequency and promotions for the next set of newsletters, do just one thing. Exact Target’s survey showed that 54% of people found that they were receiving e-newsletters too frequently. Therefore, this is a good place to start. If you’ve been sending newsletters 3 times a week, cut down to once a week. Twenty two percent of unsubscribers do so because they only signed up to get a special offer. By offering more incentives, the consumer’s loyalty to your brand will continue.
A whopping 49% of people unsubscribe due to the boring content. Similar statistics are seen with Facebook: 38% people unlike for the same reason. To understand what your consumers like, you have to see what they’re watching. Most newsletter sending functions are so sophisticated and can easily plug in to most websites. Certain packages allow you to see how many newsletters have been sent, how many have been opened, and which subjects people are reading about the most. If your research shows that people are interested in one thing, shout about it more in the next newsletter!
Make your consumer feel loved
To make your consumer feel loved, you have to listen to them. With Facebook and Twitter, this is easy. People love to interact through social networks. If fans write a comment (a praise or complaint) on your Facebook post or image, respond. Even if it’s a simple “thank you”. Listen to them and prove you’re listening.
If people are re-tweeting your brands’ information, directly message them and engage with them. Find out what they are interested in the most and what information they would benefit from receiving. Feedback is so important, to ensure you’re on the right track.
Live Happily Ever After
Once you’ve established a good balance of frequency with Facebook and Twitter posts and e-newsletters, you’re halfway to creating a healthy, happy relationship with your potential customers.
Engage with your consumer, by following up on tweets and comments.
Don’t be too self-promotional: hard sell tactics can be a massive turn off. Remember that communicating through social networks will never replicate a face-to-face conversation.
Send a clear message to the consumer. They want to receive as much information about your product or service as possible before they make the choice of purchasing it.
Follow these relationship tips and with any luck, you’ll still be deep in love on Valentine’s Day 2012. Here’s to a long and happy marriage with your consumer.
Webfunk are an Internet Agency based in Windsor. We specialise in Web Design and Development, Search Optimisation and Email Marketing. For more information, call Claire on 01753 865 618. Alternatively, please email info@web-funk.com