Can You Sell on Facebook?

Gap, J.C. Penney, Nordstrom, GameStop are all national brands that opened a “Facebook Store” only to close it within a year, as reported by a Bloomberg report.  The reason being seems to be that it wasn’t cost effective.  The high development costs with low sales has led each of these large companies to determine that Facebook is not an effective place to sell actual goods.

Are they wrong in thinking stores won’t work on Facebook? That’s not a simple yes or no.

First, you need to look at the limitations that a Facebook shop has, versus a traditional website.  Chances are, your online catalog is wider than 520 pixels.  It probably isn’t loading through an iframe, either, which means that it can render itself, without having to pass through Facebook’s structure, first.  In essence, that means it is framed to fit your screen, not a small window, and that it isn’t being restricted in its load speed.

Your own website’s online catalog, without question, is more effective in its presentation of your goods catalog. Anyone who thinks a Facebook store will be more effective than a dedicated site is gravely mistaken.

Does this mean that no commerce can happen in a Facebook App? Can it be a coupon-only model?  I don’t think so. The sales model simply needs to be different than an online catalog.

There have been effective fire sales, featuring a single product at a blowout price.  Understand that this does not guarantee a lot of return followers.  If accurately promoted, you can have a huge influx of fans, that leave after making the purchase, to never visit your page again.  If you are using a fire sale as a way of creating permanent excitement to your brand, you may be setting yourself up for failure.

One of the deciding factors that establishes whether it makes sense is price.  It can cost a lot of money to develop Facebook Apps.  Therefore, if you are spending a lot on creative, without a solid return on your investment, then the store fails.  It only makes sense if you have the ability to get a Facebook shop put together without having a large expense.

It all comes down to your goal, and the goal of the potential customer.  Most people aren’t on Facebook to buy things.  It’s that simple.  However, if you can create a deal for potential customers that is good enough for the customer to forgive the fact that the offer is automatically shared to their wall, and that caters to impulsive buyers, it is possible to have an effective sale on Facebook.  You can set up a highly effective sales process.  It needs to not set you back much to build, or it will be considered ineffective.  

A big retailer, like Nordstrom, would actually have a harder time setting up a sale like this, than a small business would. On a local level, Facebook stores may work, and well, but when it comes down to national style pages with huge catalogs, Nordstrom is probably right.  

Defining Customer Expectations

There are certain phrases that are overused all of the time. I remember sitting in a meeting, getting ready to hear about innovative, out-of-the-box ways to exceed customer expectations, and I waited to see what it is, with almost baited breath. The answer? A coupon. OH MY! Yup, you blew away the customer with that!

“Exceeding Customer Expectations” is a great idea. It’s a phrase often times mentioned in staff meetings, to rally a sales force before a big event, or in board meetings prior to a new campaign launch. Unfortunately, it is most often used as a euphemism for giving good service. This more common usage has turned the phrase into a cliche, and it’s time for us to take this phrase back. In order turn this motto into a functional call to action, we need to re-examine how and why we use it.

Before you can exceed customer expectations, you should probably try to figure out what the customer expects. Of course, you can go with the old generic standbys, like “The customer expects great service!” or “The customer expects a friendly atmosphere!” The problem with these general, all encompassing “Expectations” is that they are idealistic. It’s hard to fix real shortcomings with idealistic, sweeping statements.

Realistically speaking, a customer may expect to be able to walk into a store, pick up an item, and pay for it in cash, without having to provide the customer’s email address, zip code, and or telephone number to complete the transaction. Perhaps a customer’s expectation is to schedule an appointment at 2:30 and the services starts at 2:30. I think it is a reasonable expectation for a customer to be able to complete a sentence before the sales associate interrupts with a question.

So, before you can exceed expectations, you need to be able to meet them. The only way to meet them is to drill down, ask the right questions, and think like a customer. When I was training sales associates, I always made the new employees go mystery shop elsewhere, to see the purchase experience from our competition, and see what it felt like to be a customer. It is impossible to meet a customer’s experience without knowing the possible frustration firsthand that they may feel.

Once you’ve met the customer expectations, then, and only then, can you try to exceed them.

For market research into what your customer expects, and for an analytic approach to creating better marketing and advertising, contact us today.

SEO, Reviews, QR Codes, and other terms that your marketing department likes.

Today’s free advice has to do with improving your search engine results. There’s a whole lot of things that go into how well your website is optimized for search engines, which is why there is a whole field of marketing devoted to helping your website achieve higher results. We’re going to focus on one piece of this today. One that your business needs for non-SEO reasons as well.

Take this QR code.  If you scan it, it will bring your phone to a review for Davis Advertising. Now, there’s several different places we could review your business. We could have created a QR for Yelp, (Although Yelp doesn’t allow for mobile reviews, unless you go to a non-optimized site.) The problem with directing a customer to one of these specialty review sites is that in order for the customer to leave a review, the customer needs to be logged into that specific site. As not all customers are members on review sites, the odds of the customer getting through a review for you, and then taking the time to sign up to the service to actually leave the review, are slim.

That’s what makes the QR code above perfect. It asks the customer (you, if you scan it!) to leave a review on Google Places. Google scrapes other sites to get reviews, but also allows for customers to review directly on the Google Places page. With more than 50% of the smartphones sold being Android devices, and with many non-Android devices still being signed into at least one Google service, the chances are very high that the customer that scans this QR is already logged in as a Google User. That means no annoying login screens, or sign-up screens. It’s as simple as, click the number of stars, write the review, and get on with your life!

As we’ve discussed previously, word of mouth reviews are now living in your social media sites. Increasing the number of reviews that show up when customers are searching for your type of business increases the likelihood that new people will do business with you. On top of the fact that people do more business with existing, established businesses that have reviews about them, Google gives higher precedence to pages that have reviews. Active reviews increase your SEO, and make your website stand out more.

So, by using a QR code like the one found above, you can:

1. Increase your SEO.
2. Add reviews for your future customers.
3. Show existing customers you care about what they think.
4. Reach a more technology driven demographic.

For help creating your custom Google Review QR code, like the one above, contact us.

Don't Open a Twitter Account

Unless, of course, you can properly staff it.

I know, I know -- 100 million people use twitter; 150 million tweets per day are sent; it’s a great way to interact with customers, etc.

There are lots of stories about how Twitter has been used to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Additionally, a number of books can be found on the topic of Twitter -- providing everything from the basics, to excellent examples of how to use this powerful tool.

Of course, with the good comes the bad.

This past Sunday, the area in which I live was hit pretty hard by Hurricane Irene. Now, I was prepared for the outage, so it hasn’t had too much of a negative impact. Quite frankly, I’ve enjoyed the peace and quiet that the electrical outage has afforded me.

My power company was quick to direct people to their Twitter feed for updates on restorations. Seeing that they appeared to be responding to people’s tweets regarding the outages, I tweeted them -- 3 days ago -- and never heard back. Come to find out, they were only responding to a small portion of the tweets they received. 

I’m using the above as a fairly drastic example (given the extenuating circumstances with the storm) -- but, unfortunately, there are thousands of cases just like this. People have come to expect that if you open an account, they can interact with you. In my case, I’ve essentially been on hold for 3 days, via Twitter. People expect a response just like they would a phone call, email or web form. You wouldn’t let any of those go unanswered, would you?

Don't make your customers work so hard to contact you. Make sure that if you open a Twitter account (or any other social media channel), you are properly staffed, either internally or externally, to make sure the customer experience is at the level it needs to be.

A Shift in Your Vision: Banner Ads

Is any marketing safe?  Not a day goes by that we don't read stories of television ads losing viewers because of DVRs, mobile devices (tablets, smart phones, etc.), and people watching video online.  There are stories of how no one reads print anymore, and that print ads are going away.  The latest news is that click through rates on banner ads are at their lowest percentage ever.  What’s an advertiser to do?

Change your paradigm.

Side note: I’ve always wanted to use Paradigm in a title, ever since I read my first Dilbert cartoon strip.

Banner ad click through rates are certainly at a low.  People have a tendency to tune them out. Even if it is exactly what they need, with a flashing billboard of their name, saying, “You need this!!!” there’s a good chance they will miss it.  As a society, we are trained to look away from these ads.  You almost have to spring them on someone to get a response.

The belief has always been that a banner ad is only useful if it encourages an immediate call to action.  For example, if 1000 people see the ad, and 2 click, your .2% CTR shows how effective that ad was.  The shift in vision is to consider these banner ads the same way that you would consider your television ad - as a branding platform.

Banner ads that are used as branding tools do not need to say, “Click here”.  In fact, a click to such an ad should only bring the customer to a brand awareness landing page.  The call to action is not “BUY OUR PRODUCT NOW” or “USE OUR SERVICE NOW” but rather, “Remember us when you need us, because we’re the guys you want to do business with.”

The use of banner ads can mirror your social media platforms.  Rather than an immediate call to action, you are using your banner ads to create a brand loyalty based on respect.  In fact, rather than pushing landing pages to sell product, you can begin to use banner ads to suggest your social media channels, where the future customer can see what you’re really all about, and make an informed decision.  It is a way of showing your company as more than a peddler of goods, but as a company worth doing business with.

This is a non-traditional use of banner ads, and we wouldn’t recommend this to be your only use of such a medium, but it is certainly a direction that is worth looking into.  If click through rates are all you are concerned with, this isn’t the program for you.  If you’re interested in expanding your advertising reach, and can imagine your banner ads as basically television commercials, then this is for you.  No one has a click through rate on TV. (Of course, Old Navy, with their Shazam encoded commercials come close...)

Are your ready to shift your vision?

Isn't Found Money Fun!

Earlier this week, I was looking to gather up enough change to buy a stamp, so I could pay the garbage collector, and I came up 12 cents short.  This is the only bill that I cannot pay online, and since I didn’t have a stamp left at the house, it was time to head down to the post office. I guess I could have broken a $20, or I could have bought the stamp with my debit card, but neither seemed like the way to go.  Instead, I just checked in the couch cushions and under the car seat, and found a quarter rolling around. Voilà! Problem solved by “Found Money”.

How often do you go out, searching for new money, instead of looking more closely at what you have? Of course you need creative advertisements to draw in new customers.  In addition, you need to market to your existing customer base, and provide additional services to the people you are already catering to.  This refocus on loyal customers can be that extra cash that is just lying around.

Examples of programs meant to increase spending from your existing customer base:

• Loyalty programs, such as punch cards or electronic club cards, provide free product with enough consecutive purchases or visits. 
• Customer Appreciation events, in which customers are invited to participate in special events or sales, with special savings for loyal customers only.
• Grouped product sales, like the Charter* Bundle or Two for $20(Applebee’s*), provide a greater value based on multiple products bought together at the same time, versus the a la carte sales model.
• Cross promotional sales that capture additional revenue for products that you regularly would not have sold. (e.g., selling Sunday newspapers at your coffee shop drive thru.)

“Found Money” is great.  Every once in a while, you put on a jacket you haven’t worn for months and stumble across an amount of money just by checking the pockets.  When you are able to capture extra sales from your existing customer base, you are finding that extra money, it’s just coming out of other people's pockets.

Putting The “Ring for Assistance” Bell Back on the Desk.

I went to a big box store the other day, looking for material and advice to replace a cracked shower tile. The problem was, I couldn’t find an employee anywhere. I don’t know if there was a meeting going on in the store, or if every single employee took the same break at the exact same time, but it seemed as though I wandered aimlessly for weeks before finding someone that could answer my question. Luckily for the store, I was there with the material in hand, with their closest competition fifteen minutes away. Otherwise, I may have simply stopped shopping there, and found someplace more convenient.

Does this happen on your website? Do customers get lost page after page, desperately seeking an answer to a question before hitting, “Add to cart”? I know personally, if I am interested in making a purchase, but cannot get all of my questions answered online, I’m going to a different site. There’s nothing tying me to buying on your page. It’s not like I have a fifteen minute drive in between websites, so chances are, I’m out of there, fast.

We’ll pretend you sell scissors. How many questions could a customer ask? Well, for starters, they may ask:
• Do these work left handed, too?
• How many sheets can I cut through at once?
• Are the grips soft?
• Can they be sharpened later, or are these pretty much disposable?
• How well do these work on hair?”

I know, some of these questions seem silly. Would you want to risk losing this sale, just because the question was silly? I know that if the customer was in the store, they wouldn’t have some of these problems. Now that people are buying more online they have more, shall we say, creative questions.

So, what is the solution? Live chat. Imagine the live chat button on your website as an old-school bell on a countertop. When a customer has a question regarding a product, they ask right away, while they are still on the website. They don’t email you, and then go buy the product elsewhere on the Internet while waiting for a response. They instantly get their question answered, and make a purchase.

I can already hear naysayers, “I don’t have time to sit in front of a computer screen, waiting for people to have questions!” If you have time to sit at a counter, servicing live customers, you have time to answer questions online. The same person can do it. They are both making a purchase from your store. It comes down to training your staff to help online and live customers.

There are other huge advantages to live chat. If you notice someone wandering around your store, you can ask them, “Can I help you?” The same is true of live chat. If someone is on your site, you can ask them, “Can I help point you in the right direction?” You can see how many people are on your site at any time. You can watch what parts of your site are being visited most frequently.

Want to look at this more in depth? Send us an email, and we can discuss this option for your business.

What Defines “Bad Service”?

There is a lot of competition for my business on my drive in to the office. I pass by 6 different coffee shops/restaurants that offer a drive thru service to sell me my coffee. That’s not including the 9 different mini-marts, of which 7 are attached to gas stations, that also provide freshly brewed coffee. All in all, on my half hour drive in, there are 15 different places that can earn my business.

I’ve been to the majority of these places, and had decent coffee at all of them. Four out of five mornings, I stop at the same one. The one time I don’t, it is usually because I need gas, and I don’t want to stop twice. How did the one business win my business?

They offer better service than the others. It’s that simple. When I drive up to order, they do not interrupt, and say, “Anything else?” while I’m halfway through my order. They let me finish talking. When i have completed my order, they repeat back the entire order, tell me the price, and ask me to pull up, please. When I arrive at the service window, they acknowledge my existence, even if my order is not ready yet. More times than not, the order is completed quickly. When it is taking a little longer, they tell me it will be a minute. Then, I am on my way, with a “Have a nice day!”

Did any of this sound like phenomenal service? If you look at it on the whole, they did nothing that I would consider above and beyond. They let me order without interruption. They were courteous. That’s really it. Does that mean that the other places offer bad service? I believe it depends on your definition of “Bad”.

To me, “Bad” service is any that leaves a bad impression. If you do not let me finish my sentence when I’m talking, I feel like you're not listening to anything I'm saying. If I drive up to the service window, and you look like you are avoiding me until the order is complete, you make me feel as though I am a leper. If you hand me my coffee and my change, and say, “Thanks” as the window is closing, I feel like I’m the one that provided you a service, not the other way around. You don’t have to spit in my coffee for it to be bad service. You don’t even have to be overtly rude for it to be bad service.

This is good news for small start-up businesses. You don’t have to be a superhero. You don’t have to be the most innovative, and re-create the wheel. You simply have to make sure that your level of service is better than your competition’s service.

I’m waiting for the phone call from the coffee shop willing to advertise, “We’ll let you finish talking before we ask, ‘Anything Else?’”

The New Consumer

The most important trend that we see in marketing today is the change in the consumer to the “ME” consumer. The collapse of the financial world in 2008/9 has had a major impact on today’s consumer. No longer were world financial issues a world away or someone else’s problems. Now they are my problems, or my family’s problems or my neighbor’s problems.

The collapse of the real estate market, financial markets and the economy in general has had a direct effect on today’s consumer. It has made a substantial change in how they think, whom they choose to do business with and what services they expect.

The days of blind trust in financial institutions are over. Today consumers wants to know first and foremost what you are going to do for them, followed closely by concerns for their community and society as a whole.

Today’s consumer expects more from all those they choose to do business with. Banks today need to build trust through actions not just words. Today’s consumer wants to know what you’ll do for them today not what you did in the past. In June 2009, a KPMG study reported only 19% of Americans trusted the financial system.

How you communicate with this consumer…the perception this consumer has of your bank is at the core of your bank’s future success. Today’s consumer is more serious, has more savvy, and is not willing to put up with poor service. Don’t expect loyalty from them, especially the younger demographics. They will leave you after one bad experience. That experience will soon be communicated to the hundreds of friends they have on social networks. Viewing this with today’s technology that single negative experience is likely to be multiplied by the hundreds.

This consumer needs to know that they have a true friend in their bank. They need to be communicated with one on one. They need to know that they are your focus.