Too many companies start down the road of wanting to provide advanced customer service but then got lost.
Online where you are not actually communicating face to face with your customers and with so much at stake in terms of potential revenues, it is increasingly important that these basic values of focusing at all times on customer service are remembered.
It’s our opinion they should be integrated into every aspect of an online marketing campaign.
Q – Do you want to know the greatest secret of building a successful online brand?
A – Customer service.
Smart business intelligence
Yes we know as an Internet marketing / SEO company we should be bandying about ideas such as advanced competitive intelligence metrics, analysis of search engine data by industry segment, or the benefits of developing core criteria for online marketing campaigns.
We agree and understand that business intelligence forms a crucial part of a successful Internet marketing strategy, but amidst all the talk of Internet sales, conversions, traffic and keyword data we must never lose sight of the fact that our customers are real people, often making quite complex purchasing decisions in their own interest.
We need to hold their interest and treat them with respect.
Building business success is about people: finding the right partners, the right employees that share a similar vision of excellence and a desire to go forward, do good work and make a difference.
As well as having a quality product or service and a market for it, of course.
Authentic communications online
It’s also about connecting with customers by communicating intelligently with them and providing services that synch with their needs and what they are searching for.
In Internet business models, communications apply to delivering intelligent and creative web design, SEO friendly and compelling web content and simply put: incisive and contemporary business communications that reach out to a wide audience.
But also importantly, a focus on the small details of interaction that years ago were just taken for granted in the ‘real world’ and make sense on a human level, especially in sales terms.
This includes focusing on the customer with professional courtesy where appropriate – saying thank you, acknowledging letters (emails) and finding out what customers want by asking them as individuals, and then providing the solutions that they need, rather than churning out ready-made clichés and stock answers.
The level of detail and commitment to your customers is just as vital in the Internet world as it is in the real world and more importantly it can quite easily be carried over into the new Internet business world, and what’s more it can give your brand a competitive advantage online.
The power of generosity
The power of saying ‘thank you’ and the importance of saying ‘please’ are just small, simple things that are often lost in the fast-paced world of today’s business environment – and sure time is money – but as many successful business people will tell you: this traditional philosophy can be of increasing importance in today’s competitive environment online.
No one wants to do business with a company that is slovenly or uncourteous, or for that matter a business that takes its customers for granted or spends time criticising or being superior about its competitors.
Why not see all your colleagues and customers as partners? And by working in partnership, achieve greater things by developing a positive customer focused brand image online and one which can match a real commitment to providing excellent products and services.
Some of these behaviours include saying thank you if someone gives you something, or does you a favour, reciprocating favours and not taking it for granted.
Increasingly these business interactions online are taking place not just via websites, but in the social media networking realm.
Positive social media policy
Consequently, social media policies can also rely heavily on these good manners, i.e. not getting involved in forum/blog arguments and showing respect and courtesy for other people’s opinions.
Acknowledging recommendations and referrals via Twitter, pinging people back when appropriate, retweeting their tweets when appropriate, referring to customers’ and clients’ achievements in blog posts and communicating a spirit of possibility and achievement are just some starting points.
With effective social media marketing, it’s all about creating a positive community and a spirit which is based on generosity and giving rather than short-term solutions and take, take, take.
Focusing on quality & your customers
As Steve Jobs of Apple said: “It’s about a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is respected.”
Increasingly, in recent years this has been especially true for web developers.
By focusing on your customers as fully realised human beings not just web clicks you will achieve greater success. You can apply this attention to detail in every aspect of your online marketing strategy, whether it be setting up blogs and social media, digital video marketing, web content or whatever it may be.
By building genuine trust, authenticity and personality in your online brand you can not only deliver short-term gains but long-term business success.
Benefit from long-term gains
You can also achieve this by attending to traditional core business values such as respect for your customers, attention to detail, courtesy and customer service.
Here, at Overtake SEO we believe in what we say and that means placing a high value on customer interactions and communications at every detail and every level, whether it be headings and captions, marketing messages in press releases and newsletters, digital video marketing, and all interactions on and offline.
Reducing the risk of losing customers to an absolute minimum is as important as putting all the work in to attract them – you can achieve success longer term and build up regular customers, recommendations and a valued brand by concentrating on the fine details of your online marketing in terms of a continual attention on the customer’s requirements.
Well measured, well optimised and well executed SEO and online marketing is about focusing on giving the best experience possible to the customer at all times during their interactions with you and any content that they encounter.
At the end of the day good Internet marketing is about delivering a fantastic experience for customers.
Core business values work online
Our online marketing services concentrate on key business values such as:
- Creating a positive atmosphere for your customers
- Building trust and authenticity
- Highlighting trust and branding reputation
- Emphasising the benefits and value your services and products provide
- How easy, safe and secure it is to do business with you
- Communicating to your customers respectfully as real people
- Showing what a great company you are to do business with
Articulating these factors into your online marketing and SEO strategy can help you keep ahead of many of your competitors, who are just simply failing to tap into what Steve Jobs and other successful business pioneers value time and time again as high benchmarks that equate with a high level of success.
It is a race. Don’t get left behind by repeating the wrong messages and ideas to your customers. Instead, choose a carefully, tailored approach that understands online marketing inside out but also keeps in touch with these core, positive values – that the customer comes first.
