I think it’s an understatement to say that Twitter has totally changed the way businesses market to their customers. It’s now easier than ever to reach out to the exact people who are purchasing your products. Twitter is targeted marketing at its best.
But only recently have I begun to think about Twitter in terms of brand loyalty, in particular the loyalty I show brands. It came to mind because I was thinking back on the interesting exchanges I’ve had over the past year on Twitter with various big-name companies.
I’d like to share three examples of brands that totally did it right when it comes to reinforcing brand loyalty on Twitter. I’ll mention a little bit about the situation, what the brand’s response was, and how I (the customer) felt afterward. At the end of this post, I’ll list some lessons learned that you can take away from these examples and use to help increase your own brand loyalty using Twitter.
Drugstore.com
Brief description of the situation: I had various prescriptions on Drugstore.com that I would order every month. Usually, Drugstore.com sends you an email telling you when it’s time to order your medication. It’s a handy feature. Well, all of a sudden, I started getting these emails with the headline: “It’s time to order your drugs.” That didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t like the connotation the email had that made it seem like I was a crazy person who needed her pills.
So, I tweeted something to the effect of “Gee, I love it that Drugstore.com sends me an email with a headline that makes me sound crazy”. I wasn’t really pissed about it. It was just kind of weird.
Their response: About an hour later, a representative from Drugstore.com called me and left me a voicemail saying that their emails do not have that headline and thanks for bringing it to his attention because it could be some security problem.
How I felt afterwards: First of all, I was totally astonished that they would actually look up my information and give me a call. I felt like I was important to them. Secondly, I was impressed with the speed in which they addressed my concern (which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn’t that big of a complaint).
Southwest Airlines
Brief description of the situation: Basically, I don’t have time to search for airfare deals on a regular basis. I know that Southwest usually has the best deals around, and when I want to know what the current deals are for a trip I have coming up, I just tweet out something like: “Anyone know the best deals Southwest has for flying out of Chicago to (insert city here)?”.
Their response: A Southwest employee usually replies to me on Twitter immediately with a couple of the cheapest one-way rates.
How I feel afterwards: I felt like I just saved a precious 20-30 minutes. Which, when you’re self-employed and running a few different businesses, is kind of a big deal.
Comcast
Brief description of the situation: I’ve had a testy relationship with Comcast ever since my husband and I moved to our apartment in Illinois. They given us bad routers, overcharged us for both Internet and cable, given us the runaround when we call for help, you name it. I’d finally had enough when my Internet connection was unstable enough to cause me to repair the connection every 15 minutes.
I called Comcast, got transferred around, and was on hold for 20 minutes. I finally hung up and assumed I’d try again later.
I don’t tend to hold back on Twitter, so I tweeted about my complete frustration.
Their response: Seconds later, I had a Comcast employee contact me on Twitter. Within 15 minutes, she had looked up my information, diagnosed the problem, and scheduled an appointment for someone to come out to fix it. She was sympathetic, helpful, and an all-around joy to interact with on Twitter.
How I felt afterwards: I felt totally destressed. I felt understood. And I felt like I had someone’s face to think of when I think of Comcast, not just some nameless, faceless corporation.
So here are some take-away lessons from those three examples.
- 1. Whatever your customers are saying about you on Twitter, good or bad, address it. This will establish a relationship with them (even if it is a love-hate relationship), which is something your competitors may not have.
- Make doing business with your customers EASY. The fact that Southwest goes above and beyond and gets me the information I need on Twitter without me having to do any work, means that they become the easy choice in my head when I need flight information.
- Give quick responses on Twitter. Don’t keep your customers waiting.
- Don’t just be a company on Twitter. Be individuals with personality who just so happen to work for a company. The Comcast woman I had an exchange with had amazing personality. Because she was such a joy to work with, she helped to turn my overall outlook on Comcast into a positive one.
Really, it comes down to the one thing that matters the most when it comes to brand loyalty: customer service and the customer’s experience. Offer a positive experience on Twitter for your customers.
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