My wife and I took a trip out the local shopping centre the other week and as we parked up we were approached by one of a group of guys providing a hand car wash service. As it happened the car was looking pretty dirty and the design of my wife’s car means that you can’t put it through a regular car wash.
The smartly branded rep explained that he would wash the car personally and it would be cleaned inside and out for a very reasonable price – and all while we were off doing our shopping. Before we knew it we had handed over the keys and left the car in the care of the car wash team.
Arriving back 90 minutes later we were delighted to be met by a shiny car, complete with polished interior and newly blackened tyre walls.
Thinking about this later, I couldn’t help but be impressed at the simplicity of the idea. Where do people with cars go at weekends? Cleaning the car is often one of those things you only think about when you get in the car, and make a mental note that you must schedule time to do that chore.
This is the real world version of social media marketing in action.
Connect with your customers and clients on their social media of choice
As Chris Brogan explained, “the marketplace convenes where it’s convenient”. Where are those “convenient” places in your market? Facebook is convenient for a lot of people… but not the people you probably think of when you think of Facebook. Not kids and younger teenagers (although they’re definitely there). Think about the people with easy, convenient access to the internet; at work, at home, at university… and on their smartphones.
Find those convenient gathering places and take your message and your services to the people who are there. Oh and finally, and also most importantly… like the car wash team in my story, make sure you provide a great service.
Choose a tone of voice that is right for your clients and provide them with an exemplary service. Use a tool like CubeSocial that lets you easily track, archive and share the conversations you are having with prospects and clients across your whole team. Then any one of you can pick up the conversation and you will always have a permanent record of what has been said and by whom.
(Image: knottyboywayne)