Being Heard Above the Din
May 19, 2009 by Becky Scott
Filed under Marketing
There are so many businesses vying for attention online right now. Especially in the social networking and blog arenas, as I’ve mentioned before. So as the noise increases, how do you make sure you’re heard above it all?
In the article I mentioned from Marketing Roadmaps, Susan mentioned that small businesses should try different tactics than big-budget companies do. For instance, Frigidaire is giving away appliances. A lot of appliances. Smaller businesses obviously can’t give away numerous appliance suites. It would kill their budget. But Susan suggested that companies instead try sending a microwave when they notice a blogger wrote about how hers broke after she got laid off and what a hardship it was.
It’s one that deserves more exploration. In fact, I noticed that HP has already done something like that. When a blogger lamented the death of her laptop via her son, HP listened. And they’re loaning her a laptop, which falls in line with their current promotion involving moms and simplicity.
And even though HP is one of those big-budget companies, what they did in this instance doesn’t require a lot of marketing dollars or a big communications department. It’s about hearing your customers, really listening and understanding what they want. What they need. And then making sure they get it. In this case, it was a working laptop. In your case it may be software. Or a service. Anything.
The good will you create will most likely garner you some positive response. Bloggers like to talk, so it’s only natural they’ll mention what you did. That’s no guarantee, but it’s entirely possible for it to go viral. Even if it doesn’t, you could create a customer for life with just a little bit of kindness.
What other ways do you think would help you be heard above the big, splashy campaigns that are constantly out there?
Image: morgueFile
Thanks for expanding on the ideas in my post. The key is listening to the conversation and finding the right moment to participate. It doesn’t have to be with free or demo goods either; it can be as simple as providing the answer to a question or facilitating a customer service problem.
The main thing is that we should first focus on developing a relationship with our customer and find out what simple things they need and want from us. That’s the recipe for success for any firm, of any size.
Thanks for your comment, Susan. I love it when a company provides an answer for a question, or notices that I’ve mentioned them and helps with a problem. Nina from momAgenda did that just a couple of weeks ago, via Twitter. I now feel I have a better relationship with that company and that they are listening to what we have to say. That’s successfully finding the moment, in my opinion.