Popular Articles on Business 2 Community

---

• The Evolution of the Customer Service Experience (Infographic)
• The Psychology of Selfies
• Social Media Strategy: Tips For Small Business
• Tweeting With Links – Best Practices
• The Art Of Marketing In 2014
• 6 Global Social Media Trends for 2014
• Governance Leads to SharePoint Success [Infographic]

The Evolution of the Customer Service Experience (Infographic) Posted: 06 Dec 2013 07:46 AM PST A study of more than 8,000 consumers showed that 74 percent of customers use at least three channels when interacting with customer service. Customer service contact channels are increasing, and customer usage of those channels continue to grow. Data shows that over time, customers will continue to increase the number of contact channels being used as part of the customer experience. It's critical that your customer service management strategy is prepared to address customer needs and effectively deliver the type of service customers expect consistently across each of those channels. The team at Parature compiled this customer service infographic outlining the historical change in how customer service takes place between customers and the enterprises that serve them. Some things in customer service never change How is customer service NOT changing? Hold time. Hold times in customer service continue to plague service provider. Interestingly enough, research shows while nearly 50% of customers say they initiated a purchase over the phone, 75% of those customers were placed on hold! Customers looking to purchase and spend don't like to wait, and when they do, it results is a poor customer service experience. Wasting your marketing dollars on a customer service wasteland Customers today are savvy and independent. Customers will often search for what they're looking for online before ever contacting customer service. But what's the online customer experience? Lacking. 56% of customers cited that they abandoned a purchase or a Website because of a lack of information about products or services. A huge waste to all the of marketing spending that was used just to get customers to your Web site. Fast and efficient multi-channel customer service matters Probably one of my most favorite statistics is that 71% of customers who experience a quick response from a brand on a social media channel are likely to recommend that brand to their online community. I love social media. I use it quite heavily. I think that today's social media channels have torn down the walls of possible communication between brands and consumers. Unfortunately, too many organizations haven't caught the vision of the type of relationships that they could develop with customers if they were more active in connecting and communicating with customers on social media channels. These channels aren't just for customer service inquiries, but are relationship development tools changing the nature of how customer service is done.

The Psychology of Selfies Posted: 06 Dec 2013 05:05 AM PST Celebrities like Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber lead the selfie trend I am a social media outlier. I have never posted a "selfie." In fact, I didn't get it. I kind of understand the teen trend as they compete in the market for mates but the steady, daily stream of selfies from business professionals, neighbors, and social media gurus? It's like they are in their own reality show where the star, the director, and the plot are all "me." I could argue that taking pictures of yourself — duck-lipped and peace-signing — is the biggest mass sociological trend since the hippie movement in the 1960s. The third-most used hashtag on Instagram is #me. The Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year for 2013 is "selfie." Technology has fueled the selfie fire. In 2010, a front-facing camera was built into the iPhone 4, eliminating the need for "bathroom views." Instagram and Snapchat provide the perfect platform when the self is the message and the selfie is the medium. When a face appears in a small, square Instagram photo, filtered and buffed to eliminate any unflattering detail, anybody can look like a star. I became interested enough in this trend — and this apparent gap between me and the rest of the world — to study it. What drives people to post photos of themselves every day, or even every hour? What I found surprised, enlightened, and shocked me. Here are a few highlights of what I found that might provoke a few thoughts of your own … On the surface, the trend is sort of affirming, if undeniably self-absorbed: Women, whether rich and powerful or otherwise, increasingly have a healthy image of themselves. That's a good thing. Dr. Peggy Drexler writing in Psychology Today Increased frequency of sharing self-portraits is related to a decrease in intimacy with others. For one thing, putting so much emphasis on your own looks can make others feel self-conscious about theirs in your presence. The pressure to be "camera-ready" can also heighten self-esteem issues and increase feelings of competition among friends. Research from the University of Birmingham, the University of the West of England, the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University. The sheer volume and publicness of selfies defies any models we have and we fall back on social norms. Unless you're a celebrity, monarch or head of state, people aren't supposed to self-promote or 'brag.' Especially females. In democratizing portraiture, selfies violate social rules of self-presentation and therefore something's wrong. Dr. Pamela Rutledge in Psychology Today Selfies are about desperately crying out, "Look at me!" This starts with childhood and not getting enough "mirroring" from parents who are too busy working or being self-absorbed themselves. Children who grow up without sufficient mirroring keep looking for their reflections in other people's eyes, in order to get attention, validation and approval. Dr. Carole Lieberman, psychiatrist I like to think that Instagram offers a quiet resistance to the barrage of perfect images that we face each day. Rather than being bombarded with those creations… we can look through our Instagram feed and see images of real people – with beautiful diversity. Sarah J. Gervais in Psychology Today. "Psychologically speaking, there may be some benefit to participating in sharing selfies because this practice is interwoven in our social culture and is a way to interact socially with others." Dr. Andrea Letamendi in Time There is a revealing and alluring element with some of the pictures, which could point towards a sense of exhibitionism – a key trait with selfietakers. Everyone looks for some validation in the way that they appear to others: the kind that's sought will be dependent on their personality. A selfie is a way to (sometimes unconsciously) engineer validation. Dr. Diana Parkinson in Stylist Profile pictures are meant to represent us. And knowing this, we look for meaning in even the goofiest of others' profile pictures and speculate on the choice of pet, body part, or group. By contrast, selfies communicate a transitory message at a single moment in time. We are more concerned with the context, the "what's going on" than the projection of identity. Dr. Pamela Rutledge in Psychology Today It's almost as though we're peering through a window. Some photos may be of girls showing skin, or girls lying on a bed. Just about all are seeking some sort of approval from their friends. The aim is not to communicate joy but to score a position. I'm anxious that girls are higher up on the ladder than I am: boys are looking at her, not me. I have to look like her to be worthy of boys' attention. Boys' tastes are not always sophisticated. The aesthetic yardstick is what they see in pornography. So girls have to conform to what boys see in pornography. And then girls post photos to "out-hot" the other girls by porn star criteria. Olympia Nelson, (11 years old) in The Age In the end, my journey down the selfie rabbit hole provoked more questions than answers. Although I have a more balanced perspective of the psychology of the trend, I also wonder: What are the long-term implications of the public sexualization of children, primarily girls? How does a person's life change when documenting the experience takes precedence over living it? What is the psychology of those who hate selfies? Are they jealous of beauty and youth? Do they enjoy demeaning a generation as narcissists? Are they displaying their own unhappiness and depression? And most important perhaps, what does it mean about a person when they never, ever take selfies? Like me. Awwwwww … what the hell … Mark Schaefer is an educator and marketing consultant specializing in social media workshops. He blogs at {grow} and is the author of several best-selling marketing books including Return On Influence.

Social Media Strategy: Tips For Small Business Posted: 06 Dec 2013 04:57 AM PST As we approach the beginning of 2014, it is now widely accepted the role of social media in business will become a deciding factor in the ability of a company to compete, become profitable or survive. Small businesses must adopt social media to engage with their customers who increasingly use social media in various ways to shop, trade and communicate. Businesses are becoming increasingly reliant on social media, and more small businesses are recognizing the need to join the bigger players in using social media effectively. “Effective” is the key here though; establishing social media accounts without a strategy can be worse than having none at all. There are core fundamental reasons small businesses must have a social media strategy in place before launching a campaign. Plunging into social media without one can lead to public relations disasters or simply wasted time and money, but crafting a plan will help ensure a business enjoys all the benefits of social media without the headaches. Establishing a Brand A small business must think about conveying a consistent image through social media. Should it position itself as an important part of the local community? A design firm might want to appear cutting edge while a bakery might want to make its customers feel nostalgic. Whatever the choice is, a business should have a plan to develop and reinforce that image across their social media channels and maintain consistency. Choosing The Right Social Channels The social media landscape is exploding, there are a myriad of choices and companies will need to decide which social media networks will be most advantageous to them and in tune with their business goals. This is a far better option than trying to appeal to every conceivable social media outlet and run the risk of setting up social accounts only for them to be abandoned after a few weeks. Customer demographics and type of business will help determine the best channels to choose. The Need for Guidelines & Policy Who will be allowed to post to the social media accounts? What subjects should be discussed on various social media platforms and which ones should be avoided? Every company regardless of its size or business goals must prepare for and deal with customer complaints on social media, however unlikely they may be. A clear plan for handling every contingency from unhappy customers who may take to social media to express their unhappiness, to ill-timed tweets, hacked accounts and more should be in place. For example, many restaurants have found that responding to customers who post negative reviews, can turn the comments into a positive by offering to make things right if the customer returns for another meal. Anticipating that not every interaction on social media will start out on a positive footing allows for the likelihood that such situations can be turned around and can even represent an opportunity for the company that responds correctly. Set Realistic Goals Small businesses should consider what they hope to achieve with social media. Are they trying to attract new customers or perhaps improve engagement and experiences with existing customers? Showcasing and building a brand through social media is a big decision to take, requires commitment and is time intensive. Outsourcing the management of  social media channels to a specialist may be the best option, enabling focus to be placed on the operational side of the business. A regular schedule for posting to social accounts should be created to help maintain consistency. Depending on target audience, weekdays when the majority of people are online may be the best time. Small businesses that remain uncertain about the benefits of social media need to embrace it now or be left behind. However, a social media presence without a strategy can lead to anything from indifference to disaster. With a clear strategy in place, small businesses can make the most of these powerful new marketing and communication tools, and demonstrate a high return on their investment. If you are a new adopter of social media in your business, in what ways has it been beneficial to you? Perhaps you have had a negative experience you would like to talk about and would like to make a comment?

Tweeting With Links – Best Practices Posted: 05 Dec 2013 12:00 PM PST Links by rubybgold, on Flickr Do you ever find yourself scrolling through the home feed or one of your lists, looking for a little bit of conversation, only to find link after link after link? Sometimes, I just want to be able to reply to a tweet without having to read a blog post first. That got me thinking. If I, a member of the Twitter audience, don't always have (or want to take) the time to click on a link and read the article before responding or retweeting, then why should I expect my audience would have a different sentiment? I came to the conclusion that only tweeting links asks a lot of your audience. Tweeting only links asks a lot of your audience. I think I need to start mixing it up.— Bridget Willard (@YouTooCanBeGuru) November 26, 2013 I'm guilty! This post is as much as a confession as an admonition. Including work, I have three Twitter accounts and four blogs. Though I'm not on a regular blogging schedule, I'm producing content and, of course, I want people to read it. It's so easy for us news junkies to read an article and tweet it out. The blogger junkies write blogs and tweet it out. And after a while, if you look at your own feed, you may realize that you are, indeed, a linker. Maybe it's a good time to mix up your content. Carol Stephen discuses it in her blog post, "Tweeting for Engagement: Links Versus Text?" In the comments she brings up a good point: "I like the idea of having tweets that are complete thoughts, that require very little of your audience as far as clicking and reading~that idea seems considerate." Carol Stephen I know many people don't think they have anything valuable to say, but I would disagree. You have opinions, opine. This is what Twitter is about. Whether you want to talk about who had the worst dress at the AMA show or who should be the next Ambassador to the U.N., you will have an audience of like-minded people – they may even overlap. But if you do tweet with links, here are some of the best practices. links by Rigmarole, on Flickr 1. Check the Link The fact of the matter is that links get broken. Un-shortened links when copy/pasted into an Old School RT can sometimes lose some of the characters. Remember, in a link, one character missing can make it break. Other times, the web page is taken down or was redesigned. You never know. Always, always check your links before tweeting. This is especially important for those of us who keep tweets to recycle, either in a text or Excel file or from our favoriting. You could stop reading at this point and still dramatically improve your tweeting. Chain link by Matti Mattila, on Flickr 2. Shorten the link. For the reason above, shortened links are easier to copy and paste, etc. Also, sites like bitly.com give you statistics for your links if that's what gets your engine running. There's some debate about this so I won't push it too heavily. That said, unless it's a photo on Twitter, I shorten the link. Bitly's analytics show how many times a link was clicked on. For those un-clicked links, I sometimes tweet it again, maybe with a different headline. 3. Rewrite it. Let's face it. Not all of us are the best copywriters. If you want to write better headlines, Copyblogger is your go-to source. Check out "How to Write Headlines That Work." More often than not, I find a sentence in the article that appeals to me and I tweet that as a quote instead. Here's an example from yesterday: “Greetings are what get us going in any relationship.” @Carol_Stephen bit.ly/1jREzIs #SocialConversations— Bridget Willard (@YouTooCanBeGuru) November 29, 2013 Tweeting quotes from an article, even if they're your own, is a good strategy if you want to repeatedly tweet out an article but don't want your Twitter timeline to look spammy. You're welcome. 4. Give credit. If you read it on Facebook from your friend who you know is on Twitter, give them a hat tip at least (h/t @username at the end of the tweet). If you read it from Mashable do the same (via @Mashable). We don't always find things on our own, giving credit shows you are humble and generous at the same time. In the spirit of giving credit, this blog post was inspired from discussions and brainstorming with my good friend Carol Stephen. Follow her on Twitter at @Carol_Stephen. 5. The Two-Step or Hop, Skip, and a Jump Link. Have you ever clicked on a link that takes to you a site with only a teaser paragraph? Then it says "read the story here" with another link, so you have to click again and wait for the page to load, click away pop-ups — all just to read the story. That doesn't even mention the hoops you have to jump through on your mobile device. It drives me crazy. After I play link hopscotch a few times, I start ignoring their tweets entirely. I realize there are financial reasons why people do this, but as a user it's beyond annoying. Are you really making enough money off of the affiliate link to justify the inconvenience and frustration to your audience? The same goes for paywall sites. I don't subscribe to Financial Times, yet I see their links tweeted often. Either check the link to make sure all of the article can be read by your audience before you tweet or tweet it with #Paywall at the end as a warning. Our local paper went to the paywall model a while back. Not only do I never read it now, but I refuse to retweet any links from them. (I often wonder how many clicks they've lost because of the paywall.) 6. [Your Idea Here] Have you had trouble with links? Do you delete tweets with broken links? Leave your Tip #6 in the comments below.

The Art Of Marketing In 2014 Posted: 05 Dec 2013 09:49 AM PST Social media; get over it. It's no longer a shiny new tool; it's just the way we communicate now, and like it or not it's here to stay. Our lives are no longer on and offline – we are creating seamless paths between the two. A complete lifestyle enriched and enabled by technology rather than engulfed by it. Welcome to the post-digital era. So what does this mean for marketing? One thing is clear – consumers are more demanding. You need to engage with them in ways that suit them; tap into their lifestyle, technology habits, interests and needs. It's no longer enough for Directors and CEOs to broadcast company messages from the top down and expect consumers to listen. Businesses need to speak up and out, engage with consumers in the horizontal conversation and appeal to them as real people, not as a sales target. Here are my six tips to keep calm and market on in 2014: 1. Build trust Customers are more empowered than ever before, and they want to spend money with companies they know and trust (see Clare's blog Building Trust over Multiple Channels). This means communicating openly and authentically with your consumers across every channel, in other words be transparent. 2. Tell stories At the heart of communication lies good old-fashioned storytelling. The primal, human urge to connect and communicate through stories is alive and well. You need to spark an emotional reaction; make your content appeal to people's lifestyles, problems, interests and needs. This applies even if you only have a 140-character tweet to get your message across. 3. Make your content consumable Content has always been important, but now how you make that content valuable to your audience and easily digestible, whatever format it takes, is the crux of the marketing challenge. And remember: one size doesn't fit all. What content works for Twitter, will be different for Instagram and again for a press release. Having a recognizable voice, however is still key. Consumers want seamless interaction with brands and companies at every touch point. 4. Presume nothing So social media is a gen-y thing? Think again. The majority of LinkedIn users are over 35. And you may be surprised to know the fastest growing Twitter demographic is 55-64 year olds. Think print media is a dead? You would only have had to attend the recent Modern Magazine conference to hear firm reassertion of the power of the printed word. There is no longer a need to mount a defense of print – it is time to celebrate print and see digital culture as a partner not a competitor. Think your online messages should be trying to grab the attention of social-media addicts? Remember, for every one person commenting on social media there are another 20 people observing. You have to make your content appeal to the silent majority. Ultimately, the marketing landscape is constantly shifting; don't make presumptions about your audience, their interests or preferences. Do your research. 5. Appeal to 'generation me' We are living in 'generation me' where consumers can create their own brand, have a public profile and cultivate online celebrity status. Companies must understand the importance of this. From a simple re-tweet or a personalized email, to rewarding your loyal customers and publicly shining a spotlight on happy customers, it is vital brands recognize customers as individuals. Content is what draws the consumers in; but you need context too. Context marketing is about respecting your audience, their limited attention spans and pinpointing your message to what they actually want; it's a prerequisite to creating a strong customer-base. 6. Remember quality over quantity You've finally mastered Twitter and you've got a business Facebook page set up, but hang on, there's online advertising to be thinking about, and there's bloggers to approach, there's Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat to be thinking about too. Slow down, take a breath and think about what your business objectives are. Whose attention are you trying to get; identify your target audience and where they congregate. And then figure out how you can offer them something no one else can. Ensuring everyone in the company knows what you are trying to achieve through each platform and how, adds focus and strategy to your marketing activities. So as we look back on 2013, all awash with selfies, #HashtagEverything, babies with digital footprints, Instagram-my-life, this is the year social media got, how shall we say it, common? Let's turn our marketing attention to 'generation me', and say hello to 2014, the year for honesty, integrity and real people marketing. Forget the technology – it's incidental. What we really need is to deliver content that is valuable and consumable, whatever the format.

6 Global Social Media Trends for 2014 Posted: 05 Dec 2013 08:52 AM PST You don't need to be a world-famous psychic to know that global social media will only become more important as we look ahead to 2014. By 2017, the global social network audience will total 2.55 billion, says a report by eMarketer. But how exactly should you approach it as you target your global customers? Which growing trends should you get on board with to garner the greatest returns? Let’s peer into the future of global social media, based totally on trend-watching and expertise (NOT on any supersensory Nostradamus-like prognostication abilities). Here are six predictions for global social media in 2014. You'll also find tips on how you can use international social media marketing to foster better customer engagement next year—and well beyond. 1.     More personalized social campaigns The ye olde practice of blasting one message over multiple channels is no longer, shall we say, de rigueur or in style. In the coming months, we'll see an even greater need to share multiple messages across multiple channels, including highly targeted global social media campaigns. For the best chances of engagement, craft your campaigns according to cultural preferences. Research each of your target markets to identify their preferred content types and social media networks. For example, researching South Korean audiences would reveal multi-channel use that centers on video and blogging—knowledge that you can use to strengthen your campaign's effectiveness for that region. Personalized marketing approaches will not only be more common but more expected. The more targeted you can get, the better. 2.     More active listening and conversations on social We've only just begun to see the positive impact of using global social media for customer service and as a feedback sound stage. I foretell of more consumers turning to Twitter, Facebook and their other favorites to communicate with brands—voicing complaints, asking questions and everything in between. Consequently, we'll start seeing more global companies devoting more resources to monitoring and participating on social sites. For social-based customer service, consider using machine translation as part of a social media "triage" system—in which the engine translates customer issues that require a fast response. Of course, real-time messages demand responses that are as real time as possible. So it may make sense to outsource this task to an in-country linguist team that's familiar with your brand. 3.     More fully integrated social and digital strategies As global social media continues its steady march into the territory of "must pursue," I predict that more companies will integrate global social media into their digital marketing localization strategy. There's little point in spending hours creating the perfect piece of marketing content if its exposure is severely limited. That's why I see global social media becoming a natural extension of the entire global content lifecycle with how companies share content. More departments within firms will also begin to incorporate social media into their consciousness—going beyond marketing to include sales, public relations, customer service and others. I recommend centralizing the way your entire company manages global social media. It's important to enforce consistency in how your messages and brand attributes come across in various markets and on multiple social channels.  4.     More locale-specific social incentives More companies will get involved with social media-only incentives to drive higher engagement. We're already seeing a bit of this in the hotel industry for example, with travelers checking in at a property on Foursquare to redeem freebies. It's a powerful way to encourage customer interaction and foster brand loyalty, but it does require careful targeting. With your diligently performed target market research in hand, come up with giveaways, contests and discounts that align to each audience's interests and cultural expectations. Match these up to the social networks they use in each region. Any images and text should be localized for the audience too—which Sajan can help with. 5.     More cross-platform promotion Like a frothy brew with many ingredients, our media mix today is greatly varied and intermingled. Mobile apps and websites, television commercials featuring Twitter hashtags, video-embedded banner ads . . . customers around the globe get constantly blasted with brand messages in various forms. More global companies will respond in kind. Global social media will be key in driving cross-platform campaigns. If you partake, keep in mind that you'll also need to localize your shared digital marketing content for each target market.  6.     More emphasis on multilingual SEO Since social media is a key factor in increasing search rankings, I see multilingual SEO becoming a mantra for better brand and content findability. Remember that people in different countries use distinct words and phrases when searching for things online. To address this, Sajan turns to in-country marketing linguists to research region-specific keywords that pertain to your industry. Also keep in mind that Google doesn't dominate in every country; you'll want to align your efforts to the search engines in each locale. Hopefully these predictions and pointers have proven useful as you plan next year's global social media efforts. Sajan doesn’t have a mystical-looking crystal ball to gaze into—but we do have you to share what's in store for your own company. What are you planning for your global social media next year? Impart your foreknowledge to us by commenting below or chirping a tweet at us. Want even more insights into managing your global social media program? Take a peek at this best practice brief highlighting five tips on getting started.

Governance Leads to SharePoint Success [Infographic] Posted: 05 Dec 2013 08:21 AM PST With the release of SharePoint 2013, the subject of SharePoint governance has resurfaced in a big way. As with any major implementation, every successful SharePoint deployment should also include a comprehensive governance plan that is followed, enforced, and updated regularly. This plan will help direct the management and proper use of the software platform and eliminates the potential for the design and architecture of a SharePoint system becoming inconsistent over time, leading to poor user experience and increased cost of ownership. But with varying views on exactly what SharePoint Governance should try to solve, many businesses are left asking, "What should my governance plan address?" In this infographic, we aim to highlight the top five things a SharePoint governance plan should solve. The business goals of a company will shape potential additions to this list, but tackle these items first, and then expand as needed. More on SharePoint Governance To learn more about SharePoint governance, download our eBook, Designing an Effective SharePoint Governance Plan. For additional assistance with creating a successful SharePoint governance plan for your organization, leverage the SharePoint Consulting Services of a trusted Microsoft partner.

You are subscribed to email updates from Popular Articles | Business 2 Community To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610