One tactic that brands often use to find and/or create brand advocates is surprise and delight. What is surprise and delight? Exactly what it sounds like: give your customer a surprise and provide a delightful experience for them.
Brands can do this in many ways: sending thank you notes, following up with customers, giving away freebies, etc. Take Taco Bell for example:
(via: Post Advertising)
In order to surprise and delight your customers through your social media efforts, you’ll want to remember the following:
Choose the right social network.
So you have quite a following on several networks and want to surprise and delight a few customers. Do you use Facebook, Twitter, or another social network? The surprise needs to happen fast, and you will want a quick response from your audience.
Facebook makes it super easy to interact with your customer right on your page, as long as he/she comments on your wall. The Taco Bell example is somewhat spur of the moment, and a great way to build a brand advocate. If you do not have customers reaching out directly to you however, it may be hard to surprise anyone on Facebook.
Twitter makes it easy to tease surprise and delight promotions, and customers can get involved quickly. Take Kmart’s Monster High promotion for example:
Treats not tricks today! Follow & RT by 3pm CT today for a chance to win a @MonsterHigh prize! #FreakyFab13
— Kmart (@Kmart) January 13, 2014
Customers can easily follow the hashtag and retweeting only takes a second. Tagging customers is also super simple, and notifies your customers instantly.
Engage beyond customer service.
In addition to providing excellent customer service through social, you can surprise and delight your customers by engaging with them beyond service. Have fun conversations with your customers and remind them that there are humans behind your brand. This type of surprise requires no money, and is still quite delightful.
Provide extra customer service.
More than anything, a brand that provides extra customer service through social media will get extra bonus points. You may think that many customers just hop on Twitter to rip into brands, and that is true. Customers now use social media as a means to solve customer service issues, and they expect full service. The next time that you have a customer complaint pop up on Facebook or Twitter, try going the extra mile and giving that customer something extra. Guaranteed they’ll acknowledge the fix and tell all their friends.
What are some other ways that you surprise and delight your customers?
