Online Expressions of the Point of Need
In real life, we don’t go around with a Facebook or Twitter status displayed above our heads. (i.e. What are you doing right now? “Just shopping”, or “I need help finding shoes”).
The powerful thing about online marketing is that people are increasingly expressing needs and opinions online. As an online marketer you can easily listen for specific conversations about your product or brand where people are expressing needs. Then you can engage at the customer’s expressed point of need.
To illustrate my point, here are some examples that I selected randomly of people expressing needs or asking questions in the past 24 hours using twitter (I don’t know any of these people). All of these posts on twitter are opportunities for a company to respond and be helpful. Add to that blogs, videos, images, social networks, micromedia and there are ample opportunities to listen for the point of need.
Customer support opportunities from questions mentioning Techcrunch, AT&T, Canon, coComment, Paypal, United Airlines:
Stevie_Knight: Does anyone know how 2 contact support @ techcrunch.com? I’ve been trying 2 register 4 the forums & haven’t received confirm.
Kichigai: Can anyone tell me if they’re having a problem with AT&T’s data services in South Jersey, or is it just me?
alisonedward11: does anyone know anything about canon warranties?
janelowe: does anyone know if there’s a problem with coComment - it goes weird when I try to submit a comment!
tthomas906: Last night up until 2 am trying to get my website up and running. Having problems with Paypal. I don’t know whats up with them? costing $
leanda: just wrote a list of all the problems we had we United Airlines last week, sending to insurance, UA and Expedia. Will try to avoid flying UA
Sales opportunities for companies such as Adobe, The W Hotel in San Diego, Mazda, Volkswagen, a computer manufacturer like Dell Computer or Apple, a pet store or dog breeder, a bicycle shop, etc.
jbruin: can anyone hook with me up with a discounted rate at the W San Diego? thinking about booking a room for tomorrow
dawrobel: Looking to buy a new computer…
naples: looking to buy adobe professional and other software
scarletdivision: Does anyone know where I can find a Brian Griffin dog? I really want a Brian Griffin dog.
intldiplomat: Does anyone know of businesses in augusta ga that sell refurbished bicycles?
ColinFBarnes: Can anyone point me in the direction for a nice sounding mac podcast mic/mixer setup for around $200?
Peter_BNC: looking to buy a jetta!
JonHenke: I start looking to buy a car (probably an RX8) next weekend. Huzzah! Now, to find a good deal on one.
Meet them at their point of need.
May 6th, 2008 - Posted in The Point Of Need, Online Listening, Social Media | |
on May 8th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
actually think your recommendation is better suited for Yahoo Answers. Much larger audience, categorized, and behavior is aligned with Q&A format.
on May 8th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the comment. I certainly agree that companies need to be monitoring and engaging on Yahoo Answers as well. I wasn’t trying to make the point that Twitter is the best tool to use to support customers. My point is that customers are already expressing their needs, questions, and issues everywhere online whether it is Twitter, blogs, or Yahoo Answers. I used examples from Twitter as an illustration.
Companies need to start listening for these expressions of the point of need on ALL sources: Yahoo Answers, Twitter, Blogs, Video sites like Youtube, etc., since they need to go listen where the customers are already.
Thanks again for your comment.
on July 9th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
What you say I fully agree with. And I agree that companies aren’t searching these sources. This is why we built a “tweet” capability into our social network for SMBs at http://www.wecando.biz. We call them Biz Needs are they are a method of expressing an urgent business need that we broadcast to their online contacts, but also forward to other members of our site we believe can help. It all happens in one place and you don’t have to sift through the other stuff people tweet.
I’d love your feedback.
Ian Hendry
WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz