Social Media Success Story: Conversation with a Doubter

I’ve been trying to write a “tips & tools” series on using social media, mostly Facebook and Twitter, but I’ve found that new media defies the classic “Lesson Plan.” The successes and failures I see are fluid. They can repeat themselves, but not in the same black and white fashion that, say, 2 + 2 always makes 4. Besides, who doesn’t love a good story. Today, I bring you one that highlights the greatest glory of social media: we’re no longer proactive or reactive, WE’RE INTERACTIVE.

So last week I’m monitoring Tweets when I see this:

If you’re not familiar with Twitter, Fionn, whose Twitter handle is @_DrunkFox_ , is telling @MikeKaSoft that another domain registrar has better customer service than Name.com. Well that can’t stand because while I don’t know much about Namecheap’s support, I know ours is the best in the world. So I reply:

Now that might seem a little harsh, but there’s a steadfast Social Media rule: If you stand up for what you believe in, and can defend it well, you’ll gain more follower/friends than you’ll lose.  People respect backbone (there seems to be a lack of these days.) Although @_drunkfox_ is taken aback:

OK, so maybe I was abrasive, but it forced a question: “What kind of company asks that?” This is a great opportunity to explain just what kind of company we (you) are: open, honest and transparent. Before I can even get started, a third party steps in:

Awesome. @MikeKaSoft helps save the day. WHY? Because we’ve previously engaged him in conversation. Our rule is we don’t care how many followers someone has, if they take the time to talk to us we’ll make the time to get back. The result is great third-party evangelists like @MikeKaSoft. Because remember, PEOPLE DON’T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT YOURSELF; THEY WANT TO HEAR WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY. Sorry for shouting, but it’s what makes social media and Yelp and Trip Advisor and all those review sites so valuable. As a company you’d better be on it.

Anyway, back to the conversation. @_DrunkFox_ is a smart consumer:

And now, in about twenty minutes of casual banter, we have someone not only interested in being our customer, he’s also thinking about being a valuable part of our affiliate program. As far as I can tell it came down to two very basic human functions:

1. Noticing someone

2. Interacting

If there’s more to that with social media, you’ll read it right here. Next week we’ll discuss some success stories of dealing with doubters…and maybe even haters (hush falls over the crowd).