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Harry And David Customer Service Thank You

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fruitIn the midst of the holiday season with gift baskets flying across the U.S., took time to read this blog, see a negative net promoter score, find a contact form, and write an email to fix what they thought was a remark against its brand that needed attention.

I mentioned Harry and David, the online fruit and foods retailer, in a recent post, In that post, I suggested my experience with the fruit of the month club was disappointing while others had a lovely experience with the company.

The company’s social media team was listening. Over the weekend of Dec. 15, 2012, I received a contact form comment from Harry and David. They offered to send me a gift because of my previously poor experience with the company.

My  response to Maria of Harry and David was to thank her with a polite refusal saying the company’s attention and response was gift enough.

She continued to insist; I acquiesced and within a very short time, I received a gorgeous holiday gift tower complete with pears (the company’s fruit is top quality), candies, nuts, salmon, cheese, and other goodies.

I applaud Harry and David for having a social media team at the frontlines listening, monitoring, tracking and responding in a very personal way.

I’m so impressed the company was proactive and also gracious enough to showcase tremendous customer service during an extremely busy time.

Thanks, Harry and David, I’ll always be a promoter of your brand and excellent products.

 

 

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Why Responsive Design Is A Must in 2013

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Like the new digs? Open up on your smart device and see why responsive design for your website is a critical must have in 2013. What’s the stat? Oodles of peeps use smartphones and mobile devices to surf the net, and it’s only getting higher. (How’s thCalculateat for exact data to encourage your transition?)

There are websites that look good on a tablet; however, when you begin scrolling and navigating, the site really isn’t built for the small screen of an iPhone.

Going responsive means a few things:

  1. Your masthead has to fit snugly within the width of a smart device (regardless of its size). When someone logs in to the website, the masthead has to look normal; when they log in to a smart device, the masthead scales to fit and also pops on that smaller screen.
  2. The sidebar is invisible on a smart device. With a responsive theme on WordPress, the calls to action and badges and radio buttons stack up in the middle of the screen.  On the desktop, they appear off to the right as usual.
  3. Careful thinking has to be incorporated into a responsive theme. When designing a website in a content management system like WordPress with a custom theme or existing skin or template, you toss up the sidebar without a worry.  With a responsive approach, ordering of calls to action and what goes on the sidebar are mission critical.
  4. You need to engage with a developer who knows what the heck he or she is doing. There is way too much back-end tech required to push the engine of a website. Code is required for anything you do; a content marketer or social media pro cannot ever master all that code.
  5. You do need to understand what goes on behind the scenes of a website. Even when you’re publishing in content management systems and what you see visually on the dashboard is what appears live, the code is right there.
  6. Don’t get left in the cold; get your site responsive so when people begin to surf your site will feel more welcome than the other clunkier site with poor navigation and tremendously obnoxious scrolling.

Websites should always be updating; tweaks to sidebar, refresh of design/color and plug ins, navigation and share bars or comment systems. These are things most bloggers can update on their own, and should.

Afraid of tech like me? Embrace your fears and get your fingers dirty; that way you can better direct the show from the stage instead of in the wings.

 

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Social Media 2012 Woman Of The Year–Jenn Whinnem

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Annually, I like to anoint a social media person of the year from the Soulati Media community who has impressed me every day and week of the year with social media aptitude, engagement and professionalism.

Jenn Whinnem is that person and my pick as 2012 Social Media Woman of the Year following in the footsteps of Gini Dietrich in 2011.

Jenn lends in-depth expertise to any discussion raging in comments; sometimes she’s supportive and other times she’s the antagonist, going against the grain of conversation with intense opinion based on factual engagement.

She is a woman on a mission and her personal conviction often leads to heated discussion and eventual consensus; she is that convincing. I appreciate her from the sidelines, and I appreciate her when I’m in the throes of conversation with her.

She lends quirky knowledge no one else I know offers up, and she is quick to support anyone who needs a helping hand, a hug or is in the dumps. I have had the privilege of meeting Jenn IRL, and she is as beautiful in person as she is in her avatar (which she is continually changing).

A lover of cats, recently married and a woman who sprouts the most amazing shoes and zany ass tights, Jenn is also one of the most respected writers and grammarians I’ve seen. She can write an op-ed piece that makes naysayers think twice about staying on the other side, and she does so with conviction.

I’ve watched her blossom in 2012 overcoming obstacles by skirting them and chalking up professional accomplishments more than most people do in a five year’s time. She makes this blog home whenever she wishes, and I relish when she runs a guest post here as the topic is never an echo. Of late, you can see her work on Bloggers Unite! supporting Sandy Hook/Newtown and the communities in Connecticut via her work with a health foundation there.

Congratulations, Jenn, for sticking with social media engagement when many have disappeared. Congratulations for growing as a professional unafraid to question the status quo or make others think a bit differently.

I look forward to seeing what comes in 2013. I endorse you, recommend you and encourage you wherever the pathway takes you.

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Twitter’s Demise Or Ascension?

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twitter fail image

twitter fail image (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a self-professed Twitter-holic since early 2009 in a 24/7 pattern, I know and whine about the changes to my first-love social media channel. When Google+ launched Communities Dec. 12, 2012, Twitter was a veritable graveyard. These days, the stream is littered with retweets of others’ content. Instead, I strive to post personal messages or say good morning to someone missing from my columns on HootSuite. In fact, last week I suggested we’d need to work harder to keep Twitter viable instead of it becoming a re-posting only channel.

What’s your view of whether Twitter can survive other channels’ apparent popularity? According to The Wall Street Journal, Twitter only has 140 million registered users, dwarfing that of other channels (remember Facebook’s news of 1 billion this summer?). Can Twitter survive?

News on December 17, 2012 in The Wall Street Journal suggests a resounding yes! “Now On Twitter: Holiday Shopping Deals,” is all about big-box retailers flocking to Twitter to share Black Friday and holiday gift-giving deals. Among them are Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Radio Shack, and Toys ‘R Us.

Great article about the purchase of sponsored tweets by Best Buy and its use of Twitter “parties,” hour-long Twitter chats about gift ideas for target shoppers like moms and fitness buffs.  Best Buy and its peers did not disclose to reporters how much their collective ad budget was; however, when you read the piece, it’s heartening to see that Twitter is finally getting some respect:

Marketing brand strategists prepped Best Buy retailers in various markets in advance with holiday-marketing planning sessions.

Eight weeks of Twitter attention was launched prior to Thanksgiving and is still going on during this especially zany last-minute shopping week for Best Buy.

A more creative strategy was launched other than just tweeting all day long with an inside-out perspective. Best Buy targeted shopper demographics and held 60 minute Twitter chats (there’s probably a hashtag out there somewhere) to engage peeps about gift giving.

Here’s the coolest thing about what’s happening on Twitter that the Best Buy brand strategist learned from his location-based retailers – tone of voice and authenticity were critical to the success of the campaign.

I absolutely love, love this. We on Twitter, engaging all day long for years, know the power of authentic voice. We know which brands are real, which ones care and which ones are one-way (inside out). For brands to get Twitter, they need to appoint a solid and seasoned team on the frontlines that can engage appropriately and with authenticity. When they invest in that way, the return on investment comes back in spades.

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How To Nurture A Social Media Community

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Credit: Pioneer Outfitters, Alaska

When you nurture social media community, there’s a lot to think about. Communities and moderators collide on social media channels, it’s one person’s style against the other with no hard or fast rules. Nurturing social media community takes gentle enforcement with just enough engagement to attract the lurkers and a welcoming gesture every now and again to keep those a bit shy engaging.

Google+ Communities spawned a fire storm last week when everyone flocked (yes we did, albeit there were a handful of naysayers and bah-humbuggers) to either launch or join a community. (This is your own very special invite to join my Bloggers Unite! Google+ Community.) [Read more…]