Are you visiting Chicago to attend the National Restaurant Association Show May 18th-21st? If so, don’t forget to stop by the Technology Pavilion! Ann Michaels & Associates will be featuring their new customer engagement console and mobile survey programs. We’ll be in booth 6374. The press release announcement was released last week:

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) May 09, 2013

Ann Michaels & Associates is pleased to announce the launch of two new services that will be showcased at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago this month. The Customer Engagement Console (CEC) is a tablet based kiosk that businesses can utilize within retail locations, hotels, restaurants, waiting rooms, and other key points of customer traffic to capture feedback from consumers in the moment of the experience, and dually serve to market to those customers and engage in a real time, interactive manner.

This latest technological advancement provides a unique way for companies to collect feedback in the moment of experience, and more importantly, capture feedback and sentiment from those who do not make purchases. Kathy Doering, President of Ann Michaels & Associates, indicates that these services will greatly benefit companies across all industries. “With the recent decline in response rates for traditional feedback methodologies, including IVR and web-based surveys, the customer engagement console captures a more substantial segment of the customer population than ever before. Understanding the non-purchasing customer and collecting data from this set has proven to be invaluable. Our research indicates most IVR surveys garner a 2-4% response rate, whereas response rates utilizing the console can be tripled at a minimum.” The ability for companies to offer coupons and incentives gives them a unique, in the moment, opportunity for increased sales and loyalty with its customers.

The additional features of the engagement console, including marketing, loyalty card engagement, and social media integration further enhance the service, allowing for a robust multi-dimensional platform for consumer experience measurement.

In speaking to the marketing and engagement component, Doering feels that this is a necessary
step for businesses to take. “Consumers are hungry for information, and this type of engagement console gives consumers the opportunity to self-educate with minimal staff assistance.” With many companies forced to adhere to a minimalist approach to staffing, a customer engagement console is a wise choice.

To coincide with the customer engagement console, Ann Michaels & Associates has also launched mobile based customer engagement services to capture yet another customer segment. The mobile program incorporates feedback surveys, as well as other engagement opportunities. Consumers can be engaged as part of a company’s loyalty program, or engage in the moment of experience by scanning a QR code within the business location to partake in a survey, receive coupons, and offer feedback. The immediacy of this service allows for rich information in a timely manner, boasting higher response rates and less incidence of memory erosion due to time passing between the experience and providing feedback.

Doering describes the newest services as “great opportunities for businesses to make the most impact with their customers in an efficient, cost effective manner.” She reiterates the need for data to measure and monitor customer satisfaction and a way to capture this data easily and in an engaging manner. “Because of the advancement of mobile technology, consumers are interested in this ‘in the moment’ experience and want to engage with brands in a variety of ways.”

Both services can help businesses increase incremental purchases and word of mouth marketing and advertising with the tie in to social media. The two service offerings can be utilized independent of each other or in tandem for the most significant data collection and engagement. The company’s goal in the release of the newest services aligns with ensuring that clients’ Customer Experience Index (CXi) remains statistically strong, as high levels equate to increased revenue. Ann Michaels & Associates strives to support clients as they listen, measure, and engage their customers.

Ann Michaels & Associates will be featuring the Customer Engagement Console and Mobile Services at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago May 18-21. The company will be located in the Technology.Pavilion, booth 6374.

About Ann Michaels & Associates

Ann Michaels & Associates, a leading customer experience management firm, has provided customer service solutions to companies over the last decade. Core services include mystery shopping, customer feedback/satisfaction programs, and social media management. The company has recently added the customer engagement console and mobile feedback services to its array of customer experience measurement tools.

The company works with clients across a variety of industries, including, but not limited to, retail, restaurant, healthcare, B2B, financial, park districts, and associations. Each program is fully customized to measure, monitor, and maintain company operations and standards, and the company provides guidance and recommendations to continually enhance the customer experience.

Linkedin continues to make strides in making sure their site is as user friendly and efficient as possible. A recent update is definitely worth mentioning, as it can help you increase exposure in front of companies and contacts.

You now have the option to include “mentions” in your status updates and discussions. Similar to tagging someone in Facebook, mentions will allow you to essentially “tag” other users you’re connected with or companies. Say you’ve written an article featuring a company, highlighting a recent accomplishment. You can now share that news with your connections and tag the company so they will be notified of your update.

This is a great tool to use for getting your connections more involved in your status updates, encouraging them to take part in discussions based on what you’ve posted. It also gives you another way to connect with fellow LinkedIn users – it’s like saying, “Hey there! I’d like to share this with you because I think you’ll like it”, forming yet another communication channel within the site.

Below are some guidelines, which are really simple, from LinkedIn’s site about using the mention feature:

Using the Mentions feature is a way to get connections to view and contribute to your updates and comments. Companies can also be mentioned and will be linked to their LinkedIn Company Page from your update or comment. Mentions allow you to notify your connections or a company that you’re talking about them in an update or comment.

1. Go to your homepage share box or click comment on someone else’s update.
2. Type “@” and then begin typing a name in the box. You’ll then see a list of potential people or companies you can mention.
3. Click a name you want from the list and continue typing your message.

Note: LinkedIn members outside your network can also be mentioned if they’ve commented on the same update.

After you select someone from the list and finish your update, that person will receive an email and an update letting him or her know you’ve mentioned them. The name will also be linked to a profile or Company Page from your update.

Have you used this new feature? If so, we’d love to hear about your experience with it and how you use it to enhance your connections. If you want to learn more, you can visit LinkedIn.

Customers come in all shapes, sizes, and communication methods. Social media has given customers a new way to easily communicate with businesses, and, just like other channels of customer service, it allows for some…um, awkward situations that are now very public.

Consider the Twitter conversation between what I’d consider an awkward customer and Cineworld Cinemas. An apparently unhappy customer was asking for the company to justify their ticket prices, and also accused the company of deleting the customer’s posts:

While this conversation went on for some time, and you can read the entire conversation here, it is a good illustration of how to handle customer complaints in social media, especially when they are customers who may be looking for a public argument.

“The customer is always right” is a mantra many follow, but there are times, especially in social media, where this falls a bit short. In this case, the company had three choices: handle the communication publicly and defend their operations, handle it privately within Twitter’s direct message feature, or ignore it completely. They chose the first option, and rightfully so, as option 2 probably would not have worked; the customer, seemingly wanting a public conversation, would have take it back to public status and quite possibly accuse the company of having something to hide. Ignoring it would have made things a thousand times worse.

When you’re faced with this situation, handling it as quickly as possible in a calm, factual manner is best. Some companies will try to appease (and quiet) this type of customer as quickly as possible to avoid further issue. However, the way this company handled it was good – I do think the conversation could have ended a bit sooner, and some of the company replies could have been read with a slightly argumentative or condescending tone, but otherwise, they stated the facts and explained their business model as best they could, despite the fact that this customer continued to stab at the company.

I think many businesses would rather try to avoid the situation or quickly appease a disgruntled customer like this one so as to not fill their feeds with what seems to be negative discussion. However, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Your customers are already (generally) happy with you. The fact that you’re defending your business and not “taking the heat” from someone who appears to want an argument makes your business “human” and possibly more likeable. You’re not going to lose customers over conversations like this, and, by reading this, customers will know that you’re paying attention to what people are saying and engaging with them, no matter positive or negative.

2. People are smart cookies, and will read this conversation and quickly realize that this is someone who is looking for an argument and is trying to get a rise out of the company. They will take this conversation with a grain of salt really.

Companies need to speak up more in social media; after all, that’s what it’s here for: conversation and engagement. Knowing how to handle these types of “awkward” customers will go a long way in your social media strategy and have your company coming out stronger in the eyes of your customers.

I came across a great story that clearly illustrates the importance of communication of social media strategies within a company. When effective, social media can do very well with getting customers in the door and exposing your business to new customers. However, once they’re in the door, you have to keep them in and wanting to come back.

In the story below, originally posted on Chief Marketers’ site, the restaurant did a great job of getting a new customer interested via Yelp, and, being a social media savvy customer, they thought to use FourSquare to check in and see if there were any deals. While it all ended well and created a fun experience trying to beat the clock, it shows that the employees were unaware of the promotion and the customer almost lost out on a good deal.

From the article….

Sitting outside at a table recently on a warm evening at The Chop House in Miami, I asked my niece to “check in” to see if any discounts were being offered. She had “yelped” the restaurant for us and we were happy so far.

Up popped a promotion for a free glass of wine with a 60-second timer that began counting down the seconds to get it ordered before the offer expired. She got excited and so too did the others at the table, who all began looking for and waving at the waiter as my niece kept shouting, 36 seconds, 28 seconds, 15 seconds, hurry up! The waiter arrived in due time but knew nothing about the offer she showed him on her phone. He had never seen such an offer before and didn’t really understand how it all worked. Even so, he happily delivered the free glass of wine.

It was a fun experience for all of us, but a wake up call for marketers who sign on to location-based check-in services to make sure employees get educated about the promotions so there’s no disconnect between the brand and the customer.

As high school athletes get closer to graduation and look at colleges, particularly colleges that are interested in offering athletic scholarships, they may be realizing (if they haven’t already) that social media is an integral part of the vetting process, like it or not.

My daughter started high school and made her first athletic team there. During the parent meeting, they talked with the athletes about social media, reminding them that what they post online is very public and is representative of who they are, and while they are a school athlete, they are representing the school. They cautioned that inappropriate content could result in disciplinary action.

It was good food for thought, and started a nice conversation between me and my daughter about the importance of using social media responsibly. Teens still don’t fully realize the impact it can have on their future.

I came across a Tribune blog post by Edgy Tim, a sports blogger, who talked about this very issue. It discusses the importance of responsible social media, and what recruiters are looking for.

Of course, they are looking at content – pictures from a wild party where drinking is evident sends a message about the athlete. Going further, recruiters are also looking at the pattern of posting. If a student is posting constantly, at all times of the day and night, it makes one wonder if they have time to study, if all they do is party, etc. This may not be the case, but the way students are posting comments online can paint a picture of who that person really is, true or not.

From the article: “We just decided this week to stop recruiting a handful of kids we really liked because of different things we saw on Twitter and Instagram,” the Big Ten recruiter said. “(Some of the) kids made a visit here and they seemed like great kid(s) in person but kept up a really disturbing pattern; it’s something we just won’t deal with. We would rather take a chance on another kid.”

Right or wrong, it is what it is, and it’s something that everyone needs to be aware of, whether you’re trying to get a scholarship, just trying to get into the college or your choice, or even if you’re an adult looking for your next job. Social media is a tool that is now being used to get a better sense of who a person is. This is an excellent reminder to make sure you are representing yourself in the best possible light online – you never know who’s watching.

Clients have asked us if it’s best to have one account on social media sites to represent the company, or if they should consider having multiple accounts. Some are asking because they are thinking that having a company Facebook page, for example, and individual Facebook pages for each of their locations will be a good strategy. The thinking they’ve shared is that they would have the company presence but the local pages could better engage with customers local to their area and be a more “personalized” experience. Others ask if they should roll out Facebook pages for specific, large promotions.

On Twitter, I’ve seen companies with multiple accounts as well – one for the company itself, one for customer service matters, another one for employment, and yet another page for product and promotional issues.

What is the right thing to do?

The answer isn’t as clear as it could be, but I always lean toward the “less is more” strategy. There are a few reasons as to why multiple accounts within a company may not be the best way to go:

1. Ensuring that all of the accounts receive the same attention can be a challenge. It takes quite a bit of planning to be sure all of the accounts are managed well. Social media engagement is time consuming at its most basic level – being responsible for managing 8 pages can ramp up that challenge. Even if location managers are responsible for their individual page, monitoring to ensure the contact is compatible with the company, ensuring the page is being kept up with properly, and making sure there is consistency across all of the accounts can also prove to be too time consuming.

2. Customers can get confused and not be aware of multiple accounts for a company. If they’re not sure where to bring their questions or feedback, they may stay away all together.

3. When pages are created for specific promotions, they may get lost in the shuffle over time. Once the promotion has ended, the page may fall silent and give customers the wrong impression, especially if they’re not aware of company wide accounts.

The argument  may lean toward the idea of having multiple accounts, especially if one is marketing based and the other customer service based, because different staff are responsible for different aspects of the business. That’s all well and good too, and in some cases, that might be okay. Careful planning is key here, as is making sure customers are aware of all the accounts and ways to interact with a company. Implementing a social media marketing tool can be beneficial in these cases; with one account, specific types of content can be filtered to specific staff members for review. Workflow capabilities make it easy for the entire team to see that a specific question was in fact filtered to the correct person and they responded. If multiple accounts are preferred or necessary, it is well worth the time to investigate social media marketing tools.

An extreme example is the Reebok company. In late 2012 they conducted a review of their social media presence, as the company realized there were multiple accounts on Facebook. To their credit, many new accounts were created with the goal of providing a social media experience geared toward how their customers use it. Nothing wrong with that.

However, upon careful review of Reebok’s social media presence, they found that the company had 232 Facebook pages, along with roughly 100 YouTube channels and 30 Twitter accounts. Yikes. They spent time cleaning up their social media presence and focusing on the “less is more” mentality. While it’s difficult to monitor the launch of new social media accounts within such a large company, they will continue to share the “less is more” messaging and conduct yearly audits of their social media presence.

If your company has good reason to have multiple accounts, there are a few things you can do to make sure you’re as successful as possible:

1. Promote individual pages on the company focused page – in the About section of Facebook, or when creating a Twitter profile, be sure to link to your other individual pages so customers know they exist and have an easy way to find them.

2. Cross market pages and accounts – from time to time, post content that reminds customers of your other sites so they remember they exist. A simple post like “Hey Chicago customers, don’t forget to visit our Facebook page geared just to you. You’ll find local deals and great conversation with your neighbors” will suffice. Don’t forget to provide the link to the other page for easy reference.

3. Conduct regular audits of your social media strategy and adjust as needed – while you have great intentions, the best laid plans can fall flat. Regularly audit your social media accounts and see what’s working and what’s not. As your strategy evolves, it’s okay to make adjustments and change up the program to meet the needs of your fan/customer base.

Does your company have a singular or multiple social media presence? We’d love to hear what works for you and what doesn’t. Please feel free to comment and start the conversation!

Many users are wondering how to go about verifying their GoDaddy website with Pinterest if they are not using a hosting site. This refers to those using GoDaddy’s popular Website Tonight product.

Since you don’t have FTP access with this type of account, you will need to rely on using the meta tags to accomplish this task. There are a few steps you can take to make this happen:

1. On your Pinterest site, go to your name in the top right corner and go to edit profile. You will see a space to add your website; do that and then click the “verify website” button next to it.

2. Next you’ll see your profile picture and below that, a box discussing HTML file verification. Since you can’t do that with Website Tonight, you’ll need to click on the line below the box that lets users verify with a meta tag.

3. The system will provide you with the information you need. Keep this window open, since you will need it shortly.

4. Login to your GoDaddy account and get to the home page of your website. At the top of the page, you’ll see your toolbar; click on “pages” and then in the toolbar right below it, you’ll see “page properties.” Click on that. If you click on the tab that reads “meta data” you will see a window pop up that looks like this:

5. In the “Custom Meta Tags” section, you’ll want to add the information from Pinterest to complete the process. In the “Name” field, copy and paste the code between the quotation marks from the name portion of the code Pinterest generated. Do not include the quotations. In the example above, the name field would be p:domain_verify.

5. In the content box, you’ll copy the code (minus the quotation marks) from the “description” portion of the code provided by Pinterest. In this case, it would be: 5e0e3d1e7919e963d37ac14dcb8c6f82. You do not need the forward slash at the end of this line.

6. Click on “Add Meta Tag” to finish the process. You do not need to click on the “apply to all” box. You will need to republish your website for these changes to take effect.

7. Once your site is republished, go back to the Pinterest page with the meta data information and click on “Click here to verify.” It will take a moment, but you should get a message that your site was verified. You will now see it at the top of your Pinterest account.

If it doesn’t verify right away, make sure you are not including the quotations and copying the entire code from the page on Pinterest.

Meta data files aren’t as simple to upload as a HTML file, but this is a good workaround for those using a Website Tonight account with GoDaddy. If you’re still having trouble, we’d be happy to help! Just drop me a line at mhynd@annmichaelsltd.com and we can help get your account verified.

The bystander effect has been studied in psychology for many, many years. Essentially, this is the thought that in an emergency situation, the more bystanders present, the less likely someone will take action to help. This tends to fall under people’s assumption that, in a larger crowd, someone else will step up and help.

Is this also true in social media? While social media and all that comes with it, including pictures and sharing of every detail in people’s observations, can actually help solve crimes in some cases, the bystander effect still rings true in our technological world, though social media seems to give people more of a voice to help out.

Take, for instance, cyber bullying. Unfortunately, this is one aspect of social media that can be very negative. Teens and pre-teens do not fully understand social media and its implications. They still believe often times that they can remain anonymous, perhaps behind a newly created Gmail or Twitter account, to harass and behave poorly on social networks. One piece of “gossip” can spread like wildfire, and the original poster loses control of that message. Even when using accounts that require your ‘real” identity, they feel that they can post a message and later delete it, and it’s forever gone. That can’t be farther than the truth, as we know, but it’s not fully realized by all using social media.

When others see this information, do they simply read it and move on, thinking that surely someone will contact the authorities, parents, or school, depending on the situation? Or, are social media users more likely to take action.

Consider this recent example: a high school couple, who was fairly popular within a large high school setting, got into a very heated argument and broke up. The young man proceeded to lash out and posted a very public Facebook message, even tagging his now ex-girlfriend, sharing very blatant accusations about her. These ranged from her stealing money from her parents to buy drugs, how many people she has slept with, and the like. Of course, because it was on a social network and they were popular students, the post went crazy, with hundreds of likes (really?) and comments within an hour. It was deleted within a few hours, but that didn’t stop others from talking about it and referencing it.

Given the bystander effect, I weeded through the comments to see what would be done, if anything, especially given that this was a younger crowd. What I learned was interesting – while the message spread and was talked about, likely for days after the incident, many students stated that they had reported it to Facebook, parents, the school, and authorities. I later learned that this was in fact true and was handled appropriately.

Perhaps social media can offset the bystander effect, as it seems to give people more of a voice than before. It could be the nature of social media; because you’re behind your computer, you’re more likely to act on things than a person would be in public?

This has also rang true for crimes. The media and police have turned to social media to monitor conversations about local situations, and can reach out to those making comments for help. Other times people are very quick to offer tips and information through social media venues.

There was the case last year where a man had barricaded himself, with hostages, in a building in New Jersey. He posted on Facebook during this time, and people responded with comments, encouragement, and tried to help authorities in ending the situation in the best possible manner.

It could be that social media can break the bystander effect to some degree; if that is the case, then social media can be very useful for helping those in need. I’d love to see more research in this area to study the true effects social media has on this psychological phenomenon.

On Thursday, Twitter turned 7 – I can hardly believe it!  It seems like just yesterday that everyone was trying to figure out “the Twitter” and what to do with it.

Over the years, Twitter has turned into a successful social media networking site, marketing tool, and customer service channel. I have to admit when it was first launched I didn’t think it would last. Maybe that’s because I’m too wordy for the 140-character message system. I’ve learned over time though how to make it work, though it has been a challenge in brevity.

The chart below shows the Twitter usage over time; you can see a huge spike in recent years; this, to me, signals the time that companies really started to “get it” and use Twitter to market to customers and engage with them quickly and with brevity. Of course, it’s also become a place where people can follow and keep up with celebrities, the President, and most recently, even the Pope.

Twitter currently sees more than 400 million tweets a day, compared with about 340 million a day a year ago; 32 million at the beginning of 2010; and 2 million a year before that.

The most surprising fact is that Twitter has appealed to the younger set, even the teen crowd, with many teens preferring Twitter over Facebook at times. As the parent of a teenage girl, I had to know more about this. To me, it would seem that Facebook would be more appealing. I’ve been wrong before though.

Research points to the fact that Twitter is most recently being used as a customer service channel; perhaps this is because it is so fast moving, customers can ask a question of a company and get a response quicker than from other social sites or even email. It is also easier for companies to find customers on Twitter as opposed to other social sites; there are no real filters in place for following; a company can choose to follow anyone very easily. While people can choose not to follow a company back, or even block them if they choose to do so, targeting customers is much easier on Twitter than it might be on Facebook.

Some other interesting changes:

1. As mentioned, the younger set (15-24) has embraced Twitter recently, with a huge upswing in usage from this demographic in 2011 and 2012.

2. Back in 2009, 5% of Twitter users accounted for 75% of Twitter activity; that has grown to 25% of Twitter users engaging on the site multiple times per day.

3. The retweet is like wildfire – media outlets are very active on Twitter, with some saying they are the most active Twitter users. However, a recent study showed that only 15% of media outlet’s tweets are received directly from users. The other 85% are received through sharing, or retweets. This goes to show how quickly Tweets can go viral.

4. Users share a variety of information, but mostly about their own lives: 72% of Twitter users Tweet about their own lives, while 53% share links and another 55% retweet others. Only 24% tweet about their location.

The infographic below depicts the most current Twitter trends and statistics:

It looks like Twitter is around to stay, at least for now. Hard to believe it’s been 7 years. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Twitter over the next seven!

As social media has evolved, many of us have pre-conceived notions about demographics surrounding the various social media sites. For example, we tend to think of Pinterest as a “women only” venue, while “everyone” is on Facebook. It’s important to take a look at changing demographics over time, as social media uses tend to shift and sway, especially as new social network sites emerge and existing sites change their focus or offerings.
A recent study by Pew Internet and American Life Project shows some interesting statistics surrounding the demographics of social media.

It is a bit surprising to me, at least, that women were more drawn to Facebook than men generally, but not surprising that the majority of respondents in this study use the site most often. Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr are popular with the younger crowd – this is not at all surprising to me, at least not Instagram and Tumblr. As a parent of a teen, I’ve learned that her and her friends have shied away from Facebook in recent months, preferring to interact on Instagram and Tumblr. I’ve recently noticed a spike in their crowd using Twitter – I didn’t see that one coming.

The study also revealed that 40% of social networking users are visiting the sites on their mobile devices, with younger (18-29) African-American and Hispanic adults using them over older, Caucasian adults.  In looking at the chart above and comparing it to mobile device usage, it may give some insight into how companies can incorporate mobile advertising and marketing within the social networking sites where users are more likely to use them.

Knowing the demographics behind social networking sites can help companies become more efficient and seamless in their approach. The study incorporated a really neat interactive infographic with other results from this study.

Demographics can play a key role in social media marketing and engagement; knowing which of your customers frequent each social networking sites is helpful; this study gives a good generalized view into the social media demographics. Another way to ensure your online marketing efforts are as effective as possible is to utilizing a solid social media monitoring program. Many platforms offer demographic information on the conversations collected; you can learn detailed information from the data collected, including:

• Gender and age groups: are women or men talking about you most? What age groups tend to talk about your company?

• Social networking sites: where are customers talking about you? By knowing this, you can learn how to best spend time online. You may think that your customers are on Facebook, but after collecting online conversations, you may find they’re mostly on Twitter or community forums. Continual monitoring is important, because this could also change over time.

• Who are your customers? Because social media monitoring tools provide direct links to conversations collected, you can find customers who are talking about your company. From there, you can engage with them on the sites they are on most. On Twitter, it gives you the opportunity to follow customers, answer questions that may have been posed to their group of connections, or engage with those on other networking sites.

• Where they’re coming from: geographical data is emerging in social media monitoring. Finding out where your customers are talking most can help target marketing efforts. It can also signal potential issues within your company. For example, you may see a lot of complaints coming out of a specific geography – the data can help you assess potential issues and fix them before they get out of control.

The Pew study shed some good light on the ever changing demographics of social media. Knowing who your customers are and where they are online will go a long way in your marketing efforts.