Chapter 66
Incentivize Interaction
Do your customers tell their friends about you?
There's a company in New Orleans that's using Twitter in a very interesting way. The company is called Naked Pizza (great name!) and they embraced Twitter by putting a large sign in front of their retail location, encouraging people to follow them on Twitter. Naked Pizza has used social media extensively and has become a poster child for modern online marketing. What if they offered a 10 percent discount to people who tweeted their orders in? Consider the implications. Why would people do it? The discount? Perhaps, but there's more . . .
I have more than 25,000 followers on Twitter. If I tweeted my order in, everyone in my network would be notified that I just ordered pizza from Naked Pizza. The “viral” element is baked in! It's guaranteed.
How can you incentivize your existing customers to communicate with you through the social channel? Right now, they call you on the phone. That's private. They e-mail you. That's private. But if they interact with you on Twitter, their networks are notified. If they interact with you on Facebook, their networks are notified. By tweeting my pizza order in, I am automatically telling my entire network that I order my pizza from Naked Pizza! It's a winning strategy. The most important part is the incentive being offered. Social media success is driven by incentives. Make it worthwhile and keep in mind that the discount will replace what you would've otherwise ...
