5 Lessons from Reese’s Christmas Tree

Jenna WinslowToday I have a guest post from Jenna Winslow.

Jenna Winslow is a recent graduate from the University of Southern Indiana with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing.  Jenna interned at Signarama Evansville during her senior year and is currently the Digital Marketing Intern at Ten Adams Marketing.

5 Lessons from Reese’s Christmas Tree

Social media is not only a fun place to interact with friends, family, and businesses; but is also quickly becoming one of the leading marketing platforms. Social media offers the ability to reach consumers and to connect with them unlike ever before.  And in our rapidly evolving technological world, social media can either make or break a company.

Unhappy customers often go straight to social media to complain about a product or recent negative experience with a company.  And if they are able to express their rage in less than 140 characters, they typically tag the company’s social media account directly in the post.  All eyes then turn to see how, or if, the company responds.

There have been various cringe-worthy social media fails over the years: companies responding inappropriately to complaints – or just flat out ignoring them.  There are plenty of lessons that can be learned from these mistakes; however, just as many, if not more lessons, can be learned from social media wins – when a company nails their response to public customer complaints, settling the issue.

Reese’s had a social media win of their own after releasing their annual Reese’s Christmas Tree last November.  Social media savvy customers headed to Twitter to express their thoughts regarding Reese’s Christmas Trees – or more like the lack of resemblance to a tree.

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Despite being put in a difficult situation for the entire world of social media to see, Reese’s was not fazed by the complaints and used them as an opportunity.  Their response is what I would call the biggest social media win of 2015.

Reese’s created a Twitter campaign exclusively focused on the ugly, misshapen trees, making it official with the hashtag #AllTreesAreBeautiful.

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Reese’s did not simply apologize to their customers, although they did apologize. Reese’s took their response one step further by admitting the Christmas Trees are not perfect, and fully embracing that fact.  “It’s not what it looks like, it’s what it tastes like.”

Here are 5 lessons we can take away from Reese’s Christmas Tree win:

  1. Your customers are on social media, and you should be, too; build connections and reach customers you otherwise may not have been able to.
  2. Monitor what people are saying; turn complaints or bad reviews into an opportunity to gain feedback and learn from your customers.
  3. Never ignore a complaint on social media; not only does this reflect poorly on you, it could also be a missed opportunity.
  4. Engage with your customers on social media; whether a comment or post is about a great experience or a complaint, it requires a prompt response.
  5. Use social media to improve customer service; this can be as simple as responding to a complaint, and shows customers you value them.

Connecting with customers is easy thanks to social media, creating the opportunity to provide exceptional customer service.  Your next response to customer feedback on social media doesn’t have to become an entire Twitter campaign – but it could!

How Do You Treat Your Champions?

What is a Brand Champion?Cheer

Brand Champions are some of the most valuable assets a business can have. You know the people that love love love you, tell all their friends and family, maybe they write a blog post, tweet, or share photos of your brand or product on social channels.

And that – that is HUGE. A digital Brand Champion who is willing to stand on the digital rooftops and share about you are is more influential than all your paid advertising.  See, as consumers, when we are look at new things to buy, we trust the recommendations of our friends more than the paid advertising spots.

Do you even know who your Brand Champions are?

If you haven’t already, look at who is opening, sharing, and forwarding your email newsletters. Keep a list. Look at who is tweeting, @mentioning you, and sharing your posts. Keep a list. Look at who is sending you referrals on a regular basis. Keep a list.

How do you treat them?

Do you say thank you? Do you retweet, repost, or @mention them on occasion? Do you offer them specials or VIP access to things? Maybe send them some swag? You should. They are fan-freaking-tastic. The influence they have on your potential new customers is priceless.

Want more Brand Champions?

See above. The point is, if you cultivate relationships with the people that are your biggest brand advocates, they will keep doing it. Passion is contagious. Ever notice on Facebook the one thing that 16 people shared? One person was passionate about something enough to share it. That passion compelled another person, and so on and so forth. So, in the big picture of things, if you cultivate the relationship of a few Brand Champions, you can exponentially increase your reach to many.

What went wrong?

If you’re thinking – “People used to love my company. What went wrong?” I ask you,  how did you treat your Brand Champions?  What did you do when your biggest brand advocate had an issue or a problem? Did you go out of your way to make it right? Or, are your britches so big that you said – “Eh, so what? It’s one account, one sale. So what if you go to my competitor?”

I had this happen to me twice in one day! Two separate companies (that don’t pay me or give me anything, yet I regularly give them digital love) both said “Nope that’s the rule, I won’t budge.” I was shocked.
Here’s the thing – if a client is willing to give you a chance to make it right, take it. Most will just leave. If you do make it right, the love they have for you will increase. If you don’t work with them to make them happy, you’re not losing a just a customer. You’ve lost a Champion. Think about that. If they go to a competitor and your competitor is good to them, your competitor didn’t just get a new customer. They probably got your Champion to root for them now.

H Schultz quote

Let the Journey Begin

I got a text on Wednesday morning offering me a ticket to the WIllow Creek Global Leadership Summit. (I love this conference. I just failed to get my early bird ticket and to ask off work. I really didn’t think it was in the cards for me to go.)PhotoGrid_1438959979580

“SURE!!” I replied.  “What do I need to do to “earn it??”

“Just post on your social platforms your experiences.”

“Sold!”

(DUH. I would do that even without asking!) I thought.

 

So I went out on a limb, asked my boss Casey Valiant at Signarama if I can ditch two important events and basically take two days off.

He didn’t even hesitate. “Sounds good,” he said. Part of me thinks he might be doing the happy dance for two days of quiet, but I really know that he cares. They all do – the Valiants are just those kind of people. They care about our personal growth as much as our professional growth.

The first thing I took note of was the companies who bought tickets and paid to send their leaders to a 2 day Christian-influenced conference.  Companies like Springleaf and FC Tucker, who sent over 20 people each. Others like Berry Plastics, Bethel Manor, Bob’s Gym, The Dream Center, Flanders Electric, GAF Roofing, Heritage Petroleum, Jacobsville Join-In, Old National Bank, Victoria National, and Walther’s Golf n Fun all sent leaders to this event.

The second was people like Sally and Dan who took vacation time to make sure that they could be here.

I had PAGES of notes and tweeted EVERYTHING.  Had to earn my ticket right? If you want my notes, go back and look at my twitter feed for those two days. If you want condensed notes, check out Trey McClain’s blog. He is the pastor of One Life West and my ticket sponsor.

During the last session.  Craig Groeschel, of LifeChurch.tv, killed it. He gave an example of how and why as your organization grows, your mindset has to change. He then offered 5 areas for us to improve.

1) Build your confidence.

2) Expand your connections.

3) Improve your competence.

4) Strengthen your character.

5) Increase your commitment.

He was very clear, we could only expand one area. Not 3, not 4 – ONE. He asked us to write all 5 down and be thinking on which one we would choose. He then went on to explain each.

As I listened, I thought “These are all really good. It’s hard to choose. Let me see. I think I am a good networker and have some strong connections. That’s my tag line after all. “Making connections to build community.” I can knock that one off the list.” I then listened to all the others as he explained.

 

Now came the time of truth. What to pick? As he called them off, we were supposed to stand. As he called off # 2 “Expand your connections,” I jumped up out of my seat like a kindergartner who had the answers. Wait What? That was at the bottom of the list?? Well, OK.

Expand your connections, it is.  So to make it stick, I tweeted:

I choose to expand my Connection. @craiggroeschel @lifechurchtv #GLS15 @onelifewest @treymcclain @DaleBeaver #HoldMeAccountable please

As soon as it was over, I rushed over to Trey. I thanked him for his part in what felt like something BIG brewing. I saw people waiting to talk to him, so I asked him to pray for me and moved back to start packing up. That’s when I realized Dan Sully was waiting to talk to me, not Trey.

He came up and pointed out a young gentleman, and told me we needed to meet. I then asked him if he had seen my last tweet.

“No, was it about international issues?” By then, the young man had made his way over and told me that it was nice to meet me. Dan had told him about me, and felt we had to meet. I shared with him what I just experienced. I told him that it’s not often you can be so sure that God wants you to meet someone.

“It’s VERY nice to meet you.” We continued our conversation as I packed up to leave.

Later that afternoon, I called Dale Beaver, my pastor, at Christian Fellowship Church.  I shard the story and asked for prayer.

As I was on the phone with him, I remembered the first time he really counseled and prayed with me about my business.  It was on a Monday. He preached on the Sunday before. (He wasn’t Senior Pastor at the time, so he didn’t preach every Sunday.) I still have his sermon notes.

“God made you to walk among those you love

and those you don’t yet know.”

Words he spoke in February of 2010 have been playing on endless loop like a bad 80’s song you can’t get out of your head.

I don’t have a clue where this mission/quest/challenge to expand my connections is going to take me. I don’t know how this story ends. But let the journey begin as I publicly commit to connect to more people on a deeper level, and open my heart to possibilities.

 

Tired of Getting Facebook Game Request Notifications?

As requested, by more than one person, today I will help you fix another annoying Facebook notification.   Your Friend has invited you to play <Insert annoying game you have no time for>

The Problem?

Annoying notifications about games and farms and crazy stuff you have no time for, and quite frankly you wonder what your friends are doing playing those games anyway.

So let’s fix it.

When you get one of the notifications like this one:   Simply hover over the notification and two things will appear on the far right side, A small circle and a small gray x. The circle is labeled, that is to say that when you hover over it, a small black box appears and says ” Read.” Note, that if you have previously read it, the circle is not filled in and is labeled “Unread.” The X is labeled “Turn off.” Click that X.   You will now be prompted with a question to make sure you really want to stop getting game notifications.   Click “Turn off.”   You now get a small print message that has two more  options.  “You will not get notifications from <Insert annoying game you have no time for> Undo  Report r spam”    That’s it. Done. Now you do have to do this for each game. Be patient. Do this every time you get a game notification and before you know it, you won’t have any game requests! #WritingFor30 What else frustrates you? I have to write on something every day for the next 30 days. I might as well answer some questions.  Follow along with the other #WritingFor30 bloggers with that hashtag.

Fix that Annoying Facebook Multiple Person Messaging Notification

We’ve all been a victim to it. Someone is having a party, needs addresses, wants you to vote for something…and they do it by sending out a Facebook message to you and 25 or more of their friends.

The Problem?

The endless notifications when each of them replies and comments with “reply all.”

So let’s fix it.

At the top of the message there is an “actions” dropdown. If you click it you get a list like this.

 

Simply click “Mute Conversation.” Now you will get no more notifications, but can step back into it and read what’s been going on at your connivance.

 

 

If you decide later that you want back in on it and want to be notified, just simply click “unmute”

#WritingFor30

What else frustrates you? I have to write on something every day for the next 30 days. I might as well answer some questions.  Follow along with the other #WritingFor30 bloggers with that hashtag.

Almost There…An Invitation…

 

 

If you have had me in class or follow me on social networks you know that I am a huge believer in Wayne Elsey, former CEO & founder of Soles4Souls, & author of the highly acclaimed book, “Almost Isn’t Good Enough.”   This  book has been such an inspiration to so many hard working, dedicated professionals, including myself, I would love to share what I’ve learned with you.  In his book, Wayne stresses the fact that  It’s all about the people.   It’s about making a difference. Yes it is written and geared toward NPO’s but the same principles apply in the business realm as well.

 

You deal with people. People are your life and your passion. You live to serve, & to make a difference, but the restraints of money, time and your board of directors are draining your passion.

If this is remotely how you feel, I invite you to join us for “Almost There”… a book discussion group where we will read thru “Almost isn’t Good Enough”  by Wayne Elsey.  It will be well worth your time, & refresh & inspire your mission as a servant leader.

The details are not all set. We need to know how many people are intersted, and what their schedules will allow for a meeting time.

Here is what we do know:


  • We will discuss the book and how it applies to YOUR situation.
  • 10 people will get a free hard cover book.
  • 5 people will get a free digital book.
  • Everyone will get a free study guide.
  • At the end we will have a live Google + hangout with Wayne.
  • Will be held in the greater Evansville area*
  • 6 weeks long with one 1.5 hour meeting per week
  • It’s free to attend.

 

If you are interested, please fill out this quick form and you will be contacted with more information soon.

*If you are NOT in the greater Evansville area and would like to attend or host an Almost There book disscussion in your area please fill out this quick form. We are working on some exciting resources, and will get them to you just as soon as they are available.

Using Social Might Not Help

I found today on one of my social networks, the head of a large corporation had made a post. He didn’t boast about how wonderful their products are, even though they are. He didn’t boast about their customer service and a care that you receive, although it’s the best. And he didn’t talk about how much effort and energy they put into making sure each of their locations has what they need to succeed as individual businesses, even though they do.

He instead used his social network to reach out.

He took his reach, his influence, and took opportunity to ask for prayer. The prayer was for someone in his network, a friend in his business. It was an employee.

He used his social influence to ask for prayer, care, consideration,

and uplifting thoughts for one of his employees.

He could have used that social network to post about all those previous things I mention. To me, as a consumer of that corporation’s product, it seems taking the time to show to you care about the people that you work with means just as much as knowing the greatness of their product.

You can be good on social platforms; you can hire someone to be good on social platforms for you.

  • If you have an inferior product, or service, social media won’t help your business.
  • If you don’t care about and respect your clients, social media won’t help your business.
  • If you don’t care and respect the people that make your business function:

Social media has the power to truly break your business.

Use your influence in meaningful ways.

Focus on your product, your customer service and your employees, first- other wise, using social might not help.

 

4 ways to Use Your Influence to Help

 

Do more than like

Like is good, but show the love

As more and more people flock to social media sites, like facebook, twittter, and youtube to get daily and in some cases hourly dose and over doses of information input, so too are businesses and not for profits following along. Go where the people are right?

As one of the people that not for profits are following to your favorite social site in hopes to get your attention, how can you use your influence to help?

Like is not enough

Ok, you band, youth group, club, church or other not for profit is on facebook and they asked you to like them. Great. But that’s not enough. Granted they’re going to have to provide good content and keep you informed. But other than just seeing it in your stream, what good does this do them?

1.  Share

If they share you share. Whether it’s a blog on the latest update, a picture of a cool event, or a link to a story written about them, share it on your platforms. And while you’re at it switch it up. If you want to truly leverage your influence, take what your NFP posted on fb and share it on twitter, or Linkedin. By mixing up the platforms you help your cause reach a greater audience both for that event or post and for greater awareness.

2. Support by attending

Was that a call to action they posted? Attend the event as a participant. If you use geolocation, check in and let people know your there and the details they need to do the same. Post pictures of you and the event on your social platforms.

3. Offer to help

Contact your NFP and ask if you can help. Sometimes one more set of hands is exactly what is needed. Offer your connections. Maybe it is an event that needs businesses to sponsor or support it. Offer to contact a few of your connections to present the opportunity.  Just as in selling, a warm introduction is always more profitable than a cold call. Don’t forget to post pictures.

4. Tell your story

Why do you support them? What did they do to win you over? If you, a family member or close friend has been impacted by a service or program from your favorite NFP, consider telling your story. Post it on your personal, or company blog. Don’t have one? Write it out anyway, and send it to them.

 

No matter how you do it, do more than like.

 

 

Social Media in the Classroom

In an article by the New York Times

this week, they discuss one of the biggest challenges I see every time I enter a classroom. I’m not a professor. I teach people of all ages to use social media to do whatever they’re doing in life better: In the classroom, to learn. Outside the classroom, to get a job, and to become the best in their industry or field.  Every time I walk into a classroom however, I get the same frustrating tag at the end of an introduction, “It’s time to learn, turn off your phones and laptops.” I usually tell them to turn them back on.

In this article, they discuss the use of “backchannels” – or conversations driven by technology (twitter, and other chatting platforms) where students are free to ask and answer questions of the teacher and their peers without having to be embarrassed by speaking out loud in front of the whole class.  One student stated:

“When you type something down, it’s a lot easier to say what I feel.”

Isn’t that what you strive for, a way to encourage classroom participation?

 

Sugato Chakravarty, who lectures about personal finance at Purdue University,said before the backchannel tools:

“I could never get people to speak up.”  “Everybody’s intimidated.” “It’s clear to me,” he added, “that absent this kind of social media interaction, there are things students think about that normally they’d never say.”

What are your students thinking, but not saying?


The students who’ve been allowed to express themselves in a way that’s comfortable to them, digitally, have shared with us how they feel. In their own words:

“Everybody is heard in our class,” ~Leah Postman, 17.

“It’s made me see my peers as more intelligent, seeing their thought process and begin to understand them on a deeper level.”  ~Janae Smith, 17

That would do it for me, but I’m not a professor. Yes, there are fears and risks to deal with. But what else is holding you back? What can we do to convince you to overcome these fears and give your students an opportunity to be heard?

Again the students say it best:

 

“We tend to have the attitude that someone else will do it. But what happens when everyone thinks the same as you?”

“It only takes one individual to change,” another typed.

“If you want something to change you have to be willing to be that voice.”

“It really shows the impact one change can make,” a third student wrote.

“I agree with Katie!” someone added. “This class has given us a voice!”

Please post your comments. Tell me what we (the Social Media Club Education Advisory Board) can do to help you overcome your fear, answer questions, offer support…. So that you can give a voice to one student more who might just be the voice that can make a difference in your class room, to a peer, or to make a major change in the world?

Join us as we discuss this topic on the regular weekly twitter chat:  #smcedu  Mon 12:30pm

 

Not sure how to participate in a twitter chat? Here is a simple guide on how to participate in a twitter chat .