Mar
11th

Oneupweb : Oh, Be Careful …

Posted by Doug on March 11, 2010 at 4:44 pm

What do we do when we’re squeezed? When the pressure is on?

I’ll tell you the first thing I am tempted to do, every time: hide. Instead, I’m sure to do the right thing, because I’ve been taught to do it, practiced doing it, and been rewarded for doing it.

And the truth is, if you are doing anything significant, it will be noticed by others, for better or for worse.

You notice, right? There are people you expect to be smart enough to know when they are about to do something frightfully stupid—and to stop. Examples on my list with which we are familiar include the “grocery shrink-ray”, out-of-control congressional spending, and (as a software developer, I have to mention) software patents. The fallen companies, would-be heroes or respected leaders in today’s news are only the most recent in a long line.

When I notice these things, I had better quickly remind myself, “Hello! They probably are as smart as you are! So what’s the difference?” The first difference has got to be that humble self-recognition, and the second, equally important, is accountability. Because no matter how smart you are, you will never see your own faults like someone else will.

If you don’t listen to your friends when they advise you to change course, any guess to whom you will soon be listening? That’s right, your enemies who are capitalizing on your lapse now that it’s gone public. I’m glad I have had people in my life (starting with my parents) who had the nerve to hold me accountable. Those times are some of the most painful memories in my life, but without fail ushered in new and exciting opportunities.

The same lesson holds true in online marketing and for digital marketing agencies. Accountability is key. You should be working with an agency that is accountable for their work and the results it does or doesn’t provide. And, when working with an agency, consider the outside perspective they’ve been hired to bring to your brand. Do they provide adequate analytics package that gives a holistic picture of the digital marketing campaigns you’re paying them to create and manage? If not, they certainly should. And with the hundreds of platforms available today, there’s no excuse not to. That, after all, is the beauty of digital marketing. It can be tracked and the results, good and bad, accounted for.

“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” – Saul of Tarsus

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Jan
15th

Self Destruction Is Now Less Imminent – Both Online And Offline

Posted by Dave on January 15, 2010 at 3:03 pm

2010 is already looking up. For only the 19th time since its introduction in 1947, the time on The Doomsday Clock has been updated. On January 14th, the clock was updated from 11:55pm to 11:54pm. This change was made to reflect “a more hopeful state of world affairs,” and was announced over a live feed on Turnbacktheclock.org.

The quote, “a more hopeful state of world affairs,” can be applied to much more than just The Doomsday Clock. For many online retailers, 2010 is a year that needs to show improvement. And the good news is that the potential is there.

According to comScore, the 2009 holiday e-commerce season saw a four percent increase in spending over the 2008 season. Although not huge, this increase is a good sign of hope for 2010. People are still shopping online and although they are spending less, (1.5 percent less than 2008) comScore reports that the number of online shoppers still rose six percent (or by 8.7 million people). In addition, 2009 saw an increase in the number of people who turned to social media outlets to influence their online buying habits. 28 percent of consumers said that social media had some influence over their holiday purchase decisions.

What does this mean for your 2010 online marketing strategy? With more people shopping online and increasingly looking to social media sites to guide their decisions, it’s critical for your business to have a solid digital marketing plan in a place. It’s essential that this plan integrates both organic positions and utilizes social media in order to monitor and interact with your audience. Doing this will also help to build a positive brand image.

It’s not only about people finding your company online, but also what they learn about your business from other sites. Do you know what’s being said about your company? And what message are you sending about your company?

Remember, 2010 is full of opportunity if you know where to reach your audience. If you need help creating an online marketing plan, Oneupweb can certainly help.

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Dec
31st

Service, Please

Posted by Angie Reed on December 31, 2009 at 10:22 am

There’s nothing more frustrating than being put on hold by a customer service representative, only to never be retrieved. Or how about when you’re searching all over a store for a sales associate, and when you finally locate him/her, you’re greeted by a dumbfounded mumble, “This isn’t my department.” (Like you’re expected to know that already or something?) And I’m sure everyone has experienced the customer service rep (in my case, the cable guy) who says he’ll be at your house sometime between noon and 5pm, and then never shows. And the worst part about it—receiving the, “We’re sorry we missed you!” sticker the next day.

I ask myself time and time again why companies think this type of customer service (or lack thereof) is acceptable? And I often wonder if perhaps 2010 will be any different than the last in terms of quality customer care.

Personally, I’m sick of the lousy service that seems to be the standard today. And now that the holidays are over, I’m predicting that any decent customer care being doled out is likely to vanish as quickly as Christmas came and went. I have rarely returned to a business after having experienced poor customer service—I guess I’m not one for second chances. And I definitely don’t mind venting about that experience with friends, family, coworkers or on social media sites. My weapon of choice—Facebook.

But are companies really willing to lose billions because of substandard customer service? A recent study by Greenfield Online, “The Cost of Poor Customer Service: The Economic Impact of the Customer Experience and Engagement”, found that a total of $338.5 billion in revenue was lost overall per year. So to answer my question, I guess they are.

With many businesses experiencing slumping sales, it doesn’t seem like the right time to be slacking on service. Saving money wherever possible will certainly help the bottom line—but perhaps businesses should consider alternative ways of doing this before sacrificing the great customer service reps answering the phones. (Like maybe using a less expensive brand of toilet paper?) Okay, okay—but you get the point.

Or another smart move might be browsing through the services offered at Oneupweb—in particular, online reputation management. Because people are talking about your brand, and whether it’s good or bad, your business should really know what’s being said about it.

I hope that 2010 will be remembered as the year that customer service turned itself around—but regardless, it pays to have the pros on your side when it comes to monitoring what’s being said about your brand online. And one thing’s for certain, at Oneupweb we’re pros at what we do. And best of all, we throw in the exceptional customer service at no charge.

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Dec
17th

How Negative Experiences Can Lead To Positive Outcomes

Posted by admin on December 17, 2009 at 11:36 am

Picture, if you will, a man taking a well-earned vacation to Las Vegas, ready to enjoy a few days away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. After carefully planning out his trip, booking travel arrangements and hotel accommodations, slogging through TSA security and several airport terminals, he finally arrives at his destination: Planet Hollywood. After a full day of enjoying all that the city has to offer, he comes back to his room to sit down and have a nice, relaxing smoke only to discover that there is no ashtray! After calling down to the front desk to complain about the distinct lack of ash-receptacles in the room, he is told that he is in a non-smoking room and that smoking in there would be a bad idea. Luckily, there was an unoccupied smoking room available and he was able to switch rooms with little hassle. But during all of this, there was no apology, no offer to move his bags, no anything other than the room switch.

Irked, our intrepid vacationer set out to let the world know of this grave injustice. Having signed up as a Facebook fan of Planet Hollywood previously, he logged on and left this comment on their wall:

“Here now. Wow, bad customer service.“

He had been wronged, and it would not go unnoticed! Little did he know how true that was because shortly thereafter, Planet Hollywood dropped off a cart of various fruits, chocolates, cheeses, crackers and wine with a note reading,

“Hope this makes up for the problems. Our sincere apologies, your Planet Hollywood Facebook friends.“

With the explosive growth of social media, people are able to communicate their experiences, both good and bad, to a much larger audience quicker than ever before. Whereas previously, this person may have told one or two people once he got back from his trip that Planet Hollywood messed up his room assignment, he now has the ability to let thousands of potential Planet Hollywood customers know about his negative experience within seconds of it happening. More importantly, this affords companies the ability to fix problems quickly and efficiently, turning a dissatisfied vacationer into a potential lifelong customer—all for the cost of some cheese and crackers.

Establishing a positive social media presence isn’t as simple as setting up a Twitter account or a Facebook page and calling it a day. It requires daily maintenance, monitoring and attention, all things that Oneupweb can do for you. Our reputation management specialists will monitor your social media accounts for feedback, both positive and negative, and relay that information to you in near real-time so that you can ensure that your clients and customers have the best experience possible.

And honestly, when the cost of brand loyalty is an occasional fruit basket or bottle of wine, can you really afford not to?

Thanks to Consumerist for the story.

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Dec
3rd

Online Reputation Management: Who Said What About Your Company?

Posted by Dave on December 3, 2009 at 4:59 pm

“Did you hear what Cindy said about Jane?” From accounting, to marketing, to sales and IT, office gossip travels quickly. In a small office, what Cindy said about Jane can work its way through everyone, including Jane, in a matter of hours. And as a result, Jane hates Cindy and HR has a new employee conflict resolution case to deal with.

Okay, so online reputation management is a bit more complicated than that, but you get the idea. Online reputation management (ORM) is a relatively new addition to the online marketing landscape. But as the amount of user-generated content continues to rapidly increase, ORM is quickly becoming one of the most important parts of creating a successful online presence and effectively managing brand image.

It’s true—the majority of purchases take place in person at brick-and-mortar stores. However, more and more people are going online to do comparison shopping before heading out to the stores. Many of the current surveys about consumer behavior reveals that a large percentage of shoppers go online to find out about a company or product by reading consumer reviews or consulting with others on their social networking sites. And the end result? These online interactions have the ability to directly impact how consumers view your brand.

Currently, many reputations are being damaged by the wrong response or by no response at all. Take for example, Wal-Mart. A search for the term “Walmart” on Google returns three very anti-Wal-Mart sites on the first page. Wakeupwalmart.com, Walmartwatch.com and Peopleofwalmart.com. These sites, all very disparaging toward the company in their own way, take aim at everything from the healthcare plans Wal-Mart provides, to the people who frequent the stores. They fly directly in the face of the message displayed on the Walmart.com home page. Save money. Live better.

Up to this point, Wal-Mart has done very little to defend their brand against these sites. In fact, although there has been a great deal of talk about Peopleofwalmart.com since it went live in August of 2009 and the legality of the site, none of the talk has been from Wal-mart. If they continue to sit idly by, and let their brand be belittled, the lasting effects may be irreversible.

Do you know what your customers are saying about you? How about ex-employees and competitors? Information travels quickly online, and if you are not listening and responding appropriately to what is being said, your brand image may be suffering the consequences.

What is being said about your company online? If you don’t know the answer to that question, you need to find out. Effective online reputation management through monitoring, analyzing and responding to online communications can help prevent business loss and ensure ongoing success.

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