Like me and let the conversation continue

You buy a cup of coffee and the cashier hands you a receipt with an incentive to join the company’s Facebook page. You’re not completely sure if you should. What the cashier forgot was that your order was messed up, you waited for more than 10 minutes, and the manager was not in the store. So what do you do?

You like the brand on Facebook only to tell all your friends about your bad experience. Isn’t it ironic that you have to like them to tell them that you really do not like them!

A complete stranger walks up to you in the parking lot and hands you a flyer. It is a coupon to your favorite store, plus a chance to win a digital reader. Would you give this stranger your phone number? Would you introduce the stranger to your family and friends? Would you invite the stranger into your home?

Yet the same thing happens online and you willingly become friends via an unknown brand ambassador – perhaps a sponsored story via a friend of a friend.

Soon, both brands, the coffee company and your favorite store start communicating with you as if they are your best friend. Offers pour in, they are personalized as if they know you, and they touch you more times in one week than you call your best friend Jill in one month!

Let’s bring this closer to home. Our consumer walks up to an ATM, we ask them to choose their language, next we ask them what they want to do, now while the cash is being counted we tell them that we an awesome offer for them. Really! You do not know that I speak English, you do not remember my favorite transaction, and suddenly you pretend like you know what is best for me!

Financial institutions have an incredible opportunity to leverage data, consumer trust, and mobility to build interactive relationships with the consumer in both the real and the virtual world.

Imagine a transaction that started an ATM with, “Hello Kate” (she speaks English). “Do you still want $120?” (They remembered.) Now, while the transaction is being “readied,” the financial institution can leverage the warmth to make a targeted offer. If you do this well, you can continue the conversation on social media.

Rather than asking Kate to like your institution, why not ask Kate about her experience or remind her about something important – like a bill that needs to be paid or an upcoming renewal of a certificate of deposit. Or, even think about prompting her to visit your social media site.

“How much does a family of four spend on drinks if they were to eat out every week of the year?” Check out our Facebook page to see how much we spend (leads to a like), download a budget calculator (could be an app), and pick up a coupon for appetizers at one of five restaurants (you start building up their preferences).

This same transaction can take place on online banking, at a branch, or even at the call center. The key is that the institution should recognize the consumer, know what they want, and try their best to help the consumer along.

Successful consumer engagement is driven less by likes and more by what happens after the like – both in the real and the virtual world.

Successful social media brands have used social media to do five things –

1 – Find compatible consumers
2 – Know more about their consumers
3 – Inspire their consumers to become brand ambassadors
4 – Listen to learn about their consumers, and
5 – Look for ways to quantify the return on effort and investment.

You can do even better if you look for ways to merge real world and virtual transactions – social integration is a key mantra for success. It pays to integrate your marketing efforts to show your consumer that you know what is going on.

Financial institutions need to look for ways to leverage consumer trust, consumer preferences, and consumer interaction to build long term mutually profitable relationships. Integrated marketing is the key mantra to driving consumer engagement.

- See more at: http://blogs.ncr.com/ncr-banking/consumer_experience/emarketing/like-me-and-let-the-conversation-continue/