It seems like every time I hear the words “Public Relations,” “social media” follows them. While social media has become an essential component of public relations practice (and life), another trend is quickly growing. Only one difference; it isn’t anything new at all. In fact, many would refer to it as “old-school.” I am talking about the importance of establishing and building personal relationships.
Social media is splendid because it has the power to reach thousands of people whenever it is convenient. Your message is no longer lost if someone does not make it home for their regular television show. It remains in the Twitter or Facebook timeline whenever they are ready for it. On the flipside, though, this leads to an overload of information. Due to the fact that social media is often free, virtually limitless and incredibly easy, one person might receive tens of messages a week. This is why many companies are reverting back to special services, traditional mail, and personal contact in lieu of Facebook fan pages.
In 2008 Starbucks Corporation introduced their Gold Card program, which offered their loyal customers a 10% discount on purchases after paying a $25 annual fee. They also mailed coupons to try new products to these customers. The popularity of this program led them to create a new free rewards program with many of the same benefits. Following the introduction of this program their First Quarter FY2010 store sales grew 4%. They are taking the corporate coffee shop business and making it personal.
J. Crew, Inc. has a similar method of building lasting relationships with their customers through their Personal Shopper service. Personal Shoppers work on building clients for J.Crew stores through complimentary personal shopping appointments and personal communication. Their personal shoppers become friends with their clients resulting in higher sales. The J. Crew clients feel special and unique and treat shopping there as an activity rather than a chore. J. Crew is one of very few box retail stores that offers this service and is setting precedence.
In a research study Kristy Reynolds and Sharon Beatty found that “consumers select services on the basis of benefits they desire,” (Reynolds & Beatty, 13). The benefits could be product information or special services, for example. They also found that a positive and constant interaction with salespeople fulfills their human needs and results in “outcomes such as loyalty, positive word of mouth, and satisfaction,” (Reynolds & Beatty, 13).
I have found that while it is still necessary for companies to tweet, perhaps they should go old school and work on being personal for a while, give Facebook a rest.
New Starbucks Gold. Web source: www.pulpconnection.net
Sources:
Reynolds, K. E. & Beatty, S. E. Customer Benefits and Company Consequences of Customer-Salesperson Relationships in Retailing. www.sciencedirect.com
Starbucks Corporation. Starbucks Reports Record Quarterly Earnings. www.news.starbucks.com
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