Get the Positive Social Media Comments From Your Customers? HOW?

Most of the time, when somebody asks about social networking these days, the query involves whether that person themselves has a Twitter, Facebook or MySpace account. And while having one of these accounts and having people follow you is important for your business, that is only half of the story.

As far as how to handle the unsolicited side of social networking, I think you need the following things:

The other half involves getting your customers to write about you on their blogs, social networks, or twitter feeds. A recent study by the College of Information and Technology at Pennsylvania State University showed that 22% of tweets are consumer opinions. Businesses are finding this to be an effective way of getting and keeping customers, since people trust testimonials over they trust advertising. It is an unsolicited and unpaid form of advertising, which has proven to be very effective.

1.) A REALLY nice product or service

Let's face it, if what you are selling is bad, then your chances of getting people to say nice things about it are very low and no tip is going to help you, nor should it.

2.) Make it very easy for the customer to post or tweet about you

This is the most important thing. People on the Web have no patience for slow and cumbersome. If something takes long, they won't do it, even if properly motivated. So, you need to make sure it is VERY easy for them to send out positive feedback about your services or products.

Ways to do this include using buttons on your website, such as the "Become a Fan" or "Share" ones offered by Facebook. And of work, you should include Tweet this buttons as well.

Besides adding these buttons to your website and blog, you can add buttons and links to the bottom of emails sent from your business. be careful about going over board and appearing as a spammer. That is like a kiss of death for your company. The hard sell is out - ask somebody.

But, you can certainly add a button or link to the bottom of an order confirmation or follow-up. Something like, "If you liked this product or service, tell us about it" to solicit testimonials, or "Share your experience with others" to get them to tweet or post about their experience.

3.) Ability to track what is being said about your business

Oh, and you should definitely be using Google Alerts as well. This free tool will send keyword generated alerts to your inbox in whatever intervals you specify. This is a must for keeping track of what is being said about you.

Without this, the next one are not possible. SocialMention.com is a great website which allows you to get alerts about keywords posted on a wide range of social media sites, such as blogs, microblogs, networks, bookmarks, comments, images, news, video, audio, Q & A and all of the above. You can sign up to get a daily alert by email. There's some sites that offer paid services to track these things for you and if you have a gigantic business, then that might be warranted. But, I think most tiny business owners should opt for the free services.

If you or somebody else is monitoring the social network to see what is said about the company, then you also need to take the time to collect and post any positive statements on your own blog, website, twitter feed, etc. Take advantage of the nice things that are said and make sure as plenty of people see it as possible.

4.) The commitment to re-tweet or re-post any positive things said about you or your company

In addition to focusing on the positive things said about your business, you should also look for the bad things as well. If a customer says something bad about your business, try contacting them and attempt to make amends. This is a great opportunity for you to turn this around. If you do a nice job, the customer.

5.) The commitment to engage customers that post or tweet nice or bad things about your business

Like most social media goals, getting customers to say nice things about your service or product has more to do with fostering a nice relationship which is based on trust and respect. It's less to do with gimmicks designed to trick the customer in to saying something nice. If you have to do tricks, then what you have will never succeed in the long run.

source: http://ezinearticles.com