Twitter powers a digital dialogue with our world-wide King of Shaves consumer community!
The growth of Twitter since its launch by Obvious Corporation, a US tech company in 2006 has been one of the most talked about internet phenomena since Facebook, YouTube & Ebay. Why? Well, far from simply being seen as a way for you to let others know what you might be doing (I’m in Starbucks enjoying a (RED) cup of coffee) it’s a way for consumer centric companies to interact in a real time basis with their consumers. I probably spend an hour or so throughout the day on Twitter (via a management console called Tweetdeck) seeing what customers are saying about our products, good and bad, and what they are saying about our competitors’ products. And, of course, what’s going on generally.
We’ve always tried to be early adopters where the internet is concerned, I ‘famously’ bought the domain shave.com for US$35 in 1995, and we were the first toiletries brand in the UK to sell online, in 1999.
I personally administer our twitter.com/KingofShaves account in the UK, and as a result, have built up a following of over 1,100 people who seem interested and engaged in what we’re doing at King of Shaves to make men’s & women’s shaving and skincare, better. As a result, we are featured on a number of important lists, and within my followers, have a number of people who are strongly engaged enough with our brand to RT (retweet) my tweets to their followers. In the USA, one of my colleagues, Diane Wood administers the twitter.com/QueenofShaves account
Think of it as ‘minute by minute’ Google Newsalerts on what people are saying about you. And you have the ability to almost instantly respond, explain, get into an email dialogue, resolve customer queries, explain product usage, and if people are dissatisfied with our products for any reason, quickly engage with them to get to the heart of the matter. And, of course, if people are happy with our products, are praising them, engage in a dialogue with them, thanking them for taking the time to ‘tweet their satisfaction’, maybe sending them a little gift or a hint or tip.
For this to successfully work within any size of organisation, the person administering the twitter account must be delegated the responsibility to behave sensibly, proactively and of course, with the employer’s blessing. Obviously, as CEO of King of Shaves I am ‘my own boss’ with regard to what I do & don’t say via twitter – once you’ve tweeted out something, remember, it’s out there forever – and increasingly visible now that Google, and in time Bing, will search index it, so before you start tweeting your little customer centric heart out, be sure you have the blessing of your manager or Director.
Twitter is yet to charge for using it, and of course – in the spirit of all massively valuable internet businesses – yet to make money, and in time this will change. Whether brand ‘owners’ are ‘charged’ for using it, whether it becomes ad-supported (a la Google adwords) or whether News Corporation buy it, slap a 20s delay on tweets, and use it as a news gathering function to get them ahead of the competition, it will continue to evolve, and probably – one day – cost.
But for the moment, it’s a great way for genuinely customer centric brands and companies to engage in a digital dialogue with their consumers.
Get interacting, go tweet, get consumers involved with you
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13 Comments
I’m one of Will’s followers and can testify first hand just how useful and valuable Twitter can be in providing a direct (or more direct) link between customer and business.
I like what King of Shaves is doing and after many years as a Gillette user have decided to ditch them and get behind Will and his company as I feel they are more in tune with their customers and also the fact that they are a UK brand.
I sent Will a direct message through http://twitter.com/KingofShaves asking if I could have his email to send him some feedback on his Azor razor. He gave this straight away, and to cut a long story short, after suggesting a way that they could improve their blades even further, I was sent a new one to trial, which they are now looking to put into production in the coming months.
Not only do I feel that it’s fantastic that people like Will are listening to their customers by allowing them to send direct feedback in this way, but this positive experience has also cemented my loyalty to the King of Shaves brand and meant that I have already started spreading the word about the company and will continue to do so from here on in.
All hail the power of Twitter to send customer feedback, and long live the King (of Shaves)! ;o)
Paul Lancaster
Web Development Executive
http://www.shell-livewire.org
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Thanks Paul, your post much appreciated, i’ve also blogged it at brandroyalty.com & blogs.shave.com/king. Best, wk
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This reads well. Would you ever consider guest posting on one of my blogs? Nicely done, Steven.
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we enjoyed reading this blog, you totally knocked it out of the ballpark! I have forwarded a link to my dad, and shall surely be returning back for update.
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Fantastic, I did not heard about that up to now. Cheers.
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Hi Will,
A week back I tweet you to ask you if I could ask you some questions regarding your perspective on retaining consumer loyalty in today’s marketplace and you told me to send you a message at the consumer forum.
Actually I’m doing a research project on customer loyalty and satisfaction in today’s marketplace as part of my interview process for a job as a conference manager. I need to speak to industry leaders and have heard so much about how KingofShaves makes it a point to be intune with their customers and to take their customers’ feedback seriously, thereby attracting a new and growing group of loyal customers and eating into an industry which was once monopolised by a particular brand. As such, I am wondering if you could give me your email address or we could speak directly for me to ask you some questions regarding your view on customer loyalty and satisfaction in today’s market?
I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Cheers,
Dennesa
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The content here is truly important.
I will refer it to my friends.
Cheers
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I stumbled across this site and it caught my attention, I am a new business looking to improve my service and build a positive reputation. I have read some useful tips on this Blog and will definately return in the future.
Thanks
Lindsay Wakelin Photography
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