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Don Crowther's
GreatPR Newsletter
Published by 101PublicRelations.com
Issue #117
In This Issue:
How To Annoy Your Customers
I sometimes wear ties. Mind you, I'm dragged kicking and screaming into the ancient and abominable art of male torture through neck binding, but I still occasionally put one on. And I get bored with them, so I'm always on the lookout for good looking ones.
So when I saw a Facebook ad offering Four Quality Ties for $1, they got my click.
(Notice that they specifically say "No hidden fees!" in the ad.)
By doing so I got wrapped up into one of the best examples of how to deceive and annoy your customers that I've seen in weeks.
The landing page seems well designed with a photo at the top, 18 ties that you can select, an order form on the bottom left and testimonials on the bottom right. The bottom of the page even has a guarantee and trust-type seals.
No mention of shipping charges, no mention of any other obligations. It appears on the surface to be a program designed to allow customers the ability to buy a sample of their wares at an inexpensive price.
It looked good, I was about to reward good marketing with my order. I was about ready to start choosing ties, when I noticed that you are required to check a box stating that you have read and agreed to their terms & conditions. I click that box, and the real deal is reveled:
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Now I get it.
First they want $14.95 for shipping and handling. I can reluctantly accept that, even though I know real shipping is only a fraction of that amount, because I'm only paying a buck for the ties. I'm still getting a better deal than in a store.
But then I get into the fine print. By buying I'm automatically enrolling in a Wholesale Discount Club for "just $7.49 per month, billed annually." So if I don't tell them within 14 days from my signup date (note, if shipping takes a week, it's only 7 days from receipt,) they're hitting my card for $89.88. For that I get nothing other than the right to buy more ties for $19.99 each (probably plus $14.95 s&h, so they're probably $35 ties.)
Interesting deal - I've gone from an expectation of spending a buck plus some probably outrageous shipping costs to forking over $90 to have the privilege of overpaying for ties for a year. (I'm assuming these ties are of the quality that you would pick up at a Wal*Mart, not a fine men's store - admittedly, I could be wrong.)
But more importantly, they promised me "No hidden fees!" and a relationship I could trust. What I got was clearly not what I had expected.
I'm sure their refund and chargeback rate is astronomical.
Notice that I didn't provide their company name or URL here - I didn't want to inadvertently send them any business!
Lessons to be learned:
- Don't lie. Lying is bad.
- If you want to build an offer for something that will be in addition to your advertised offer, don't slide it in on the sly, tell your customers about it, and sell them on the benefits of your offer. Be explicit, and sell it, don't do the bare minimum to pass a legal challenge.
- Recognize that in today's world the consumer has a voice and that voice can be VERY effective in driving people away from you. Do you want people talking about how horrible you are to deal with, and how you ripped them off, or singing your praises. It's up to you!
Needless to say, I didn't buy any ties from this company. I wouldn't recommend that you do so either.
Even if you're forced to practice the abominable act of male neck binding...
You Need A Media Kit
Media kits and online media kits are essential tools for getting publicity. Reporters want them, and they're great for handing out to others who want more information about your company.
Got one? No?
Then get one.
They're not hard to put together. The key is to know what to put into them so you're not wasting your money or the reporter's time.
Check out our special report How To Create Powerful Press Kits and Online Media Kits.
Twitterable? What To Twitter About
A great deal of your success on Twitter is based on what you choose to Twitter about.
We covered this a bit in last week's article, but it's worth reconsidering and going deeper.
The key is to recognize that every follower you have on Twitter is earned, and that every post you write has the potential to attract more followers or to drive off the ones you already have.
No stress...
First some don'ts:
- In last week's article we stressed the importance of NOT filling your Twitter feed with totally personal items that nobody cares about. Don't greet the world when you get up, tell them what you had for breakfast, or when you're going to bed. Unless you're a celebrity, who people actually get paid for taking pictures of you doing those things, twittering on those subjects will just push people away.
- Don't do inside jokes that only a few people will understand.
- Don't complain about the world. Nobody likes whiners in real life, and they certainly aren't going to continually follow you if you do it online.
- Don't use it as a place for spouting off on whatever subject is on your mind at the moment. Think, then write.
- Unless your audience is following you because of your religious or political views, you generally should stay away from those subjects. Sorry, I know. You'll never believe how hard it was for me to not hit the enter key after writing some amazing posts during the recent US election...
Now some do's:
- Figure out what audience you really want to have, and what kinds of posts will attract them. Then write those posts.
- Balance your information with information from others in your posts. When you make a post about something someone else has done, try to add your slant on that subject to add value. (All in 140 characters, of course.)
- A recent study has shown that information that is unique to you is one of the best attractors of new audience and retweets. If you don't have some, go get some. Or, at least give your slant on things. The more unique you can be, rather than being yet another person saying the same thing, the more likely you are to build a tribe of followers.
- Read Set Godin's book, Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us. Use it. That's what you're doing.
- Add personal touches that are unique to you from time to time. Though most of my posts are pure business, when I've posted that my daughter got married, that my son got accepted to his dream college, and that I had just gotten finished writing my weekly letter to my kids, the response was overwhelmingly positive. People like seeing a bit of humanness in you, just don't overwhelm them with daily doses of the useless.
- Wisdom's good. Especially if it's yours. But in a pinch, a quote by someone famous (especially that oft-quoted guy "Anonymous" - have you ever wondered what his royalties must be?) will work.
- Twitter often. Several times a day is good. It's only 140 characters, a few seconds, sheesh!
- Save up your best stuff for morning hours in the Eastern U.S. A recent study shows that posts made during that timeframe are most likely to get retweeted (passed along to others.)
A couple of other tips:
- Don't pitch your business right out of the box. Shockingly, about 80% of the people who send me a private message include their URL in the very *first* communication they have with me. That's just not cool. Build trust, then tell people about your business.
- Some people use a strategy of interacting with their readers by using @ replies liberally. Frankly, many people think that's rude. If you want to have a private conversation, have a private conversation by using d theirusername rather than @theirusername. @ sends the message to everyone, d just to them.
This is a public medium, so keep your private conversations to yourselves.
Admittedly, some people totally disagree with this, and you can turn off the receipt of @ replies in twitter (highly recommended,) but many people refuse to follow people who have high levels of @ replies and comments that aren't of general interest in their post lists.
- If you're going to send something on that someone else has written, it's appropriate to "retweet" it. Type RT @theirusername then the point they made. That attributes the information to the source.
By the way, one of the key measures of Twitter success is the number of times you've been retweeted. We'll cover how to improve your retweet rate in a future article.
Let me know how your Twitter campaign is working. I'm always interested!
And, if you decided to follow me on Twitter last week, welcome. If you didn't here's your chance!
Click the follow button underneath my picture.
Have an incredibly successful week!
Don Crowther
President
101PublicRelations.com
Follow me on Twitter
Friend me on Facebook
Connect with me on LinkedIn
See articles from a recent issue of this newsletter:
And from the one before that:
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