Strategy for using YouTube for communicating with customers
Social media tools such as YouTube have become essential for most organizations. In turn, organizations have turned them into management tools. YouTube has become one of the social media business communities uses in promoting their customer relationships. Management teams have learnt to keep their video messages short and to the point. They mainly focus on customers’ queries and benefits. YouTube is present everywhere. However, YouTube may be a cluttered choice for presenting business cases. As a result, companies have to develop a strategy in order to fit in the social media platform for CRM. Before developing any YouTube strategy, top executives and management teams must believe in it. The strategy is necessary to prevent any misunderstanding and highlights the necessity of YouTube to the company’s overall goal of customer management (Baltzan and Phillips, 2009).
First, the company must determine its goals and objectives when embracing YouTube as CRM tool. YouTube must provide a collaborative approach to solving customers’ concerns. In the case study, Broadway Café must solve issues of long queues and relate them to the company’s overall customer management objectives.
Second, Broadway Café must research the effectiveness of YouTube among its customers in relation to other social media platforms for promoting business and managing customers. This step is vital since it determines the relevancy of YouTube to both the business and customers. This strategy must also establish the target audience for YouTube as a CRM tool.
Third, Broadway Café must create contents of the YouTube in solving unusually long queues customers experience during peak hours when the demands for cappuccinos and frappachunios are high. Contacts and content are essential when the company wants to reach its customers. The contact list should contain customers who are critical for the success of the business.
Fourth, the strategy should focus on developing relationships with customers through conversations. The management can achieve this by engaging on blog posts and forums, responding to questions, and joining groups within the industry.
Fifth strategy aims at strengthening the relationships between the business and customers. YouTube almost provides a face-to-face interaction. The management teams should also attend events related to their industry in order to network and expand their knowledge base.
Sixth, Broadway Café should measure results of its objectives regarding adoption of YouTube as a CRM tool and the company’s overall business objectives. YouTube should manage customers and increase brand visibility across other social media platforms. The management should analyze both positive and negative comments regarding unusual long lines and prolonged waiting hours. The company must also aim at developing and strengthening its relationships with its existing and potential customers.
Seventh, the management should analyze the results from the YouTube, adapts the new revelations regarding their customers’ management and improve upon them. In the case study, Broadway Café may find it easy in adapting since it has four employees who are able to learn new machines quickly.
Broadway Café should integrate YouTube into its overall objectives and goals regarding customer service. YouTube should provide a suitable strategy for addressing customers’ complains or company’s failure to deliver excellent customer services. However, if the company has no YouTube strategy, then YouTube as a CRM tool will overwhelm its management and eventually failure.
Pros and cons of using YouTube as a customer communication vehicle
Like any other CRM tool, YouTube also has pros and cons as a CRM communication platform. YouTube can create a powerful platform for improving relationships with customers and building brand loyalty. At the same time, a company’s strategy should also focus where most customers are i.e. the social media channels (Paine, 2011). YouTube can reach most customers quickly and anywhere. Consequently, attempts to manage and promote the business can reach many customers anywhere. A company that actively engages in YouTube enhances its brand perception through the valuable comments that customers provide. These are necessary in improving brands and customer service. YouTube also gives the management a chance to participate in online conversations where they learn about customers’ concerns, problems, and preferences.
Most customers no longer rely on mails and phone calls in escalating their problems and getting feedback. A number of them now use blog posts and forums to discuss and offer solutions of their experiences (Anderson and Kerr 2001). YouTube provides an opportunity in which a company can offer feedback to customers’ queries and improve their loyalty. Likewise, when problems emerge such as long waiting lines, customers are curious to know how the company will resolve such problems. Most customers want solution fast enough. Therefore, YouTube provides fast and affordable opportunity to offer apologies and respond to most customers’ concerns.
Conversely, YouTube may also have cons as a CRM platform. Online media require a lot of time to keep customers updated. Consequently, the management must keep on responding to strings of feedback it receives from customers. In fact, updates must be on a daily basis and at the same time, interesting and relevant to all customers’ needs, which can be difficult tasks. YouTube strategy as a CRM platform can be a long-term strategy. Therefore, a company may not realize the results immediately in case of building and promoting brand loyalty. Organizations that lack strategy may end up with several voices representing one brand. This is where more than an individual is posting videos, messages and offers responses on YouTube platform. In most cases, the company risks receiving negative comments and feedback that may damage the brand reputation. Likewise, any video on YouTube is open to public criticisms and comments. Negative feedback from such situations may prove difficult for most companies to manage (Blanchard, 2011).
Emerging technologies to compete YouTube as customer communication tool
YouTube is valuable platform that provides chances for CRM processes. As a result, most management teams have turned to it in order to handle some customers’ problems using video messages. However, YouTube has become overcrowded with confusing images on screens. Consequently, new platforms have emerged to compete with it. The only challenge to these platforms is that YouTube is a default platform to most people.
Howcast provides opportunities where people can upload videos of high quality contents. Howcast has become a main competitor of YouTube. There is also Vimeo platform. Vimeo works like YouTube and some users claim that it is sophisticated than YouTube. It offers opportunities for professionals to share their messages, contribute, and exchange ideas. Most users are optimistic that it will soon replace YouTube and become the default platform. Another platform is the feedback. Feedback provides opportunities for customers to offer their experiences to companies. Companies like Starbucks are using it to enhance their relationships with customers. It allows members to review and comment on posts. It relies on a crowd-sourcing for feedback.
References
Anderson, K. L. and Kerr, C. J. (2001). Customer Relationship Management. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Baltzan, P., and Phillips, A. (2009). CIS500: Business driven information systems: 2009 custom edition, 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Blanchard, O. (2011). Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization. Indianapolis, Indiana: Que Publishers.
Paine, K. D. (2011). Measure What Matters: Online Tools For Understanding Customers, Social Media, Engagement, and Key Relationships. New York: John Wiley.