Who "Should" Come First

David Meerman Scott brings up an amazing concept within Chapter 10 of his book "Real-Time Marketing & PR." This concept relates to section within said chapter titled "Friends Tweet Friends First." I too am frustrated that some companies are now offering better deals to new subscribers and "turning off" the reliable best customers. I could not tell you how many times I have logged on to Groupon only to find that the deal I purchased a day or week prior was shown to be less expensive compared to me purchasing the deal through my traditional means. David brings up the idea that companies should show more attention to its best customers. If these companies did such, they would gain a domino-like chain of positive benefits starting with a happier following. This happier following leads to even more positive word-of-mouth marketing for the company, allowing the happy following to gain in size.

Companies might not have to exclusively give deals to the best customers, but at least offer them the same deals when a promotion arises. The companies might lose potential sales initially, but in the long run would gain much more than what would have been gained in the short run with those additional sales.

This concept can also be adapted towards any campaign strategy or following that currently exists. David highlights this by providing an example of Obamas choice of vice president running mate and how his campaign handled the newsbreak. The brilliant PR professionals who were within the campaign decided to have Obama tweet his choice minutes before the press conference that he was supposed to be publicly announcing such. He rewarded his followers, he paid attention to them and the result of which was larger than what the media could have done in the first place. This is a prime example of what companies and other campaigns need to start utilizing.

I agree 100 percent with David and his opinion towards who should come first. The lesson he writes at the end of the section is blog-worthy. He wrote that "the lesson here is to stop focusing on providing better service ad pricing to nonconsumers (as mobile phone providers and magazines do) and instead favor those who favor you: your existing customers." Companies and campaigns need to take note because those are some strong words that seem to be forgotten in today’s society.

Until next time,

Matt