Customer Service With a Smile (For Real)
As somewhat related to my post about how offline experiences can influence those online, I'm going to dish a bit about customer service. We work with clients who have products or services that potential customers (understandably) want to explore more holistically before choosing, so we may suggest their linking to/exploring the places where chatter about them might already exist -- like GetSatisfaction or Rate-it-All -- to help promote acceptance through transparency. And, on the flip side, it has the potential for companies to learn and grow based on the honest feedback being exchanged out there.
Southwest Airlines has been an early adopter of social marketing strategies, using Twitter and blogging religiously, and continues to forge itself as a rather personable airline that strives for that transparency. I have been flying it whenever possible -- or, at least since Independence Air folded, sniff sniff -- for a great combination of low fares and friendly staffers. Twice now I've been on flights where an employee has sung to us. And, last night, after being diverted BACK to Baltimore having being told not to land on Cleveland's ice-covered runway (good idea), the ground staff re-fueled the plane and then hopped onboard to announce, "I hope we don't see you here again tonight. No offense."
None taken.
Well, we didn't see Baltimore again, but we didn't see Cleveland, either.
Creating a Feedback Loop for Users
Over the last few months, I've worked on several projects that started with good, solid user research efforts. We've sent out surveys, performed interviews, run usability tests, and worked with customer support teams. It's exciting to start a design project with good input from users, but the research we've been doing made me realize how often we have to work without the benefit of good user insights. This got me looking around at tools that companies can use to get started on gaining insight into their user's needs. I found two that looked particularly useful, and easy to use: Get Satisfaction and UserVoice.
Google Gives Back - Services and Grants for Nonprofits
Aside from its standard bevy of free tools and services, Google has several grants and premium services available to nonprofits:
1) Google AdWords Grants
Certain nonprofits are eligible for free pay-per-click (PPC) advertising through Google AdWords (up to $10,000/month). Organizations are able to target keywords and craft appropriate ads within Google's guidelines.
Ads are each given a cost-per-click (CPC) value of $1, so they're not going to rise to the top as often for common keywords that others may spend more money on. Once you get a grant, it's important to carefully select and monitor your keywords to make sure they will actually show up on relevant searches within your niche.
The grant amount will vary based on how much you are able to use in a given month. The monthly cap is $10,000, but because you only spend $1 if your ad is shown AND someone clicks on it, it's rare that you'll actually be able to spend the full amount in a given month. Still, you'll be able to tweak your campaigns and keywords at any time to try to maximize your grant.
- Check your eligibility - Basically, you should be a nonprofit organization that is not political, fee-based, or religious. Organizations in several countries are eligible.
- Apply for the grant
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