Utilizing Video Apps for Businesses

With apps such as Vine and Instagram where people can easily share and record a short video, it’s interesting to see that not many companies use them to further expand their businesses. This is not to say that all businesses should start using these apps. Companies should still research and recognize whether using these social media platforms would be optimal. But two types of businesses that I have in mind that would be great to tap on the opportunities these video apps provide would be gyms and other recreational facilities. While I have seen a number of small business owners of recreational facilities who use Instagram to showcase their services, there are very few big commercial recreational facilities that do this.

In general, one of the many things that hinder consumers to try new things (products, sports or activities) is the uncertainty of only knowing the possibility of not liking these once a commitment has already been made. Specifically for gyms and recreational facilities, commitment happens once you have already signed up for a contract-based membership. To mitigate this barrier, companies have been offering one free trial sessions or paid drop-ins to check out the facilities. However, this is not enough. Having to base one’s decision with only one experience, given that most commercial recreational facilities do not have drop-in options, can be a stressful and daunting process, especially when the next thing you can only do is to commit to a yearly contract.

In addition, these free trials can mostly just attract already interested individuals. As a business owner, you would also want to attract individuals that may be interested but need a little push, which can just mean getting information without putting too much effort. Allowing your prospective clients to observe in their own time and without extra cost what your services are like by posting casual short clips of activities or your facilities can prove to be beneficial in the long run. For better results, it would be ideal to have your clients be the one posting on Instagram the activities they do while at your facility rather than through the company’s account. This is because consumers tend to be more skeptical if they see pictures or videos uploaded from the company’s social media accounts, as consumers may think this is just advertising and it’s not genuine. One way to encourage your clients to post Instagram videos about your facilities is by offering discounts or prizes by posting videos.

By getting on Instagram and Vine, gyms can better showcase what they can offer as well as gain further reach to consumers. Gyms and recreational facilities whose target market are young professionals or college students may see the best results from using these video apps as one of their digital online marketing strategies.

Samples:

http://instagram.com/cjaplyo2

http://instagram.com/boksantos

TD Canada Trust: Doing It Right

TD Canada Trust (TD) is one of Canada’s largest banks and is arguably one of the first banks to utilize social media to further develop their business. I have always been with TD since I moved here 3 years ago simply because it was convenient, as my dad had been with TD for a very long time. Until recently, I personally found it peculiar to be strongly attached to one bank, especially for students like me. I may not speak for all students, but most of us – if not all – would quickly switch to a different bank given that there are better offers and possibly costs less. My view on this changed when I unexpectedly experienced great customer service from TD.

I pay for my credit card bills and have always paid for them ahead of time. However, there was this one month that I failed to pay them on time. Once I realized I was already 2 days late, I paid my bills online right away. Even if I paid for it, I knew there were some penalties involved for late payment, such as interests added to my next bill. I wanted to know what the exact interest rate will be placed on my account, so I called TD. In my conversation with a customer representative, I merely asked what the penalties are for late credit card payments. The representative provided me the answer I needed, but before I could thank the representative for the information, he quickly added that my late payment fees for this incident will be waived. He said that since I have a good record of paying my bills on time, waiving the fee (only for this time) is justified. As a student with limited amount of financial resources, I was very grateful and frankly did not initially see the logic behind the representative’s extra effort in pleasing me. Nonetheless, I immediately posted on my Twitter account of my experience with TD and got a quick response from their Twitter account, as shown below.

Relating this back to eMarketing, TD has been using Twitter very extensively to further provide customer service for at least a couple of years now. If you visit their Twitter account, you can see TD initiates a lot of interaction with unsatisfied customers, even the ones that did not specifically tag TD’s Twitter handle. Some – if not many – of these unsatisfied customers turn into satisfied customers as their concerns have been fixed through interaction in social media. Based on observation, consumers tend to express their negative views on certain corporations through social media. Tapping on Twitter provides many opportunities for TD to potentially increase their customer base and ultimately become a competitive advantage. Currently, I do not see any other big banks, such as RBC and Scotiabanks, utilizing Twitter to further reach their consumer markets and provide customer service.

Referring back to our class discussion on Solis “Engage” book,  it is wise of TD to be investing some of their resources in social media now than later. The book mentions that it is not optimal to only create a social media plan when a crisis is already happening as this will prove to be already too late. One has to start early and invest time in cultivating relationships with customers now even without any crisis happening, as these customers will prove to be invaluable resources as advocates in the future. With TD currently ahead of recognizing and maximizing the benefits of social media, they can be more confident than any other banks in Canada that they can count on their customer base to be their supporters in unpleasant situations.