…but the memory lasts forever.
No, I’m not writing for Hallmark. I’m trying to tell you how to stand out. I’ve written about personalizing the member experience for years now but Chris Brogan reminded me in his weekly newsletter just how far personalization can go. In his newsletter he wrote about how the folks at Social Media Camp in Victoria, British Columbia made his experience memorable. When they picked him up from the airport, they had comic books for his reading pleasure (Chris is a big comic fan) and had his preference in music covered. How did they know all of this? Did they ask him? Nope, all they had to do was read a few of his posts. While Chris is relatively open with what he shares, and the information can be garnered easily, they took the time to do it. They put his preferences first. They did so in minutes but it had such an effect on him he wrote about it in his newsletter.
How can you do this with your members? Simply pay attention. Watch what activities they take part in. Take a moment to look at their Twitter profiles. You can’t monitor everyone all the time but you can take a look at your top posters on your community or those who seem disengaged. (If you don’t have the analytics to do this in your own community, let us know.) Follow up on your new members, six months from now. Once you know what they like and what’s going on in their lives, use the information to make them feel good and make then feel a part of a very unique organization. Sure, listening is important in social media but you shouldn’t just be listening to what people are saying about you. You should be listening about them.
