I don’t use my inside voice on Twitter…and other relationship tips for brands

Attention brands. Be very careful when considering your relationship with your customers. All mediums are not created equal. Here are some good rules of thumb, from the consumer’s point of view:

– I’ll sign up for your email when I want deals and coupons. And sometimes to stay up to date on your industry.  But only sometimes.  Mostly I want discounts, specials and deals.

– I’ll follow you on Twitter if I want to keep up with what you’re doing.  And sometimes for deals but if you’re just about deals, I’ll only pay attention to you for a little while.  And you gotta pay attention to me on Twitter.  I expect a little back-and-forth.  Also, I’ve been trained to complain on Twitter, so be ready (more on that later).

– I’ll sign up for your emails if I have to in order to buy something from you (for receipt), BUT I’d rather not.  Instead, let me “sign in” via Facebook Connect or Twitter Oauth.

– In most cases, I don’t want to hear from you via text messaging. I just don’t, so don’t scam me into signing up. It will only hurt our relationship. Now if you have a really compelling offer, then I’ll give it a shot.  The Chick-fil-A at Colony Square in midtown Atlanta is a good example of text done well.  Most of the other programs are just noise.

– I will follow you on Twitter if it becomes an easier way to get your customer service folks to listen to me.  And they better listen, because I have a VERY LOUD VOICE.  When I’m on Twitter I don’t use my inside voice.  Remember, I have to check my email, so make it worth my while.

– I will download your mobile app if it benefits me in ways Google can’t. Just gonna give me locations to your stores?  Not really interested in that.  But if you can improve my life, maybe improve our relationship somehow, I’m interested in that.