As you may remember, I gave a webinar a month ago for the PRSA called “What Recession? 9 Ways to Cut Through Regardless of the Economy.” It was a bit strange presenting to over 200 people I couldn’t see but the audience seem to enjoy it (or so I’ve been told.) Anyhow, in that speech I talked about the idea of “dancing with your customers” as an aspirational goal for customer engagement:
The notion of having a conversation with your customers has almost become a cliché in our industry. Conversations are nice but why not strive for something more intimate, more emotional, more dynamic—something that gets you truly in-sync with your customers needs and desires. Use all your charm and style and dance with your customers both physically and virtually. Physical “dances” can take place on your premises or at events ranging from street encounters to massive exhibitions. Virtual dances also come in a variety of shapes and sizes from websites to widgets, virtual worlds to social networks.
Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade goods, has about 800,000 registered users that it supports with forums, blogs and a ratings system. All this was good and has helped them build tremendous loyalty among the crafters and artisans that support their marketplace. But the real dance began when Etsy started supporting the social networks outside of the company’s domain created by Etsy fans. One such site, We Love Etsy has 2800 members with their own profile pages enabling a deeper kind of interaction. 50+ other Etsy related sites exist and Etsy recently started a trademark-permission program to avoid misuse of their brand. Etsy has found a way to dance with its fans transforming the relationship from customer to brand advocate.
Having re-read that speech recently, it occurred to me that Etsy’s support of its user base is also a terrific example of marketing as service. Rather than spend marketing dollars on chest-beating messaging, Etsy has used its marketing efforts to deliver real value to its customers via social networking, increasing loyalty and revenue while they’re at it. Its enough to make me dance.