Now for most people, it would end there. Or, maybe a few people would tweet him about their favorite steakhouse or how much they also love Mortons.

Not in this case, Morton’s Steakhouse, who is actively listening and talking with its customers on Twitter, saw Shankman’s tweet. They sprung into action. They got clearance from corporate and prepared a full-on steak dinner for Shankman, and then met him outside the Newark Airport. Now, this goes above and beyond, but illustrates a few key points about how brands can actively use Twitter.

1. Active Listening
There is no reason why brands should not be monitoring what’s being said about them online. It’s essentially a mini free focus group. Pay attention to sentiment and what product(s) or service(s) they seem to be most inclined to tweet about. Then, join the conversation. Mortons would have never been able to pull off this PR stunt if they didn’t have an active Twitter presence.

2. Surprise and Delight Your Customers
Mortons didn’t have to supply a steak dinner to an unsuspecting Peter Shankman at the Newark airport, but they did anyway. Despite this obviously being a PR stunt and Peter Shankman having over 100,000 followers, it’s still a way of surprising people when they least expect it and exceeding their expectations.

Even a small gesture, such as Zappos expedited shipping, is a form of surprising and delighting customers. This small gestures, when used strategically, end up building more loyal brand advocates in the long run.

by admin 08.24.2011