Do you solicit feedback from your clients and others regarding your social marketing activities? And if you do, do you make changes based on that feedback? I highly recommend doing both of these things on a regular basis.

Customer feedback was one of the topics addressed at a recent panel discussion at Social Marketing for Business, a Denver-area group that meets bi-monthly “to focus on different social marketing techniques, tools and strategies to help businesses better understand and maximize return on investment of social marketing programs.”

My favorite comment by a panelist was “When you ask your customers for feedback, you make them feel special,” from Meredith Myers, Global Consumer Marketing Manager for the US Potato Board.

The timing of this discussion couldn’t have been better for me, as it reinforced the importance of taking the time to email clients and colleagues and ask for feedback on a series of videos I had recently created. The comments people have sent have been very specific and helpful, many of which I will apply in my next round of creating videos.

Interestingly, several people have thanked me for asking them to give feedback – in essence saying thank you for asking them to do me a favor.

Yet, despite the obvious upside, it can be difficult to both ask for feedback and to process the suggestions when they arrive. Our egos can get in the way of being open to constructive critique and of making the appropriate changes.

Here are some tips for soliciting feedback. Next week’s post will address processing that feedback when it arrives.

Suggestions for Soliciting Feedback

• If you are asking for feedback via email, send a draft of that email to at least a couple of trusted business associates and ask them what they think of it before you send it out. This helps polish your prose and fine-tune your request.
• One of the best tips from one of these associates suggested starting the email with a statement honoring the recipient by telling them how much you appreciate their viewpoint. This usually requires that each email be sent individually as you may want to reference a specific project you worked on together or something else that personalizes your opening paragraph. It’s worth the extra effort.
• If you’re asking people to do more than one thing, order them so that the first one requires the smallest commitment, and order the others so that the largest “ask” is last. For example, in my case, the first thing on my list was a request to watch at least 30 seconds of one of my four videos. The next was to email me some feedback, and the last was a request to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
• If you are asking for feedback in person or over the phone, be sure that both of you have enough time to have a meaningful discussion. The best way to insure this is to schedule an appointment in advance. If it’s over the phone, be sure to remind the person that they should take the call where they have access to their computer.

How About You?

What has been your experience asking your clients and colleagues for feedback on your social marketing activities? What approaches have worked well? What will you do differently next time? If you haven’t asked anyone for feedback yet, why do you suppose you’re hesitating, and is there something I or one of your fellow readers of this blog can do to help you overcome that roadblock?

To see my four videos on ways to optimize your LinkedIn profile, go to my company’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2s7fzNl0OaGg1jB4lmse1g

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more effective using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter. She works with business owners, nonprofit organizations, retired people, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.