4 little tricks to get “villagers” chatting
4-minute read • 529 words
Cranleigh in Surrey is 32.78 km sq, but that isn’t large enough…
At the 2011 census, there were 14,085 people living in Heath Hayes and Wimblebury in Staffordshire, but that doesn’t make that large enough…
No, the largest village in England is someplace else, and I bet you can already guess where:
It’s Sheffield, of course. And although it’s a city, there’s a reason locals say it’s ‘the largest village in England’…
The people of Sheffield make the place feel like a village. Picture a typical village in your mind:
Villagers chat to each other, right? You can see them chatting at bus stops, in corner shops and on the village green, and there’s something similar about Sheffield folk…
You don’t have to spend long in the Steel City to hear an “Oreyt luv” or an “Ey up pal.” Sheffield may be a city, but it feels like a village because of the friendliness of its people, and here’s why that’s special:
Villages are small, but they’re supportive. If you run a small business or startup, how could supportive people help you?
Your ‘villagers’ are your customers. To win their support and keep it, you need them to do two things:
a) Chat to you
b) Chat about you
Here’s how:
1. Ask for a review
The best promotion for your business is word of mouth, but you need to help that happen online as well. So it’s always wise to ask customers to review your product or service, and it’s easy to get started…
You can join review sites like Yelp or Tripadvisor, or sign up to services like Trustpilot or Feefo. And you can share these reviews through your website, social media or email marketing to give more customers the confidence to buy from you.
Here’s another idea…
2. Run a competition
People enjoy having the chance to win, and it’s something they’ll chat to others about. Run a contest with a prize your customers will love and you’ll attract attention, and if you do it right there’s another advantage too…
Ask people to share why they love your product or service, or take a picture of themselves using it, and say the best one wins. Straight away, you’ve got people chatting about you online, and whatever the prize you’re giving away costs you, all that free publicity is priceless.
On to the next one…
3. Hold a poll, Q&A or survey
You know your customers better than anyone, so show you value them by asking their opinion on something they’re interested in:
Topics in the news or popular culture
Your new product or service
The latest developments in your industry
You can gather opinions quickly with social media tools like Twitter Polls and Instagram Questions, or hold virtual Q&A sessions through Zoom or Microsoft Teams. And you can use SurveyMonkey, Google Forms or similar to collect multiple answers at once, then use that information to make something really helpful for customers.
One more to go…
4. Ask questions
Just ask questions. That’s it.
After all, when your villagers are your customers, you never know what you might learn if you chat to them.
Until next time,
Adam
