This Week in Customer Engagement: October 17th

No worries, CEI has you covered with the top four stories from this week here.

The Top News in Customer Engagement for the week of October 17th, 2022

1. Imagine A Day Without Water

A few weeks ago, CEI discussed “A Day Without Us,” a day that was formed as a response to the overturn of Roe V. Wade. This week, we celebrate “A Day Without Water,” a day to analyze the impact fresh water has on our lives—and what it is like for so many to live without access to it. Social media campaigns have been around almost since the inception of social media. In 2014, the ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge proved just how profitable these campaigns can be. The “Imagine a Day Without Water” claims that the annual day is “our chance to show through events, resolutions, student contests, social media engagement, and more how water is essential, invaluable, and in need of more investment by us all.”

Beyond having a good cause, the Imagine A Day Without Water campaign is easy (and fun!) to get involved with—and a great way to show your brand’s customers you care about a cause without coming across as inauthentic. To learn more about authentic advocacy click here, and to learn more about the Day Without Water read here or follow them @USWaterAlliance.  

2. Netflix and Spill

Or rather, be very careful to not spill— your account password. Netflix recently announced that they will be revealing specific instructions for account owners who want to kick freeloaders off their account and, come early 2023, will begin charging for password sharing.

This comes after a summer of financial turmoil for Netflix. The company hit an all-time high during the Coronavirus Pandemic but, as vaccines were released and stay-at-home mandates were eased, fewer customers engaged with the streaming service. As CEI’s analyst Philip Mandelbaum notes, though, this is a Netflix problem—other streaming services have not faired as poorly.  

Given this news, it seems to users that the new mandate is less due to ethical reasons and more closely related to financial difficulties. Either way, consumers have concerns over how this process is going to work. The Verge speculates that the pricing model “is likely to follow a beta model already in select Central and South American countries including Costa Rica, where a Netflix sub-account costs $2.99, or one-fourth of the $12 monthly subscription fee” – similar to a family plan adding another phone. Though $3 a person hardly seems steep, it raises questions about how to use your account on multiple devices, how Netflix plans to track the number of people using the account, and if there will be a limit to how many people can access the platform.

Read more about how the drama is unfolding here.

3. What’s worse than your favorite social media platform not working?

Apparently, listening to the complaints that follow the issue. A contact center support agent working with Meta through an outsourced company recently reported chronic insomnia and stress following her shift.

The agent reportedly fields nearly two dozen cases a day from influencers and creators that rely on social media to make a living. While the agent does what she can to help (and earn a living of her own), she is prohibited from using “negative” words like “sorry” or “unfortunately”—the former debatably being the one that customers would like to hear the most.

From threats of death to fears of being sued, the contractor has experienced it all. Lamentably, her experience is not unique. How can you “train” your customers to be kinder to employees? And what tools (or words) do employees need to keep interactions civil? Read more about the contact center employee’s story here and how to keep your customer positive in our latest market study.

4. TikTok is More Than Just a Social Platform

It’s a shopping platform, too. Though Livestream selling has grown in Asian Markets, it has yet to take off in the West. While Instagram still has the “shop” feature on the app, TikTok abandoned the “TikTok Shop” initially rolled out in the UK. They know the old saying, though: If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.

TikTok is rumored to have begun a partnership with TalkShopLive, an “always live social-shopping network,” in an effort to allow content creators and influencers to sell items directly in the app. Though TalkShopLive typically expects a 10% commission from sellers, it is still unclear what the financial agreements to the partnership are—the official announcement has yet to come.

How can your company leverage the up-and-coming field of Livestream selling, reminiscent of services like QVC? Read more about the partnership (and what it means for you) here.

Header Photo:Photo by Mattias Diesel on Unsplash  

In-text Photo 1: Photo by Kate Joie on Unsplash

In-text Photo 2: Photo by Obi - @pixel6propix on Unsplash