If Evan Williams @ev is still trying to figure out what Twitter is going to become then we should just let him think. Twitter is on the verge of BLOWING the HECK UP yet most of us, and this includes Evan are unsure what to do with it. I for one am hooked and have to thank Social CRM Expert Brent Leary @brentleary for not giving up on me when I said to him “What the HECK is a TWEET! and what shot do I need from my doctor so I am not exposed to it.”
The mantra of this blog is Tweet, Follow or Get OUT of the Way and this holds true to all the users and haters of Twitter. Evan mentions in his Ted speech that Twitter was a side project started on a hunch. This blog is a side project started on a hunch that Twitter will grow so much and be such a big part of the mainstream marketing industry, Twarketing results on Google would be in the billions. These Results 1 – 10 of about 1,020 for twarketing are growing quite well as of the date of this post.
So Evan, keep those hunches coming and maybe one day I can buy you lunch in LA from OMG WTF BBQ!!!!1eleven @omgwtfkogibbq
and you can buy me some gas #atlgas here in GA
Marketing Challenge: Distinguish their brand name shared by major bookkeeping software manufacturer and continue to bolster their lead in the online mortgage business.
When you think of Quicken, most immediately think of the best selling bookkeeping software by Intuit. When I did the research for my blog post Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For I mistakenly assumed that Quicken Loans was a part of Intuit. I was then notified by Kelly LaVaute, Senior Copywriter and manage all of their social media that Quicken Loans was a totally separate company from Intuit. The story of how Quicken Loans became the number one online mortgage broker is quite a marvel especially with how much of a crisis the mortgage industry is in right now.
Matt Cardwell, the Director of Web Marketing (@thefitnessnerd) made mention that the company was bought back from Intuit by Dan Gilbert the original founded in July 2002. Gilbert led a small group of investors in purchasing the company back from Intuit, retaining the Quicken Loans name in perpetuity. The company has been privately held since that time.
Customer Service
Quicken Loans prides itself on customer service and has used Twitter as an intricate part of how to communicate with their prospects and customers. Kelly@ Quicken Loans @quickenloans can answer a wide variety of questions regarding mortgages as well as a great fish and chip place to eat in Detroit. Here are a few of her most recent Tweets.
Customer Feedback Qwicken Loans just recently lunched another Twitter account specifically to get user and customer feedback. Cora @feedbackcentral is in charge of organizing live user feedback sessions. Users can share their feedback and get to see results of their suggestions on the quickenloansfeedbackcentral.com site and on Twitter. Check out some of the Tweets from @feedbackcentral
Education Quicken Loans is very conscious of the current state of the economy and looks to help in educating their customers on how to prepare themselves for managing a mortgage. They have setup the Quizzle.com website and @quizzle in order to assist the home buyer and seller with an array of financial tools. These tools include a home value report, a mortgage evaluator, a budgeting tool and a free credit report.
Customer Satisfaction
Quicken Loans has also created a Youtube Channel to capture the unscripted videos of their many satisfied customer experiences with Quicken Loans. Here is one of my favorites.
Bottom Line
Quicken Loans has truly embraced social media and gained a real presence on Twitter. Both Kelly and Matt agree that the key to being successful in communicating through these new forms of social marketing is having the support of their company when uncharted issues-both good and bad-arise. In fact, this Quicken Loans team charged with innovatively building customer relationships is in the unique, empowered position to use social media to with little interference from its legal department. Kelly, Matt, Cora and the rest of the Quicken Loans social media crew are entrusted to be the voice of the company, working in tandem with one common company goal: “Making sure with every client, every time, they deliver on the promise to make it the best mortgage experience ever”.
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