Social

The Quest To Contact Aleve

By Tinuiti Team

Aug 21 2013

I’m using Aleve right now, and wanted to reach out to the brand to give them some feedback (ok I was going to complain). And thus began my epic quest.

Here’s what happened when I tried to reach out to Aleve via social outlets vs. what I assumed would happen:

What I Assumed Would Happen	What Happened	Customer Pain Point
1. Find Aleve on Google (facebook, twitter)	1. Search Aleve on Twitter	No Twitter page
2. Tweet or post on Aleve’s wall	2. Search Aleve on Facebook	Page seems spammy, and I don’t see many responses from Aleve there.
3. Get some sort of an apologetic response, or at the very least an acknowledgement	3. Look at the Aleve Bottle for Contact information	What if I don’t have the product with me?
	4. Go back to the initial Aleve search: Aleve Brand page	Too many customer steps
	5. Fill out Aleve contact us form	Only options of communication are email, phone or mail (I don’t want to be on a mailing list or get any calls!)

First I tried to find Aleve on Twitter, then Facebook, and finally I filled out a contact form on the Aleve site to leave some feedback.

Aleve’s Facebook page has 235k likes, and although it has a lot of ads, people are interacting with the brand really positively:

But I really don’t like talking to companies on Facebook, especially if I’m complaining. Twitter seems like the next best solution, but Aleve doesn’t have a Twitter account. #gasp!

On the Aleve contact page, you can email, phone or snail mail Aleve, but all of these options are pretty outmoded for today’s consumer.

Why Your Brand Should Be On Social Media

All I wanted to do was talk to Aleve. I had to jump through several hoops to do that, and the process was much more painful than I wanted it to be.

I assumed the process would be easy, and I assumed Aleve would have social pages, because that’s what I’m accustomed to, and it’s what I expect. Maybe I’m a pain, but the truth is I’m the norm.

Your customers expect you to be on social media.

72% of adults online are using some type of social media. And 72% of small to medium sized businesses use social media for their businesses.

Customers assume your brand is on social, and they assume you’re using it to communicate with them (among other things).

Most brands are on social media, and many are even reaching out to users proactively. A great example is @Hiltonsuggests, a Twitter handle associated with Hilton, @Hiltonsuggests which reaches out to people who aren’t customers to give advice, AND recommends non-Hilton products and services:

People are on Twitter and Facebook are talking about Aleve in a positive way, so Bayer is missing out on communicating with these people, inspiring them and getting them riled up about Aleve. Not to mention the significant audience of people who are not using their product who they could be connecting with.

The future of social is now. You should be on Facebook and Twitter (and arguable Google Plus and Pinterest), and you should be adding value to your customers through your social media campaigns.