Social media was created to build relationships. For some it has become the primary way they keep in touch with their social circles. Engagements and romantic breakups are announced via Facebook; pictures of new babies and new pets are shared over Twitter.
Social media on the Internet has changed the way friends interact. It also has changed the way companies learn about one another, even trust one another as partners.
Take the case of Dharma Merchant Services, a San Francisco-based ISO.
“It is a way to rapidly disseminate content versus going through the expense of updating the website, when quite frankly, people aren’t looking for that kind of content on our website,” says Alexia Marcous, vice president of Dharma Merchant Services. “We know we operate in a commoditized industry, and we differentiate ourselves in what we do. … We use social media to talk about those points of differentiation.”
Dharma Merchant Services promises full-disclosure pricing, supports its clients’ favorite charities, approaches commerce as a sacred rite and operates a green business. Through an RSS feed, a blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube (terminal training videos for clients should make their debut this year), it tries to connect with the public on a human level instead of regarding them as potential customers. It considers itself a company with a mission, not primarily with sales prospects as a merchant-services provider.
“Social media is the best way to convey who we are, so a person knows they’re dealing with a known entity rather than a nameless, faceless provider,” Marcous says. “Clients aren’t pushed to follow tweets or like us on Facebook, but those numbers are growing because people are taking an interest in social media.”
Dharma Merchant Services has had an unflagging social media presence for two years. “We have a commitment to develop our community among merchants,” Marcous says. “Social media is a way of delivering on our mission and commitment to clients.”
The ISO’s Facebook page includes promotions of clients’ businesses, highlights of events employees have attended and links to industry news. Weekly blog posts come from the company’s monthly newsletter.
Dharma Merchant Services chose to take an unusual path with its tweets.
“When we came across Twitter, we really struggled to decide how it could apply to us,” Marcous says.
Daily updates had to be fresh and introspective, she says, building trust for merchant services in a universe of communications chaos that may have more frequent bad blurbs about the industry.
So the ISO’s Twitter account hosts daily “clearing questions for sacred commerce” that help keep the company on “a pathway of honesty and integrity” and set a positive tone for a constructive day, Marcous says.
Although they have nothing to do with merchant services, some of those questions in the Twitter channel have received wonderful feedback, she adds.
“In building community, we see that we have developed incredible levels of loyalty,” Marcous says. “Our clients not only turn down offers [from other ISOs] but refer other [merchants] to us. That loyalty comes from social media communications and posting our rates and fees. People know they can trust us.”
(This article is excerpted from a piece written for the January-February print edition of ISO&Agent.)
