Kelley McLees Archives - Everywhere Social Media

I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying, “We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we speak.” To me, this applies to social media listening and when a brand does it right, it’s #amazing and quite frankly thrilling to the customer. Listening and responding is still one of the most confounding aspects of social media to brands and I don’t really know why they have so much trouble. They often seem seized by indecision: “Do I respond?” “Do I know what to say?” “Is this worth my time?” The answer is, yes, yes and yes. When a brand organically reaches out to a consumer it creates a relationship. It’s more than a wave or a head nod it’s a “Can I buy you a drink?” and who isn’t flattered by that? Over the last few weeks, I’ve been on a mission to test brands I personally love to see if they would offer to “buy me a drink” and I was thrilled when two of them did.

What follows are two great examples of how brands can build customer loyalty and create a direct relationship with someone, in this case me. My first experiment was with Fitbit. I was feeling lazy, my Fitbit died and I did what any person committed to exercise avoidance does. I tweeted. Take a look at my interaction.

What did Fitbit do right? They were listening! They were seeking people mentioning their brand and when someone did they reached out them. I was slightly joking about my Fitbit problem but the support team was right on it. It made me feel and a brand that makes a buyer feel is doing social media right! #AllTheFeels, am I right?!

So after charging my Fitbit and taking a walk, I was hungry for a snack. I simply mentioned @AnniesHomegrown in a tweet about their fruit snacks. The next day they replied with a cleverly worded response, again making me feel special.

My point of this story isn’t to brag about how these brands wanted to “buy me a drink” or encourage me to snack more but it’s to show you how much of an impact listening and responding has. I am now a Fitbit wearing, Annie’s Homegrown eating advocate. These brands can count on me. They built a relationship.

Is it worth it? Heck ya!

Follow me at @KelleyMcLees for more about social media and my life at @BeEverywhere.

Hey I’m Kelley McLees and as the newest member of the team, I’m joining the upstanding, if not embarrassing tradition of penning a blog post where I share 10 ridiculous facts about me! As a recovering journalist, I’m honestly more comfortable reporting on other people, not writing about me, so this is a stretch.

But here’ s a go - The basics: I came to the Everywhere Agency from CNN where I was responsible for curating digital content for CNN’s new interactive TV, CNNgo. Before that I worked at Vail Resorts and mastered the art of skiing and tweeting, often at the same time (Trust me, you did not want to run into me on the slopes!). At the Everywhere Agency, I plan to fully explore how social media can be used towards the greater goal of delivering solid information to consumers and already have found myself knee deep in some fascinating campaigns. And to that end, here’s hoping you’ll find some fascination in these 10 things about Kelley McLees!

Cat lady is my middle name and I’m not afraid to say it. I have two rescue cats, Beans and Buddy.
Mexican food is my favorite, but I will never pass up a hotdog, ever.
My favorite color is orange. As a child, I painted my room bright orange without permission from my mother. As punishment, she made me live with the bright orange for months!
I LOVE to clean. If I could make a living cleaning, I would. (And I’m discovering my co-workers at the Everywhere offices may take advantage of this predilection of mine. Oh well!).
I always wanted to be a stand-up comedian, but I’m finally figuring out that I’m not that funny.
I’m super organized. If you leave something out, I might move it to where I think it should go. This causes problems at home (sorry, honey!). ☺
I really only read autobiographies. Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Jim Gaffigian, and The Reagan Diaries are some of my favorites.
I am SCUBA certified. My first and only dive trip so far was to the Cayman Islands, but my goal is to dive the Great Barrier Reef.
This is slightly embarrassing, but I wear a size 11 shoe. If you know of a great shoe place for ladies with ski feet, PLEASE let me know!
I’m a total people person. I love listening and talking! Introduce yourself and I’ll be sure to say hello!

So there are 10 facts about me. More can be found by following me on Twitter @kelleymclees or my instagram page @kelleymclees where the fact that “cat lady” is my middle name will be fully evident!

Posts