Do you like your cable company?
Enough to sign up to get Facebook updates from it on a daily basis?
More than 25,000 Facebook users have clicked the "like" button on Cox Arizona's page.
As a result, they get regular messages from Cox, which has more than 2.1 million customers in Arizona. The messages often begin with an open-ended question, like:
• Need help getting the most out of your cable, Internet, or phone service?
• Want $100 off your Cox Arizona bill?
• Who's excited about tonight's premier of "Boardwalk Empire"?
More and more companies are using social-media websites like Facebook and Twitter to connect with customers.
The sites make big companies more approachable.
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Gregory Ensell, Cox Arizona's manager of government and public affairs, said it wasn't easy convincing customers to be Facebook friends with their cable company.
"I can't think of many people who wake up in the morning and say, 'Hey, I wonder what Cox is doing?' " Ensell said.
"I don't even like Cox all that much," said Holly Nocera, a bartender who couldn't remember why she clicked the "like" button on Cox's Facebook page. "They're always raising my rates."
A note on Cox Arizona's Facebook page says:
"Cox Arizona is more than just a cable company. We're people too. Now some of us will be sharing our interests, activities, heck, our daily lives, with you."
After it launched its Facebook account in April of last year, Cox enlisted company employees to write about their own interests and experiences on the company's Facebook wall.
One topic that employees and customers bonded over: the HBO vampire drama "True Blood."
"We found over time by talking about our shared interests, largely programming, that people started to be more interested in us," Ensell said.
Social media can be an effective way to reach customers, says Randy Accetta, who teaches communications at the University of Arizona's Maguire Center for Entrepreneurship.
But it's not a good idea for every business.
"There's a perceived branding value, and then there's the real value of actually using it," Accetta said.
He says social media can help businesses reach customers to tell them about new promotions, sales and other information.
It can also allow customers to get in touch with the company when they have a problem.
The key to doing social media well, Accetta says, is having the resources to post on a regular basis.
Club Congress, a downtown music and dance venue, has handed social networking duties to its bookers, who use the club's Twitter and Facebook accounts to announce new shows and promotions. On Wednesday, the club tweeted about a free show that night by People From The Sun.
"It's changed the game," said entertainment director David Slutes.
"If we have a great act that's coming in on a day's notice, now we know we can do it. Before we wouldn't have done it because we wouldn't have been able to get the word out."
Xoom Juice, a smoothie company with three Tucson stores, has a Facebook page and a Twitter account, but neither shows any signs of use.
Owner Ari Shapiro said he felt pressure to join the social-media parade, but hasn't had the time to tweet or post on Facebook.
"I'm a Luddite when it comes to this stuff," he said.
Ensell estimates that he spends about half his time managing Cox Arizona's Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Sometimes, customers will write on Cox Arizona's Facebook wall complaining about cable or Internet service.
"Whenever a customer would write, 'Hey, I'm having a problem with something with my Internet,' that customer-service person would write back, 'Hey, why don't you text me or call me on my personal line?' "
Ensell has also added a support tab to Cox Arizona's Facebook page with phone numbers customers can call if they need help, as well as an e-mail address and an URL.
Last month, Cox debuted a Facebook application that encourages fans to upload images of their faces on the bodies of animated characters who are playing volleyball, skydiving and hanging at the beach.
By interacting with the application, fans can qualify to win a year of free cable, Internet and phone, as well as one of five staycations at Loews Ventana Canyon in Tucson, 50 gift certificates valued at $100 each, or one of 500 Digi plush dolls (he's the company's robot mascot).
The application is being used as a way to encourage new people to make friends with Cox Arizona on Facebook.
"So much of our business is the personal relationship we have with customers," Ensell said.
Local companies using social media include:
• The Tucson Mall has Facebook and Twitter accounts it uses to announce store openings and sales. Last week the mall tweeted that its Toys "R" Us is hiring, and two weeks ago it tweeted about a flash sale at The Gap, where jeans were 50 percent off.
• Pest control company Truly Nolen has a Facebook account, written from the perspective of one of its yellow Volkswagen Beetle cars. The account has over 600 friends. The company also has a YouTube video, "Mouse-Cam: When Bugs Attack," which has been viewed more than 1,200 times and features a Truly Nolen technician getting the fright of his life on his first day on the job.
• Long Realty developed an internal online community known as "Long Connects" that connects 37 office locations and more than 1,400 agents for real-time communication. It's a place where agents can "talk real estate."
• This summer, Loews Ventana Canyon Resort and Spa issued random alerts on Facebook offering "Standby Staycation" rates of $79. The catch: You got the alert only if you were a fan of the resort's Facebook page.
• The Arizona Daily Star doesn't have a Facebook page. StarNet, the Star's online presence, has a Twitter account with more than 1,400 followers.
Contact reporter Coley Ward at cward@azstarnet.com or 807-8429.
