Upload
hamill-associates-ltd
View
466
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Social Media Conference, Glasgow for Business Week, 8/11/11 http://www.energise2-0.com
Citation preview
The Consumers’ Perspective
Professor Alan Wilson
Social Media
• Social media enables potential customers to talk to one another
• Social media enables companies to talk to potential customers
• Social media enables customers to talk to companies
Customer to Customer
Customers can now make their voice heard far beyond
their local communities
Customer to CustomerJupiter Research
• 77% of online shoppers read consumer product reviews and ratings before making a purchase
• 40% of all social networkers said they use social networking sites to learn more about brands or products they like
• 30% of frequent social networkers trust their peers’ opinions when making a major purchase decision, but only 10% trust an advertisement
• Impact of online reviews in terms of awareness and persuasive effect is stronger for lesser known brands than for well known brands
Customer to Customer: Factors Affecting Choice of Hotel % agreeing or strongly
agreeing (base = 518 respondents)
Hotel’s website 76%
A friend’s positive comment on a social networking site 70%
Reviews and ratings on online consumer travel forums (e.g. tripadviser, epinions etc)
54%
Reviews or recommendations on other travel or hotel related blogs
52%
Hotel brand 48%
A Stranger’s positive comment on a social networking site
36%
Guest Feedback published on the hotel’s own website 35%
Company to Customer: Rush for Brand Presence on Social Media
Platforms
KLM responding to customer issues on
Sheraton inviting guests to post a review
Brands can be everywhere in social media and still be ignored!!• Unlike traditional advertising – people choose to come
to your site, read your message or watch your YouTube video
• Companies have far less control of their content and the reach, frequency and timing of their distribution of the message
• If content isn’t interesting or valuable, people go elsewhere
• People may simply see your site as a place for discounts or a convenient place to complain.
Company to Customer: Why do customers bother to come?
• Value and usefulness (information they want - mumsnet)
• Information that is important (BA /KLM)
• Identification with other people who use the site
• Giving something away for free ( competitions, games, widgets or something)
• Young people want to enhance their celebrity status
But what about all these fans: Starbucks has 25 Million of them?
Does a Fan Buy More?Research has shown:
• Fans are the Heavy Users of the Promoted Brands
• They don’t change their buying behaviour (either frequency or quantity) after becoming a fan
• Facebook as a stand alone platform does not attract new buyers to a product
• Placing large efforts on recruiting fans and followers may be less valuable than trying to recruit new customers through a variety of other media/ sales channels.
• A fan base can be a useful marketing touchpoint – but the budget it receives should be in line with that.
Customer to Company – why interact?• They are engaged with the product or service, or
idea
• Easy to interact without much commitment
• Activities to do – like online voting
• There is evidence that someone is listening
• They get a response
• The company is willing to join the conversation and serve me better
Practical Implications
• What types of social media, if any, are appropriate for your market?
• Fan pages do not result in higher brand loyalty or more sales immediately – be patient
• Engagement is more important than solely fan page usage – generating traffic data is not enough, it is about interaction and engagement
• Valuable content is critical – deliver interesting, entertaining and innovative content
Decisions:
• If you don’t think Social Media is appropriate for your business, that is ok but can you justify this?
• If you’re not listening to online commentary about your business, what information are you missing?
• If you don’t build a brand presence in social media- are you happy that customers may take control of your reputation?
• If you have a presence in social media but you’re not actively managing it, you need to ask yourself: what does that say about my organisation relative to the competition?