Social Media: How it fits into your customer marketing and retention strategy

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Social Media: How it fits into your customer marketing and retention

strategy

VIPdesk Webinar Series May 11, 2010

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Presented by:Geoff Nelson: Partner, Ivy WorldwideNick White: Partner, Ivy Worldwide

Webinar Host:Mary Naylor: CEO, VIPdesk

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Confidential & Proprietary VIPdesk Information 2

About The Host

Mary NaylorCEOVIPdesk

• Mary Naylor is the CEO and Co-founder of VIPdesk

• VIPdesk provides concierge-quality contact center solutions for leading global brands through a nationwide network of home-based Brand Ambassadors, Concierge, and Customer Service Representatives.

• VIPdesk provides its clients Concierge, Contact Center, and Social Media support services.

• VIPdesk is continually recognized through numerous awards, including the Inc. 500, Inc. 5000, NCBEA Business Ethics Award, Stevie Awards for Women in Business and Smart CEO Future 50.


About The Presenters

Geoff NelsonPartnerIvy Worldwide

• Co-founded Ivy Worldwide in 2007

• More than 20 years of experience in brand programs, both online and offline, measurement and analysis, business development, project management, integrated communications, and much more.

• Has an impeccable track record in solving complex marketing communications challenges for top tier companies.

• Has worked for AMD, Leo Burnett Technology Group and Y&R

• Adjunct professor at Texas State University, guest lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin on Word-of-Mouth marketing.


About The Presenters

Nick WhitePartnerIvy Worldwide

• Joined Ivy Worldwide in 2008, launched Seattle office

• Began his career at Amazon.com where he worked to bring their nationwide network of distribution centers online

• Managed speech technology deployments at Conversational Computing, then worked on Spanish-language mobile phone deployments at InfoSpace

• At Microsoft for five years, working first in Mobile and Embedded Devices Division and most recently in Windows Client managing social media relations and writing the most-trafficked blog at Microsoft

• Double-degree graduate of University of Washington with MBA from Duke University

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•Brand Evangelist Experts - Ivy Worldwide is a word-of-mouth social media and influencer marketing agency founded in 2007

• Proven Credentials - One of the most award wining social media agencies in the world for effectiveness. Have driven lead awareness, lead generation and sales on average between 40-80% consistently

• Clients include: HP, ATT, ProFlowers, Time Inc., Microsoft and many others

• Offices in Austin, Seattle and Houston

• They have evangelists too – Google “Ivy Worldwide” and “Buzz Corps” (former name) and see what others have to say about us

About Ivy Worldwide

About VIPdesk

VIPdesk’s full suite of Brand Experience Management solutions include Virtual Concierge and Contact Center Services, Social Media Management, Experiential Programs, IVR Services and Voice of the Customer Surveying & Analytics. Global industry leaders trust VIPdesk to enhance their brands through our customer care and loyalty programs. Serving as a seamless extension of their brands, our innovative Brand Experience Management Solutions deliver memorable customer experiences, business insights and actionable intelligence that generate customer advocacy and drive business growth.


Agenda

• Social media—what is it and why is it important to your company?

• When, where, and how to engage the right forms of word of mouth marketing

• What to do and not to do when communicating with customers via social media

• Successfully organizing and executing a customer-centric social media plan

• And more!

What is Social Media and Why Is It Important?

“For And With” Is The Model

"Instead of marketing at customers, our job in the digital age is to get customers working with us and for us. And you do that by working with them and for them. This is where the new marketing energy and breakthrough results are to be found."

Mark Beeching

Chief Creative Officer

Digitas

Confidential Ivy Worldwide ©2010 Ivy Worldwide

Social Media Evolves

First Blog

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

3 million blogs

There is one constant through all of this: PEOPLE

2010+


Creating brand ambassadors that share opinions/information, educate others and help drive brand preference

Using Web 2.0 tools and on-going programs that make it easier to create and share your information virally

Leveraging the network’s knowledge base to gain valuable customer, market and product insights on you and your competitors

Working with influencers and communities, both online and offline, to educate them on your offerings and share the company’s perspectives

12

What is Social Media/Word-of-Mouth Marketing?


Why your customers are using social media

Participation: Many are no longer satisfied to just consume the thoughts and opinions of professional experts - but want to be involved in the process of discussing and interacting with the news

Inclusion: Many of the new forms of media that are emerging not only involve readers in the reporting and interpretation of news, but they create spaces where community springs up around the news and information being shared

Suspicion of institution: Big business, government, church, and other institutions are increasingly being viewed with suspicion

Customization: New media allows people to customize the information and news that they want to consume – using tools like news aggregation they can now choose specific topics that they wish to follow and control when and how they consume it

Immediacy: No longer satisfied to wait for tomorrow’s paper or tonight’s news broadcast - people are increasingly following events in real time online


Keys to leveraging CGM via Social Media Tools

1. Monitor consumers generating content about your brand via alert or tracking program

2. Leverage your CGM community: Consider selecting one or two key individuals commenting on your brand to contribute to your marketing efforts

3. Reward participation: Let contributors know that you’re listening and that you are open to their suggestions and ideas

4. Participate in existing consumer-driven communities – Identify the most highly used destinations of CGM that matter to you and your brand and join in

5. Respond to negative commentary6. Select the right technology to engage your customers – Video, Audio,

etc.7. Enable your audience to create content on your behalf leveraging your

products and services


Keys to WOM/Social Media Success

Content is king• Focus on community relationships – You can replace your product, but not your

contacts• Use content — and products — as a means, not an end – Develop deeper consumer

relationships with each interaction• Don’t create, aggregate – Consumer Generated Content is out there and you should

look to help your customers create and deliver it

The response is the message• Listen and learn – Extend the dialogue offline and support the community, you

establish deeper relationships• Share – Social media users expect to be able to try an experience your products and be

free to say anything they like• Excite – Give your consumers an experience or a chance to be part of something

Customers call the shots• Leverage influential consumers and work with them to drive the buzz• Share control with influencers – Communities make firms not the other way around• Gain trust by acting human


When, where and how to engage the right forms of word of mouth marketing

MeasurementThroughout

SM Touches Every Part Of The Business

Product

Development

Design

Packaging

& Distribution

Go To Market

Use and Maintenance

Service and Support


“Customer decision journey”

Source: McKinsey

Consumer-driven Social

• Advice from friends• Searching• Word-of-mouth• Researching

Company-driven Social

• Advertising• Presence in consumer-

driven activities

67.5%33.5%


Consideration Set

Research/Decide: Blogs, Twitter, FB, Google , friends/family

Awareness

Consideration

Demand

Purchase

Whom to target?Le

vel o

f Eng

agem

ent

Number of participants

Reach and Influence

Non - Managed Relationships• Webcasts / Chats visitors• Website registrants• New or non-core target blogs• User groups• More than 5,000+

Managed RelationshipsTier 1 & Tier 2influencersIndividuals whohave the ability to Influence their social networks due to their reach and/orinfluence

Tier 1Influencers

Direct Connections• Facebook, twitter• Related Communities• Private forum members• Roughly 5,000-10,000 people

• Most Influential/ Relevant Enthusiasts• Bloggers

Roughly 10% of the Web users create the consumer generated content viewed by the other 90%Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association

Non-Managed Relationships are the “minor leagues” to identify future influencers


Not All Influencers Are Created Equal

Word-of-Mouth Framework

The Top TierThe New Media

The Influencers The Buyers

Who are they? Top 1% of market like bloggers or super-engaged consumers

Top 10% any market like forum members or your core customers

The other 90% or any other consumers/buyers

How many is this usually? Top 100 to 250+ Top 5000+ Rest of the World

What is the type of relationship? 1 to 1 1 to Many Many to Many

What do they do? Start conversations Carry and promote conversations Read and drive conversations

What do they want?

What will they do for us?

Why now, why you, why are you better?

Start/Tell and deliver the story/topic

Look at this? What is your take on this? How does this compare?

Re-tell the story as their own and pass it along in their way to the masses

What should buy? What should I consider? Has anyone tried this?Participate in the conversation and bring more people in over time

How do they see themselves? Brand/category ambassadors/defenders

The informed whose job it is help Buyers wanting to make the right/smart choice

What is their role?

What role do they serve?

Education: Writers

The new media

Evangelists: Copy & paste, with commentThe town criers

Empathy: Readers, consumers and buyersConsumers/buyers and future influencers

What do I need to do to work with them?

How do I engage them?

Enfranchise them/make them part of the design/program ASAPUse to/for/with methodology to get them to deliver the story/topic

Identify their communities& vehicles –be where they are

Use to/for/with methodology to get them to deliver the story/topic

Figure out what you want them to feel? How you want them to act?Give them something worth discussing and keep it going any way possible


How To Leverage Influencers

Focus groups (end-user)Message testing (end-user)Product design (end-user)PRSeeding with media

Pre

Pro

Post

Mktg./Adv./PR

AdvertisingMediaDirectWebChannel programsSEO/SEM

Support PagesCall centerUp-saleRe-mention

LISTEN FIRST! – Then go create:Advisory boardsService testing with expertsProduct seedingMessage Development

CGM – made about the productAffiliate programsNewsletters/web pointing back to influencersReviewsForums Videos

Ubiquitous tech support – where customers liveEnd-user recommendations

Find and pull in closer. Connect with and create evangelism

Prepare, empowerSet free – guideand replenish

Find where customers are and be there – with the evangelists

WOM channel How?


Customers Expect A Dialog With You

• Only ask what you are willing to act on

• Talk to the right people– Top 2% love you

– Bottom 2% hate you, take 43% of customer service time and will never be loyal

– Middle 96% are most likely to walk away

– 10% are the most involved and drive the other 90%

• Don’t stop talking to them just because they became a customer

• Don’t wait until there is a problem

• Understand their goals and objectives

• Share the knowledge with everyone in the organization

• Customers want to be treated like individuals– Men’s clothing store


• 2.6B Facebook minutes per day

• 400 Facebook Users Worldwide

• Over 6 million registered users

• Over 4 million Tweets per day

•20 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute

•FourSquare just surpassed 1 million users

Common Social Media Tools


Finding the Right Tools

• Use the tools your customers are using to connect with you. Because they are using the tools doesn’t always meant they want to have you there.

• Can determine where your customers are via due diligence

• Always pay attention to new social media channels and how the technology is connecting you and your customers

• Plan for when you might use one vs. the other and when

Source: CMO.com


Know the Audience


The Palette of WOM Tactics

WOMStrategies and Tactics

OpennessDialogue

Authenticity

DiscussionBoards

TV AdsCorporateBlog

Broadcast Web Site

Radio Ads

Brand Community

Experiential Marketing

SponsorshipsPodcasts

Wikis Consumer Generated Content

Crowd Sourcing Innovation

Co-Creation/User Collaboration

Search EngineMarketing

Advergaming

CustomerAdvisory Panels

BloggerOutreach

Virtual Communities

Word of Mouth Marketing

Influencer/VIPInsider Clubs

Press Release

Cause Marketing

Non-Traditional Advertising

ContextualAdvertising

Email Marketing

Private Social Networks

Fan Clubs

Company Rating Sites

Lifestyle ProductPlacement

In-StoreDisplay/POS

Advocacy

Vlogs

Affiliate Programs

Fan Sites

Print Ads

Viral Marketing

Direct Mail

Product Seeding

EmployeeAdvocacy Programs

Mobile Marketing

Stunts/Publicity

Beta Testers

TraditionalMarketing

Tactics


Principles of community interaction

It’s about people

The rules are the same for corporations and separate individuals alike

However, expectations of corporations are different• Identify and use the influencers – they are your allies• Define, know and stick to the role you’ve identified for yourself• Play active role in responding to inquiries and correcting inaccuracies• Keep it personal by discussing your experience as an individual and

telling your story• Give first-hand advice, perspective, anecdotes• Use phrases such as “I think…”, “It’s my feeling that…” and “In my

experience…”

Give back – every interaction must add value


Entering an existing community

Find places where your customers congregate• Keep an open mind – customers may turn up in odd or unexpected places• Identify and branch into tangential communities that match strategic objectives

Always leave them wanting more• This gives you an entrée to lead them back to your site• Let the community do the heavy lifting for you• Recognize champions and leverage their efforts when they align with your own• Give credit for good ideas• Link to others of like mind -- pull in others’ stories (tacit endorsement of individual

as company envoy)

Always respect existing norms• Listen and learn before speaking• Be judicious about entering conversation – avoid creating interference or noise


Keys to Successful Customer Communication

• Converse with and don’t market to customers – marketing spin KILLS conversation

• Be honest

• Have something valuable to say – customers won’t bother to pass on information they don’t care about

• Align strategies to the reasons consumers buzz – customers initiate discussions on products because they like to help their friends, find a common interest with others, or demonstrate their knowledge of a topic

• Empower, but don’t expect to force, the spread of the message –the easier the marketer makes it for consumers to spread the word, the more consumers will participate

• Target the right people


Responding to Social Media Appropriately


Social Customer Communication:Do’s and Don’ts

1. Viral equals social success – Viral is an outcome, from a good sales and marketing strategy, not the other way around

(Elfyourself.com)

2. Social command and control – Social media is not about control, it is about cooperation and engagement – if you post only

about you/your brand (even if it is on Facebook, YouTube, etc.), it is not social media

3. Social is the content and the campaign– Social media is about people doing what is in their best interest, not yours – Requiring

people to upload content that benefits on you is a recipe for disaster (SheratonWave.com)

4. Social prostitution – The reason you want social media is authenticity sells – if you try to deceive, your audience

will find out (Google: “Pay Per Post”)

How to be Antisocial in 8 Easy Steps


5. Social = social– Not all social media is the same just like not all marketing is the same – corporate blogs,

communities or any other tactics may not be best for your social media goals (Comcast Twitter)

6. Social is PR– Social media is too big for one department – there are benefits for other departments across

the board

7. Adver-social – Social media delivers results when you have Google results, third-party endorsements, CGM

and real people carrying the message in unison – when its controlled and only in an ad box, you lose lower results and raise costs

8. Social is the program– Social media amplifies traditional marketing, driving up ROI across the board – by itself, it

usually is sub-optimal at best (Skittles)

How to be Antisocial in 8 Easy Steps


Most-often committed sins

1. Failing to be transparent: Transparency is the currency of the blogosphere –clearly disclose for who you are

2. Appearing to bribe: Don't send stuff to customers before asking them

3. Not knowing the why and what of blogging: They are not journalists (despite appearances)

4. Making a bad first step: Know the tool and what they talk about and how

5. Being scripted: SM platforms are a conversation tools and you would never recite talking points at a cocktail party – no sales pitches in emails or phone conversations just be honest and open, not stiff and predictable

6. Forgetting everything is on the record: You don't put anything in writing you wouldn't want to be online

7. Making claims that can be easily disproved: Influencers love to call BS; don’t give them a reason to do so


WOM Case Studies

When crisis strikes businesses are quickly overwhelmed – people turn to others for help and information

• On April 15th, as airlines’ call centers got choked with frantic passengers, and most websites still were not updated with the latest flight delays

• The term #ashtag was first used by Ireland-based Tweeter JL Pagano to note personal concerns and updates about the situation. It was very quickly adopted by a number of other travelers

• However, it was only when airlines started using #ashcloud on Twitter, along with their official updates, that the utility increased significantly

• Travelers were being informed of their flight status online. KLM and Lufthansa became the first major airlines to use the hashtag. It was then picked up by other airlines

• 7 days - 55,000 mentions of #ashtag, and the usage was so widespread that only 5.8% of the tweets came from the Top 10 users –- which is unusual

• See case study – www.slideshare.com -- search for “ashtag”Source: Mashable.com

Unpronounceable Volcano


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Kryptonite’s Kryptonite

• A video demonstrating how to pick these expensive bike locks with an ordinary Bic pen appeared on a blog and quickly reached hundreds of thousands of blog readers a day

• When the company issued a statement downplaying the issue saying the locks “continue to present an effective deterrent to theft” the NY Times and the AP picked up the story, exposing the problem in newspapers all across the country

• By the time the company announced the product exchange plan almost a week later, the “make-good” received very little coverage

• Even today the story lives on: lock buyers today will find today turns up 8 negative stories about this incident in the top 10 results of a Google search for “kryptonite lock”– but no mention of the problem being corrected and affected locks having been replaced


Wholistic for Social Demand?Proven Results - Just some of HP’s successes

Product Development Launch Sales/Promotion

TX-1000 Notebook Design• Goal: get credit for HP design/launch TX-

1000• Asked 200 bloggers/influencers to tell HP

what features they want in a notebook• Done in Ivy’s private forum (IN Network)• HP used suggestions which included what

they liked and disliked with competitors

Results• Features suggested were used in the TX-

2000• Valuable insight on competitors from

people that review 150+ systems a year• Influencers took credit for the HP design

and helped launch “the product they helped design”

• Began real relationship of listening and a true evangelization between HP and influencers that continues to grow

Dv2 Back to School - On/Offline• Goal: Drive sales during BTS and position

dv2 as a college must-have• Support overall campaign and drives sales1. Support HP’s NBA/dv2 microsite2. Content generation to showcase the dv23. Make the dv2 cool and a must-have for

students with college blogs throwing parties in a box using the dv2 to run the party. Locations: LA, Chicago, NYC

Results • 47% 1st month/71% 2nd month sales

increase (HPshopping.com) • 11.5+ million people saw the campaign

(Alexa)• 23,171 total Google back links• 300+ content assets created• Influencers continue to develop content

about their everyday use of the dv2 in college setting

HP’s 31 Days of the Dragon• Product in-market for 9 months• Provided 31 HDX “Dragon” systems to 31

influencers/bloggers to give away to readers over 31 days (one per site)

• Sites could give them away any way they wanted

• Google 31 Days of Dragon to see for yourself

Results• 84% sales increase HDX Dragon (m/m

HPshopping.com) • 20% increase in traffic to HPshopping.com• 10% increase in overall sales at

HPshopping.com• 380,000 Google links• 50+ million people saw the campaign

(Alexa)• 50% increase in traffic to

influencers sites

Search “Ivy Worldwide” and see what the market has to say about us


1. Social media marketing can work in ways traditional methods can’t or won’t

2. Influencers can and will drive sales and create a viral effect

3. A holistic program such as “31 Days of the Dragon” forces competitors to become reactive to your marketing

4. The combination of social media, CGM, search results and third-party endorsement from credible sources hits consumers where and when they are making buying decisions

Key Takeaways From Case Studies


1. Be ethical and transparent

2. Read WOMMA’s Ethics Code at http://womma.org/ethics

3. Listen to the conversations (find supporters, detractors and influencers)

4. Set goals

5. Develop a content strategy

6. Choose the WOM/social media tools that make sense for your strategy

7. Deliver the right content to the right audience

8. Engage with your customers, readers, evangelists, detractors, influencers

9. Facilitate evangelism — show you are the right company, doing the right

things to earn it

10. Measure the effectiveness of the strategy and adapt

Steps To WOM/Social Media Success


http://womma.org/ethics�


Questions?


Upcoming VIPdesk Webinars

• May 27: 5 Main Reasons to Use Work-at-Home Customer Service Reps

• June 8: Integrating Social Media Into Your Contact Center

• June 22: Friends, Fans and Tweeps: A Social Media Primer and What is Means to your Customers

For more information or to register for the VIPdesk Webinar series, visit www.vipdesk.com.

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Thank You for Attending!

Mary NaylorCEO

[email protected]/vipdesk

www.vipdesk.com(703) 837-3501

Nick WhitePartner

[email protected]@IvyWorldwide

ivyworldwide.com(206) 650-4865

Geoff NelsonPartner

[email protected]@IvyWorldwide

ivyworldwide.com(512) 560-0196

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