Shoutlet, Inc. 2014 • v14.02 shoutlet.com • facebook.com/shoutlet • twitter.com/shoutlet

HOW RETAILER TRACKS SOCIAL MEDIA CONVERSION SHOUTLET AND IBM DIGITAL ANALYTICS INTEGRATION PROVE DIRECT SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON SALES

GOALUNDERSTAND SOCIAL CONTENT DRIVING CONVERSION EVENTS

Mall and online specialty retailer Hot Topic has more than 600 stores in the

United States and Canada, specializing in music and pop culture-related clothing

and accessories. With 5.5 million fans on Facebook and 300,000 on Twitter,

Hot Topic looked to understand what social media content drove conversion

events, including sales, adding product to wishlists, and account log ins.

CAMPAIGN4-MONTH CONTENT CAMPAIGN WITH

SHOUTLET-IBM DIGITAL ANALYTICS INTEGRATION

For four months, the team posted content to Facebook

and Twitter with Shoutlet utilizing the link tracking

integration with IBM Digital Analytics (previously

Coremetrics). Content ranged from latest movie releases

to classic rock bands, Disney, and vinyl, drawing a diverse

customer base. Each link was automatically appended

with unique parameters that explain the conversion

path and consumer behavior for each piece of content.

The data was pulled back into Shoutlet for the team

to analyze in real-time.

Shoutlet, Inc. 2014 • v14.02 shoutlet.com • facebook.com/shoutlet • twitter.com/shoutlet

ABOUT SHOUTLET, INC.Shoutlet is a leading independent enterprise-class cloud-based social marketing platform that

enables marketers to publish, engage, and measure social marketing campaigns and activities

on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, and YouTube. Its

industry-leading, enterprise class functionality includes tools for social CRM, creative design,

social listening, ads, workflow management, contest design and execution, and top-notch

analytics for easy integration with the industry’s leading web analytics tools from Google

Analytics, IBM Digital Analytics, Omniture, and Webtrends. Shoutlet’s SaaS-based model gives

customers the control and flexibility they want and need, and is rooted in a strategic partnership

that provides the necessary resources and counsel to execute successful social campaigns.

RESULTS

FACEBOOK: 3XCONVERSION EVENTS PER

POST THAN TWITTER

56% HIGHERREVENUE PER ORDER –

CONTENT WITH SPECIAL OFFER

6X HIGHERREVENUE PER POST –

CONTENT WITH SPECIAL OFFER

12CONVERSION

EVENTS PER POST

Because of the ability to easily

monitor trends in social conversions

through Shoutlet and IBM DDX,

we’ve become quicker to react and

smarter in our posting strategy.

This will help us decide which posts

to promote which is very important

with the decline of Facebook’s

organic reach.

Katherine Hernandez

Hot Topic

The team gathered valuable data on conversion events from social media. Not only are total

orders and total order value important, but because of the young demographic, wishlist items

and accounts log ins are critical to understanding the level of influence social media has on orders.

Overall, Hot Topic content drove more than 12 conversion events per post, and their Facebook posts

influenced three times the conversion events than Twitter posts. The type of content driving the

most sales included promotions and special offers, but the team also discovered that posts with

a sense of urgency performed higher.

With this data, the team can make quick decisions on what type of posts are more effective,

and in the future, tie into their advertising strategy for cost-effective social ads.

SOLUTIONThe team used the Shoutlet and IBM Digital Analytics

integration to gain insight into high performing posts

that drove actual revenue for the company.

IBM Digital Analytics parameters were automatically

appended to each outbound link sent from Shoutlet

to their social media accounts. IBM Digital Analytics

then recognized the activity on their website, and

tracked brand, channel, campaign, order, and

revenue data.

These data points were packaged up and delivered

back to the Shoutlet platform, so the social media

team could immediately see timely feedback on

how their campaigns performed and then optimize

content to drive more efficient revenue.