Increasing Engagement with Customers using Social Media

Who am I?

Founder of Evolution of Communication, an interactive agency based in Atlanta

Co-Founder of BuzzCal.com, an online sport’s calendar

Exposure I received in USA Today

Enough about me…onto why we are here!

Goal: To teach you how social media can be used to increase engagement

with your customers.

Why Social Media: Opens up direct communication channels with existing and

potential customers!

Caution: Social media is not a marketing silver bullet. It takes strategy, time,

and effort to reap the benefits.

Quick Social Media Stats: 30 billion pieces of content (e.g., links, photos, notes) are shared on

Facebook each month

(Source: Royal Pingdom)

Quick Social Media Stats: 25 billion tweets were sent on Twitter in 2010

(Source: Royal Pingdom)

Quick Social Media Stats: 200 million views of YouTube via mobile per day

(Source: Google)

Quick Social Media Stats: 65% of U.S. adults use social media and say they have received a

positive benefit as a result

(Source: Harris Interactive)

78% of consumers trust peer recommendations…Only 14% trust advertisements!

(Source: Erik Qualman-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng)

How is social media changing the way companies connect with consumers?

Old Ways of Communication

Wants to promote goods or services to

their target consumers

Traditional Media acts as the middleman providing access

to company’s target consumers for a price Company’s Target

Consumers

Pays money to Traditional Media

in order to gain access to their

target consumers

Pushes out an advertising message

to the company’s target consumers in

hopes of driving sales

New Ways of Communication

Wants to promote goods or services to

their target consumers

Company’s Target Consumers

Traditional Media gets sidestepped in the new world

of communication.

Through social media the company is now empowered to enter into direct conversations

with their target audience offering contests, deals, soliciting feedback, product reviews, building

brand loyalty, etc.

Increasing engagement with your customers

Identify Your CustomersRemember the Pareto Principle better known as the 80/20 rule as applied to business…80% of your company revenue will come from 20% of your customers! We need to identify your 20%!

Identify Your Customers• What does your best customer look like?• Male/Female?• Age• Married• Do they have children?• Income level?• Favorite Leisurely activities?• Where do they live?• Anything else about their lifestyle?• How do they like receiving information from you?• What social media channels do they use?

Create your social media strategy asking these questions:• Why do we want to engage in social media?• What resources am I willing to invest in my social media efforts?• What are the best channels to target my consumers?• What metrics will we put in place to monitor our progress and

determine success? • Is one person or a team going to be in charge of my social media

efforts? • How will my company’s image be portrayed in social media?• How will we handle both positive and negative messages about

our company?• How will we get our offline customers interacting with us through

our social media channels

Helpful data when setting up your metrics:• Sales figures from the last year• Website/Blog Traffic information• Customer acquisition models (Sales Funnel) • Conversion ratios• Monthly expense for each department• Monetary value placed on a new customer• Monetary value placed on an existing customer• The Traditional Media metrics currently being used• Consumer sentiment

What is your engagement value?Social Media does an incredible job allowing your company to stay engaged with existing customers but what is the value of that engagement?

What is your engagement value?Engagement Value- The value derived from utilizing social media to engage with your company’s existing customers and prevent them from switching to a competitor.Example: • Your customer spends on average $1,200 per year. (Customer’s

Monthly Value=$100)• Through your social media efforts you successfully handle 50

customer support issues in one month.• In theory you have saved $5,000 in business by engaging with

your customers and solving their issues. (Engagement Value)

(Source: Harris Interactive)

Do not fall into the trap of believing your company needs to use every social media channel that exists!

Examples of the most popular social media channels and how you can use them to engage with your customers

Blogs:• One of the most powerful tools of your engagement platform (website)

• Place for viewers to get to know you and your company• Creates the human touch• Allows your company to engage consumers• Creates fresh content which search engines love.• Can drive your company’s search engine rankings• People do business with people…especially ones they trust• You can become a resource in your Industry

Facebook:• Hosts user-generated pictures, videos, status updates, and

games• Has 500+ Million active users• Allows users to create a network of friends and companies

they “Like”• Once a user “Likes” you then they will receive your status

updates in their newsfeed• Fastest growing demographic…55-65 year olds• Facebook Places allows users to “check-in” to your business

like Foursquare

Twitter:• Allows users to send and read short messages called “tweets”

from other users• Messages can only be a maximum of 140 characters in length• Users freely share their opinions about anything in real-time• Unlike Facebook, on Twitter you can speak directly to anyone

by using the “@” sign in front of their Twitter username• One of the fastest growing social networks• 200 Million users

LinkedIn:• Professional networking site• Users create their profile which is similar to an online resume• Companies can create their profile and link to their employees

LinkedIn accounts• Users can provide status updates similar to Facebook, Twitter,

and other social networking sites• Can start or join groups with similar professional interests• Great source for recruitment of new employees• An online rolodex of business contacts• 70 Million users

YouTube:• Hosts user-generated and professional videos for sharing• Third most visited online site• Two billion views per day• Twenty-four hours of video uploaded every minute• Users can comment and share videos with friends• In-expensive way to host your company’s videos

Foursquare:• Location based social network• Users “check-in” at locations to earn points and the coveted

“mayor” title• 6.5 Million users• Two million check-ins per day• Companies can create special offers for users of Foursquare

Things to remember about social media

• It takes time and effort to build your social media presence• Focus on the channels where your customers are so you can maximize your

efforts• Be yourself• Do not treat it as another channel for one way advertising messages• It’s about two way conversations• Always ask…what value am I bringing to the people who choose to connect

with me via these communication channels?

This presentation is available for download:http://www.slideshare.net/evolutionofcommunication

Jeff MelloFounder, Evolution of Communication

p: 404-579-0911email: jeffmello@evolutionofcommunication.com

web: http://evolutionofcommunication.comfacebook: http://www.facebook.com/evolutionofcommunication

twitter: http://twitter.com/EOC_jmello