social media conversations with customers adrian moss

Social Media

conversations with customers

Adrian Moss

Forrester Research

- Social Computing is not a fad. - All business will be effected in time.

Why not fad?

- 60m+ blogs- 100m+ YouTube videos- 100m+ MySpace accounts- 30b+ consumer comments

Today’s Business Environment• Traditional media in fast decline• Global economy – Global Village – Global opportunity• Fragmented information access – Google, Yahoo, Wikis• Reducing ‘attention span’ (I want ‘Wow’ Now)• Time shifted audience consumption (TiVo, podcasts)• Power shift to consumers (web search)• Reduced deference (company v citizen experts)• Lower trust of PR, politics and ‘spin’

Social Media

• Here to stay

• Learn from early adopters (even non biz)

• Main stream business now active

• CRM tools and techniques

• Attitude, culture & behaviour

Objectives

- Overview of Social Media- Understand business potential - Case study review – B2B/B2C

Social Media = Relationship

‘Knowing me – knowing you’

Nothing new – except self publishing

Core Concepts

• Conversation not monologue• Engaged people • Honesty, trust and openness• Distribution not centralisation• Pull not push

Small World Experiments- core to Social Media

• Milgram (1933 – 84)– Familiar Stranger, Obedience Studies

• 6 steps • Funnelling through super-linked• Multiple worlds inter-linked• Add value = increase speed/reach

Social Networking Theory

• Watts & Strogatz (1998)– Natural and manmade networks

• Dunbar (1992)– 150 members & then lose ‘closeness’

Gladwell – The Tipping Point

• Funnelling• Connectors• Super connectors• Advisors

Marshall McLuhan (1911 –1980)

• Not so much the message as the messenger that is sent (authenticity)

• Global village

• Global tribe

What we need as marketers

• Happy customers but lots of evangelists. • Evangelists who share our passion and vision for our

product or service.• Evangelists who will influence as many people as

possible.• Evangelists who are unpaid and so their passion and

recommendation counts far more than ‘paid for’ promo• Evangelist who love us but are honest and tell us our

failings so help us improve

Company Schizophrenia

TALK TO US• User Groups• VIP customers• Beta programmes• Segmented channels• Loyalty programmes

GO AWAY• Outsourced service• Outsourced support• Enquiries@• Contact@• Call screening

Company dilemma • Customers want a ‘relationship’• They want to be acknowledged (I am not a number)• They want dialogue not monologue

– Active participation (‘narrowcast’ marketing)– Passive participation (‘broadcast’ marketing)

• Social Media can help• Younger generation will expect it!

Web 2.0 - dialogue • O’Reilly Media (2004)• Internet as a participation platform

– Blogs– Social bookmarking– Wiki’s– Podcasts – RSS feeds– Re-authoring (mash-ups)– Conversation– Ownership in common

Web 2.0 - explained

Company Toolkit• Web Site – not updatable easily• Limited resources in PR and Marketing• Targeted/engaging prospects harder• Customers less influenced by corporate ‘spin’

• Answer – leverage Social Media Tools and company resources– Blogs– Audio podcast– Video podcasts– WebVideo

Big or little company tools?

• Both!

• Big company = breaks silos

• Little company = extends reach

• All = ‘narrowcast’ to WW audience!

• DIY and Professional

Implementing Social Media

• Align to CRM strategy

• Audit customer ‘touch points’

• Stakeholder mapping– Who has a story to tell?– Who can gain an audience?

Stakeholder Mapping• Service and Support• Sales and Marketing• Order processing• Legal• Logistics/Supply Chain• Senior Management

+ Costs/ROI current systems + Performance measures

Engaged Customers- traditional ‘endorsements’

• Richard & Judy Book Club• Delia Smith food programmes• Jeremy Clarkson car programmes• Walkers Crisps – Celebratory user/promoter • Product placement • Advertorial

Social Media evangelists

• ‘Tiny Machine’ - November 2004– Took teacher 5 months to do in own time– Blogged to 30 friends– WOM – Small World multiplier– Within a month 500k views– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpb8woJGHu8

Social Media 1% Club *

• iLounge.com – 4 million visitors per month• StarbucksGossip – 1k comments per post• Treonauts – 300k visitors per month• Mini2 – 20k regular readers• Bowiechick – 128% sales boost to Logitech

* As defined by McConnell & Huba in Citizen Marketers

Corporate supported evangelism

• Campari Campaign – life style travelogue• Blackberry – share your story• KLM CLUB• Wal-Mart ‘Across America’• Marriott• GM Chevvy campaign• Threshers (Stormhoek/GapingVoid blog)• News media – citizen journalist

Upset Customers – traditional

• Phone call complaints • Letters to CEO• Threat of Trading Standards• Letter to local paper• Threat of Watchdog• Limited impact (Dunbar 150)

Upset Customers – Social Media

• Over-heating Dell PC• ‘Dell Hell’ blog

– Regular updates– Conference circuit invites– Media coverage – WSJ, Guardian– 1 year later over 10m+ visitors to site

Upset Customers – Social Media

• Apple iPod battery failure• $$ to fix = near costs buying new• Video’d ‘defacing’ iPod posters• Posted video on site & to friends• Within 6 weeks 1 million visitors

Traditional Media adoption of Social media

• Broadcasters– BBC/ITV/Sky

• Print– USAToday.com– Guardian Online

Broadcast Media – BBC, ITV, Sky

• BBC podcast & citizen journalists. Now 3 channels on YouTube

• ITV use of citizen media• Sky (Murdock) use of citizen media &

purchase of MySpace and Friends ReUnited

USAToday.com

• Comments on site• Journalists/participants profiles (KMKU)• Vote on stories• Forums• ‘Help a story’• Linking to related stories

Guardian Online

• Multiple segments covered– Travel, motoring, food, entertainment

• Active Comments - dialogue• Content via Citizen Journalists

– Speed– Access– Impact

• Journalist blogs

Blogs - text

• ‘Personal’ web page – self or 3rd party hosted• Simple to update – type and click (no HTML)• Freeware/low cost software• ‘Viral friendly’ – tags, links, track-backs• Gets search engine ranking • Subscribers (RSS)

Company blogs - published guidelines (*)

• Marriott• GM• Ford• Kodak• IBM *• Sun *• Intel *• Yahoo *• Hill and Knowlton *

Legal concerns

• Company secrets disclosed• Financial disclosure • ‘Dirty washing’• Privacy of employees• Libel• Copyright• All valid – but even today anyway?

General issues

• Time per post – 15 minutes per post?• Keeping it interesting• Ongoing commitment – think diary• Writing style• Negative feedback/flames

– Moderated– Let blogosphere moderate

Benefits

• Two-way dialogue • Cheap, quick and effective communication• Engage with most active in community (1%)• ‘Human face’ – internally and externally• Messages to employees, shareholders, analysts

and business partners

WebVideo

• Video hosted on own site or via server• Online Corporate Video• Zero duplication/distribution cost

– Grandstand B&B– Elan Valley – BMW– IBM

Podcast - audio• Audio recording • Edited and loaded on own or 3rd party server• Accessed and played on-demand by any MP3 device

– PC/laptop (Windows Media/Quicktime)– Portable player (download to PC and transfer to iPod etc)– Smart phones (delivered by service provider to phone)– Smart games machines (WiFi download to Sony PSP etc)

• BBC/Telegraph/Times etc

Podcast video • Video recording• Edited and loaded on own or 3rd party server• Accessed and played by any video enabled device

– PC/laptop – Portable player (iPod etc)– Smart phones – Smart games machines (Sony PSP etc)

• BBC/Telegraph/Times etc

Benefits of all podcasts• Zero distribution cost versus DVD/CD• 1st person voice = authentic, ‘closer’• As cheap/cheaper v 4-colour brochures• Bigger the audience lower cost per person• Quick – few days to record and edit• Global audience at same cost per person • Think internet TV and radio programmes

Getting & keeping an audience

• Audience - entertained, informed or educated• Post/podcast regularly• Cross blog/audience questions• Get audience content – Mash-Ups, testimonials etc• Use Podcast directory listings• Blog tags, links • Podcast ‘call to action’ – White Papers etc

Mash Ups• Creative and good fun (often used to get jobs!)• Music and video mash-ups – Scary Mary etc

– www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_OAGdFIC– www.youtube.com/watch?v=211B9L2awVA

• Also data Mash Ups like Google Earth with picture overlays

DIY v Professional production • Time, experience and end result metrics

• Audience + company brand values

• Authentic ‘voice’ in both cases

• Wrapping – DIY v professional

• Car servicing – DIY or garage

Case Studies

Disclosure• The next two case studies are FBC clients.• These campaigns have run in the last 6 months• Content can be viewed or listened to at www.eufic.org

www.focusbiz.co.uk/podcast/focus.htm

CIT Case Study

• 640+ members• New Master – traditional method

– Letter– Newsletter profile

• 6+ weeks - £1k* print & postage * Excluding employee time to write and edit etc

Results• 30% members accessed within 8 hours• 60% (384 members) within a week• 1010 plays (plays + pass-on to friends – 1%)• Positive response – zero for newsletter• Reduced timescale - podcast within 5 days recording• Audio podcast cost = £750• Podcast cost per listen (CPL) = <75p• Newsletter per edition = £1.40p approx

EUFIC Case Study

• Newsletter – 35k (bi-monthly)• Cost £1* per newsletter• Scientific and factual based data • Wanted to capture ‘richness’ of interviews

– multiple experts at conferences– VIP experts and legislators

* Excluding employee time to write, edit etc

Results

• 8k+ listeners to VIP podcast– CPL 25p v £1.25p+ per newsletter

• Positive feedback

Social Media Resources

• www.centerforsocialmedia.org

• www.mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg

• www.socialmediaclub.org

• www.podtech.net/marketingvoices

Blogs I subscribe to and recommend

• Blogwrite for CEOs• Church of Customer Blog• GapingVoid (can be crude – beware!)• Leverage Social Media• Seths Blog• SixtySecondView• RichardEdelman 6am• Web Strategy by Jeremiah• Social Media Club• Marketing Voices with Jennifer Jones

Definitions• Blog details

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/blog_hosting_service• Podcasting

http://en.wikiperdia.org/wiki/podcasting• WebVideo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webvideo

Books I have read & recommend

• The Tipping Point, M. Gladwell, ISBN 0-349-11346-7• DV 101, J. Ozer, ISBN 0-321-34897-4• Video Blogging and Podcasting, L. Felix & D. Stolarz, ISBN 0-240-80831-2• Tricks Podcasting Masters, R. Walch & M. Lafferty, ISBN 0-7897-3574-1• Citizen Marketers, B. McConnell & J. Huba, ISBN 1-4195-9606-3• Naked Conversations, R. Scoble & S. Israel, ISBN 0-471-74719• The Corporate Blogging Book, D. Weil, ISBN 0-7499-2743-7

Thank You!adrian.moss@focusbiz.co.ukBlog: www.adrianjmoss.com

Tel: 023 8044 8822