Creating a One to One Dialogue Through Social Interaction

Creating a One to One Dialogue Through Social Interaction

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  white paper |2012 @ Creating a One-to-One Dialogue Through Social Interaction Developments in social marketing provide rich opportunities for companies to drive higher engagement and conversion rates
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  Creating a One-to-OneDialogue Through Social Interaction Developments in social marketing provide rich opportunities for companies to drive higher engagement and conversion rates Executive Overview Facebook’s launch of its Timeline feature in 2011 represents a sea change in how companies can connect with customers and prospects in social media.1,2 As companies seek to replace @ display ads with sponsored stories, organizations can now plug in rich apps to engage their current fans, easily convert fans into their direct marketing programs, and attract new fans to the brand.3 This change has dramatic business implications for marketers—not just on Facebook, but Contents across the social media universe, including Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.4 The continuing evolution of social media is leading to profound changes in the ways that marketers can and Participating in the Social Conversation___________ 4 will be able to engage with hundreds of millions of customers and prospects going forward. 5 Case Study: The Boston “Social media has become the central mechanism that consumers use to talk to each other Celtics’ Social and to share information about what they like about brands and products,” says Wayne Slam Dunk_____________ 6 Townsend, CEO of ClickSquared. “The level of brand impact that consumers can have on these Building the One-to-One interactive platforms is significant—especially when you consider the viral effect that is central Relationship____________ 6 to social media.” The Most Meaningful The online marketing discussion is no longer solely about behavioral targeting. Instead, the Metrics ________________ 9 evolving social scene is about companies creating rich opportunities—contests, communities, Conclusion____________ 10 polls, games, and other approaches—for fans to engage with their brand, and by doing so, attracting their circle of friends to the brand as well. Companies can also use these engagement devices as a bridge for transitioning prospects to the company’s one-to-one direct marketing programs. Companies that fail to take advantage of these types of engagement opportunities could see market share shift to more socially aware competitors. By 2014 more than 70 percent of Fortune 2000 organizations will have at least one “gamified” social application, according to Gartner.6 By engaging social customers and prospects with interactive activities, companies can create considerable brand loyalty, increase their fan base, increase their understanding of their customers, grow their direct marketing database dramatically, and generate greater rev- enue.7 According to a recent Bain & Company report, customers who engage with companies in social media typically spend 20 to 40 percent more with those companies than customers who don’t engage.8 Additionally, consumers are increasingly relying on social media to inform (and broadcast) their purchasing decisions. For instance, a recent examination of “The Facebook Factor” on consumer purchasing behaviors by Forrester Research finds that Facebook fans of Best Buy are about twice as likely to purchase from and recommend Best Buy as non-Facebook fans.9 With more than 500 million regular visitors to Facebook alone—many of whom invest a great deal of time there (e.g., Americans spend nearly 8 hours per month on Facebook, according to Nielsen)—the reach of Facebook is tough to ignore.10 Of course, social marketing isn’t limited to polls, contests, and games. Some companies also focus on social engagement by asking visitors to share their favorite experiences with a product or to submit product reviews and new product ideas. These types of engagement- oriented activities can improve the effectiveness of social marketing activities by keeping ©2012 Peppers & Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved. 2
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  customers—and prospects—coming backto social sites to interact with each other and with the brand. Peppers & Rogers Group believes there are four key success factors that make social activities truly meaningful for their participants.11 These activities: 1. Appeal to participants’ egos and needs 2. Target the right audience 3. Create interactions that engage and excite 4. Maintain the proper balance between freedom and control “Social media has become The Boston Celtics is one company that utilizes these success factors to create a compelling expe- the central mechanism that consumers use to talk rience for its customers and prospects.12 Since the launch of a Facebook game called 3-Point Play, to each other and to share a game in which fans compete to predict the game statistics for a trio of Celtics players, the Celtics information about what team has added 85,000 Facebook fans to its direct marketing database (see case study, page 6).13,14 they like about brands and products.” That type of social interaction creates buzz and excitement, says Dietrich Chen, a director at —Wayne Townsend, CEO, Peppers & Rogers Group.15 ClickSquared Of course, customer engagement–oriented activities like games, contests, and user-generated content are just the first step in social marketing success. Companies that hope to convert anony- mous fans into prospects, prospects into customers, and casual customers into loyal ones also need supporting tools and techniques. For instance, if customers engage in an online contest on a company’s Facebook page, many companies make the mistake of requesting that fans share their Facebook profiles to “fan-gate” the user or prompt her into becoming a Facebook fan. This decreases participation significantly. The company should fan-gate her by requesting her first name, last name, and email address— a request that is acceptable to nearly all consumers. Basically, fans are telling companies that it’s OK to contact me, but I really don’t want to share information about my family, friends, schools, and interests—at least not yet. Trust has not been established.16 Once this basic information is captured, the company should then push the data into its marketing database and use it to start a one-to-one communication stream with those customers via email. By successfully converting anonymous, often passive fans into marketable customers in this manner, companies can now learn more about the customer’s likes and dislikes, and measure open rates, click-thru rates, conversion rates, and impact on revenues, according to Dan Smith, senior vice president of marketing at ClickSquared. Highlights: Supported by insights from ClickSquared and Peppers & Rogers Group, this white paper will help business leaders discover: • ow to gain value from the dramatic changes H • hich approaches to social marketing W occurring in social media. resonate best with customers, as well as recommendations for avoiding social • ow the right tools and techniques can enable H media gaffes. companies to build engagement with “fans” and increase their likelihood to purchase. • How to connect the dots between social media and other channels to engage most • hich metrics are the most meaningful for W effectively with customers and prospects. measuring the results of social strategies.17 ©2012 Peppers Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved. 3
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  Participating in theSocial Conversation Whenever executives ponder the various approaches for connecting with customers via social media, invariably one of the first questions they ask themselves is, “How can I use social network- ing to sell more to my customers?” “This is the wrong question to be asking,” says Martha Rogers, Ph.D., founding partner at Peppers Rogers Group.18 “Instead, what decision-makers should be asking themselves is, how do I use the tools and information that’s available to me to better understand our customers and then do the right thing for each one of them confidently and proactively?” In turn, doing the right thing will lead to sales and other positive outcomes. Organizations need to listen closely to customers to gain that better understanding of their prefer- “How can I use social ences, needs, and behaviors—especially how customers engage on social networks.19 Companies networking to sell more can then take actions that are aimed at delivering the communications and offers that will resonate to my customers’ is the most—and inspire customers to take some action, such as purchasing, sharing, or recommending. wrong question to be asking.” When companies are able to consistently demonstrate both their ability to listen to what cus- —Martha Rogers, Ph.D., tomers have to say in social media and that they’re acting on customer input, companies earn Founding Partner, customer trust. Customers who trust the companies they do business with are more likely to Peppers Rogers Group remain loyal, recommend the company to others, and increase the amount of business they do with that company, Rogers notes. Earning and maintaining customer trust is crucial today given the transparent nature of social media. Because of this, it’s essential that companies are upfront in public dialogues with customers and don’t delete negative posts—especially considering the backlash that such an action can generate. The science of social media It’s also important for business leaders to gain a comprehensive understanding of how social networks and online communities operate and the appropriate ways to engage with consumers in them. This includes knowing when it’s appropriate for a company to enter a conversation (e.g., a customer tweets about a problem he’s having with a company’s product and a customer service agent tweets back with an offer to help) and when it’s not (e.g., sending an unsolicited, irrelevant marketing message via Twitter direct message). By learning more about customer behavior (and the accepted rules of engagement) in spe- cific social channels, business leaders can gain deeper insights about the types of applications and forms of interaction that all their customers and prospects find most engaging and the top- ics they’re most passionate about. Additionally, business leaders should determine which social media channels their top customers and high-value prospects use most often—and how they use them. This will allow an organization to interact with each group in unique and meaningful ways, based on both their current and potential value. A few proven techniques for engaging customers in social media include deploying apps for sharing customer stories about positive experiences they’ve had with a company’s brands and products, posting photos from recent events, and promoting a contest for which there’s an incentive for participation (e.g., contest winners receive a gift certificate). These forms of social engagement can be effective vehicles for eliciting fans’ involvement and making them feel con- nected with other participants and the brand, notes Peppers Rogers Group’s Chen. By comparison, broadcasting offers to mass groups of fans or followers via Facebook or Twitter can alienate customers who don’t want to be marketed to in social media.20 “You have to question at some point how wise it is to broadcast an offer to every fan in a non-differenti- ated way,” says ClickSquared’s Smith. “Such an approach fundamentally fails to acknowledge the reality of marketing: Who are my most valuable customers? Who are my least valuable? ©2012 Peppers Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved. 4
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  Who responds toan offer and who doesn’t?” Social marketing apps and other social engagement strategies can also be an effective way for companies to attract the friends and associates of customers who have comparable attributes to current high-value customers.21 “Social communities are a powerful platform to leverage word of mouth and customer advocacy,” says Peppers Rogers Group’s Chen. An advocate is different from a loyal customer in that she supports and is loyal to the brand, but also recommends and actively promotes the brand, signifying that she is emotionally attached to the brand, Chen adds. “You have to question at Consequently, one highly effectual social marketing strategy is to encourage or reward fans some point how wise it to participate in games, contests, and the like. “Consumers have such a strong influence on one is to broadcast an offer to every fan in a non- another that the experience of one person with a company’s social site can have a multiplier effect differentiated way.” on others,” says ClickSquared’s Townsend. When a single fan’s game play is reflected on the fan’s —Dan Smith, Senior Vice newsfeed (and optionally “pinned” to the top of the newsfeed as a sponsored story), it means that President, Marketing, he’s effectively recommended the game (and the brand) to his friends and family. Social games ClickSquared and contests can quickly go viral when those friends and family—and their friends and family— subsequently participate as well.22 It’s straightforward to measure the impact of these social media apps. When companies add fans, and through game-play, add those fans to their marketing database, they can then determine the business value that’s derived from doing so—for example, calculating the number of pros- pects who participate in a contest on Facebook who are then converted into customers and the revenue resulting from those conversions (see “The Most Meaningful Metrics”). Figure 1: The Social Engagement Tree There are multiple ways that companies can engage fans using social media and begin building one-to-one relationships. This chart from a Shop.org social commerce study illustrates different ways that consumers interact with retailers via social media, including the percentage of consumers who purchased a product or service using a Facebook link.23 How Shoppers Interact With Retailers Through Social Networks ■ Facebook ■ Twitter ■ Retail Blogs Purchased product or service from Facebook link Posted comments regarding customer services Posted comments regarding products or services Browsed/researched product or service Clicked through to website 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Source: 2011 Social Commerce Study by Shop.org, 1,787 respondents, April 2011 ©2012 Peppers Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved. 5
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  Case Study: The Boston Celtics’ Social Slam Dunk The beauty of the evolving social marketing space is that it provides companies with rich oppor- tunities to engage with large numbers of the right consumers. Companies can then nurture that social audience, transitioning fans into their direct marketing programs and building trust through a one-to-one dialogue. “Engagement is where a consumer-to-brand relationship drives value, whether that engagement is in social or facilitated by another channel,” says ClickSquared CEO Wayne Townsend. The Boston Celtics is one organization that is actively engaging its fans in social—and scoring big as a result. The NBA team created a Facebook game called 3-Point Play in which, prior to each live game, Celtics fans can predict the statistics (points, rebounds, assists) that three separate players will achieve. Participants accrue points based on the accuracy of each pick, the risks inherent in the picks they made, the collective accuracy of their picks across all three players, and the number of challenges they’ve won against other Celtics fans. Nothing but net (gain) While Celtics fans have fun playing the game and earning the chance to win prizes, including coveted playoff tickets, the team is able to connect with and gather rich marketing information about its 2-million-and-growing Facebook fans. 3-Point Play has enabled the Celtics team to quadruple its Facebook fan base to 6.5 million over three years. The game has also helped the team to add 85,000 Facebook fans to its marketing database, enabling the Celtics to drive significant increases in ticket sales since the game’s launch. Building the One-to-One Relationship Behavioral targeting can be highly influential in connecting companies with customers.24 Companies can use cookies to track consumers’ online behavior (e.g., monitoring websites they visit) and send them ads they may be interested in receiving based on those behaviors. For exam- ple, a home improvement retailer may present targeted ads for plumbing supplies to consumers who visit websites regarding plumbing repairs and parts. Still, behavioral targeting lacks the emotional and human connection that social relationships can, and often do, deliver. Targeted ads are intended to reach a certain group of people based on their demographic background (e.g., gender, age, location) and behaviors like frequently visited websites and purchase history specifically to drive an action like a purchase or a request for fur- ther information. Additionally, there’s typically a low level of consumer engagement with online ads. They aim to drive one action at that moment. Social marketing and engagement activities, by contrast, aim to build relationships that bear dividends over the long term, including purchases, sharing, and recommendations. Social marketing is also more effective at creating buzz among customers and encouraging participation by their friends. “Social engagement is an effective way of getting customers and prospects involved,” says Peppers Rogers Group’s Rogers. One company that’s extremely successful at engaging its fans in social media and generating qualified leads as a result is ModCloth.25 The online fashion retailer offers a mix of activities for its fans on Facebook and Twitter—for example, asking Facebook fans questions like, “What trends do you think will be sizzlin’ hot this summer?” In addition, the company runs regular contests on Twitter, including “I Spy Thursdays,” in which each Thursday at 4 p.m. Eastern Time the company posts a blurry or distorted picture of one of its products.26 The customer who’s the fifth person ©2012 Peppers Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved. 6
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  to tweet thecorrect name of the product to @ModCloth wins a $25 gift certificate. One of ModCloth’s initial campaigns with Offerpop, ClickSquared’s partner for its clickSO- CIAL social marketing apps, generated 30,000 email addresses from its Facebook fans in just six hours.27 The company has also conducted a few private sales with its Facebook and Twitter fans that have resulted in some of the company’s best revenue and traffic months. “ModCloth has put together some simple but engaging programs that are a lot of fun,” says Mark Cooper, cofounder and CMO at Offerpop. “We find that apps with which people can engage over a cup of coffee or in spare moments during the course of a day really work well.” Of course, some social games and contests only last for a fixed period of time, so compa- nies need to use effective techniques to keep fans engaged and coming back. For instance, FarmVille, the popular farming simulation social game from Zynga, typically sends reminder messages to reengage fans who haven’t visited the site in a while (“Come back and water your plants before they wilt!”).28, 29 Many companies simply rotate and refresh their social apps so that the content remains fresh (e.g., ClickSquared’s clients can choose from 16 ready-to-deploy apps for both Facebook and Twitter). The rules of engagement As companies continue to engage fans through games, contests, or other activities, the next step is to convert fans who are prospects into customers, and those who are already customers into purchasers of additional products or services. A simple rule of thumb to begin transition- “Social communities are a powerful platform to ing prospects into customers is to request a single form of contact information, such as an leverage word of mouth email or text address. This makes the opt-in process simple, while providing the company and customer advocacy.” with a means of direct follow up. From there, companies can begin a one-to-one dialogue that —Dietrich Chen, Director, allows them to gather additional information about their customers’ interests, preferences, Peppers Rogers Group and other pertinent data, and then use this information to help make future interactions more relevant and personalized. “Connecting with consumers in social through games and contests is a very nonthreatening way of starting a relationship,” says ClickSquared’s Smith. Companies can engage fans in other ways—outside of games and contests—that can pro- vide meaningful insights about their preferences and attitudes. Customer-facing employees in marketing or customer service can post open-ended questions on a company’s Facebook page asking fans how they use a company’s product. For example, a grocer might ask fans what they like to serve at their Super Bowl party. This information can provide the grocer with insight into what items to feature or promote prior to game day, and which customer groups are most likely to purchase as a result. Engagement is an ongoing process. Once social fans have provided initial contact informa- tion and permission to contact them via email, mail, or phone/SMS, companies should strive to deliver additional value to customers to help keep them engaged. This can include updates on the game or contest, such as new features that have been added or winners who have been announced and the types of prizes they’ve earned. Companies can also reengage social fans by asking them to participate to try out their latest app, e.g., a photo contest where they can submit and vote on pictures showing fans with their favorite product, or a poll where they cast a vote to name the next new ice cream flavor. Doing so helps social participants feel connected to the group, encourages ongoing participation, and invites the fan’s friends and family to join in the fun. As the fan-to-company social relationship transitions to one-to-one communications, it’s critical for companies to make it easy for customers and prospects to set their interac- tion preferences—how often they prefer to be contacted about what products or services, via which channels, and at what time of day. Too often, companies ignore these preferences ©2012 Peppers Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved. 7
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  Figure 2: Going Where Your Customers Are The following chart from comScore illustrates where people spend the majority of their time on social net- working sites.30 Before making the assumption that Facebook is the logical place to invest in sharing content with customers, decision-makers should first ascertain which social networking sites their company’s high- value customers use the most and how they use the sites. Average Minutes per Visitor for Selected Leading Social Network Sites Facebook.com 423 Tumblr.com 151 Pinterest.com 80 Twitter.com 25 LinkedIn.com 15 Myspace 13 Google plus 5 Source: comScore Media Metrix, December 2011 and bombard prospects with unwelcome communications, which is a sure path to destroying the relationship, notes A Social Readiness Checklist ClickSquared’s Townsend. Peppers Rogers Group offers the following advice Companies that are able to explicitly gather customer for companies as they expand their social networking activities. insight through the use of a preference center (and implicitly by recording behaviors) can then engage in a relevant dia- 1. Understand the social media landscape, including what other companies are doing in and outside your field. logues with customers going forward. “Building one-to-one 2. e clear about what you want to achieve with social B relationships is all about learning something about individual media. Is it primarily for customer care or for acquiring customers and then remembering and using that insight to new customers? Or is it to manage corporate communi- make the next interaction with each customer more relevant cation, crisis management, or brand awareness? and timely,” says Peppers Rogers Group’s Chen. 3. ave a listening program in place to determine which H When customers feel as if the company knows them, includ- customers are talking about what topics and where they interact most. This is valuable insight that marketers or ing their interests and preferences, then those customers will service teams can turn into action by triggering commu- be more willing to continue the discussion with the company, nications based on customer comments or proactively notes Peppers Rogers Group’s Rogers. addressing customers’ issues and concerns when Once a social fan has provided contact information, it’s also possible. essential for decision-makers to have a strategy in place for 4. Experiment with pilot programs. Identify a few to test ideas and learn from the experiences. engaging that customer going forward so that the relation- ship continues to flourish. “It’s important to plot out what you 5. Ensure that social media initiatives are not conducted in isolation and that they are aligned with the larger cor- want that customer lifecycle to look like so that you can plan porate strategy. Too often, companies run a number of future programs for your customers and determine the level disparate social media initiatives with no cohesiveness of investment that should be made in those programs against to them. the customer value you hope to capture,” says ClickSquared’s Source: Peppers Rogers Group Townsend. ©2012 Peppers Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved. 8
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  The Most MeaningfulMetrics As companies gain experience with social marketing and engagement and with transitioning anonymous fans and followers to one-to-one dialogues, they can also begin to measure the results that these efforts are delivering. This includes determining the impact on open rates and conversion rates, as well as changes in revenues and profits. However, for decision-mak- ers to measure the results of social strategies in an effective and repeatable way, they need to align the right measurements with the goals they’re looking to achieve (e.g., increasing repeat sales by 10 percent over the next six to 12 months). Many organizations struggle to measure the returns they’re seeing from social efforts. According to Gartner, half of Fortune 1000 companies will not see ROI on their social CRM “If you can’t track the re- initiatives by the end of 2012, largely because they’re either not applying the right measure- sults of social engagement ments or because they haven’t clearly identified the objectives they’re trying to accomplish.31 on business performance, this should be troubling to Additionally, among those companies that will not see a worthwhile return, just 20 percent you as a business leader.” have the data necessary to determine where their social strategies are falling short.32 —Dan Smith, Senior Vice Part of the problem is that many companies fail to set clear business performance goals for President, Marketing, their social strategies. Measuring the number of Facebook fans or “likes” or the number of tweets ClickSquared made about a company in a given week doesn’t speak to the business value that’s derived from social business strategies (e.g., the number of social participants who made a purchase). Decision-makers need to set explicit business goals, such as correlations between social marketing programs and quarterly revenue growth, notes ClickSquared’s Smith. The key is to start with a single metric, gain experience with that measurement, and then build on it. For example, if a company starts by measuring the number of Facebook fans converted to its marketing database per quarter, over time it should track the amount of revenue generated by those converted fans. Companies should also attempt to measure social engagement. This can include gauging the number of active participants in a company’s online community or how often fans are participating in a game, along with the amount of time spent doing so each day or week. By drilling down into this kind of information, decision-makers can determine the level of engagement a company has with its fans and then link that to the impact that social engagement is having on business performance (e.g., the percentage of active community members who purchased products last quarter versus the percentage of purchases made by non–active community members). Assembling the puzzle To adequately measure the impact of social strategies on business performance, companies need to have the right technologies in place to capture and analyze data inputs. Measuring the business impact of social strategies isn’t limited to gathering social data. Customers use multiple channels to interact with companies, including websites, email, and phone. Because customers often start an interaction in one channel, such as email, and then click on a link that brings them to another channel, such as social, it’s critical for business leaders to be able to measure campaigns across those channels to help them determine the strengths and weaknesses of various cross-channel marketing approaches. Consider HomeAway.com, an online marketplace for vacation rentals that offers customers and visitors opportunities to share their experiences, photos, likes, and dislikes regarding rental prop- erties at which they’ve stayed.33 One of the strengths of HomeAway’s Facebook strategy is how it redirects fans who click on a Facebook photo of a featured vacation property to the HomeAway. com website. “It’s a way of using social media to drive traffic to your website by virtue of a trav- eler’s experience with a vacation property,” says ClickSquared’s Townsend. Connecting social with other channels provides companies additional ways to strengthen the ©2012 Peppers Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved. 9
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  of information canbe informative and useful Run contests and games 35% pur for customers, companies can strengthen Provide links to relevant content (e.g., a customer relationships and benefit further by food company providing links to recipes) 71% analyzing customer insights for target seg- 44% Integrate marketing via social with with sa ments to make sure they are sending out rel- marketing delivered via other channels 54% evant promotions and offers that will resonate with customers and lead to higher conversion Our company doesn’t use social networks for marketing 14% customer/company relationship. By providing cus- rates among the intended audience, says Peppers. tomer-facing employees a window into the various Other 6% Figure 3: Measuring Social Business Success customer touch points, they’re able to gain a more There are multiple ways for corporate leaders to measure the business impact complete view of each customer. With this informa- of social strategies, including direct revenue impact and referral business. 54% Unfortunately, too many companies continue to focus on the basics like track- tion in hand, customer-facing employees are able ing the number of social networking “likes” generated by fans, according to to have relevant, context-based interactions with a recent Peppers Rogers Group and Temkin Group survey of organizational decision-makers.34 customers. This demonstrates that the company understands its customers and is striving to better Adjusting the Dial address their needs and interests, notes Peppers How do you measure success in social? Rogers Group’s Rogers. most companies are still in the early It’s clear that stages of creating and implementing their social Gaining thismedia strategies. Forof customers also complete view example, few companies Customer referrals 38% enables company able to measure the success of their social are decision-makers to track the full Revenue via social 19% engagement-to-conversion lifecycle. Let’s say Nearly strategies in terms of business metrics. a 50 percent of survey respondents say they company has 1,000 Facebook fans and 400 of those Time on site 18% measure social success in the number of fans, fans have been transitioned theirits marketing social me- friends, or likes to organization’s data- Friends/fans, likes 46% base through game play. Of those 400,this demonstrates is dia pages generate. “What the company that many companies still need to transition from Forwarded links 30% is in an active dialogueof social metricscanbusiness metrics,” the use with 250, and to track that 75 Number/frequency 41% products were says Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin purchased last week. of comments Group. As companies integrate social into their We don’t track “If you can’t track the results of social engagement social metrics 25% customer service strategies, for example, they on business performance, to measure business metrics such should begin this should be troubling to I don’t know 13% you as a business changes in the cost to serve or the number of as leader,” says ClickSquared’s Smith. calls deflected from the contact center. Other 5% “The good news is that the tools and techniques are all available to do this.” Source: 2011 Social Strategies Study, Peppers Rogers Group and Temkin Group, December 2011 Conclusion Social networking presents enormous opportunities for companies to engage and attract hun- dreds—if10 Customer Strategist volume 3 • issue 4 not thousands—of new potential customers. Doing this successfully means creating www.customerstrategistjournal.com mechanisms by which consumers can engage with the brand beyond a one-time click of a “like” or “follow” button. Providing engaging games, contests, and (fan-)gated communities that allow customers to interact with the brand (and their fellow fans) to share their opinions, expertise, and CSvol3is4_benchmark.indd 10 12/15/11 4:26:51 PM passion are critical ingredients to drive measurable business results with customers and pros- pects in social channels, says ClickSquared’s Townsend. “It’s vital to have program leaders who have a deep understanding of the social channels cus- tomers use and the different ways that people engage with companies in social environments, including the personal data they will or will not be willing to share,” says Peppers Rogers Group’s Rogers. Social engagement is a two-way street. It provides companies a powerful opportunity to develop more meaningful dialogues and stronger relationships with consumers that can lead to potent business outcomes. It’s also a way for a company’s most fervent advocates to share their passion for a company’s brands and products with other potential customers. “A dialogue can only evolve and be engaging if both parties benefit from that interaction,” says Peppers Rogers Group’s Chen. Unlike other online marketing strategies (e.g., behavioral targeting), social marketing pro- vides companies with tremendous opportunities to connect with individual customers in a deep and meaningful way, enhancing social engagement as a result. “Ultimately, it’s about moving from broadcast to unicast, and making that one-to-one connection with the customer,” says ClickSquared’s Smith. “Because once you’ve developed that one-to-one relationship, great things can happen.” n ©2012 Peppers Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved. 10
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  About ClickSquared ClickSquared is the only company offering SaaS cross-channel campaign management software, enabling B2C marketers to design, manage and deliver data-driven marketing programs across email, social, mobile, direct mail, survey, and web channels without the cost and complexity of “big software” and multi-vendor integrations. ClickSquared’s Cross-Channel Marketing Hub and value added services provide fast time-to- value, capture marketing efficiencies, deliver high ROI and create lasting value for organizations of all sizes. ClickSquared has helped to build some of the world’s best known brands including ARAMARK Parks and Destinations, The Boston Celtics, Capital One Bank, Miami Dolphins, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Greyhound, HomeAway, Hyatt, Lenovo, Leading Hotels of the World and Santander. ClickSquared has offices across the United States, including its headquar- ters in Boston, Massachusetts as well as offices in the United Kingdom. For more information call +1.857.246.7800 or visit http://clicksquared.com/ or via the links below: Twitter: www.twitter.com/clicksquared, Facebook: www.facebook.com/clicksquared About Peppers Rogers Group Peppers Rogers Group is dedicated to helping its clients improve business performance by acquiring, retaining, and growing profitable customers. As products become commodities and glo- balization picks up speed, customers have become the scarcest resource in business. They hold the keys to higher profit today and stronger enterprise value tomorrow. We help clients achieve these goals by building the right relationships with the right customers over the right channels. We earn our keep by solving the business problems of our clients. By delivering a superior 1to1 Strategy, we remove the operational and organizational barriers that stand in the way of profitable customer relationships. We show clients where to focus customer-facing resources to improve the performance of their marketing, sales, and service initiatives. For more information please visit www.peppersandrogersgroup.com About 1to1 Media 1to1® Media is dedicated to helping organizations across the globe realize the greatest value from their customer base. We provide resources that help senior executives to drive change and make customer-based initiatives the centerpiece of their growth strategy. 1to1 Media’s custom publications explore the best practices, trends, and developments from companies that are using customer initiatives to drive bottom-line impact. Backed by Peppers Rogers Group, the globally recognized leader in customer strategy and relationship marketing, 1to1 Media combines thought leadership, field experience, and editorial expertise to deliver the content needed by our audience of more than 130,000 decision-makers. For more information please visit www.1to1media.com ©2012 Peppers Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved. 11
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  Endnotes 1 Darwell, Brittany (2012, March 26). “Facebook Expands Sponsored Stories in News Feed With Image, More Social Context.” InsideFacebook.com. 2 Whitney, Lance (2012, February 29). “Facebook launches Timeline for Pages.” CNET.com. 3 Munro, Peter (2012, April 1). “Nothing Quite Like a Million New Friends.” Smh.com.au. 4 Olson, Porter (2012, March 30). “Using Facebook Timeline for Your Business.” Business2Community.com. 5 Souza, John (2012, March 30). “If Social Media Isn’t Profitable, What’s the Point?” FastCompany.com. 6 March 9, 2012. “Gamification Examples in Business Are Growing—and Fun.” American Management Association. Amanet.org./shift/. 7 D’Antonio, Mila (2012, March 26). “3 Ways That Social Engagement Breeds Customer Loyalty.” 1to1Media.com. 8 Zaibak, Omar (2012, March 26). “20 Important Customer Experience Statistics for 2012.” Fonolo.com. 9 Sverdlov, Gina (2012, April 9). “The Facebook Factor.” Forrester Research. 10 Parr, Ben (2011, September 30). “You Spend 8 Hours Per Month on Facebook [STATS]”. Mashable.com. 11 Ruggiano, Marc (2012, January 27). “What’s Your Social Readiness Score?” Peppersandrogersgroup.com. 12 The Boston Celtics 3-Point Play Facebook Page. https://apps.facebook.com/threepointplay/. 13 Boston Celtics 3-Point Play. Na.isobar.com. 14 ClickSquared “Customer Case Study: The Boston Celtics.” ClickSquared. 15 Chen, Dietrich; Williams, Cory (2011, October 11). “Empowering Customers to Become Evangelists.” Customer Strategist. Peppersandrogersgroup.com. 16 Peppers, Don; Rogers, Martha, Ph.D. (2012, April 26). “Extreme Trust: Honesty as a Competitive Advantage.” Portfolio Penguin. 17 Clark, Cynthia (2012, April 30). “The Most Actionable Social Media Metrics.” 1to1Media.com. 18 Rogers, Martha, Ph.D. (2012, January 25). “What’s the Right Question?” Peppersandrogersgroup.com. 19 Chen, Dietrich (2011, December 14). “5 Social Media Banking Efforts in Action.” Peppersandrogersgroup.com. 20 Hockenson, Lauren (2012, April 26). “Facebook Marketing: Why Less is More.” Mashable.com. 21 Oguz, Orkun; Chen, Dietrich; Akdemir, Alpay (2011, December 26). “Mining for Social Customer Gold.” Customer Strategist. Peppersandrogersgroup.com. 22 Henion, Andy (2012, April 25). “Customer ‘Tribes’ Foster Brand Loyalty.” Futurity.org. 23 Petersen, Rob (2011, October 14). “In 2012, 1 Out of 2 Companies Will Have a Blog. 23 Reasons It Should Be In Your Business Plan.” BarnRaisersllc.com. 24 Kirkpatrick, David (2011, November 17). “Online Behavioral Advertising: How To Benefit From Targeted Ads in a World Concerned with Privacy.” MarketingSherpa.com. 25 ModCloth.com. 26 April 23, 2009. “I Spy Thursdays on Twitter.” Blog.modcloth.com. 27 ModCloth Case Study. Offerpop.com. 28 FarmVille. Zynga.com. 29 DiDonato, Joe (2011, April 28). “10 Engagement Tips from the Social Gaming Networking World.” 2Elearning.com. 30 Tommytoy.typepad.com. 31 Smith, Tineka (2012, May 3). “Fortune 1000 Companies May Miss the Mark on Social CRM.” CBRonline.com. 32 Marie-Petrou, Andrea (2012, May 3). “Only half of Fortune 1000 Companies Will See a Positive Social CRM Return.” ChannelBiz.co.uk. 33 HomeAway.com website. 34 Hoffman, Thomas (December 2011). “How Does Your Social Strategy Stack Up?” Customer Strategist. Peppersandrogersgroup.com. ©2012 Peppers Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved. 12