While one of the most-cited benefits of social monitoring tools is “reputation management,” it’s far from the whole story in social media. For starters, “reputation management” includes a lot of defense and reaction. How can we use the same toolset to go on the offensive? To create opportunities? To drive revenue?
We have been able to create success for our clients by using social monitoring tools to find smaller and more focused online communities – that is, enthusiasts. One of the cornerstones of good social media strategy is to find your target market segment, including your enthusiasts, and to take the conversation to where they already are. Well, that’s easier said than done for certain brands and products. Example: we have a current B2B client that has operated successfully for decades outside of the public view by working with various resellers and other third parties. They do not engage in traditional marketing beyond their website, and their product line is utilitarian enough that it does not generate mainstream end-user enthusiasm. Their quantity of mentions in the last six months, anywhere on the web, is zero.
So you can understand the challenges we’ve faced, from a social media point of view, on behalf of this client. Simple brand monitoring (the first step in reputation management) did not help us to find current and potential enthusiasts. Instead, we’ve searched for communities built around the activities supported by the product. It takes longer to sift through the noise, but the end result is that we’ve been able to discover small communities that are highly qualified for potential purchase. Engaging with the moderators of these communities has lead to positive product reviews, which in turn generate very positive results: significant spikes in web traffic from three different communities with bounce rates under 1%. To put that in perspective, here’s a quote from Avinash Kaushik (see step #3)
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My own personal observation is that it is really hard to get a bounce rate under 20%, anything over 35% is cause for concern, 50% (above) is worrying.
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Really puts the 1% bounce rate in perspective, right? It means that we are driving very highly qualified traffic for this client and building relationships with communities that absolutely want to hear from us. Will we be able to repeat these kinds of numbers for every client? We’ll work hard to try, but what matters more, however, is that we are defining how we measure success and learning to make the most of our social media toolkit. Once discovered and engaged, it is not a long stretch to convert super-qualified audiences like these to actual dollars, actionable feedback, and more.
Quick sidenote: I want to point out that this client hadn’t done anything “wrong” in the world of social media and e-commerce. Rather, their business model and strong industry relationships created a situation that had not traditionally needed this kind of support to grow. I mention them today because they present a somewhat unique, almost laboratory-like, case study on how social media can support a variety of business models and objectives.
Although our B2B client is just getting started in social, today’s lesson is just as applicable to bigger brands. Community and reputation managers must use their toolkits to look for conversations about the hobby/lifestyle/problem-to-be-solved in general. Looking for specific brand mentions is not enough. Cast a wider net and look a little deeper. Like us, I’m confident that you’ll find many untapped enthusiasts that want to hear from you and get greater value out of your social efforts in the process.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Will Twitter Become the AM Radio of Social Media?
David Pogue had a user-friendly article on Google Buzz yesterday. His natural first comparison was with Twitter, which he described as very user-friendly because it has so few features. I agree, even if he made the apparently willful omissions of related services like TwitPic or TweetDeck, for example, when stating that you cannot upload photos or filter Twitter content. I liked David’s review of Buzz; highlights include: functionality and usage is inconsistent and confusing, even while features like geolocation are awesome fundamentally important in a world that is shifting to mobile. He then concludes with this statement…
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Buzz probably won’t make much of a dent in Facebook or Twitter or FriendFeed. But… because it has powerful and flexible features and because millions of Gmail members can get in with a single click, Buzz will have its own following…
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I disagree. Twitter, in particular, I think is doomed to irrelevance. The combination of its weakening adoption curve, substantially smaller user base, and limited feature set will almost certainly relegate Twitter to obscurity in the next few years. I can explain by sharing some of my impressions regarding Google Buzz:
Now let’s look at the numbers. Twitter is tough to measure because of substantial usage off of its website, but these are pretty clear metrics:
So let’s put all of this in terms of strategy. Bottom line: Beware of anyone peddling a “Twitter” or other platform-specific strategy. Context, not platform, is what really matters. This is especially true as services like Buzz (and Facebook) enable sharing in a variety of contexts, now including microblogging.
What do you think? Will Twitter fight its way out of the corner or is it doomed to become the AM radio of the social world? Will these trends help to evolve social media strategy beyond the platform-specifc?
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Buzz probably won’t make much of a dent in Facebook or Twitter or FriendFeed. But… because it has powerful and flexible features and because millions of Gmail members can get in with a single click, Buzz will have its own following…
-----
I disagree. Twitter, in particular, I think is doomed to irrelevance. The combination of its weakening adoption curve, substantially smaller user base, and limited feature set will almost certainly relegate Twitter to obscurity in the next few years. I can explain by sharing some of my impressions regarding Google Buzz:
- Google’s never been the best-looking kid in the room, just the smartest. I think looks do matter in this case, however; the labyrinthine UI isn’t exactly going to help adoption.
- The feature set, including threaded conversations, location recommendations, auto-recommended friends, and more is a bit overwhelming, too.
- I’d like to get more mileage out of Buzz, but message parity across networks matters to me (lest something like this should occur. Especially for business interests, I need to be able to selectively simulpost to Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and –preferably– Buzz.
Now let’s look at the numbers. Twitter is tough to measure because of substantial usage off of its website, but these are pretty clear metrics:
- Adoption rates are decreasing and almost leveling off at around 25 million total users, and Twitter has a despairing retention rate, but to be fair…
- Usage metrics are becoming deeper in terms of quantity of tweets and following/followed metrics per account
So let’s put all of this in terms of strategy. Bottom line: Beware of anyone peddling a “Twitter” or other platform-specific strategy. Context, not platform, is what really matters. This is especially true as services like Buzz (and Facebook) enable sharing in a variety of contexts, now including microblogging.
What do you think? Will Twitter fight its way out of the corner or is it doomed to become the AM radio of the social world? Will these trends help to evolve social media strategy beyond the platform-specifc?
Monday, February 15, 2010
More on Kevin Smith and Southwest
While talking about Kevin Smith and Southwest Airlines with the client who turned me on to the story, we realized that this really is an emerging case study for social media. In my earlier post, I had mentioned that the issue was as much about a communication failure between Southwest employees as it was about any purported “anti-fat” policy. As the story progresses, however, I see Southwest continuing to fail in the world of customer relations via social media. Get this- they tried to apologize to Kevin, via Twitter, by offering him their standard $100 voucher.
Was there any basic social media training for the customer support team at Southwest? Regardless of what we think of his celebrity (or lack thereof) in mainstream media, the guy has well beyond one million followers on Twitter. His initial rant was via Twitter, so it is not a big leap to expect someone to check on this –and therefore gauge his level of potential influence-- before making that standard (and somewhat insulting) $100 voucher.
Key takeaway: SOPs for handling customer complaints should attempt to assess the customer’s level of influence. This does NOT mean that the everyday people should get lesser service. It DOES mean that the organization should recognize when it has an impending customer service issue AND PR issue and react accordingly.
As if that first move were not enough, Southwest then attempted to tell their side of the story via their blog. Yikes. It’s hard for me to imagine a response that could be much worse. Do they understand that they’re dealing with an emotional issue in a media ecosystem uniquely designed to convey emotional content? Not only that, I’m sure their blog does not have the same kind of dedicated traffic as Kevin’s Twitter followers. Even if their apology were right on the money, Southwest’s bullhorn isn’t big enough.
My colleague and I were trying to imagine ourselves in the (painful) shoes of Southwest’s PR team right now. The truth is, however, that Southwest has it pretty easy in this scenario. Kevin Smith is obviously upset, he was inconvenienced and embarrassed, but he also has the presentation of a funny and somewhat humble guy. To show what a good sport he is, he even gave them an easy out via Twitter…
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Hey @SouthwestAir: you bring that same row of seats to the DailyShow, and I'll sit in 'em for all to see on TV. If I don't fit, I'll donate $10k to charity of your choice. But when I do (& buckle the belt as well)? 1) You admit you lied. 2) Change your policy, or at least re-train your staff to be a lot more human & a lot less corporate when they pull a poor girl off the plane & shame her.
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What a great idea! Southwest gets a forum that’s big enough for their apology and corrective actions to be heard and Kevin gets to stop sounding like an irate fat guy. Only problem is that Southwest should have come up with this idea, not the wounded party. And, no matter what, they should make a charitable donation to something selected by Kevin. I can’t resist making a few PR recommendations here: Southwest should show up on the Daily Show with a hilariously small chair for Kevin to try and fit into. You know, have a laugh, try to focus on the miscommunication and less on the “anti-fat” policy. As I mentioned in my previous post, Southwest must take this opportunity to exam their processes - the issue is not just about the policy itself.
I’m interested in what you think. Did Southwest handle Kevin’s twitter-transmitted rant correctly? Did they miss other opportunities? What else can we learn from this?
Was there any basic social media training for the customer support team at Southwest? Regardless of what we think of his celebrity (or lack thereof) in mainstream media, the guy has well beyond one million followers on Twitter. His initial rant was via Twitter, so it is not a big leap to expect someone to check on this –and therefore gauge his level of potential influence-- before making that standard (and somewhat insulting) $100 voucher.
Key takeaway: SOPs for handling customer complaints should attempt to assess the customer’s level of influence. This does NOT mean that the everyday people should get lesser service. It DOES mean that the organization should recognize when it has an impending customer service issue AND PR issue and react accordingly.
As if that first move were not enough, Southwest then attempted to tell their side of the story via their blog. Yikes. It’s hard for me to imagine a response that could be much worse. Do they understand that they’re dealing with an emotional issue in a media ecosystem uniquely designed to convey emotional content? Not only that, I’m sure their blog does not have the same kind of dedicated traffic as Kevin’s Twitter followers. Even if their apology were right on the money, Southwest’s bullhorn isn’t big enough.
My colleague and I were trying to imagine ourselves in the (painful) shoes of Southwest’s PR team right now. The truth is, however, that Southwest has it pretty easy in this scenario. Kevin Smith is obviously upset, he was inconvenienced and embarrassed, but he also has the presentation of a funny and somewhat humble guy. To show what a good sport he is, he even gave them an easy out via Twitter…
--------
Hey @SouthwestAir: you bring that same row of seats to the DailyShow, and I'll sit in 'em for all to see on TV. If I don't fit, I'll donate $10k to charity of your choice. But when I do (& buckle the belt as well)? 1) You admit you lied. 2) Change your policy, or at least re-train your staff to be a lot more human & a lot less corporate when they pull a poor girl off the plane & shame her.
--------
What a great idea! Southwest gets a forum that’s big enough for their apology and corrective actions to be heard and Kevin gets to stop sounding like an irate fat guy. Only problem is that Southwest should have come up with this idea, not the wounded party. And, no matter what, they should make a charitable donation to something selected by Kevin. I can’t resist making a few PR recommendations here: Southwest should show up on the Daily Show with a hilariously small chair for Kevin to try and fit into. You know, have a laugh, try to focus on the miscommunication and less on the “anti-fat” policy. As I mentioned in my previous post, Southwest must take this opportunity to exam their processes - the issue is not just about the policy itself.
I’m interested in what you think. Did Southwest handle Kevin’s twitter-transmitted rant correctly? Did they miss other opportunities? What else can we learn from this?
Social Media Accelerates Opportunities for Improvement
Director Kevin Smith was deemed too fat to fly on a Southwest airlines flight this weekend. While famous in certain circles, he was on the brink of becoming yet another anonymous customer service casualty until he described his ordeal to his 1.2 million Twitter followers. This in turn generated traditional media coverage and a spike in is follower base to 1.6 million. Southwest thought Kevin was too big to fly? Well now they have a really big problem on their hands.
Southwest says they have had the same “customer of size” policy (I prefer the term “obese customer” – I mean, we all have a “size”, right?) for nearly twenty-five years. Is their policy fair? In this case, it doesn’t even matter. The problem isn’t the policy, it’s a breakdown in Southwest’s internal communications that got Kevin so upset. An organizational communication failure at Southwest became a customer service issue and its now been exposed to over a million people directly and many millions more through traditional media.
According to his own story, Kevin actually had THREE seats purchased (his family was going to travel with him, etc -- see the whole story using the above link) but plans changed and he was able to leave town on an earlier flight that had only one seat available. Again, according to his story, he explained the situation to the staff at the check-in desk, who assured him that there would not be an issue with a large man like Kevin taking the one seat. I’m guessing that no one at that desk thought to talk with the pilot of the plane, however. Whether justified or not, the pilot made a decision that was in direct contradiction to what Kevin had been promised moments earlier. Although Kevin is clearly a big guy, it seems that Southwest allowed its own policy to be broken by allowing Kevin (who had already bought many tickets) onto a different flight with one seat.
Internally, Southwest failed to consistently enforce/make exceptions to its policy. Although Kevin was in face-to-face communications during his ordeal, I think most of us go through something very similar almost every time we pick up the phone for customer service: We get bounced around from one person to the next without any one of them having legitimate context or history of our customer service issue. I had a similar situation with Verizon FIOS a few months back that caused me to drop their service entirely.
Social media creates an environment where only excellent organizations can thrive. And, in this case, a weakness in how Southwest handles situations like these was exposed. They tried to placate and apologize to Kevin, but with little success. So what’s Southwest supposed to do? “Learn”, is my advice. In the context of social media, many organizations rightfully fear this exact kind of situation. But one of the understated benefits of the environment is that bringing these issues to the surface creates opportunities for improvement. This is an opportunity for Southwest to improve and undoubtedly make many other passengers (even those without 1.6 million twitter followers) happier with their service.
I’ve been reading that certain people and groups, like the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance will make the issue discriminatory one, but remember that the point of failure was first and foremost a procedural one. As the PR dust settles around this, I hope that Southwest are able to look at the issue for what it was and make the necessary adjustments.
Southwest says they have had the same “customer of size” policy (I prefer the term “obese customer” – I mean, we all have a “size”, right?) for nearly twenty-five years. Is their policy fair? In this case, it doesn’t even matter. The problem isn’t the policy, it’s a breakdown in Southwest’s internal communications that got Kevin so upset. An organizational communication failure at Southwest became a customer service issue and its now been exposed to over a million people directly and many millions more through traditional media.
According to his own story, Kevin actually had THREE seats purchased (his family was going to travel with him, etc -- see the whole story using the above link) but plans changed and he was able to leave town on an earlier flight that had only one seat available. Again, according to his story, he explained the situation to the staff at the check-in desk, who assured him that there would not be an issue with a large man like Kevin taking the one seat. I’m guessing that no one at that desk thought to talk with the pilot of the plane, however. Whether justified or not, the pilot made a decision that was in direct contradiction to what Kevin had been promised moments earlier. Although Kevin is clearly a big guy, it seems that Southwest allowed its own policy to be broken by allowing Kevin (who had already bought many tickets) onto a different flight with one seat.
Internally, Southwest failed to consistently enforce/make exceptions to its policy. Although Kevin was in face-to-face communications during his ordeal, I think most of us go through something very similar almost every time we pick up the phone for customer service: We get bounced around from one person to the next without any one of them having legitimate context or history of our customer service issue. I had a similar situation with Verizon FIOS a few months back that caused me to drop their service entirely.
Social media creates an environment where only excellent organizations can thrive. And, in this case, a weakness in how Southwest handles situations like these was exposed. They tried to placate and apologize to Kevin, but with little success. So what’s Southwest supposed to do? “Learn”, is my advice. In the context of social media, many organizations rightfully fear this exact kind of situation. But one of the understated benefits of the environment is that bringing these issues to the surface creates opportunities for improvement. This is an opportunity for Southwest to improve and undoubtedly make many other passengers (even those without 1.6 million twitter followers) happier with their service.
I’ve been reading that certain people and groups, like the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance will make the issue discriminatory one, but remember that the point of failure was first and foremost a procedural one. As the PR dust settles around this, I hope that Southwest are able to look at the issue for what it was and make the necessary adjustments.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Thinking beyond reservations: Mobile, Social, and Hospitality (Part 2)
In my previous post, I shared a rough sketch of my ideal mobile application for resorts – it’s much more than booking a reservation! Today, let’s talk about how social media can bring potential guests closer to the live experience of a resort by enabling real-time descriptions from friends and family.
Why is real time important? Because sharing experiences while they are fresh results in more descriptive –more authentic-- content. Compare real time to how vacation experiences are usually shared: A guest returns from vacation… and a few days later connects his camera to his laptop… and then uploads photos to Flickr or Facebook… The context is limited. The feeling of being at the resort is not conveyed. The whole thing is stale as soon as it’s published and –importantly- the impression made by that content cannot be measured. There are exceptions if the guest labels his vacation with the name of the resort and/or also posts to a Facebook fan page, for example, but it’s far from ideal.
That’s why designing the killer resort app is so important: with all of those great features, guests are given incentive to keep their devices on-hand and to share in real time. While discovering super local-ratings for the various beach areas, they can also share of-the-moment feelings of excitement, bliss, relaxation, and happiness with their immediate connections. Aside from actually teleporting a potential guest to the resort for 10 minutes and then yanking them back to their cubicle at work, I cannot think of a more emotionally direct way to market a resort experience. It sounds obvious, but a more authentic description of a guest experience at a resort is equally a more authentic description of the experience that the resort is offering for sale.
In addition to the features I described previously, the well designed mobile resort app would include easy-to-use options for creating and sharing content with other onsite guests and with traditional social circles like those on Facebook. Some suggestions for content include:
As always, interested in your thoughts. What's your take on how to bring immediacy to the social efforts of resorts or similar destinations?
Why is real time important? Because sharing experiences while they are fresh results in more descriptive –more authentic-- content. Compare real time to how vacation experiences are usually shared: A guest returns from vacation… and a few days later connects his camera to his laptop… and then uploads photos to Flickr or Facebook… The context is limited. The feeling of being at the resort is not conveyed. The whole thing is stale as soon as it’s published and –importantly- the impression made by that content cannot be measured. There are exceptions if the guest labels his vacation with the name of the resort and/or also posts to a Facebook fan page, for example, but it’s far from ideal.
That’s why designing the killer resort app is so important: with all of those great features, guests are given incentive to keep their devices on-hand and to share in real time. While discovering super local-ratings for the various beach areas, they can also share of-the-moment feelings of excitement, bliss, relaxation, and happiness with their immediate connections. Aside from actually teleporting a potential guest to the resort for 10 minutes and then yanking them back to their cubicle at work, I cannot think of a more emotionally direct way to market a resort experience. It sounds obvious, but a more authentic description of a guest experience at a resort is equally a more authentic description of the experience that the resort is offering for sale.
In addition to the features I described previously, the well designed mobile resort app would include easy-to-use options for creating and sharing content with other onsite guests and with traditional social circles like those on Facebook. Some suggestions for content include:
- A short video that is pre-timed to be a max of 20 seconds and then uploaded to a pre-specified page
- A micro blog that helps to communicate with other guests and existing social circles. (Perhaps Twitter with auto-hashtag and list functions?)
- Physical signs on the resort that encourage guests to “share a picture”. These signs could easily transmit via bluetooth to mobile devices...
- User-generated content (including photos, videos, status updates, and tweets) to always be branded for the resort, which in turn further promotes the resort through organic search (assumes guest opt-in, of course)
- Dedicated landing pages for guest-generated content that enables conversion tracking, and in turn ROI reporting
- A content-rich platform that would support any number of contests, games, and other interactive campaigns
As always, interested in your thoughts. What's your take on how to bring immediacy to the social efforts of resorts or similar destinations?
Monday, February 1, 2010
Got an iPhone app...great...now what? Proliferation of apps presents a marketing challenge.
"Build it and they will come” won’t work for app marketing any longer. A “Street Smart” app marketing plan is what is needed. Much of the focus in the past two years has been on rushing to develop an app, get it approved by Apple and tweaking it to be more visible in Apple’s App Store. But, the sheer numbers of Apps makes this approach futile. Apple has 100k+ apps, Android 30k+ and both are growing by huge numbers monthly. The number of apps downloaded in U.S.
Just why are there so many apps? We live in rare times. We are witnessing the convergence of many significant trends and paradigms.
- Smartphone adoption is soaring. In December’s Mobile Internet Report, Morgan Stanley stated "Regarding the pace of change, we believe more users will likely connect to the Internet via mobile devices [smart phones] than desktop PCs within five years." Apple and Google’s Android platform competition that is yielding more innovation and user value.
- The rise of social networking has given consumers a strong voice and helped to move the technology adoption from consumers to businesses versus the opposite that we have experienced over the last few decades.
- The wide adoption of business models that leverage Cloud computing is enabling a mobile society and un-tethering users from their desktop PCs.
- Mobile bandwidth continues to improve (3G) with 4G expected within the next 12-24 months.
- Developers are rushing to develop Apps due to better and simpler tools and financial rewards. Expect this to continue now that iPad and associated developer tools (new SDK) has been announced. Finally, users are showing a willingness to pay for apps due to the enhanced user experiences (simplicity), instant gratification and portability.
Digital marketers now have an opportunity to think strategically and develop a holistic, app marketing plan that leverages their assets and the new socially interconnected, digital world we now enjoy. Always remember that a cornerstone for any mobile or app marketing plan is having a solid social networking strategy. Here’s a check list for marketers to consider when developing their plan.
- Identify your target market and aim app at the right customers. Is your app meeting an unmet need or unmet want? Is the need/want latent? Understand optimal messaging and positioning. How should you craft messaging that is both concise and clear in order to best position your app? The better your work is with audience profiling, positioning and targeting, the more effective and viral your app marketing will be.
- Understand and leverage social velocity and WOM marketing. Mobile and social are “tied at the hip”. You need a solid social plan in order to successfully market a new mobile app. What is needed to spark and sustain WOM? How do you solicit user and expert feedback and reviews?
- Measurement is key. You need to fully understand mobile and app measurement - what's the value of an app user? an app download? What are the growth rates? Are you able to measure online media that promotes your app including clicks, downloads, conversions, ROI, etc?
- Think holistically about media opportunities and how they work together. Leverage owned and earned media before considering purchased media. Should you consider offline media opportunities?
Are mobile applications an opportunity or threat to incumbent brands? In my view, this should be an opportunity for large established brands as users seek out apps they know and trust. Brands need to understand this opportunity and not delay to take action and start the process. On the other hand, I would not be surprised if Apple and/or Google launches paid search for apps. Apple is in ideal position to launch a PPC ad model for apps. With their acquisition of Quattro Wireless in 2009, they have already shown a willingness to add an advertising business model to their successful software, hardware and media models. Apple could add this iWords service to their App and iTunes Stores. Google could simply integrate into Google Mobile search and, eventually, into Google search when iPad and other touch-screen devices become widely adopted. We will talk more about app search in future posts.
We don’t pretend to have all the answers – just a point of view. What do you think about what I have written above? Please share your thoughts and opinions below.
We don’t pretend to have all the answers – just a point of view. What do you think about what I have written above? Please share your thoughts and opinions below.
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