How Social Listening Helps the Red Cross and Dell

Challenge: Today’s consumers are more connected via new media than ever before. To fully engage the multichannel consumer, companies need to leverage the power of social listening.

According to Nielsen’s, 2014 U.S. Digital Consumer Report, it’s critical to know how consumers are behaving in today’s fast evolving digital environment;

» Americans now own four digital devices on average.

» The average U.S. consumer spends 60 hours a week consuming content across devices.

» Today’s constantly connected consumer is active using social media anywhere they go. Nearly 64% of overall social media users say they use social media sites at least once a day via their computer, and almost half (47%) of smartphone owners visit social networks every day.

Dell understands the importance of connecting with customers across digital channels. They’ve implemented innovative social listening strategies. Eric Nystrom, Director Social Media Services Group, summarizes Dell’s priorities:

• “Listening has a major impact on nearly every aspect of Dell’s operations beyond marketing and sales to product development, customer care, talent acquisition and shared innovation.”

• The outcomes of effective listening include: improved brand health, CSAT and loyalty; positive impact on revenue and lead generation; product ideation; and predictive analytics and actionable insights that create value and accelerate overall business outcomes.

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In a unique social listening initiative, Dell helped the Red Cross build a Digital Operations Center. According to Wendy Harman, director of social strategy for the American Red Cross: “We began to concern ourselves with scaling our social media operations and expanding the limited scope of what we listened to on the social Web.”

Dell Public Sector Marketing Director Colleen Ryan saw the opportunity to answer the American Red Cross’s need. “It seemed like a very intuitive thing to explore bringing to the Red Cross what we already do at Dell for our customers,” says Ryan.

• The discussions between Dell and The American Red Cross resulted in the first large-scale social media command center, with six large screens showing a variety of data, and relevant public conversations across the social media.

• Staff member and trained volunteers monitored these conversations to improve response ability and anticipate the public’s needs.

• The social media program allowed the Red Cross to expedite their connection with people and get resources distributed during times of disaster.

5 Strategies Marketers can Learn from Dell’s Social Listening

Eric Nystrom provides the following 5 smart recommendations;

1. Listening is really at the heart of any social strategy and marketing; Listening to who’s talking tells you who your advocates are, your influencers, your ranters and your ravers. This forms the basis of all relationship marketing.

2. Social listening can impact every part of your business; Integrate social into all aspects of your marketing so that business value may be realized.

3. Remember that the voice of the customer is strong; Listening should lead to meaningful connections and two-way dialogue that is authentic, honest and direct.

4. Listening should bring you the information you need to develop your strategy; Avoid ready, fire, aim. Let the results inform a platform-agnostic, overarching social strategy.

5. Listening objectives should be defined; For example: (1) Radar – early warning detection (2) Learn – learn keywords used to fine tune SEO/SEM (3) Track – track conversations through lifecycle of campaign (4) Identify - identify sites, key opinion formers and peer influencers for engagement (5) Support - provide information or answer questions where consumers are online (6) Humanize - humanize the brand by participating in conversations and (7) Connect - connect with industry influencers and build relationships.

Starbucks: Social Media Revenue Based on Relationships

The Challenge: How can brands turn their social media fans into revenue? For Starbucks, success through social media begins with a commitment to relationship-building, not sales.

Many companies concentrate social media efforts on getting as many fans as possible, but focusing just on the number of fans misses their true value - they are loyal customers who have raised their hands to say they want a relationship.

The real win is achieved by engaging with customers. An Ad Age study found that only 1% of the Facebook fans of major brands engaged with the brand pages in a given month. One-time promotions to increase the number of fans rarely produce long-term benefits. IBM's Yunchun Lee writes, "That isn't to say that CMOs shouldn't strive to build a fan base. The issue is how to do this in a productive way. There are no short cuts. Winning a loyal customer begins with matching a great product or service with a flawless and repeatable customer experience." Social media marketing requires a long-term commitment to enriching the customer experience.

Starbucks is a great example of a company taking the right approach. In an interview with Adweek , Starbuck’s Alexandra Wheeler said that the firm’s social media strategy “isn’t a marketing initiative. It isn’t a PR initiative. It’s cultivating and creating great consumer value and great consumer relationships.” Starbucks treats its fans to a steady stream of special deals and a richer experience than they’d get solely by going to a store, including interesting background stories on coffees and great photography of merchandise. Starbucks also encourages fans to share all of this with their friends, which spreads the good will and increases the likelihood that posts will appear more widely in newsfeeds.

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The results?

1. Starbucks continues to add 300K+ fans every week to its already huge 33 million strong base on Facebook. It also has over 3 million followers on Twitter.

2. According to a joint study by comScore and Facebook, Starbuck organically reaches more non-fans than fans with its posts on its Facebook brand page. This means that fans engaging with or forwarding content more than doubles the reach of the fanbase – a process Facebook calls amplification.

3. The same study also shows that exposure to a Starbucks post leads to 38% increase in in-store purchases.

Key Takeaways for Marketers

1. Don’t just add fans, build a genuine connection with them.
Although a large fan-base is valuable, it should be based on a genuine connection with the brand. Make it a long-term strategy to identify why consumers love your brand and use social media to build on this.

2. Make engagement worthwhile.
Deliver content that fans want and will forward to others. Great photography, stories about coffee, exclusive deals – even taking a stand on controversial issues -- are ways Starbucks does this.

3. Use the brand page as a listening tool.
Fans give invaluable information with their likes, comments and user-generated content. Respond to any complaints, or proactively offer solutions as customer needs arise.

Twitter: Taking Multichannel Marketing To New Levels

The Challenge: During Ad Week, Twitter VP Joel Lunenfeld drew a staggering correlation between a user’s activity on Twitter and their television watching habits. What could this mean for multichannel customer engagement?

During his IAB Mixx presentation at Ad Week, Joel Lunenfeld, Twitter’s global brand strategy VP, shared data that Twitter had gathered about users’ brand relationships. According to Lunenfeld, 9 out of 10 users follow at least one brand on Twitter.

While most users followed brands for the sake of receiving promotional news, 87% followed brands for entertainment purposes and 80% did so for access to exclusive content.

More interesting, however, was the correlation found between Twitter usage and TV watching habits. “Twitter is the EKG of action for television,” said Lunenfeld, citing data that showed 50% of Twitter users do so while watching TV. This provides massive opportunities for multi-channel engagement, and brands are capitalizing on this by turning their Twitter conversations into ad campaigns.

Audi, for example, noted that a fan posted a tweet with the hashtag “#IWantAnR8”. In response, they brought the fan an R8 to test-drive, and turned the entire experience into a commercial. Instances like this demonstrate that the barrier between advertising channels is blurring every day, and that content is quickly becoming more important than ever.

American Express is also taking advantage of the Twitter multichannel phenomenon with their Sync program, which transforms special Twitter #hashtags into savings for card members. If a U.S. card member is eligible, they can sync their AmEx Card with Twitter, and when they tweet using special offer hashtags, savings are automatically loaded onto the synced Cards, with no coupons or printouts required. In this game-changing example, AmEx is turning Twitter content into commerce by connecting card members directly to merchants and delivering value to both.

Key Takeaways for Marketers
1. Engagement on multiple channels is essential.
Consumers have come to expect a multichannel experience from their marketing. Twitter may not be the first to attempt multichannel marketing, but it’s quickly becoming a bastion for companies that want preference-driven, engagement-rich campaigns.

2. Give people reasons and ways to share.
Giving customers the tools and incentive to share across multiple channels is the perfect way to engage them and enrich their experience. AmEx exemplifies this, giving their customers both value and the means to share that value with others via Twitter.

3. Blur the lines between conversation and marketing.
As we saw in the Audi example, social media marketing can be enhanced by crossing channels and bringing conversations to life for users. It generates positive press, gets people talking, and creates a genuine level of trust between you and your customers.

The Election: What Marketers Should Learn About The Multichannel Mix

The Challenge: During this tight Presidential campaign, both parties are deploying an unusually diverse and integrated multichannel marketing mix. What lessons should you be learning from these strategies?

Traditionally, TV, print, and radio have been the mainstays of presidential campaigns. However, they are not enough to engage today’s multichannel consumer. Increased use of social and mobile media is essential to engage potential voters. This has significantly complicated the media mix challenges for campaigns.

A recent study conducted by Borrell Associates reflects this, showing that while candidates still primarily utilize traditional media, campaign ads dropped from 61.9% to 57.3% for TV since the last election. However, other channels received increased funding across the board, demonstrating a shift towards more diverse multichannel marketing. This is particularly apparent in online media, which received 6 times more funding than it did in 2008.

Mobile: The Newest Addition to the Mix

Both camps understand the importance of social media in engaging today’s constituents, with staff manning Twitter and Facebook accounts for both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. These efforts are complemented by email to drive voter behavior and raise funds for ongoing campaigns. All indicators point to stronger focus on digital media and increased diversity in political marketing in the future.

Mobile Payments – Obama campaigners created a new program called “Quick Donate”, which makes donation easier by allowing supporters to contribute via text message.

Social sharing
The “With Mitt” app engages Romney supporters by helping them apply templates to photos of themselves at assemblies. The pictures can then be uploaded to Twitter or Facebook via the app.

Key Takeaways for Marketers

1. Think holistically about your multichannel marketing mix.
Whether you’re a presidential candidate or a corporation, you need the power of all elements of the media mix to engage today’s multichannel consumers. According to Glen Senk, CEO of Urban Outfitters, consumers who engage with the company across three or more channels spend 6x more than single channel buyers.

2. Engage your customers per their media of choice.
Campaign staff uses Facebook and Twitter to provide followers exclusive content and hear what they have to say about the candidates. This creates a degree of engagement and rapport with consumers that traditional media can’t match. How can you motivate your customers and prospects to opt-in and engage with you across multiple media?

3. Be self-aware.
An increased number of marketing channels leads to an increased amount of exposure. It allows you to be transparent and candid with your customers, but it also means that you should take greater care to maintain decorum and monitor the content you distribute.

NASCAR: The Future of Branded Hash Tags on Twitter

The Challenge: Twitter just unveiled major changes to how they handle branded hash tags. Marketers have to act quickly to keep up.

Twitter ran their first TV ad last week. Their target audience? Marketers.

The ad ran during TNT's June 10 broadcast of the NASCAR Pocono 400, and featured NASCAR's branded hash tag: #NASCAR. Viewers who searched that tag got a glimpse into the future of Twitter hash tags.

In the past, hash tag searches on Twitter simply took users to a standard search results page. With #NASCAR, Twitter has introduced major changes to branded hash tags.

UPDATES TO BRANDED HASH TAGS ON TWITTER

» Brand pages now have a new URL: e.g., twitter.com/#NASCAR rather than twitter.com/!#/NASCAR.

» Searching #NASCAR takes users to a branded NASCAR page, with brand imagery and logos.

» The new page also included a showcase of images from recent tweets, and "Top People" associated with #NASCAR.

A few days before the ad ran, Omar Ashtari, Twitter's head of sports, called the pending updates to Twitter.com/#NASCAR an "experiment." But once the changes were revealed, industry watchers came to a different conclusion. As Owen Thomas wrote at Business Insider, "We don't think this is an experiment as much as it is a harbinger for how Twitter is going to revamp its site to be a far better showcase for advertising."

The new pages promise to be a great experience for users―and great experiences for users translate to high value for marketers. They just need to make sure they're ready when Twitter unveils the update to all businesses.

PREPARING FOR TWITTER'S NEW HASH TAG PAGES:

» Select a Memorable Branded Hash Tag
Customers will talk about you on Twitter, whether or not you're involved. Select a hash tag for your brand, and it will be much easier for you to monitor and moderate the conversation about your products and services.

» Prepare to Brand Your Twitter Homepage
The new #NASCAR page includes a brand logo and a prominent background image. Once Twitter makes these new pages available to all businesses, you'll need to have these ready. (If you currently manage a Facebook Timeline page, you probably have these assets already.)

» Drive Multimedia Tweets
Twitter's new hash tag pages prominently display photos from recent tweets. If nobody includes photos in tweets related to your brand, this showcase will remain stale―or empty. Add multimedia in your own tweets, and give users a way to engage with more than just text.

» Implement a Social Media Disaster Plan
Every time you make it easier for your customers to engage, you make it easier for them to communicate negative experiences. With a social media disaster plan, you'll be prepared to deal with these situations, rather than handling them ad hoc.

Failure to Engage with Social Media Will Reduce Revenue and Increase Risk

The Challenge: Social media platforms are crucial to building customer engagement, but the vast majority of marketers haven’t incorporated that reality into their daily workflow—with outsize consequences to their bottom lines.

A recent study by IBM found that while more than 80 percent of CMO’s track traditional information sources, only 26 percent of CMO’s track blogs―to say nothing of newer platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Mila D'Antonio at 1to1 Media described the consequences: "CMO’s who underestimate the impact of more deeply engaging in social media are missing opportunities to grow revenue, expand brand value, and strengthen customer loyalty."

This disconnect costs businesses money.

Last week, American Express released their 2012 Global Customer Service Barometer. They found that consumers who use social media for customer service are significantly more valuable than the general population.

Socially engaged customers:
 • Are almost twice as willing to spend more for excellent service than the general population.
 • Are nearly three times as likely to communicate positive customer service experiences.

But there's also a risk.

The flipside of socially engaged customers:
 • They are over 50 percent more likely to cancel an intended purchase because of poor customer service than the general population.
 • They are over twice as willing to share negative customer service experiences. 

CMO’s cannot take advantage of the opportunities created by social media – or mitigate the risks – if they are not engaged participants themselves. As D'Antonio wrote, "Today’s CMO’s Should Be Social Media Socialites, not Wallflowers”.

BEST PRACTICES FOR SOCIALLY ENGAGED MARKETERS:

→ Establish Social Media KPIs
For too many CMO’s, tracking social media is an afterthought. To break this pattern, socially engaged marketers need to establish Key Performance Metrics (KPIs) for every social channel they engage, and build an organization that optimizes them.

→ Track the Online Conversation in Real Time
Even if you’re not on the major social media platforms, your customers are—and they’re talking about you. Build a rigorous process to track your online reputation in real time, even on platforms you don’t actively engage.

→ Expand PR Beyond Traditional Platforms
Marketing and PR efforts must be closely aligned, in traditional media and new. Traditional press releases and media blitzes still have their place, but an effective PR organization needs to spread the word on Facebook, Twitter and beyond.

Starbucks - 3 Twitter Best Practices

Twitter can help your business get closer to its customers ... create better word of mouth and greater brand advocacy ... and generate great ideas from engaged fans. How? Start by learning from the best practices used by companies that have been successful with Twitter.

Start by learning from Starbucks. When a national brand accumulates nearly two million followers on Twitter, its social media strategies are worth examining. The Seattle-based coffee giant is currently ranked as the fourth most popular corporate brand in this space. (By way of comparison, General Motors has 44,000 Twitter followers.)

The Starbucks tweetstream is impressive. Check out these three easy-to-emulate Twitter best practices. Each can be adapted to any industry, and each is modeled consistently via the company's Twitter account, @Starbucks -- which I found to be deeply personalized to individual questions, complaints, and suggestions from customers.

Best Practice #1: Do Something You Know Your Customer Believes In. Starbucks uses Twitter to promote cause-driven promotions that resonate powerfully with its user base. One particularly successful example was a “promotion where customers received free coffee if they brought in a reusable mug. This promotion grew their online fan base by 21% outside of the U.S. and by 6% overall. It not only drove sales, it changed how people purchased and consumed their coffee." (Source: Smartblogs.) What causes do your customers believe in?

Best Practice #2: Ask for Pictures. Starbucks uses Twitter to post plenty of interesting, user-generated images of its followers drinking from, displaying, or generally having fun with something that bears the familiar green company logo. Circulating these images means more engagement, greater advocacy, and broader brand awareness. How easy is it for a customer to take and forward a picture of your brand image? What would happen if you tweeted those images?

Best Practice #3: Let Customers Know That You Are Using Their Ideas. Starbucks uses Twitter to update individual customers on the status of individual ideas they have submitted via @MyStarbucksIdea. Wouldn’t you follow a company that kept you up to date about that?

If you haven’t given your company’s Twitter account regular attention (as in, original posts at least once a day, and prompt personal responses to each customer post), take a closer look at the infographic above.