5 Smart Social Community Strategies That Boost Sales

By Ernan Roman
Reprinted from: Business 2 Community

The Challenge: Social media has evolved into more than just another advertising channel, with communities transcending traditional social media channels. To make the most of these new opportunities, marketers need to learn what it takes to drive sales through relevant and targeted conversations.

Strategy One: Be authentic to your brand… and to customers

Every brand that succeeds on social media does so by achieving a consistent voice that’s authentic to its core message. By connecting with a responsive social audience through communities, meaningful conversations become building blocks for achieving sales objectives. For example, CLIF Bar in keeping with its message of fitness has joined the People For Bikes initiative, which is consistent with its brand message, and provides a way to directly interact with their proven customers.

Per Eric Nystrom, Director, Social Media Services Group at Dell, “In today’s world people are not interested in talking to brand spokespeople or marketers. They are interested in connecting with empowered employees and subject matter experts. Social is about relationship building”.

Strategy Two: Connect through communities

Social communities resonate with customers and let brands connect on a deeper level via viral conversations which can far surpass the reach of a singular post on a social wall. As a matter of fact, social interactions now go beyond traditional social media into mobile experiences, television events, webinars, chats, and more. Two-way interactions enable customers to become part of the brand because they can gain answers to questions, address objections, and understand brand value. Coca Cola took advantage of the recent World Cup with the goal of creating the most inclusive FIFA World CupTM Coca-Cola campaign… ever. Emmanuel Seuge, Vice President Global Alliances & Ventures stated that, “…we set out to create the most inclusive and participatory FIFA World Cup™ ever. … we gave fans from all around the world the unprecedented opportunity to be a part of the greatest soccer stage of all… “

Strategy Three: Really understand how your customers connect

Turns out the way people interact on social media is similar to that of real life. In a joint study by the University of Georgia, Pew Research Center, and Social Media Foundation it was discovered that when people interact in social media they create patterns of social interaction. Identifying the specific groups of people talking about you, lets you understand who they are, what they are saying, and what connects them to your brand.

Strategy Four: Know where to find your customers and how they communicate

Additionally, the same study found that when marketers, target key meaningful communities they also zero in on key conversations, key words, and hashtags being used about the brand.

Gatorade reached out to its core customers with a “Beat the Heat” campaign that let them connect with their key groups of customers with a message of safety and health.

Strategy Five: Understand what information customers need

Sears has created Shop Your Way Rewards which gives customers a place to find product information, ask salespeople questions, and share recommendations.

According to Eric Jaffe, Senior VP “In the grand scheme of things, social media is …about building engagement and promoting conversations… around our brand…. We are focusing around the members, and building relationships with them that go beyond what they purchase from us…. Groups, especially social communities, are the most valuable to retailers….Highly engaged members end up spending more and — more importantly — shop more frequently.”

5 Takeaways that boost sales through social communities

1. Engage consistently in a manner that that reinforces your core brand message. Make sure that every channel delivers a reinforcing statement that helps customers move towards a purchase.

2. Understand which groups are the most valuable to your sales objectives. Not all consumers or social audiences have a purchase intent. Understand what social avenues best address buyers’ needs for actual purchase information.

3. Do what it takes to address consumer needs. Put in place strategies that let actual staff members interact with potential buyers so that they have access to the brand and have the resources necessary to move forward with a purchase.

4. Empower consumers to strengthen their voice. By giving your customers a platform you are empowering and respecting their voice.

5. Deliver the latest information, news and trends about your brand. If customers do not fully understand why they need to buy, they won’t go down the purchase journey with your brand. Social communities let existing customers and potential buyers understand what you are offering and your brand’s value proposition.

Hewlett-Packard - 5 Actions to Improve Social Media Effectiveness

The Challenge: Social media has become one of the most important points of contact for consumers. Marketers however, seldom access the gold mine of information waiting on their fan pages. Tech giant, HP does. They’re raising the bar for social interaction by developing an innovative strategy that’s setting the standard for customer engagement through social media.

So, while it is evident that companies are “in” social media they need to start becoming actively involved. A J.D. Power and Associates report notes that “businesses need to understand how their consumers use social media and then develop a strategy that addresses their usage patterns.“

One company who fully embraces this concept is Hewlett Packard. They entered the space by taking two full years to listen to their customs and determine where they were having conversations.

• They grew their social media community from its original 350+ members to over 2.4 million likes/fans on Facebook. Referrals from social networking sites have doubled.

• Referrals from social networking sites have doubled.

• HP’s online "Expert Days" have attracted hundreds of thousands of customers since their inception in 2009.

This activity has empowered employees to directly reach and converse with customers. There has been a ten time increase in blogging and social media activity by employees who go through the company’s social media training program prior to any customer communication involvement.

A key element in HP’s social interactions is that they integrate their social media with all customer touch points, not just for offers and contests. They also optimize and scale social media to ensure consistent customer experiences for different customer segments, geographies and languages.

5 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HEWLETT PACKARD:

• Give Customers a Platform for Product Feedback. Through social media channels the company gets valuable feedback about products. They then feed this information to product and content teams for valuable insight into the development of future technology.

• Encourage Community Engagement.  A dedicated staff manages community engagement to provide value for customers. They also recognize customers who assist their fellow social page fans. This program is set to expand for top community contributors.

• Designate Community Ambassadors. HP has over 100 people called "Experts" who answer questions on the Forums. They include both HP customers and HP employees, and provide expert, free, 24-hour real-time access and advice on various topics of customer interest.

• Create Channel Integration. The company is working on a system by which customers can post a question in Facebook that can automatically tap into the HP Support Forum.

• Set Policies and Train Social Staff. HP sets specific social media policy standards. They train all staff involved in social media so that there is both consistency in social experience as well as consistency in brand messaging.

Is Social Media Damaging Your Brand?

The Challenge: Companies who do not monitor what customers are saying about them online—can wind up using social media for damage control rather than for profit.

In a report by Stanford University it was reported that

• 90% of executives claim to understand the impact that social media can have on their organization, however, only 24% of senior managers and 8% of directors surveyed actually receive ongoing reports.

• Approximately half of the companies do not collect this social media information at all.  

If you are not allocating time for brand reputation management, you will never fully know what your customers are saying to you—and more damaging, saying about you to others.

• In a study by JD Power, over 60% of surveyed consumers said they want companies to listen to what they say about them online and to respond.

• And an Aberdeen study on Brand Reputation Management, it was noted that companies that take the time to stay on top of their reputation management are more likely to have a higher customer retention rate.

While many companies have been put in the position of rapid damage control after negative social media chatter, Reebok recently demonstrated their ability to respond quickly, make adjustments, and move forward when consumer voices were raised in protest over a product spokesperson, Rick Ross, after he rapped about drugging a woman and having sex with her without her knowledge.

A well orchestrated campaign by the feminist group, UltraViolet included an online petition signed 50,000 times in 24 hours, a video viewed over 17,000 times, ads on Facebook, and messages to Reebok’s Twitter page. The group called out Reebok regarding its contradictory position of a controversial spokesperson versus its marketing of products to young men and boys and marketing to women and investing in women’s athletics.

As a result the company rapidly severed ties with Rick Ross.

The lesson for all businesses is to truly understand your customers and put in place the ability to listen in every element of the media mix, and react with speed when the voices of your customers are raised--in any medium.

Takeaways:

• It is far easier to cultivate high brand reputation ratings than to do damage control. Create dedicated staff positions to monitor social media on a daily basis to find out what is being said about your business.

• Your monitoring should include searches on all media; search engines, all social media comments on your page(s) or through hash tags, rating sites such as Yelp, and customer complaint sites.

• If a problem arises, don’t delay in acknowledging the situation. Respond honestly and authentically. Do not engage in “corporate speak”.

Twitter: Using News to Connect with Your Audience

The Challenge: News and events provide powerful opportunities to connect with your audience. Twitter makes this easy. Following are 7 tips.

While not all companies can have a social media “touchdown” like Oreo’s now famous Superbowl blackout tweet, real time marketing is accessible to any size company. It only took 3 minutes to Tweet “Power Out? No Problem” with a captioned Oreo image “You Can Still Dunk in the Dark”.

Oreo is a great example of the discipline of Real Time Marketing. To see how important this has become, consider the Oscars and all the companies making attempts to become the next social media sweetheart. The marketing industry was even monitoring Twitter with #OscarsRTM documenting real time successes and failures.

Cleverly connecting with the audience is not reserved for big brands. Any size company can leverage news or events to make relevant connections through Twitter.

7 Takeaways for Marketers Using Twitter:

1. Knowing your audience provides an essential understanding of how they will react to your approach to a topic. Voice of Customer research by our firm reminds us to focus on the customer’s experience at all times across all channels. Evaluate using some of the many social media monitoring tools to keep up with what the public is saying.

2. Become a news resource for your industry. Announce newsworthy topics on Twitter ahead of the trend.

3. Real time response and empowered staff are essential. The social and content accelerators at ConvinceandConvert.com tell us “That’s why it’s so critically important to staff your social media front lines with people who not only have extraordinary passion for your company, but who also have the experience and judgment to minimize response delay”. Know what to look for when hiring a social media manager.

4. The media event and your company do not have to be related. However, you must add relevant value to the conversation. That value must tie back to your brand.

5. Communicate messages with the intent to interact. It’s not about selling. Richard Robins advises, “Customers want to be engaged, not targeted. With the exception of a few "passion" brands whose customers wait for any bit of product news, customers largely don't care about products. (If we cared, brands wouldn't have to pay $4 million for ads to reach us.) “

6. Learn from some significant mistakes committed during the past year. Stay on top of current events and understand why a topic is trending. The last thing you want is to gain attention for a social media #fail.

7. Do not expect every venture into real time marketing to work. Like other disciplines in marketing, this is all about testing and measurement.

5 Social Media Service Tips

The Challenge: In the past, brands addressed customer service issues by way of a primary channel -- the ‘call center.’ But now, companies must also monitor, respond, and engage in a variety of social channels.

If a brand is unskilled in social media customer engagement, adapting customer service programs to new channels can be challenging: brands might default to reactivity -- essentially, playing ‘defense’ -- when faced with disgruntled customers online.

However, making reactivity the foundation of your social customer service strategy causes brands to view customer relationships as things to ‘manage,’ rather than opportunities to proactively add value to the customer experience.

According to the 2012 American Express® Global Customer Service Barometer, consumers spend 21% more with companies who deliver great service -- compared to 13% on average.” Therefore, to achieve high impact in our social media world, brands must now view ‘customer service’ as an integral part of their overall marketing strategy that can have dramatic impact on the bottom line.

Key Takeaways for Marketers:

1. Make Passion for Service a Corporate Value
Customer Service is marketing. Customer Service representatives should view themselves as the ‘front line’ of a company’s marketing and branding efforts. Treat every service engagement as an opportunity to increase engagement and drive brand advocacy.

2. Surprise and Delight With Authentic Engagement
Recently named the #1 Best Small Company to Work for in the U.S. by FORTUNE Magazine in 2012, Oregon-based virtual receptionist services provider, Ruby Receptionists, lists the drive to “WOW” customers among their core company values:

“We’re about finding that special something that will knock your socks off, and giving it to you before you even know about it...Simply doing a good job isn’t enough for us.”

The company frequently engages with customers via Twitter and Facebook and regularly sends customers handwritten ‘thank you’ notes, demonstrating a truly ‘hybrid’ form of customer service.

3. Treat Every Service Interaction as a Marketing Event
Every service opportunity affects your brand’s reputation; thus, representatives must be trained to treat interactions as opportunities to communicate relevant and personalized messaging.

Based on learnings from Voice of Customer Research, leading provider of community-based preventative health services, Life Line Screening, discovered that customers wanted service interactions to demonstrate true engagement. As part of their commitment to transforming the customer experience, the Life Line Screening customer service center now reports to Marketing to ensure that the service experience is about engagement, not transactions. The result: 85% increase in returning customers and 40% increase in revenue per customer.

4. Prioritize Immediacy
Social Media happens in real-time.

Track brand mentions, concerns, and questions 24/7, and respond immediately. People will show their appreciation by retweeting your responses, broadcasting your good deeds to hundreds of others.

Social Media Crises: 3 Tips for Calming the Storm

The Challenge: No company is immune to the possibility of damaging comments, posts and tweets. So how do businesses prepare for unwanted attention on far-reaching social channels? Here, we look at a few companies that have weathered the storm and provided some valuable lessons.

Step 1: Create a social media crisis plan before a crisis erupts. That way, you can address damaging comments and reactions swiftly and professionally. By having a plan in place, you hit the ground running -- a critical step when a social media firestorm ignites. In April 2010, BP had no plan when it found itself in the midst of a crisis when oil spilled into to the Gulf of Mexico. Sadly, the company made several missteps. It failed to own up to what happened, it made statements that didn't align with the truth, and it lacked follow-through with solutions.

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Step 2: It is a given that customers will share service snafus and other experiences online, so it's imperative that companies monitor what is being said. KFC learned this the hard way when a disgruntled customer posted unsightly pictures of an unusual-looking substance in his chicken. The fast food chain did little to address the questionable photograph. Instead, it continued to post its regular stream of marketing messages, making it appear as if the company was trying to ignore the situation at hand. Monitor messages, evaluate and adjust your plan as needed.

KitchenAid faced a similar crisis when an employee accidentally sent an insensitive tweet during a presidential debate using the company's twitter handle. KitchenAid responded quickly and with sincerity, effectively lessening backlash. Specifically, the company acknowledged the mistake, took responsibility for what happened and apologized to President Barack Obama and other Twitter followers.

Key Takeaways for Marketers:

1. Monitor your presence online. Follow online conversations so you know when potentially damaging situations are developing/have occurred. Gatorade uses a sophisticated social media command center to keep tabs on social media activity. Other companies choose to designate a point person to monitor online conversations and do periodic searches relevant to the company's brand.

2. Act quickly. When it comes to social media, you don't have days or weeks to come up with a plan. An offensive tweet can go viral in the span of a few hours. Don't sit on your response. Instead, address situations as quickly as you can -- preferably within 24 hours.

3. Remember that transparency is vital. In most cases, you don't want to delete damaging posts and pictures. Instead, you want to respond quickly and with tact. Apologize, and focus on solutions. If emotionally-charged discussions get out of hand, direct the conversation offline. For example; “We'd be happy to discuss this with you to find the best solution. What number can we reach you?”.

Burberry: 3 Powerful Ways To Engage Consumers Online

The Challenge: According to a study conducted by Martini Media, luxury brands have been gradually dropping TV from their multichannel marketing mix in favor of digital media. But will the move pay off in the end? Digital darling Burberry seems to think so, quickly taking the throne of luxury online marketing by creating entirely new levels of customer engagement.

While luxury marketers have traditionally trailed mass marketers in digital marketing spend, digital media has skyrocketed among luxury agencies over the past year. Context and targeting are quickly becoming the most important criteria for luxury brands, and luxury marketers are finding a need to achieve reach through the use of niche, passion-based sites.

Digital media is perceived to be more effective than offline marketing in driving favorability, as well as online and brick-and-mortar traffic. It appeals to affluent audiences on the go, who often have more money than time. And because luxury brands must deal with an extremely niche audience that is more privacy-sensitive and difficult to reach, these customers expect an engagement experience that mass marketers aren’t capable of delivering.

With its highly successful push into digital media earlier this year, Burberry has become luxury online marketing's champion. Creative officer Christopher Bailey claims it’s become “as much a media-content company as a design company.” As proof, the company has launched its recent AW(Autumn/Winter) 2012 collection across 10 different social platforms, tailoring the presentations to best leverage the advantages of each site.

Key Takeaways from Burberry

1. Use co-creation to drive brand awareness and engagement through
user-generated content.
Taking a cue from Threadless, Burberry’s Art of the Trench photo-sharing site allows consumers and fashion photographers to document how they wear the brand’s iconic trenchcoat. This unique use of user-generated content and customer engagement has generated a massive amount of brand awareness for the company.

2. Make your consumers feel exclusive by showing them exclusive content.
In its recent “Tweetwalk” event, Burberry partnered with Twitter to post backstage pictures of every look before models were sent out onto the runway, which meant that Burberry followers were seeing looks before most members of the fashion show audience.

3. Design your content to help guide your customers down the purchase path.
In a fresh twist on direct sales, Burberry live-streamed its London Fashion Week catwalk to 25 main stores as a “living catalog,” allowing existing customers to place immediate orders on upcoming collections before the looks became available to the public. Burberry also made it possible for consumers to directly purchase items by clicking through any of the image or video galleries on their social media posts.

Learn from Coke's 3 Facebook Best Practices

Recently, Coca-Cola edged out Hyundai as the most popular brand on Facebook, according to a study by Covario, thesearch engine marketing agency. Coke has more than 34 million Facebook fans; each comment the beverage producer posts on its page generates over 200 comments! "What is Coke doing right on Facebook? At least three things. Best Practice #1: Coke's Default Setting Is "Talk To Us." User-generated content gets posted automatically (as opposed to being filtered or edited first). Yes, lots of brands are skittish about this. On Coke's page, inappropriate messaging is removed, but only after it has been posted. Coke's relationship with its fans is solid enough to make this work. Best Practice #2: Coke Wants You To Upload Images to Its Photo Album. This makes perfect sense, given the iconic, collectible status of the brand. Many users want to show off branded Coke images they have acquired (or created), and many others want to show off as they consume the product! Coke supports both groups. Best Practice #3: Coke's Driving Facebook Principle Is "Collaborate." The page itself was founded by two Coke fans ... and later embraced by the company! It is truly a shared undertaking with Coke fans who spend time on Facebook, not something imposed upon them from the outside. The Takeaways for Marketers: Conduct a comprehensive review of your branding and social media strategies. Develop strategies which enable you to answer "yes" to these questions: Do you trust your brand enough to: * trust your customers? * give Facebook users an open forum? * encourage and facilitate collaboration with your customers?