What Brands Can Learn from Customer Conversations on Social Media

Consumer conversations surprise brands in a lot of ways. Customers often care more about some things than a brand realizes and less about what the brand thinks is important. This can affect social media, marketing and even product decisions.

In recent years, General Mills learned through customer conversations that families were playing with the Pillsbury dough, making shapes and designs for fun; not just cooking with it. Based on this insight, General Mills revitalized a tired brand by focusing on the family activity value the product enables.

Learning more about your customers from social and impacting your business is not new. Several years ago, Sun Microsystems discovered software developers were not talking about the category of tools they, IBM, and Microsoft were developing. Rather they were talking about a set of tools nobody was advancing. With this insight, Sun changed its strategy, re-allocated its budgets to the tools developers were interested in, and leaped ahead of their competition.

Customer conversations can also reveal that the message the brand intends to transmit via its marketing is not the message being heard. Either the marketing needs to be improved, the target audience changed, or a fundamental product change is needed. Conversations can also reveal customer support issues. In some cases, customers will solve each other’s problems through those conversations.

Social data from conversations outside your brand — say product category or target audience level — reveal insights about what consumers care about and why. This can inform your product development, business strategy, messaging and positioning, and inform the tactics you pursue to win customers.

Social data from customer conversations can provide brand, product, and consumer insights that you can apply to everyday marketing decisions. Social provides a rich, real-time, rejuvenated data source that brands are using to make smarter decisions.

Then there is the business benefit of higher customer satisfaction with lower costs by managing customer support issues in social media. Your customers are already there, trying to talk to you and trying to find resolution. Increasingly, the category leaders will be the companies who create positive customer experiences on both the pre and post sales side.

Phone support costs anywhere from $10 per inquiry (offshore and fully costed) to $23 per inquiry (US average for typical consumer products) to over $100 per inquiry (Cable TV), with Email and chat typically running $5-$10/inquiry. Customer support via social media discussions (a discussion thread on Facebook or a community web site discussion board) can be as little as $2/inquiry if a support agent is involved, or $0 marginal cost when the customers answer each other’s questions, which they like to do.

Social media empowers your customers to help each other, which is a rewarding experience for them and builds a knowledge base for the brand. Generally, your customers as a whole know more about the products than the brand does. In social, we say, “Nobody is as clever as everybody.”

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How To Do Social Media Market Research

In the early days of digital marketing, brands and businesses could get away with a lot of shady tactics: overwhelming email spam, sketchy banners and over-the-top, aggressive marketing messages. Flash forward to today, consumers are wiser and they have an arsenal of anti-spam and ad blocker tools that promote consumer empowerment and help them keep the BS nonsense to a minimum.

For businesses, this shift in web consumerism means that your customers' behavior has changed and so have their expectations from you. At the same time, over the last 10 years or so, the web has seen a surge in both the number and popularity of social media sites. Putting two and two together, by now we all know how valuable, or even essential, social media can be, bringing businesses the opportunity to grow lasting relationships with their customer base. It's a great place for people to communicate and interact online.

So everyone knows that social media is an important tool in business but gazing across the overcrowded spaces of social media, as a business owner or marketer, how do you know where on earth their target market is? After all, the number of people using, for example, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr is so colossal that to take into account the typical demographic of these social networking services is practically meaningless. Sure it helps to know that Pinterest is skewed towards women and Tumblr towards youth and that there are more women on Facebook than men while the reverse is true for Twitter but most of the platforms are so huge in terms of the number of users that you can find representatives of your target audience on any of them.

Therefore the key to a social presence with a far-reaching impact for your business is social media market research to carefully look for your audience rather than broadcasting your messages aimlessly and to whoever is willing to listen. After all, the greatest value of social media marketing is your ability to foster and engage with a community of other people and there are so many tools to help you do that.

Social Media Marketing Driven By Research

Here is the deal: Consumers today have a wealth of resources available literally at their fingertips including customer reviews, blog posts and competitor websites among other things. So when Dell's executive director of global marketing, Rishi Dave, says today's consumers are almost through their buying journeys by the time they reach out to your sales reps, he is onto something. So you might as well fully support this shift in consumer behavior instead of fighting it. By making your content available precisely when your prospects have questions, you can answer the 3 important questions that today's consumers ask:

1. What's in it for me?

2. How will I benefit from using your product?

3. Will your product give me the most bangs for my bucks?

But for that to happen, businesses need to create and distribute the right information tailoring what they create to the specific needs of their audience. Otherwise, because consumers are constantly bombarded with aggressive marketing messages and hard sell tactics, they've become natural skeptics and they'll filter you right out if your content does not appeal to their rational or emotional brains. Ideally you want to target both mindsets by focusing on, ultimately what people care about most, personal gain with a clear and compelling benefit.

The Value Of Personalization

So far we've established that the days of broad-casted marketing messages are gone. If you want to foster engagement as a brand and build a reputation around familiarity, trust and like-ability, you need to be able to reach your target audience. To do this, you need to:

1. Create Buyer Personas

In contrast to typical market research that focuses on traditional marketing demographics, creating buyer personas means taking your buyers one segment at a time and answering questions about them. As you build the profile of your target audience, you find out about their motivations. Subsequently, when you craft your marketing messages, you can talk to these people directly and appeal to them using all the right triggers. This will help you humanize your content marketing and copywriting.

2. Know What Their Problem Is

If you want to create and publish marketing messages that resonate with your audience, you need to focus on establishing a crystal-clear empathy with them. One of the best ways to do this in social media is monitoring discussions and distilling meaningful bits from the massive flow of information that takes place on the social networks. It's also a vital first step to improve any return on your investment.

3. Target Some Influencers

By definition, influencers are people that hold other people's attention in some way. In social media, if you want to extend the reach of your content and increase the impact of your business, these people have the power to influence the decisions of your number one target audience. If you identify the influencers in your industry, you can start building important relationships with them and earn their trust so that, in time, they positively influence your target market and tilt the scales in your favor.

Perhaps one of the biggest marketing mistakes that businesses make is trying to appeal to everyone. In truth, no matter what you sell or how big or, conversely, small your business is, defining a target audience is a business best practice.

Recommended Tools You Can Use To Identify Who And Where Your Target Audience Is

In this era of social media, having a social media marketing strategy goes beyond having a Facebook page or Twitter feed. The approach to correctly executed social media marketing is as follows:

1. You need to identify the social networks where your target audience is active.

2. You need to craft your marketing messages so they resonate with your target audience.

3. You need to create a steady stream of buyers to complement your website's conversion process.

And measurement is key to the process. If you don't measure what you do, there is no proof that it worked. Social media analysis and market research has 3 general components to it.

1. Measurement

Encompassing things like analysis of account growth and competitive progress, measurement is important to collect quantitative social media data. Combined, metrics like growth in followers and likes, reach and CTR can give you a pretty good idea of how well your audience is responding to your content so you can do more of what they like and less of what is not resonating with them. Recommended tools for measurement include:

- Crowdbooster

Get the help you need to measure and optimize your social media marketing.

- Social Crawlytics

The tool you need to identify influencers and your competitors' most shared content.

- Moz Analytics

Research tools you can use to find out the best ways to engage your audience.

2. Listening And Insights

Part of the beauty of social media is unprecedented access to conversations. Therefore, when it comes to social media market research to optimize your marketing efforts and ultimately improve your ROI, listening tools can go a long way in informing you of important customer pain points, lucrative competitive opportunities and other useful insights. Recommended tools for listening include:

- Topsy

Search and analyze the web for the latest topics related to your industry and for mentions of your brand, products and/or competitors.

- Social Studio by Salesforce

Build more meaningful relationships with customers by tapping into the power of social media and analyzing conversations from across the globe.

- Mondovo

An all-in-one platform to research, track and manage your Facebook and Twitter marketing activities including competitive analysis.

3. Monitoring And Response

And finally, on a more tactical front, marketers need to monitor all of the above social conversations in order to derive actionable takeaways. Monitoring and response tools are also often effective for use as a primary content distribution platform. Recommended tools for social media monitoring include:

- Meshfire

A social media management platform powered by artificial intelligence.

- HootSuite

A one-stop shop to manage social networks and give you an in-depth view of how well your social media efforts are paying off.

- Sprout Social

Find opportunities to engage and analyze all your social efforts to create exceptional experiences for your audience across the different social networks.

Of course some of the above tools can serve more than one need.

- Google Analytics

A great tool for capturing the value of social media and measuring the social media and business metrics you care about.

Social Reports within Google Analytics can help you with, predominantly, 3 things:

1. Identifying the quantitative and qualitative value of traffic coming from the different social channels.

2. Understanding social activities taking place both on and off your website.

3. Inform data-driven decisions to increase the return on your investment.

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What Instagram & Pinterest’s Buy Buttons Mean For Your Business

Web browsing in 2015 is an increasingly mobile and visual experience. Social networks such as Pinterest and Instagram, which are primarily designed to offer media-rich content, have reaped the benefits of these trends in form of significant spikes in user growth. For brands, the news is also good—their customers’ preferences for mobile and visual mean new advertising avenues; and with social media, these opportunities can also be very budget-friendly.

Both Pinterest and Instagram have been rolling out features for sponsored content over the past year, but the changes have been slow—in case of Instagram, this was a deliberate choice to avoid disrupting a familiar browsing flow with branded content. Last week, both platforms announced their newest e-commerce features, and they’re good. In case you haven’t had a chance to check what the fuss is all about, here’s what you need to know.

Pinterest’s Buy It button

Pinterest was a bit of an underdog of social networks: it popularized the concept of social scrapbooking, which took advantage of users’ existing browsing and bookmarking habits, and swept the marketing world away with its huge e-commerce potential. In fact, a Shopify study found that an average price of purchase made through Pinterest is $50—that’s higher than any other major social platform.

Most avid Pinterest users (a stereotype that has been broken in the recent months) are usually portrayed as searching for the next dinner recipe, planning their wedding, or searching inspiration for the next craft project. But it turns out they’re doing a lot more than just organizing pretty pictures and daydreaming—they’re planning for their next shopping trip. Shopify reported as many as 93% of Pinterests users plan their purchases with the platform. And this week, Pinterest has decided to cut out the middle man and let users shop directly from their Pins.

Pinterest announced the launch of buyable Pins on the official blog. These product images will look similar to any other Pin on the network, except in addition to the familiar red Pin It button, buyable Pins will feature a blue Buy It button.

Users will be able to filter their products by price and even colour, and pay for the purchase using Apple Pay or credit card. Buyable Pins are expected to roll out to US users first; interestingly enough, the feature will be available to iOS mobile and tablet users first, and rolled out to Android and desktop afterwards. This is undoubtedly telling of Pinterests’ user behaviour trends that may be relevant for your brand.

In the first few weeks, only a select few retailers—big names such as Macy’s, Nordstrom and Michaels—will offer their products for purchase through buyable Pins. However, the platform is promising to speed up the e-commerce process for other brands, especially those who use the online commerce platform Shopify.

Before you get your products Pin-ready, first revisit some of these best practices of using Pinterest for business. If you have any Promoted Pins in circulation already, take a look at the numbers and see which ones perform best. Remember, since the user won’t be visiting any additional pages before making a decision about the purchase, your Pin should contain all the necessary information and show off the product in its full glory for maximum buyer satisfaction.

Finally, since the feature is launching on mobile first, check out how your Pins stack up against others on a smartphone screen—you may be surprised at what you see.

Instagram’s Shop Now button

From the early days of Instagram, the biggest hurdle for e-commerce on the platform was lack of functionality which would allow for clickable links in photo captions. What motivated Instagram to keep links away from captions is clear: the network’s main focus is sharing visual content, not URLs. Soon enough, users and advertisers found a way around this by placing links in bio descriptions and directing their audience there. But it still added an unnecessary step to the conversion process. Instagram’s developers found themselves between a rock and a hard place: on one side, the network’s skyrocketing user base made Instagram the natural place to go for social media marketers, and the focus on visual media made it an attractive network for advertisers. On the other hand, Instagram has striven to maintain its seamless browsing experience.

The new call-to-action buttons, shown for the first time on Instagram’s official blog, are a win-win for the network and its advertisers. Just like the ‘Sponsored’ tag did before, the actionable buttons fit right in to the familiar interface. The mock-up design revealed a variety of choices for calls to action, from ‘Shop Now’ to buttons directing users to install an app, sign up for a service, or simply ‘Learn more’.

In addition to the new ad format, Instagram is promising brands enhanced targeting based on the users’ demographics and interests. It’s not difficult to imagine how this feature will play out, knowing the robust analytics available for Facebook advertisers. However, Instagram’s official statement hints on features that will be uniquely tailored to Instagram’s functionalities: “Advertisers also want to target their messages in more effective ways and reach people not just because of their age, location and gender, but because of the people, places and things they love.” If you’re wondering where Instagram would learn about the users’ interests, Instagram’s global head of business and brand development James Quarles told Adweek that the network will also be relying on its parent company, Facebook, for that information.

Another challenge standing in the way of most brands was the exclusive nature of the opportunity to advertise with Instagram. When the Sponsored posts were first rolled out to US users, the network only allowed a select few certain brands to take advantage of Instagram ads. Now, with the new ad format and API changes, Instagram is promising businesses of all sizes an opportunity to promote their posts—also using Facebook’s existing ad buying infrastructure to accommodate the demand. And with the reported results from Instagram ads, the feature is sure to be popular among brands: according to a Nielsen Brand Effect survey cited on Instagram’s blog, ad recall from sponsored posts on Instagram was almost 3 times higher than Nielsen’s norms for online advertising.

So what can your brand do to prepare for the investment into advertising on Instagram? Grow your follower base for increased reach right out of the gate,learn from successful advertisers on the network, and keep an eye out for the official launch date.

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9 Ways Brands Can Use Twitter Video To Drive Real Results

If you haven’t thought about incorporating Twitter video into your social marketing strategy, there are plenty of good reasons to start. But as with most tools, you need a little know-how to use them to get the biggest benefit. So, if you have no idea where to start, try these 9 great ways to get the Twitterverse a flutter with talk about your content.

Which tricks have you tried? Email, tweet, or send us a note with your tactics and questions.

Some infographic components designed by Freepik.com

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Infographic: How Social Media Influences Auto Purchasing Decisions

As Facebook tries to court auto manufacturers for ad space, it’s becoming evident that social media and peer reviews do play a part in the purchasing decision.

A new infographic from Crowdtap shows that 87 percent of people polled valued friends’ comments on social media when considering an automotive brand. Additionally, 80 percent of those asked by Crowdtap said that they’d trust their social network over a salesperson for advice.

Want to learn more? Check out the infographic below.

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33 Social Media Facts and Statistics You Should Know in 2015

Social media is starting to take off its short pants.

It’s becoming all grown up. In fact, Facebook is now over 11 years old and heading towards platform puberty and is still the standout leader of the pack.

Google with its Google+ platform (with a development cost of over half a billion dollars) tried to take Mark Zuckerberg on, but it has become an incidental social network that isn’t taken seriously by many marketers.

They play there but don’t want to work there.

There are even rumours that Google is going to break it up into separate digital products by segmenting the components that got traction… like Google hangouts and photos.

The emerging trends

The biggest trend over the last 12 months has been the move from earned marketing attention (sometimes called free) to “pay to play”. Another is the impact of social messaging platforms such as Snapchat and Whatsapp that have become “quasi social networks” in their own right.

It’s a social web shift that is driven by a connected generation. If your Mom joins Facebook, then maybe it’s time to play somewhere else. Teenagers don’t want to be dancing with their parents. Right!

In fact the the instant services and chat apps now account for 3 of the top 5 global social platforms.

Facebook tried to buy Snapchat for $3 billion and was snubbed. But then they pulled out $20 billion out of the back pocket and bought WhatsApp. You just have to love deep pockets and a vision of what the future looks like. Mobile,social and alternative messaging.

How does the social web look like in 2015?

The quick truth is that it can be summed up in one word, “mobile”. Smartphone penetration has soared as it the devices have become more affordable and the wireless networks more ubiquitous and faster.

There are now 7.2 billion people on the planet and of those the following numbers make interesting reading.

• There are just over 3 billion active Internet users (45% of the world’s internet users)
• Nearly 2.1 billion people have social media accounts
• 3.65 billion mobile users have access to the internet via smartphones and tablets
• Close to 1.7 billion people have active social media accounts

Source: Wearesocial.net

The rise of non English speaking social networks in China and Russia, such as Qzone, are producing large social networks that exceed Twitter, Instagram and Google+. The traditional social networks as we know them are not the only games in world wide social web town!

So what are the social media facts and statistics in 2015 that are worth checking out?

Mobile social media facts

The developing world has not had the luxury of fixed wire internet from poles and wires. To provide access for the aspirational masses the mobile wireless networks are a fast track to a global world. Put up a tower rather than build an expensive fixed infrastructure.

So the mobile phone has made the web accessible for almost everyone.

• In India mobile devices account for 72% of all web site traffic
• There are 1.65 billion active mobile social accounts globally
• 561 million active mobile social accounts are located in East Asia

Facebook facts

You may scream at Facebook for its dominance and arrogance. But it can’t be ignored.

Tall poppies are easy targets but the reality is that Facebook has cracked the social network code. It’s the ultimate beta business. Testing features in real time and snapping up online apps that push the boundaries of  use experience in a world that is about digital disruption.

• There are nearly 1.4 billion Facebook users
• 71% of all Internet users are on Facebook
• 4.5 billion likes are generated daily
• Nearly 75% of Facebook’s revenue comes from mobile advertising
• Direct uploads of user videos to Facebook now exceed YouTube 

Twitter facts

Twitter is an accidental social network but don’t be fooled. It’s a great brand awareness facilitator.

• Twitter has 284 million active users at last count
• 88% of Twitter users are on mobile
• 500 million tweets per day

Google+ facts

Google saw the writing on the wall but turned up to the party a little too late.

• Google+ cost over half a billion to design and develop
• 363 million users
• The +1 button is hit 5 billion times per day

Instagram facts

This network is owned by Facebook. They saw that social and mobile was a powerful intersection of synergies. They were right!

• Instagram has 300 million users
• 70 million photos and videos are sent daily
• 53% of internet users aged 18-29 use Instagram

Pinterest facts

Pinterest has made the pinboard a virtual activity. It’s female centric and very visual.

• 80% of Internet users on Pinterest are female
• 70 million users are on Pinterest
• 88% purchase a product they pinned

LinkedIn facts

LinkedIn dominates the professional social network segment. It is one of the oldest having started in 2002. Almost the grandfather of social networks.

• LinkedIn has 347 million registered members
• Total revenue at the end of 2014 was $643 million (a growth rate of 44% over the previous period)
• There are over 39 million students and recent college graduates on LinkedIn

Other social media facts

Facebook maybe the biggest and baddest but there are many other social media facts and networks that shouldn’t be forgotten. Both niche and non-English speaking.

• Viber has over 200 million users
• There are 639 million users on Qzone (China)
• 600 million users on Whatsapp
• Facebook messenger has 500 million users
• Wechat is close behind with 468 million users (China)
• Snapchat has been valued at close to $20 billion at the last valuation
• Snapchat has 100 million monthly users
• Russia’s “VKontake” has 100 million users
• Social networks will earn $8.3 billion from advertising in 2015

Sources: Growing social media, Pewinternet.org, LinkedIn.com

What are you going to do?

Social media started with a few players that have now  been empowered by another obsessive technology. Mobile.

The game is changing.

How can you use visual, mobile and messaging in your marketing? Instagram, Snapchat and Whatsapp are disrupting the game.

Looking forward to your comments..

Podcasting provided by Odovox.com

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