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…and the Business of Social Media

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Microsoft Small & Midsize Business (Microsoft SMB) had a meager social media presence among its reseller

partners (B2B) and SMB customers (B2C).

Leadership believed social media had greater potential but did not know how to

pursue realizing it.

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This is about Microsoft SMB and how they worked with Gage to build a social media marketing engine to

reach and serve both customers and reseller partners.

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1 As many global brands embrace social media channels within their own organization, how do you leverage social media to drive conversions?

2 How did you get buy in from senior management to incorporate social media?

3 How did Microsoft drive awareness, engagement and conversions for its Business (SMB) division through emerging media tools, tactics and technologies?

4 What are the risks involved in seeking to reach 100,000s of Microsoft reseller partners?  How were these risks overcome?

5 How is Facebook being leveraged to drive engagement between customers that want to buy and partners that want to sell to those customers?

6 What was the cadence for rolling out the various tactics in social media? Why?

The plan for the next hour or so

= Audience Quiz w/Prizes!

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As many global brands embrace social media channels within

their own organization, how do you leverage social media to

drive conversions?

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Social Media Marketing context

Online community includes, but is more than, social media

• All relevant online conversations and interactions• As they occur in brand and non-brand

communities

All relevant online conversations and

corresponding venues, participants

(this is the opportunity space)

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Centralize expertise in monitoring and engaging for community building, support, and lead gen

• Use Social CRM to find, monitor and engage measurably

• Distribute leads to sales

• Distribute insights across company

Non-Brand

Brand

Non-Brand Community = Online conversations

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Cross-community interactions assumed, encouraged, leveraged… measured

Brand Community = Website (Hub) + Outposts

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Non-Brand

Brand

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Awareness

Engagement

How Social Media Drives Conversions

How people generally experience brands in social media

Seen from a measurement POV

Awareness

Engagement

Advocacy

Conversion

Time

0%

100%

Advocacy

Advocacy Feedback Loop

Measure and optimize Awareness, Engagement, Advocacy metrics because they nurture conversion events that drive business outcomes

Ratio to a conversion(example)

100,000:1

5,000:1

50:1

Conversions 1:1Users take a desired actionBuy online, live chat, contact form, whitepaper download, visit specified site content, email sign up, RSS, SMS, etc.

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How did you get buy in from senior management to

incorporate social media?

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Awareness

• Impressions• Followers, Fans,

Subscribers, Members• Lists• Page Views• Mentions per time

period• Inbound links• Share of Conversation• Brand specific

searches• Sentiment Trends

Advocacy

• Advocacy Behaviors (various, including:)• Retweets• Testimonials• Recommendations• Referrals

• Co-creation/User Generated Content

• Content Sharing• Activity Sharing• Information Sharing

Conversion

B2B:Users take actions known to drive meaningful business outcomes: • Demo sign ups• Webinar sign ups• Contact forms• Whitepaper downloads• Email sign ups• Visits to desired site

content

B2C:• Go to store and buy• Find a

partner/distributor• Lead form

Engagement

• Comments• Visit Rate or Content

Resonance• Return Visits• Click-throughs • Registrations/Opt-ins• Retweets• Replies• Referrals• Recommendations• Thread Size• Time with Content• Suggestions/Feedback• Content Downloads• Content Sharing• Spinoff Content

A E C L

How the Metrics Matter

Gage Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Vibrant communities continuously foster Advocacy behaviors, which can be even more valuable than conversions

12

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Strategy

Client-side discovery

Market research audit (Social)

Practice Experience, Knowledge

Strategic Plan

Goals, culture, organization to assess social readiness / maturity

1. People

2. Process

3. Technology

Find and analyze relevant conversations

1. Size opportunity

2. Know where and to whom to play (audiences, conversations)

3. Know how to play(channels, conversations, tactics)

Capitalize on Gage research and experience with tools, technologies, tactics and combine with client’s insights

Goal-driven strategic plan:

1. Goals

2. Measurement Plan

3. Prioritized Initiatives

4. Timelines

5. High-level budgets

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How did Microsoft drive awareness, engagement and conversions for

its Business (SMB) division through emerging media tools, tactics

and technologies?

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Compelling Content

Delivered to an engaged audience

Amplified through an activated partner-base

Measured with platforms and

tools

Cindy Bates’ Blog

Business Insights eNewsletter

Products on Microsoft “In” Page

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Feedback Loop

Awareness = Prospect is aware of and/or knowledgeable about product / serviceEngagement = Prospect acts to indicate a desire to start, continue and/or deepen information exchangeConversion = Prospect takes an action known to drive salesAdvocacy = Customer or influencer takes an action in support or recommendation of product / service

nnnn

Conversion Users take desired actionUsually occurs on hubs

Time

0%

100%

Facebook Ask A

Partner

Facebook Be the Expert

Facebook Custom UX

(Partner + Customer)

Social syndication

Demand Generation(Partner + Customer)

Social Advocacy Platform

Partner Customer

(Org/Structure)

Social Content Playbook

Dashboard Performance

Reporting

SCRM Platform

Branding

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What are the risks involved in seeking to reach 100,000s

of Microsoft reseller partners?  How were these risks overcome?

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The Strategic Challenge

• How to get Microsoft resellers to use social media effectively:

– On-brand

– On-message

– Measurable

– Effective as a means of driving sales

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The Reality of SMB Social Media Sophistication

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Overcoming the risks

• Benefit stated in terms that resonate

• Cost does not exceed perceived benefit

• Effort minimized, yet deliver maximum benefit

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How is Facebook being leveraged to drive engagement between

customers that want to buy and partners that want to sell

to those customers?

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CustomersMicrosoft Partners

Microsoft Partners and Microsoft Small Business customers have similar needs and

interests

We created ways to benefit both groups and builds connections between them

Social Advocacy Platform

Facebook Be the Expert / Ask a Partner

app

Shared Social Content Playbook

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Creating Customer/Partner connections

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What was the cadence for rolling out the various tactics

in social media? Why?

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Takeaways…

• Know your org

• Know your audience (and limitations!)

• Build a plan w/ meaningful measurement

• Experiment with tactics/tools/techniques

• Support and defend what worked

• Build on successes

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And the winners are…

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You’re Welcome

Christopher McLarenDirector, Emerging Media & Strategy

Gage Marketinghttp://bit.ly/cmclaren1

@cmclaren1

Umang ShahSocial Strategist @umang_shah

Play more “Startup or Star Wars” at:facebook.com/gagegroup