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ROSI: Return on Social Investment

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Table of contents

The Necessity of Social Investment 2

Future Shock 3

The Advertising Anachronism 4

The Limitations of Social Media 6

•Intheageofsocialmedia,youdonotcontrolyourbrand 6

•Socialmediaisnothingbutatool 7

•Thevalueoffansisdebatable 8

•Advocatesarehard-won 8

•Socialmediarequiresbasicmathskills 9

•Word-of-mouth(WOM)isnotacure-all 10

•Socialmediawillcostyou 11

Measuring the Effects of your Social Media Efforts 12

Social media measurement is immature 13

A framework for measuring social platforms 14

Measuring individual engagement 16

The payoff of measuring engagement 19

Being pragmatic about Social Investments 20

Losing control 22

So what’s the difference? 22

In practice 24

Takeaway Tweets 26

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The Necessity of Social Investment

3

Future Shock

Whenitsuddenlystrikesyouthatthecultureischangingsofastitfeelsforeigntoyourown,

yougointoshock.It’saverypeculiarkindofshockwhichiscalled‘cultureshock’.

Thiskindofshockhasalsobeenreferredtoas‘futureshock’forsometimenow.Italso

happenstobethetitleofaveryinfluentialbookbyhusband-and-wifefuturistsHeidiandAlvin

Toffler,whointroducedthephenomenon.‘Futureshock’waspromptlyaddedtothe

lexicon,aswerethewords‘informationoverload’and‘prosumers’.Andincaseyoumay

bewonderingwhoquoted‘Changeistheonlyconstant’,well,theydid.In1970.

Whatiswrongwithusadvertisersandadvertisingagencies?Arewesufferingfrom‘future

shock’?Because,fortyyearslater,westilldon’tseemtounderstandthattheoldrulesdon’t

applytothefuture.

‘Futureshock’isprobablytheonlyplausibleexplanationforthisverypersistentphenomenon

we’dliketocall‘theadvertisinganachronism’.

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The Advertising Anachronism

Lookaroundtodayinanyrandomlychosenadvertisingagencyormarketingcommunications

department.Compareittothewayofworkingin‘MadMen’andthemostfundamental

differenceyouwillnoticetodayisthepresenceofcomputers.Apartfromthat,basically

nothingmuchhaschanged.Howcome?

Well,noconsumereverdiedasadirectresultfromout-of-syncandinefficientmarketing

communications.

“Onceinfrontofascreen,beitadesktop,laptop,orincreasinglyahandhelddevice,

we‘login’–notintoasystem,butintoacommunity.”

5

Thisisnotaquotefrom‘FutureShock’.Itisnotaquotefromamarketingcommunications

handbookeither.Thequoteistakenfrom“War2.0,IrregularWarfareintheInformationAge”

byThomasRidandMarcHecker.

Thearmy,asopposedtotheadvertisingworld,isnotsufferingfrom‘futureshock’.Thearmy

doesnotadheretoabeliefofhowtheworldworkswhichpreventsonefromseeinghow

theworldreallyworks.DanielKahneman,NoblePrizewinnerinEconomics,callsthiseffect

‘theory-inducedblindness’.

Whynot?Deadsimple:youwouldsurelybekilledifyoudo.

Onceinawhile,acompanywhichadherestoacertainbeliefofhowtheworldworksrunsa

campaignthatsaysonething,whiletheiractionsarequitetheopposite.Andonceinawhile,

theseactionsdocauseharmandmakepeoplesuffer.

Whenthishappens,thecompanylearnsinnotimehowtheworldreallyworks.Howconsumers

who,justlikeinsurgentsinwarfaretodayhaveaccesstoveryaccessiblemeansof

communicationsandcheaptechnology,caneasilybringanyhugecompanytoitsknees.

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The limitations of social media

In the age of social media, you

do not control your brand.

AskComcast,Domino’sPizza,Toyotaor

GAP.AskBP.

Afterthesecompaniesexperiencedthis

firstandforemostlimitationofsocial

media,theyacquiredsocialmediaskills

andlearnedtousetheseverysame

accessiblemeansofcommunicationsand

cheaptechnologytotheirbenefitremarkablyfast.

BPprovedthatyoucannotpromisetheworldthatyourcompanyisallaboutrenewable

energy(“BeyondPetroleum”)andheavilyunder-deliveronthatpromise(whileheavilyover-

deliveringonpetroleumintheGulfofMexico).

BPprovedthatbrandingtodayisafundamentallydifferentgame.Agamewherethevalueof

anyelaboratecampaignisreducedtozeroinasnapifyourmessageisuntruthful.Ifitisall

wordsandnoaction…

Becauseintheageofsocialmedia,consumerswillgiveyouexactlywhattheythink

youdeserve.

“ In the age of social media, you do not control your brand.”

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Social Media is nothing but a tool.

Themisunderstandingthatquiteoftenprevailstodayisthatwhenyouthinkyouareactually

practising‘socialmediamarketing’youaremerelypractising‘socialmediacheckmarketing’.

DoIhaveaFacebookFanPage?Check.DoIhaveaTwitteraccount?Check.DoIhavea

blogandachannelonYouTube?Check.Check.

Ifthisiswhatyoursocialmediamarketingplanlookslike,don’tevenbother.Itwillmost

certainlybetonoavail.Whatyoufirstneedisastory.Astorybasedonfacts.Andifthefacts

areallwrong,youwillhavetofirstironoutthisproblem(rememberBP).

Ifyou’rereadytotellyourstory,thendefinitelydoso.Ifyoudon’t,somebodyelsewilldoitforyou.

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The value of fans is debatable.

Advertiserswhoaremorefamiliarwithtraditionalmediaoftenareextremelycriticalwith

regardstosocialmedia.Whereastheoreticalvalueswithregardstotraditionalmedia

(whicharesometimesseriouslyflawed)aremetwithamuchlesscriticalattitude.Thatbeing

said,thevalueofafan(ora‘liker’intoday’sterms)isattheveryleastdebatable.

Fansandfollowerscomparebesttowhattraditionaladvertisingcalls‘eyeballs’,‘traffic’,

‘targets’or‘potentialreach’.Theyare‘thepeopleformerlyknownastheaudience’.Theyare

howevermorevaluable:theyhaveknowinglyclickedabuttonwhichsaid‘like’or‘follow’,

designatingthattheyareinterestedinyourbrandandwanttohearfromyou.

Ontheotherhand,clickinga‘hide’buttonisjustaseasy.Andnoteveryoneisawareofeach

andeverypost.So,evenifyouhaveahugenumberoffansandfollowers,youmaystillbe

talkingtoanimaginaryaudience.

Althoughthisstilltrumpscommercialswhicharemoreoftenthannotasignaltohurryto

thebathroomorstarttime-shifting,itisnotmerelythefansandfollowersyoushouldbeafter.

Asanadvertiser,youshouldbepredominantlyoccupiedwithgoingaftertheadvocates.

Advocates are hard-won.

AccordingtoMcKinsey,consumershavebecomeoverloadedandincreasinglysceptical

abouttraditionalcompany-drivenadvertisingandmarketing.Theyincreasinglyprefertomake

purchasingdecisionslargelyindependentofwhatcompaniestellthemabouttheirproducts.

Thisiswhereyouradvocateswillmakethedifference.

Wordofmouthis–andalwayshasbeen–themostpowerfulformofmarketing.Itisthe

onlyformofmarketingthatcanmakeaconsumerchangehismindcompletelyorevenmake

consumersconsiderbrandstheywouldneverhaveconsideredotherwise.

Butwhendoconsumersstarttalkingactivelyaboutyourproductorservicetotheirsocial

networks?Whendotheybecomeyouradvocates?There’sonlytwooccasions.Eitherwhen

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youover-deliverandgivethemabetterexperiencethanexpected.Orwhenyouunder-deliver

andgivethemaworseexperiencethanexpected.Whatyouhavetodoisassimpleasitis

hard:youhavetoover-deliverinorderforpeopletostartsharingpositivenewsaboutyour

brandwiththepeopletheysociallyengagewith.

‘Social media’ requires basic math skills.

AccordingtoMcKinsey,“word-of-mouthequity”isanindexofabrand’spowertogenerate

messagesthatinfluenceaconsumer’sdecisiontopurchase.Word-of-mouthequitybasically

isaformula:volumetimesimpact.

Volumeiseasyenough:aretherefewormanymessagesthatmayinfluencemy

purchasedecision?

Impactissomewhatmorecomplexanddeterminedbythefollowingfactors:

• Where:messagessharedwithinaclosedortrustednetworkcreatemoreimpact

comparedtomessagessharedwithinalargeordispersednetwork.

• What:ifthemessageaddressesimportantproductorservicefeatures,itismorelikely

toinfluenceconsumerdecisions.

• Who:isthesenderatrustedpersonandishe/sheinfluential?

• Source:isthemessagebasedonone’sownexperienceoronhearsay?

ResearchbyMcKinseyshowedthatahigh-impactrecommendation–fromatrustedfriend

conveyingarelevantmessageforexample–isupto50timesmorelikelytotriggera

purchasethanisalow-impactrecommendation.

From“Anewwaytomeasureword-of-mouthmarketing”,McKinsey

“ Marketers tend to build campaigns around emotional positioning, yet we found that consumers actually tend to talk – and generate buzz – about functional messages.”

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WOM is not a cure-all.

Onecanneverarguethatwhatiswrongisright.Ifyourproductorserviceisnotuptopar,

crossoutanybudgetyou’respendingonmarketingcommunicationsanduseittogetyour

acttogetherfirst.

Thebestwaytoeradicateabadproductorserviceistoadvertiseit.Andthisiscertainly

truetoday:consumerstrustanonymouspeersmorethantheytrustadvertisers.Systematic

negativeword-of-mouthwillputastoptoyourbusiness.

Butwhatcanpositiveword-of-mouthdoforyou?Well,thereareallkindsofword-of-mouth

—andthesearetheonesyoushouldunderstand.

• Experientialword-of-mouthresultsfromaconsumer’sdirectexperiencewithaproduct

orserviceifthatexperiencedeviatesfromwhat’sexpected.

• Consequentialword-of-mouthoccurswhenconsumersdirectlyexposedtotraditional

marketingcampaignspassonmessagesaboutthemorthebrandthey’republicising.

• Intentionalword-of-mouthise.g.whenmarketersusecelebrityendorsementstotrigger

positivebuzzforproductlaunches.

From“Anewwaytomeasureword-of-mouthmarketing”,McKinsey

“ To turn consumers into an effective marketing vehicle, companies need to outperform on product and service attributes that have intrinsic word-of-mouth potential.”

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Social media will

cost you.

Ifyoustayawayfromsocial

media,itwillcostyou.

RememberBP:ifyoudon’t

tellyourstory,somebodyelse

willdoitforyou.Butgetting

involvedwithsocialmediawill

costyouaswell.Andthere

arethreewaysofinvestingin

socialmedia.

Investmentinculture

Socialmediaisallabouttrustandengagement.Ifyoubuildyourcompanyonthesepillars,

yourfirstandbestadvocateswillbeyouremployees.Asoftoday,thepeoplefromZappos

havenotspentonedollaronmarketingcommunications.Theyhaveafire-and-hirepolicy

basedonthecompany’scorevalues.AndtheyhavemadeZapposacompanywhere

everyonewins:company,employeesandcustomers.

Investmentingoodideas

Youdon’thavetobeCoca-Colatocomeupwithagoodideaeveryonestartstalking

about(‘TheHappinessMachine’).Albion’sOven,aLondon-basedbakery,startedsending

automatedtweetswheneversomethingabsolutelytastyhadjustbeentakenoutoftheoven.

That’stheonlymarketingiteverneeds.

Investmentindata

Nomatterwhatyourcompanydoesyoushouldstartseeingyouractivitiesasan

‘information-basedservice’.Youhavetogettoknowyourcustomersifyouwanttobe

abletodeliverthemabetterexperience.Itis‘betterexperiences’thatwillturneachand

everyoneofyourcustomersintoadvocates.

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Measuring the effects of your Social Media efforts

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Social media measurement is immature

Marketinginvestmentinsocialmediaisincreasing,yetmarketerscontinuetostrugglewith

themethodologiesforvalidatingtheseinvestments.Alotofexcitementaccompaniesthe

developmentofsocialmediamarketingideasbecausethemajorityofmarketersandagency

representativesprefertoworkwiththeircreativeright-brainfunctions.However,weneedthe

decidedlylesssexyleft-brainanalyticsskillstomeasureandproveROI.Justlikeanyother

medium,measuringtheeffectsofsocialmediaisacriticalcomponenttosuccess.

Socialmediameasurementisquiteimmature,justaswebanalyticswasafewyearsago.

Todeterminehowcapablemarketersareatmeasuringtheresultsoftheironlinedirect

response,brandingandsocialmediacampaigns,wesurveyedalmost100Belgianmarketers.

Whenaskedtoranktheirmeasurementcapabilitiesonascaleof1to3where1isnoviceand

3isexpert,wefoundthatmarketersconsiderthemselvestobe(cf.Figure1):

• Bestatdirectresponse.Marketersratetheirabilitytomeasuretheeffectofdirect

responsecampaignsatanaverageof1.29outof3.Notsurprisingconsidering

marketershavemoreexperiencewithdirectresponsetoolslikeemailandpaid

searchescomparedwithneweronlinetoolslikeonlinevideoorblogs.

• So-soatbrandmarketing.Belgianmarketersarealittlelessconfidentwhenitcomesto

measuringbrandcampaigns,averaging1.05outof3.

•Novicesatsocialmedia.

Marketersratedthemselves

theleastmaturewith

measuringsocialmedia

effortsat0.85outof3.We

findthisaverageambitious

comparedtotheothertwo

disciplines,consideringthat

socialmediaisonlyafew

yearsold.

Figure1

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A framework for measuring social platforms

Theonlinemarketerisoverwhelmedbythenumberofmetricsavailablethrough(free)web

analyticssoftware.ManyofthesemarketerssufferfromtheGoogleAnalyticssyndrome:

“measureeverything”.Justbecauseyoucanmeasuresomething,doesn’tmeanyoushould.

Infact,theamountofavailableonlinedatacanparalysemarketerswhotrytotrackitall.

It’sbettertofocusonasmallsubsetofmetricsthataligncloselywithclearly-definedbusiness

orcampaigngoals.Notallmetricswillbeequallyrelevanttoallmarketers;notallmetricsare

equallyrelevanttoallcampaigns.

It’snotsurprisingthatmarketershavesomuchtroublemeasuringsocialmediawell.Every

socialplatformandvendoroffersitsownmetrics,andthereareliterallyhundredsofwaysto

measurethesuccessofsocialinitiatives.

“ Just because you can measure something, doesn’t mean you shoulD.”

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Wecaneasilyclassifyallavailablesocialmediametricsintofourcategories:

Userreachdescribeshowfarandwideyourmessagesspread.

Volumeofparticipationdescribeshowmanyconsumersinteractwithyoursocial

initiatives.

Userimpactdescribeshowyoureffortschangeconsumers’actionsoropinions.

Qualityofparticipationdescribesthestrengthanddepthofconsumers’interactions

withyoursocialinitiatives.

Measuringuserreachiseasybutimperfect.It’ssoeasy,infact,thatit’sthemostusedmetric.

CountingFacebookfans,Twitterfollowers,andblogfeedsubscriberscanallgiveyouinsight

intohowmanyconsumersyou’rereaching.Butkeepinmindthatnoteveryonewhofollowsor

likesyourbrandinsocialmediawillseeeverymessageyoupost.Click-throughratesonthe

linksyoupost—asmeasuredthroughtraditionalwebanalytics—cantellyouwhatportion

ofyoursocialmediaaudienceareeffectivelyreached.

Volumeofparticipationtellsyouhowengagedconsumersare.Thenumberofcommentson

yourblogposts,thenumberof@repliesyoureceiveonTwitter,andthenumberoflikesand

commentsonyourFacebookfanpagequantifyhowmanyconsumersareinteractingwith

yourefforts.Butasmuchassomemarketersfixateonthiscategory,it’snotthebestwayto

measuresuccessforanyofyoursocialmediaobjectives.

Bothfore-mentionedquantitativemetricsshouldbecomplementedwithqualitativemetrics

toassessthefullimpactofyoursocialmediainvestments,suchasuserimpactandqualityof

participation.

Whenmeasuringuserimpact,youmightlookforreturningvisitorspermonthoractive

visitorspermonth,whichgiveanindirectindicationofuserimpact.Ifdirectresponseisyour

mainobjective,conversionssuchassubscriptions,leadsorsalesderivedfromyoursocial

initiativesshouldbeyourfocus.Andifyou’rehopingtomakeabrandimpact,anonline

surveyisstillyourbestoptiontomeasuretheeffect.Perhapscomplementedwithsentiment

trackingvialisteningplatforms,asurveyisthebestwaytofindoutifyourfollowers,

subscribersorfansaremoreeagertopurchasefromyou,ortoreferyourbrandtotheirpeers.

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Qualityofparticipationisasubjectivemetric.You’llknowhigh-qualityparticipationwhen

youseeit.Insupportforumsitmeansyourcustomersaresatisfiedandsupportcallvolume

drops.Whileinuserinnovationinitiatives,itmeansyouhavelotsofgreat,newideasinyour

developmentqueue.Likewise,ifthevideoentriesyougeneratefromacontestaregood

enoughtouseonyourwebsiteoronTV,thenyou’vesucceeded.

Tohaveaholistic

viewoftheimpact

ofyoursocial

platform,itisbest

tomeasureacross

bothaxes:quality

vs.quantityand

usersvs.usage.

Thisrequiresaset

ofmeasurement

toolsandmetrics

thatgobeyondthe

onesprovidedbythesocialplatformitselfsuchasfocusgroups,onlinesurveysandsocial

listeningtrackingsystems.

Measuring individual engagement

Theabove-mentionedframeworkstillonlymeasuresfirst-degreeimpactofsocialplatform(s):

i.e.theparticipationvolumeandqualityoftheuserspresentontheplatforms.Itdoesnotyet

measuretheall-encompassingimpact,takingintoaccountthereachandinfluenceoftheseusers.

So,howcanwemeasuretheimpactofyoursubscribers,followersorfansandtheir

interactionswithyoursocialinitiativesonothers?Theanswerliesperhapsbyputtingthe

individualatthecentreofthetwoaxes.

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Engagementmeasurementencompassesquantitativeandqualitativemetrics.Itcomprises

concreteindividualmetricsfromwebsitevisitsandonlinepurchasestothesofterinsights

frombrandawarenessstudies,sentiment,loyalty,andadvocacy.

Forrester’sdefinitionofengagementis:

Engagementisthelevelofinvolvement,interaction,intimacyandinfluenceanindividualhas

withabrandovertime.

Fourcomponentsmakeuptheengagementframework—thefourI’s:

• Involvement—thepresenceofapersonatvariousbrandtouchpoints.Metricsincludewebsite

visitors,timespentperpage,andpagesviewed.Themaindatasourceiswebanalytics.

• Interaction—thesocialactionspeopletakewhilepresentatthesetouchpoints.Metrics

includecomments,reviews,ratings,uploadedphotosorvideos,etc.Datasourcesinclude

mainlysocialmediaplatforms.

• Intimacy—theaffectionoraversionapersonholdsforabrand.Metricsincludesentiment

measurementinblogposts,blogcomments,discussionforums,etc.Datasourcesinclude

brandmonitoringservices,surveyresponses,etc.

• Influence—thelikelihoodapersonistoadvocateonbehalfofthebrand.Metricsinclude

NetPromoter,satisfactionratings,forwardedcontent,etc.Datasourcesincludemarket

researchservices,surveys,webanalytics,etc.

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Measurementofindividualengagementiscomplex.Andrequiresasetoftools:

Themostfundamentaltoolrequiredisacentralcustomerdatarepositoryprovidinga

consolidatedviewofanindividualcustomerorprospect’srelationshipwithyourbrand.

Analyticstoolsworkoffthiscentraldatabasesuchaswebanalyticstomapindividual

research,browseandpurchasebehaviour.Butonlineisn’tjustabouttransactional

relationships.Consumersuseyoursocialchannelstosharefeedback,createand

distributecontentandbroadcastopinions.You’llneedmoresophisticatedmonitoring

toolsbeyondtraditionalwebanalyticstocapturethistypeoffeedback.

Socialmonitoringtoolshelpmarketerstounderstandhowconsumersperceiveand

interactwiththebrandinchannelsnotcontrolledbymarketers.Consumershave

numerousvenuesoutsidetheorganisation’scontroltovoicetheirattitudesand

preferences.Thesetoolscollect,organiseanddeliverinformationonthestrengthand

typeofconsumersentiment.Thisallowsmarketerstoanswerimportantquestionslike:

“Whatareconsumerssayingaboutus?”or“Who’sinfluencingtheirpeersinapositive

ornegativemanner?”

Finally,theoften-neglectedbututterlyinvaluablecustomersurveys(satisfactionsurvey,

brandresearch,etc.)areextremelyimportantinprovidingadditionalinsightintobrand

affinityandinfluenceofcustomers.Andtogetacompletepictureofthestateofthe4I’s

atanindividuallevel.

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The payoff of measuring engagement

Measuringengagementisnotaneasytask,andmeasurementvendorsdon’tyetprovide

unifiedservicestohelptieitalltogether.Togetstarted,you’llneedtotakethefirststeps

alone.Butconsiderthepayoffofyourhardwork.You’llbeableto:

• Gainmuchdeeperinsightintocustomerbehaviourandbeliefs.Andtranslatethis

insightintomarketingstrategiesthattargetcustomersegmentswithmorerelevantand

persuasivemessagesandinnovativeproducts.

• Measureandlearnfromthingsyoucurrentlyignore.Qualitativemetricslikefeelings,

affinityandsentimenthistoricallyhavebeendifficulttotrack.Butsocialmediamakes

iteasierforcustomerstooffertheiropinion,andasaresult,allthatdataissittingout

therewaitingtobemined.Bytrackingcommentaryindiscussionforums,you’llget

insightsthatnosurveywouldeverdetectsincetheycomestraightfromthemindsof

thecustomers.

• Identifycustomerswhoinfluenceotherstobuy.Apersonwhocontributescontent,

suchasaproductrevieworavideooftheproductinuse,maybefarmorevaluable

thantheaveragepurchaser.Asaresult,yourideaofwhoyouwouldconsiderthemost

valuablecustomerwillchange.Identifycustomerswhomakesignificantproductreviews

thatinfluenceotherpeoples’purchases,andtheninitiateprogrammestoencourage

thesecustomerstocontributemorecontent.Thiswillbecomeyourfocus.

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“TheWhirlpoolcase:Twitteruser@doocecomplainsaboutherMAYTAGwashingmachineafteracustomerserviceagenttellsher itdoesn’tmattershe’sgot1.5+millionTwitterfollowers.”

Being pragmatic about Social Investments

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Let’simagineforasecondthatyou’vedecidedsocialmediashouldbeapartofyour

communicationsstrategy.Youcreatedpolicies,boughtmonitoringsoftware,hiredasocial

mediaexpertandthoroughlydiscussedandoutlinedallpossiblescenarios.You’rereadyto

enterthepromisingworldofsocialmediaconversations.

Andyet,youaren’t.Inasmuchasyouhavealltheprocessesdefined,ultimatelyit’supto

thecustomertodecidewhatisgoingtohappen.Youcanprobablyalreadyguesswhatthis

means.HewilllikelystumbleuponaproblemonanearlySundaymorning,trytocontact

yourcustomersupportserviceandfindoutitisonlyopenedduringofficehours.Thisiswhen

hestartstosharehisproblem(andfrustrations)withhisonlinefriends,followersandthe

worldwideweb.

It’saproblemwe’vehadtodealwithinthepast—beforeonline/socialmedia—aswell.

However,astheconsumerdoesn’thavethemeanstosolvetheproblemwithanyoneelse

butus,wemanagedtoteachhimtorespectourrules(ourofficeopeninghours,expensive

phonenumber,etc.)andthuscallusonMondaymorning.AnentireCustomerRelationship

Management(CRM)businesswasbuiltaroundthisidea,makingitaseasyaspossiblefor

companiestomanageinteractionswithcustomers,prospectsandsuppliers.

Abrilliantideareally,thatonlyrecentlystartedtoshowsomeweaknesses.Theadventofthe

internet—andsocialmediainparticular—allowedthecustomertoentirelycircumventthe

company.Henowhasaccesstoawiderangeoftoolstogetintouchwithothercustomers,

askthemaboutanythinghewantstoaskandcomplainaboutanythinghefeelsyou,asa

brand,didwrong.Moreover,“customers”arenolongeronlylimitedtopeopleyouhavea

financialrelationshipwith;yourbestcustomerinthisnewsituationisn’tnecessarilytheone

whobuysthemost.

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Losing control

Innotimeatall,thecompanymovedfromacentralpositionincontrolofinteractiontoan

isolatedentity,desperatelytryingtoregainrelevancy.PaulGreenbergdescribessocialCRM

as“thecompany’sresponsetothecustomer’sownershipoftheconversation.”It’supto

thebrandtobecomearelevantpartoftheconversationagain.Itgoeswithoutsayingthata

traditionalinside-outCRMapproachisnotthekindofrelevancyyourcustomerexpects.

Onecouldthereforewonderifsocialcustomerrelationshipmanagementisthebesttermto

describethisnewdiscipline.We’renolongertalkingaboutcustomersonly,andrelationships

todayarequitedifferentfromwhattheyusedtobe.Andlet’snoteventouchonthesubject

ofmanagement,whichisinfactquitetheoppositeofwhatishappening.We’llleavethe

challengeofcomingupwithabetternametosomeoneelse.Yettotakeawayanyconfusion,

let’sfirstdefinehowsocialCRMrelatestotraditionalCRM.

So what’s the difference?

Wealreadymentionedtheconsumerisincontroloftheconversation.Oppositetothe

traditionalinside-outapproach,socialCRMisallaboutoutside-in.Nolongerpushing

messages,butrathermonitoring,listeningandresponding.Whichalreadyindicatesatypical

SCRMflowisfarmoredecentralised:asconsumersprefertoconsultwiththeirfriends

insteadofbrands,it’suptothesebrandstoactivelylookforconversations(inanychannelthe

customerprefers).

Company CustomerTRADITIONAL CRM: INSIDE OUT

SOCIAL CRM: OUTSIDE IN

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There’snoneedtomentionthatthisisaratherdrasticswitchforbusinessesandthewaythey

interactwiththeircustomers:

• RatherthantheCRMdepartmentonly,everyone needs to be involvedandawareof

boththeopportunitiesandthreatsofsocialmedia.Youasamarketermightbewell

awareofallthis,butyourprimarycustomer-facingdepartments(suchasyouroutsourced

customerserviceteam)shouldbeevenmoreso.

• Thecustomer will take the initiative,whichmeansit’suptoyoutomakesureyou’ve

gotallthetoolsandprocessesinlinetoreactadequately.

• There’snoneedtosaythisisnot limited to business hours.Expecttheworstona

Fridaynight.

Onasidenote:innowaydoessocialCRMreplacetraditionalCRM.Infact,bothcanbe

perfectlycomplementary.Anythingyou’velearnedwhilemonitoringsocialmediacanbe

appliedtotraditionalsales,marketingandcustomersupportCRMflowsandviceversa.

“ Twitter has changed the culture of our company.” BrianRoberts,ComcastCEO

Assigned departments

company-defined process

business hours

defined channels

transaction

inside out

who

what

when

where

why

how

everyone

customer-defined process

customer sets the hours

customer-driven dynamic channels

interaction

outside in

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In practice

There’snoone-size-fits-allsolutionaseveryapplicablesituation,targetgroupandgoalwillbe

unique.However,everysocialCRMimplementationwillsomehowneedtotakeintoaccount

thefiveM’sofsocialCRM(asdefinedbyAltimeter).

Monitoring(obviously)requiresyoutoscanthewebforrelevantcontentandlistento

whateverpeoplearesayingrelatedtoyourbrandorproduct.Inatypicalsecondmapping

phase,onlineandofflineprofilesandidentitiesshouldbemappedandconnectedinorderto

providerelevance.Nottoomany—ifanyatall—complaintsonTwittertodayclearlyindicate

theuser’scustomerID.Inordertoeffectivelysolveanissue,we’llhavetoknowwho’stalking

tous.Thisiscertainlynottheeasiestthingtodo,yetbyofferingtherightbenefitsand

rewardsuserscanactuallybeencouragedtodothemappingthemselves.

Whichleadsustothethirdphase:ifweknowwhat’sbeingsaidandweknowwho’ssayingit,

thenit’suptousto(possibly)respond.Who’sgoingtorespondandhow?Themanagement

phasewilldefinetheprocessanddispatchinformationtotherightpeople(rememberSCRM

isabouttheentireorganisation).CloselyrelatedtothisisthefourthM—middleware —

aswenotonlyneedtodispatchmessagestotherightpeople,we’llalsohavetosavethis

informationinourdatabaseinordertointegrateitwithanyothercorporatedata.

“The five M’s of social CRM”: - Monitoring - Mapping - Management - Middleware - Measuring

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Needlesstosay,ourlastMisaboutmeasuring.Wealreadystressedtheimportance

ofmetricsinapreviouschapter,yetwecan’tstressitenough:whatyoucan’tmeasure,

youcan’timprove.

Baseduponthe5Mmodel,Altimeterdefined18differentsocialCRMusecasesappliedto

sales,marketingandcustomersupport.Dependingonyourorganisationandneeds,these

canbeusedasaframeworktogetstartedwithsocialCRMinyourorganisation.Pickoneand

trytoapplyittoyoursituation.You’llbesurprisedtodiscoverallthedifferentopportunities

socialCRMoffers.

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Takeaway tweets

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See your company as an information-based service. Get to know your

customers, offer a better experience # FollowFridays10:58AMNov3rd

Branding today is a whole different game: you need to make sure you’re

backing it up in the market place # FollowFridays1116AMNov3rd

You have to overdeliver in order to generate WOM! # FollowFridays11:03AMNov3rd

Experiential WOM beats Consequential WOM! # FollowFridays11:25AMNov3rd

AdNerds

AdNerds

AdNerds

AdNerds

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Marketing dollars will shift from outbound communication to data

analysis # FollowFridays09:36AMNov4th

Measuring engagement means measuring and learning from things you

currently ignore # FollowFridays10:08AMNov4th

Identifying and targeting “evangelists” rather than only new customers

becomes relevant # FollowFridays09:52AMNov4th

Measure beyond volume, i.e. engagement # FollowFridays10:21AMNov4th

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30

Polar organizations focused purely on analytics or creative are destined

to fail # FollowFridays10:46AMNov4th

It’s a solution to business problems that have always existed.

# FollowFridays10:13AMNov7th

Social CRM is not a replacement for traditional CRM, or for social

media. # FollowFridays10:02AMNov7th

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31

There’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all. # FollowFridays11:29AMNov7th

We’re just scratching the surface. And you should do that too.

# FollowFridays11:56AMNov7th

SCRM is a (long-term) strategy. Technology is only the enabler.

# FollowFridays11:08AMNov7th

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32www.bbdo.com

www.proximityworld.comwww.digitallabblog.com

authors

Tijs Vrolix

http://be.linkedin.com/in/tijsvrolix

Franky Willekens

http://be.linkedin.com/in/frankywillekens

Jan Algoed

http://be.linkedin.com/in/janalgoed

33www.bbdo.com

www.proximityworld.comwww.digitallabblog.com