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www.messagemaker.com I [email protected] I US +1 617 425 7300 I UK +44 20 7886 8241 HOW CUSTOMERS REALLY WANT TO ENGAGE WITH YOU IN SOCIAL MEDIA: Leveraging Social Media for the Long-Term 2011 One to One Connect LLC

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www.messagemaker.com I [email protected] I US +1 617 425 7300 I UK +44 20 7886 8241

HOW CUSTOMERS REALLY WANT TO ENGAGE WITH YOU IN SOCIAL MEDIA: Leveraging Social Media for the Long-Term

2011 One to One Connect LLC

THE DISCONNECT

With the explosion of growth in social media, it’s hard not to get caught up in the crowd of wild-eyed marketers frantically

running around with hammers, looking to secure their piece of the world. But consumer behavior has changed, and so have

ways of interacting with them. Social media isn’t a box of nails just waiting to be hammered, and those who don’t come to

this realization quickly will be left behind.

According to a study recently published by the IBM Institute

of Business Value , there is a significant disconnect between

what businesses perceive as the value they o!er their cus-

tomers through social media, and what those customers are

actually looking for from the brands. This is true not only in

terms of actual content types (discounts vs. announcements

or job openings), but also in terms of the brand’s ability to

provide content that’s focused enough to be relevant to the

consumer.

We have seen companies struggling to get their arms around communications paradigm changes before. For example, com-

panies that approached mobile text messaging similarly to how they treated email lists in that past, found themselves on the

receiving end of a huge backlash as consumers revolted against the privacy invasion of this far more intimate channel.

With social, the stakes are even higher. No longer are there an elite few who closely manage primarily one-way communica-

tions. Now more and more employees and company representatives are having discussions on social media in very public

forums. Multiply this times the several social networks that each employee is on, and then by the hundreds or thousands of

friends and followers on each of them. Finally, add in the ability for any one of those friends or “followers” to re-broadcast to

their personal networks and you realize that the reach is expansive and the implications are enormous.

What emerges is a quickly expanding morass of potential mistakes, misinformation, compliance violations and missed op-

portunities for those who mismanage or simply ignore their basic social structure and strategies. However, for those who

appropriately plan their social structure and strategies, there is a massive network of potential brand advocates and influenc-

ers leveraging distributed actionable content for those who educate themselves and their teams on some basic insights of

building a solid social foundation.

1 IBM Institute for Business Value, ‘Customer Relationship Management From Social Media to Social CRM,’ 2011

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www.messagemaker.com I [email protected] I US +1 617 425 7300 I UK +44 20 7886 8241

2011 One to One Connect LLC

WHAT YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES AND ACCOUNTS REALLY ARE

As you set out to leverage social media in a value-building way, it is important to start with a foundation before moving

on to a strategy that leverages it. The foundation of your social media e!orts — your tools and “building blocks” — are

your social interaction points, such as Facebook Pages and Twitter accounts.

But to use social interaction points e!ectively, you must first understand what they are and where their real value lies.

Equally important is to understand what they’re not.

Your Social Media Accounts and Pages are Not a Web Site

People “snack” on social mediaPages and content on social media must be quick and easy to consume and act upon. A quick line, or better yet a picture

or view, describing your o!er or value proposition, along with a link to purchase, print or learn more is optimal.

Your end goal should not necessarily be to drive page-viewsSince many marketers are still struggling to quantify how social media a!ects the bottom line, many look to metrics

(such as the number of visits a Page receives) to gauge their level of success. The true power of social media, however,

is to get your relevant, actionable content to more people where they reside. To reach the information streams consum-

ers are already following 24/7 from devices that are always with them not just to bring more people to a central location.

Additionally, getting end readers to interact with your content by clicking, viewing, commenting or sharing actually

increases its ranking and likelihood of showing up prominently in other’s news feeds.

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www.messagemaker.com I [email protected] I US +1 617 425 7300 I UK +44 20 7886 8241

2011 One to One Connect LLC

Social Media Drives a “Subscription”

People who “Like” your Page or Follow you have become subscribersThe real goal of a Facebook Page or a Twitter account is to drive ongoing consumption of relevant information in the

form of a “subscription.” A person will only visit your page so many times... Possibly only once. If you can make that

visit count and become a part of their ongoing stream of daily information, then you have succeeded at the most

important step.

Social can be more like your email lists than your web siteMost companies have a single website with lots of information. Conversely, their email lists (assuming they practice

good email marketing) tend to be segmented by target market and customer interest. A social media Page or account

should not overwhelm with too much information, it should tantalize consumers to “subscribe” to more information and

o!ers of the type presented on the page. This should then be partnered with a variety of Pages and accounts that allow

consumers to select those that align with their interests, beliefs, and goals.

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www.messagemaker.com I [email protected] I US +1 617 425 7300 I UK +44 20 7886 8241

2011 One to One Connect LLC

COHESIVE, CONNECTED EFFORTS

As companies migrate toward leveraging social media, it’s important to remember that there is a huge di!erence

between segmentation and fragmentation. In a fragmented environment, Facebook Pages, Twitter accounts, YouTube

channels, etc. are managed di!erently, by di!erent groups, with little or no cohesiveness or synergy.

Segmenting your assets should not create a patchwork quilt of unrelated items with inconsistent looks and feels.

Neither should it form islands of content that leave visitors without an easy way to know about or get to your other

information. Your customers should feel as if they are under your brand umbrella at all times, where they can easily

browse for topics and products that meet their needs.

When Designing Your Social Foundation, be Sure to Consider

A consistent, professional look and feelMicrosoft and BMW are examples of companies that have done an excellent job of presenting unique and relevant, yet

consistent and professional experiences in their social media presences. Their numerous accounts and Pages are

focused enough to be of continued interest to their audience but consistent and polished enough to avoid feeling

disconnected.

Pages and accounts that interlinkIt should be very easy to find routes to your other products and services from any of your social media e!orts.

Continuing with the Microsoft example, at the time of this writing, they have done an excellent job from a brand

consistency perspective on their various O"ce products. On the surface, however, they appeared to have created a

hub-and-spoke environment of interlinked products. And once I arrived at any of the spokes, I’d find myself isolated in a

silo with no easy way back. For example, if I go to Microsoft O"ce’s Facebook Page I can easily find my way to their

other products. If however, I’m on the Excel Page in Facebook, there is no easy route back to the O"ce Page, nor to any

of the other Pages such as Word.

How much more detrimental is this if your customers are not aware of your full suite of product and service o!erings?

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www.messagemaker.com I [email protected] I US +1 617 425 7300 I UK +44 20 7886 8241

2011 One to One Connect LLC

CONVERTING CONSUMPTION TO SUBSCRIPTION THROUGH “CONTENT GATING”

Once you’ve driven a consumer to one of your social media interaction points, the goal is to convert them from a one-time

viewer into a long-term subscriber to your content. One of the most powerful tools to assist with this on Facebook is a method

known as “content gating” or “fan gating.”

Content gating is accomplished by showing one piece of content to those who have not yet subscribed to, or “liked” your

Page, and di!erent content to those who have already become subscribers. This is generally leveraged to entice new viewers

to like the Page to get access to what they really want.

Determine what they wantDi!erent audiences for di!erent products or services potentially want very

di!erent things. Your job is to truly understand what they’re looking for from

your Page, and then o!er it in return for “liking” you. Usually they are

looking for incentives such as discounts or other o!ers.

Don’t fool yourself by imagining that most people just want to be a part of

your community or to hear about your cool new stu!. IBM’s survey showed

that most consumers were looking for discounts from the companies they

follow. Conversely, from the companies’ perspectives, the report showed

they felt that most followers were looking for information on new products

or general information about their company.

Leveraging the “Like”In addition to content gating helping to convert a viewer into a subscriber,

once that “Like” button has been clicked a one-time update will be made to

your new subscriber’s wall. Don’t miss this chance to hit a broader audi-

ence, leveraging the credibility of your consumer to endorse your brand to

their friends.

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www.messagemaker.com I [email protected] I US +1 617 425 7300 I UK +44 20 7886 8241

2011 One to One Connect LLC

SUBSCRIPTION RELEVANCE

Now that you’ve gained followers and subscribers, the key is to engage and retain them. The best way to do this is to

provide o!ers for products and services they’re interested in. And the fastest way to lose them is to flood them with

irrelevant information.

There are several things to consider when pushing messages through your social networks, to determine their ability to

engage or alienate your audience:

Consistency with the promiseIf you convinced consumers to subscribe to a social media stream by promising them discounts, job insights or event

information, then deliver on that promise. Although you may be able to very judiciously slip in some company an-

nouncements or other information, make sure this is the exception and not the norm.

Proper segmentation — to avoid flooding them with irrelevant contentIt’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that delivering on your promise is enough. But if you o!ered “sports content” or

“discount information” this may not be su"ciently segmented. A basketball enthusiast really doesn’t want to hear

about golf. Similarly, if I am looking for discounts on your computer peripherals, and instead you send me a continuous

stream of o!ers for TVs and home theater systems you will drive me toward unsubscribing from the content I want to see

in my social feeds.

A company should look at the types of information they intend to broadcast and do some soul-searching on how much

overlap vs. focus exists in the audiences for that content. Social interaction points should then be created for each of

those focused, highly-relevant information streams.

Geo relevance National and international brands have to be especially careful about geographical segmentation of messages. If I’m in

California and want to hear about events you sponsor, I am unlikely to care about upcoming events on the east coast or

in Europe. Give your consumers the ability to opt-in to multiple sources of content if they’re open to travel, but allow

them to be more focused if needed, rather than drive them away with what they perceive as social noise.

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www.messagemaker.com I [email protected] I US +1 617 425 7300 I UK +44 20 7886 8241

2011 One to One Connect LLC

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SUMMARY

Social media is without doubt a powerful tool. The ability to get in front of an interested audience and enable its members to

become advocates of your message is unprecedented.

Like most communication types, the field is rife with examples of companies misusing this new tool. Proper usage requires a

basic understanding of what social media fundamentally is.

Five key aspects of social media to incorporate into your marketing processes and strategies include:

Remember social media is not a web page, it’s more like a subscriptionKeep a consistent, on-brand look and feelEnsure your social interaction points are interlinked for easy cross-pollinationLeverage “content gating” techniques to drive subscriptions, not just viewsCreate segmented social interaction points to keep content relevant and engaging

Using these points as a guide should set you and your company on the right track to leveraging this powerful opportunity and

help you avoid the confused masses of hammer-wielding nail-pounders.

www.messagemaker.com I [email protected] I US +1 617 425 7300 I UK +44 20 7886 8241

2011 One to One Connect LLC