a publication of

The Secret to

MONETIZINGSOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy

THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 1

Social media’s promise for marketers has been in building 1:1 relationships with

customers — relationships that can be leveraged to keep current customers happy and

engaged, while bringing new ones on board.

According to market research conducted by The Incyte Group, however, Facebook,

Twitter, and other social media platforms are not necessarily the places where consumers

go to build relationship with companies. When given a choice, they would rather join an

Internet Community that is directly managed by the brand and exists on the company

website—something we like to call a “customer community.”

So why use these social networks at all?

Consumers revealed in The Incyte Group study that while they like to explore relationships

with brands through social networks, social media is merely a door to entering into that

deeper relationship with a brand or business.

Despite the significant investments that companies have made to build a presence on

social platforms, there have been few actionable breakthroughs that prove impact on

revenue — until now.

Whether you’re a marketing, product or customer service executive, or some other

professional who needs to step up their social media game, the consumer research

conducted by Incyte indicates that you need a customer community to build and maintain

your brand in social media.

Contents

1 SOCIAL MEDIA: THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME ............................. 2

2 CONTENT AND CONTEXT ARE KING: WHAT CONSUMERS EXPECT FROM CUSTOMER COMMUNITIES ..................4

3 EVANGELISTS PREACHIN’ THE FAITH: WHY YOU WANT BRAND ADVOCATES .................................6

4 WHAT IN HADES IS AN INTERNET COMMUNITY, IF NOT A SOCIAL NETWORK? ..............8

5 HOW TO MAKE A CUSTOMER COMMUNITY PART OF YOUR SOCIAL STRATEGY .......................9

6 INVESTIGATE TO ENLIGHTEN: WHY GET SATISFACTION COMMISSIONED THE INCYTE GROUP STUDY ........................10

THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 2

1 SOCIAL MEDIA: THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME

“How quickly things change” is an adage that has never been more true. From MySpace,

to Facebook, to Pinterest, what was sizzling yesterday could be lukewarm tomorrow.

Here’s what’s happening now.

Of almost 6,000 respondents to the Incyte Group research survey, the results focused on

responses from 1,897 qualified consumers, who actively use the Internet and represent

adults from all age, socio-economic, and geographic groups in the U.S.

Which social networks came out on top?

Nearly 83 percent of the representative sample frequented Facebook. Fifty-two percent

used YouTube. Almost 34 percent leveraged LinkedIn. Twitter and Google+ closed out the

Top 5.

In June 2012, All Things Digital described Pinterest as “On pace to become the most

significant driver of social traffic to e-commerce sites by the end of the year.” And the

Incyte research backed that up. Pinterest proved to be 2012’s rising star, coming in at 16.1

percent, and ranking above some social media stalwarts.

While these are the most popular social networks, it’s important to remember that the

purpose of social networks is to enable consumers to interact with each other. However,

The Incyte Group’s study went even deep than that to uncover how people want to

interact with brands. The results provided us with meaningful insight into the best ways to

drive revenue using social media.

THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 3

In a nutshell, here’s what they said:

Consumers prefer to interact with companies through an Internet Community sponsored or run by the company, and they expect that Internet Community to be apart of the company’s website—not just in social networks. Without this customer-centered community, your social media strategy is incomplete.

THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 4

2 CONTENT AND CONTEXT ARE KING: WHAT CONSUMERS EXPECT FROM CUSTOMER COMMUNITIES

When asked, consumers said they were particularly interested in an Internet Community

when evaluating a product or service that they wanted to buy. In that context, the top four

things customer community users want are the following:

1 A way to ask questions and get answers from other consumers.

2 To see that the company answers questions (when the community doesn’t).

3 To review testimonials or praise posted by other consumers.

4 To see product reviews and usage tips and tricks posted by other consumers.

Where do consumers want to engage in an online community?

Incyte’s research showed that company websites are still the No. 1 place consumers will

go when researching products or services. While 58 percent of consumers will join an

Internet community through Facebook, it was way down the list as a tool consumers use

to research products.

What consumers said they would do to learn more about a new product or service.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

81.1%

25.7%

19.9%

3.1%

Look at its website

Go to a store

Look at its Facebook page

Research it on mobile phone

Company website is still the No. 1 place consumers go when researching products or services.

THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 5

So again, mainstream social media channels are but a door to your brand: Customers

want to interact with your company in a community dedicated to their relationship with

your brand.

Here’s the good news: Making customer conversations an integral part of your Website

also generates valuable word of mouth marketing. The Incyte Group Study also showed

that.

“Forty-two percent of consumers The Incyte Group surveyed said they would freely

advocate for a product or service they care about. An additional 40.5 percent would

advocate with an incentive.”So that’s 82.6 percent of customers willing to take the time

to promote your brand online (and sometimes offline, as well). Here’s how to make that

magic happen.

What would characterize consumers willingness to become an advocate for a product or service if there was an “Internet Community”?

Freely Advocate

Advocate w/Incentive

Would Not Advocate

42.1% 40.5%

17.4%

82.6 percent of customers willing to promote a brand online

THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 6

3 EVANGELISTS PREACHIN’ THE FAITH: WHY YOU WANT BRAND ADVOCATES

Gone are the zoot suits, snakeskin boots and makeshift tents. Community gives

you a bigger tent for your brand evangelism. The Incyte research showed that in the

community, relevant customer-generated content and information has double the impact

that company-generated content does. Kablam! Free advertising.

Here’s How Consumers Assess the Quality of Content

When Incyte Group respondents were asked what was most important to them in

determining the quality of content about a product or service, nearly 50 percent wanted

the opinion of other community members, while only 10 percent preferred company-

vetted content. The reputation of a community member was important to 34.7 percent of

customers, when assessing the quality of content. The message here:

When knowledgeable customers participate in the online voice of your brand, current

customers and prospects listen.

And today’s evangelists include everyone from “Mommy Bloggers” in the ‘burbs, to

“brogrammer” geeks in flip-flops, to college co-eds caffeinated on Red Bull.

Here are some Customer community Member Programs to get customers to give a shout

out to your product and put some high quality leads in your pipeline.

1 Advocate Programs: Incyte research showed that more than 80% of consumers were willing to advocate for products and brands they care about. More than half of those said they’d do it freely and without an incentive. Managed communities are the perfect platform to identify and activate advocates who would share content on social networks; contribute or post content on product pages of the website; and attract new customers.

Relevant customer-generated content and information has double the impact that company-generated content does.

THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 7

2 Referral and Lead Programs: Companies often create referral programs to generate new leads and upsells. A customer community is a natural place for these. About 82 percent of Incyte research respondents said they would provide sales leads and referrals after making a purchase at an online community. Again, nearly half of those would do so without an incentive.

When you mix brand advocates with high quality content at a customer community,

sprinkle in the voice of your company’s creative team, what you have is recipe for

generating revenue through social media.

In summary, here are the 6 highlights of the Incyte consumer research:

6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Help You Monetize Your Social Strategy

1 82.6 percent of customers are willing to promote your brand online—they only have to be asked.

2 A company website is still the No. 1 place consumers go to when researching products or services.

3Consumers prefer to interact with companies through an Internet community sponsored or run by the company; and they expect to find that customer community on the company’s website.

4Social media is a door into your customer community—58 percent of consumers have joined an internet community based on a friend’s Facebook post.

5 Relevant customer-generated content and information has double the impact that company-generated content does. Free advertising.

6 Nearly 50 percent of consumers prefer the opinion of other community members, while about 10 percent prefer company-vetted content.

THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 8

4 WHAT IN HADES IS AN INTERNET COMMUNITY, IF NOT A SOCIAL NETWORK?

We’re glad you asked.

An Internet or customer community refers to one that is actively managed or sponsored

by a company or brand. It’s a place where customers can interact with one another, as

well as with representatives from the company.

Like a social network, a customer community allows customers to read, post, share, and

respond to content by and for one another. A customer community also permits them

to read, post, share and respond to information supplied by the sponsoring company or

organization.

An important objective of a customer community is to bring resolution and outcome to

what customers are saying, such as:

•Resolve customer support issues

•Provide a forum to react to ideas

•Answer pre-sales questions

THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 9

5 HOW TO MAKE A CUSTOMER COMMUNITY PART OF YOUR SOCIAL STRATEGY

Get Satisfaction communities give companies and their customers the opportunity to

build stronger 1:1 relationships, online. With Get Satisfaction, you can engage with your

customers:

•On your Website

•On Facebook

•Via Search queries

•On mobile devices

With Get Satisfaction you can embed relevant customer generated conversations on

literally every page of your website, where they read or watch content about your brand or

business.

Your company’s customer community members and brand advocates will do a lot

of the work for you – at little to no cost. To ensure that your community’s members

participate readily and often, Get Satisfaction’s platform addresses the following needs

for companies of all sizes:

•Customer Support

•Marketing

•E-commerce

•Product Management

We regularly release new features, provide educational webcasts, and engage with our

own customers, both online and off. Check back in a few weeks for our next ebook, which

will highlight the demographic and market findings from The Incyte Group research.

THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 10

6 INVESTIGATE TO ENLIGHTEN: WHY GET SATISFACTION COMMISSIONED THE INCYTE GROUP STUDY

While no one needed to convince us that a customer community helps build social

brands on the Web, we wanted to find out more about what consumers want from their

experience with communities. The goal: To better serve the business needs of both small

and enterprise companies using Get Satisfaction. After all, these are our customers.

The Incyte Group asked hundreds of questions to everyday consumers as well as experts

(CMOs and other business leaders, as well as academics). From this research, Get

Satisfaction learned even more about how to create the types of communities that will

accomplish the most important business goal of all: To drive revenue.

http://youtu.be/CtnrQ1Gucl4

Have questions? Feel free to email

sales@getsatisfaction.comor, you can call

877-339-3997and talk to a real human.