Driving Sales Exec Summit - Using Social to Drive Business

Social Media – Where it Works in Business and Does it Fit in Automotive?
October 14, 2009

What We’ll Cover
What is social?
What isn’t social
Best practices
Strategy
Listening
Great content
Ongoing management / fostering of conversation
Measurement
Case studies
Edmunds
Sony
Breaking Point Systems
Getting started

Who Am I and Why do You Care?
I work for a company called, Powered. We’ve been buildingbranded online communities and delivering social strategies that drive
measureable business results for 10+ years.
Est. 1999, headquartered in Austin, TX
Expertise in marketing, social strategy & community development
Full-service consulting & execution
Integrate social marketing as a central component of the marketing mix to optimize overall marketing spend

Who We Work With

What is Social Media?

It Feels Like it’s All About the Tools…
Image courtesy Brian Solis

Definition According to Wikipedia
Social media: content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most]
basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. […] Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal and business. […]

The REALLY Important Words
Social media: content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most]
basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. […] Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal and business. […]

What isn’t Social Media?

This is NOT Social

This is ALSO Not Social

Nor is this Social

Some Best Practices

In “social,” there are2critical factors that separate:
This….
& THIS
Audience-focused Strategy
It’s not about you. It’s about them.
Killer Content
NOT: ‘copy,’ messaging, press releases, product demos

“Social” strategy involves planning
Align with business goals
Content map (what, where, how often, by whom)
User experience
Calls to action
Development plan
Social syndication & promotion
Measurement & data collection

Listening is VERY Important
Why can’t I ever get through to customer service?!?
We like you but…
I’m recommending you to everyone I know. ;)
What is wrong with you guys?
You are 100X better than the competition!!!
You suck!

Content: Diversify based on audience needs
Sample subject: Running
Subject Breadth
article
tutorial
video
workshop
Subject Depth
If you don’t know your audience’s preferences, start small and test - or just ask them.

Content: The 7 commandments
To create killer content, thou shalt…..
never (ever, ever, ever) create infomercials.
align content strategy to (community) business objectives.
be realistic about the community’s propensity to contribute content and commune.
offer depth and breadth of content topics.
acknowledge differences in learning styles and diversify formats.
keep the content fresh and relevant but create (some) content that will have a long life.
listen to your audience and optimize to meet their needs.

Successful communities must be nurtured
February 2008 Forrester: “Online Community Best Practices”

And then Comes Measurement
Community Key Performance Indicators
% of clicks to brand products
% More likely to purchase
% Planning to purchase
Community registrations
E-mail opt-ins
Time per visit
% more likely to recommend your brand
Community referrals
Social syndication
Actual online transactions & revenue
Reported purchases
% return visitors
% retention year to year
Share of household/wallet
Planned brand purchases
Content optimization measures: Views, clicks on calls-to-action, ratings, survey feedback

How About a Few Case Studies?

Edmunds.com Case Study
Good example of a dealership using Dealer Ratings & Reviews. They regularly send out emails to new customers asking them to write a review. They currently have 22 sales reviews and 2 service reviews

Where many salespeople engaging in conversations (not soliciting but really helping people understand pricing and packages). There are customers that actually go out of state to buy from a salesperson who's been a regular helper in the Forums. People go with who they trust!

Customers can see profiles of the other customers or sales people from whom they are getting answers

Edmunds Case Study
Goal
Dealers can drive trust and engagement leading to increased sales.
Results
Increased reviews on dealership and service
Direct leads resulting from online relationship building
Better understanding of what customers are looking for
Why
Edmunds focuses on creating valuable content and meaningful conversations where brands, dealers, experts and customers can come together
Sales and service people like because they can subscribe to alerts on specific categories they like to answer questions on. They can also build their own Expert widget to have on their dealership site or blog.

Sony Case Study

Sony Case Study
Goal
Establish deep relationships, accelerate consideration & drive loyalty&advocacy
Results
388% increase in the number of user engagements
34% growth in member registration / 31% increase in unique visits
179% more repeat visits
78% of users report that they are more likely to purchase a Sony product as a result of Backstage 101
59% of users are likely to recommend Sony to a family member, friend, or coworker
Why
Customer-centric content
Opportunity to engage in conversations with other customers & Sony employees
Clear and relevant merchandising against pre-selected segments

BreakingPointCase Study

BreakingPoint Case Study
Goal
Drive leads and awareness through their blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Youtube
Result
Less reliance on traditional marketing channels
Triple digit growth in 2009
Loyal base of advocates
Direct relationships with press and analysts
Why
Explicit value in the content BreakingPoint delivers
Team of developers, marketers, product people and executives that provide ongoing access to their expertise

Other Bene’s: Engaged Community & SEO Juice

Getting Started

Getting Started
Listen – what are your customers saying? Where are they saying it (think: Google Alerts, Radian6, Techrigy, BuzzGain)
Align – What do you want to use social for? Customer research? Sales? Product innovation. Make sure your social efforts align with your corporate goals
Include – Make sure you get Legal/Compliance on board early and often. They can help you guide & craft your social policy.
Join – are your customers on Facebook? Twitter? Get Satisfaction? Sign up (but learn the etiquette first).
Engage – Talk to your customers, prospects, partners and even detractors.
Create – Don’t forget the “Killer Content.”
Measure – Ignore this step at your peril. You may be doing a great job but you’ll never know if you don’t measure.

THANK YOU!
Aaron Strout
CMO, Powered Inc.
Blog: http://blog.stroutmeister.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/aaronstrout
E-mail: aaron.strout@powered.com

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Driving Sales Exec Summit - Using Social to Drive Business

by Aaron Strout on Oct 14, 2009

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