Unselling Social Media: A Customer Love Story

Hi, I’m Alexander Nikolov.  CMO at NinetyTen  HULT graduate  Started own business at 17  Entrepreneur of the Year 1998, Junior Achievement Bulgaria  KFC Bulgaria launch in 2 cities  Aveda, Clinique, Westin, St. Regis  NYC, Washington DC, London

This is NinetyTen.  London based  Founded in 2006  Opened first mobile social network in the UK - BuddyPing  Dedicated to social technology  Communicator  BrandAware  Engage

How did we get here?  In 2005: MySpace purchased for $580m  In 2006: $15bn projected value by 2009 (J. Rohan, RBC Capital)  In 2009: estimated as low as $500m  Twitter in 2008: $20m  Twitter in 2010: $1bn  The value is in real connections.

We asked the wrong question:  How do I monetize my fans & followers?

Let’s go back to basics.  Customer experiences create your brand.  Positive customer experiences create loyal customers.  Loyal customers create brand equity.  Brand equity creates growth, revenue and profit.

Relationship marketing 101  It costs 5 to 7 times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an old one.  5% improvement in retention increases profits between 25% and 85%.  Turn customers into brand advocates.

Why do it?  New customer sales may cost 4 to 100 times that of a sale to an existing customer.  For every 1 that complains there are at least 25 who do not.  85% will return if the issue was resolved promptly vs. 91% if not.  Dissatisfied customers will tell 8 to 16 others, on the web – 1000s!

What is customer service?  An integral part of a company’s customer value proposition  Plays an important role in an organization's ability to generate income and revenue.  It’s that "Feel Good Factor“.  Implement instant feedback loops.

Traditional channels  Telephone  Email  Face-to-face  Mail  FAQs  SMS  Search the web

Please hold, your call is important…  Incomplete problem diagnosis  Having to repeat information  Number of transfers to “experts”  Contradictory answers  Agent accent  Agent attitude (68%!!!)  Lack of toll-free number  Long hold times

How does social media fit here?  Customers want many social media service options:  Online chat  Forum to connect with other customers  Instant feedback  Mobile customer service (apps, etc.)

Who’s paying attention?  For the first time, social media takes the conversation with the customer into the public domain  Increases the stakes  “Wall of Fame” vs. “Wall of Shame”  “WoW” – words of wisdom  Customers helping customers  Building knowledge banks

What should you do?  Customers use Twitter to vent  Businesses are forced to pay attention  Responses are warranted and necessary  70% of customers* would like Twitter to be an official customer service channel vs. 25% six months ago  Use Twitter! *Source: Innoveer, Inc., 2010

Public vs. private social networks  Controlling the conversation – integrity is paramount  Controlling the environment – reducing distractions  Safety of your investment  Adaptability to your business needs  Security  Privacy

Online communities and private social networks  Having a customer review facility tops the UK consumer's wish-list of social media tools  50%+ currently post reviews online  1 in 4 are less inclined to buy online from a site that uses no social media tools  Onsite reviews are five times more important than a Twitter account and three times more important than a Facebook page (ICS, July 2010)

The 7 Benefits of Customer Service Online Communities  Increase in product ideation  Increase in agent productivity  Increase in first-contact resolution  Reduction in agent-assisted interactions  Reduction in agent-assisted email  Boost in relevant Web-site content and reduced search-engine optimization costs  Improved customer retention and customer lifetime value Source: "The ROI of Online Customer Service Communities”, Forrester, June 2009

Create your own customer love story.  Bank of America  Intel  Lenovo  Verizon  Vodafone  Sprint  Palm  Your business?

The 90/10 rule  “Soft sell”  Subtle, casual & friendly  Less likely to be irritating  More persuasive  Very hard to get lost fans or followers back  90% conversation  10% promotion

Thank you. Alexander Nikolov alex@ninetyten.com @NINETYTEN

w w w. n i n e t y t e n . c o m

Unselling Social Media: A Customer Love Story

by Alexander Nikolov on Sep 23, 2010

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Unselling Social Media: A Customer Love Story — Presentation Transcript