Winners & Losers in
a Troubled Economy

Richard Sedley
Course Director for Social Media, CIM
Director Customer Engagement

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30 minutes
• Six theses on digital customer engagement
in a troubled economy
• More for less
• The customer’s recessionary mindset

How to convince your CFO to fund you
1. Build a wall of benefits
2. Create stories of success
3. Cut first and cut deep
4. Get the CFO to meet customers
5. Clearly display cause and effect
6. Know the CFO/CEO’s pet hates
7. Make the CFO your champion
8. No big surprises
Winners and Losers in a Troubled Economy: How to engage customers online to gain competitive advantage

More for less?

Tips for thriving in a recession
1. Leverage existing platforms

Virtual World
case study

Virtual World
case study

Tips for thriving in a recession
1. Leverage existing platforms
2. Think and act joined up

Tips for thriving in a recession
1. Leverage existing platforms
2. Think and act joined up
3. Reward loyalty

Tips for thriving in a recession
1. Leverage existing platforms
2. Think and act joined up
3. Reward loyalty
4. Don’t assume too much

Tips for thriving in a recession
1. Leverage existing platforms
2. Think and act joined up
3. Reward loyalty
4. Don’t assume too much
5. Practice contrarian strategies

Tips for thriving in a recession
1. Leverage existing platforms
2. Think and act joined up
3. Reward loyalty
4. Don’t assume too much
5. Practice contrarian strategies
6. Trade focus groups for digital ethnography

Tips for thriving in a recession
1. Leverage existing platforms
2. Think and act joined up
3. Reward loyalty
4. Don’t assume too much
5. Practice contrarian strategies
6. Trade focus groups for digital ethnography
7. Sweat your assets

The power of credibility
A B
Marketing Experiments Journal, Feb 2007
Conversion rate = 2.69% Conversion rate = 3.03%
% change = 12.64%
Projected monthly gain = $30,582.30

Four types of credibility
• Presumed = General assumptions in the
mind of the perceiver
• Surface = Simple inspection or initial first
hand experience
• Reputed = Third party endorsements,
reports or referrals
• Earned = First hand experience that
extends over time
Stanford University, Persuasive Technology Lab, 2003

Decoying
32%
68%

Decoying
16%
0%
84%

Persuasion windows open…
• When you are in a good mood
• When your world view no longer makes sense
• When you can take action immediately
• When you feel indebted because of a favour
• Immediately after you have made a mistake
• Immediately after you have denied a request
Stanford University, Persuasive Technology Lab, 2003

The customer’s
recessionary
mindset

Simplicity

Sacrifice

Escapism

Nostalgia

Reuse

Trust

Control

Loyalty

Community

Leadership

Simplicity Trust
Sacrifice Control
Escapism Loyalty
Nostalgia Community
Reuse Leadership

Thanks for listening.
Email: r.sedley@cscape.com
Twitter: twitter.com/richardsedley