Twitter for Consumer BusinessesAdam SchoenfeldCEO, Cheddr Media

AgendaWhy Should Businesses Care?Primary Business Uses for TwitterTwitter for Customer SupportTwitter for PR & MarketingTakeawaysTrends2

Background: What is Twitter?Micro-Blogging – 140 character publishing/broadcastingCommunication Platform – 140 character messagesSocial Network – you chose whose tweets you want to seeReal-Time Search – what are people talking aboutWhat is Twitter for Businesses? (In Twitter’s Words):“Twitter is a communication platform that helps businesses stay connected to their customers. As a business, you can use it to quickly share information with people interested in your company, gather real-time market intelligence and feedback, and build relationships with customers, partners and other people who care about your company. As an individual user, you can use Twitter to tell a company (or anyone else) that you've had a great—or disappointing—experience with their business, offer product ideas, and learn about great offers.”3

Why do Consumer Businesses Care?4

Consumers are twittering…51July 2009 Unique Visitors = 51.6 Million

Opportunity for direct customer communication62Direct Line from Celebrity to Fan, Brand to Customer, etc

Real-time discovery, response, and engagement73Publish Real-Time Responses to Events, News, Crises etc.Directly Engage in Real-Time

Open/Public Platform4Open APIsPublic Content by DefaultNon-Mutual Social GraphMultiple Platform Access8

How are Consumer Businesses Using Twitter Now?9

Primary FunctionsCustomer Support10Marketing & PR

Secondary FunctionsRecruiting / HRCrowd sourcing / Market researchPartner relationsSales & lead gen (B2B)11

Customer Support12

Twitter is the ultimate consumer venting platformEasy – don’t need to pick up the phone and sit on hold. Just 140 characters & click publish.Accessible – SMS, Mobile Apps, Web, DesktopBrands get more visibility on customer experiences (good & bad). Doesn’t need to be in the call center to be noticed13

People are talking about Brands…14Positive experiencesConsideration of purchaseNegative experiences

Brands are responding and improving customer experiences15

Comcast approach to service@Comcastcares@ComcastDoug@ComcastBill@ComcastBonnie@ComcastGeorge@ComcastSherri@ComcastSteve@ComcastDete@ComcastMelissaSeveral support representatives with Twitter accountsAccounts are unique to the support reps, rather than sharing a single account for the Brand11 person team in social mediaAt least 1 person available during waking hours (7a-11p)16

Comcast service in action…1712

1834

Instant change in customer experience1956In 13 hours… Comcast went from “sucking big time” to “awesome comcast win”

Best Buy & Twelpforce20Customers ask questions to the @Twelpforce via TwitterEmpowering employees to engage customers on TwitterEmployees have personal Twitter accounts + share the twelpforce feed (Agent1056 or JoeShmo12)Promoted with advertising and PR campaigns (eg. hulu ad)

Marketing & PR21

Corporate Communications/PR22Rapid distribution of company news

Personalizing Brands & Leaders23Executives as Twitter celebrities…Ranked #461.2M FollowersTony Hsieh has more followers than…JetBlueDellTechcrunchPaula AbdulCBS NewsLenny KravitzGov SchwarzeneggerThe NFL…Say What?!?!

JetBlue

Dell

Techcrunch

Paula Abdul

CBS News

Lenny Kravitz

Gov Schwarzenegger

The NFL

24It’s about staying interesting and relevant, not selling product

Sponsorships25Brands leveraging popular Twitter users

Special offers rule in the Twitterverse… Deals, Coupons, DiscountsThe Latest & Greatest OffersContests & Promotions 26

New products & fresh offers27Twitter people want the fresh, real-time content

Deals & Coupons (Good)28Specific, relevant, timely, Twitter only10,200 Followers537 Clicks2 Tweets5.2% CTRData from Bit.ly

10,200 Followers

537 Clicks

2 Tweets

5.2% CTR

Deals & Coupons (Less Good) 29Do I care?21,173 Followers153 Clicks12 Tweets0.7% CTR

21,173 Followers

153 Clicks

12 Tweets

0.7% CTR

Dell Twitter deals = $3M revenue$3 Million in Sales directly attributed to Twitter43 person team in social media (huge presence)80 Dell twitter accounts – customer or regional focus>1,000,000 followers on DellOutlet account30

Contests & Promotions31Tweet to enter, follow to enter, and link to contests

When promotions go viral32Moonfruit’s Macbook contest…Top TrendPost-Contest: 40K+ followers481,000 Clicks!http://bit.ly/info/96bxCPre-Contest: ~400 followers

Promotions going viral (cont’)33Cheddr Media publisher case study…Contest Traffic Sources-Sample From Cheddr Media User-

Takeaways34

Whole FoodsAirlinesComcastStarbucksZapposH&R BlockDunkin DonutsNordstromBest BuyWachoviaHome DepotMost brands are support oriented on TwitterFocus:Listening and monitoringEngaging with customersImproving customer experiences35

Whole Foods

Airlines

Comcast

Starbucks

Zappos

H&R Block

Dunkin Donuts

Nordstrom

Best Buy

Wachovia

Home Depot

Does Twitter work as a customer acquisition channel?36Dell would likely say “yes” but the jury is outTwitter CTRs- Directional data: 140 respondents -Email CTRsSource: Mashable (140 respondents)

The big upside: viral distributionMoonfruitStarbucksPolar371,816 Followers1,365 Clicks15 TweetsSignificant attention & customer acquisition is clearly possible

1,816 Followers

1,365 Clicks

15 Tweets

Not all offers are created equal38Brands are experimenting… approach, frequency, targetingToys R Us: 12,763 Followers318 Clicks8 Tweets2.5% CTR35 Clicks1 Tweets0.3% CTR

318 Clicks

8 Tweets

2.5% CTR

35 Clicks

1 Tweets

0.3% CTR

Trends39

What’s the ROI?Spending is increasing… time, teams, agencies, toolsNo clear quantifiable $ value for most businesses (yet)Results generated are difficult to measure – no standardsHow do you value engagement? sentiment? customer happiness?Difficult to compare with traditional media buys… “improved a customer experience” vs. $5 CPM = $X revenueSome organizations are justifying the value without doing an ROI calculation“Adds value for the organization”Improves customer experienceSome management teams are focusing on the wrong metrics – “just give me followers!”40

Demographic Shift41It’s not all about the early adopters…

Twitterization of Facebook42Facebook Connect APIMajor redesignPublic fan pagesOpen Stream API“Everyone” optionReal-time searchImproving Mobile appsFacebook LiteFacebook is becoming more open, more public, and more real-time

Real-Time Search43Search is still in its infancy…

Commercial AccountsJune 2009: Twitter launches verified accountsEnhanced commercial accounts by end of 2009…“We want to build statistics or analytics that let users know — ‘How am I doing on Twitter?’” – Biz Stone44

SPAMMakes the Twitter atmosphere less desirableHow will Twitter deal with SPAM?How will businesses deal with SPAM?45

How will organizations scale Twitter (and all social media)?Scaling social media within the organizationTeams are growing. Channels presence is growingMultiple stakeholders: Support, PR, Marketing, etc.How does it get managed at Scale within the organization?Looking for ways to leverage social media assets…We’ve established attention, customer relationships in the social media channels, how do we do more with it?E.g. Bing Tweets, Twelpforce, MyCAIdeaCheddr Media plug: We’re helping brands extend & enhance their Twitter presence. Twitterizing websites & marketing campaigns, promotions & apps.46

Mail: adam@cheddrmedia.comMy Twitter: @schoenyCompany: @cheddrmediaWebsite: cheddrmedia.com47Contact