2. Managing real-time customers
It’s official. I’m old. Conclusive Of course this is just the beginning. By the
time I finish this article there will be a few
proof has come to light. First, I still ring a door
thousand more Facebook users, not just in the
bell with my index finger. Apparently today’s
US or Europe but in places like Indonesia, who
Nintendo DS trained youth use their thumbs.
with their 37 million users is now the second
Second, I still mainly communicate via email,
largest Facebook market in the world.
which is something “old people do” according
to research from Jeff Cole and the USC’s
As more and more of these Facebook users
Center for the Digital Future. Today’s youth
opt-out, disregard, and migrate away from
prefer to use social networks like Facebook to
email, marketers will have to reinvent their
communicate with others. That’s not to say
approach to CRM to meet a new breed of
that email is completely dead. Microsoft’s
always-on consumers. These young users
latest Context Matters II research points
expect dialogue with brands in real-time,
out that email is still the top activity online.
not when someone in the CRM team pushes
Today’s youth the monthly email newsletter button. All of
which puts those email based CRM platforms
prefer to use social under the spotlight. In short, asynchronous
brand conversation is being replaced by
networks like Facebook synchronous brand dialogue. Just like the
great migration from snail mail to email,
to communicate with once again the CRM model is being turned
upside down, or literally inverted; in the age of
others. Facebook, brands must now embrace the new
reality of Managing Real-time Customers.
However, that same research clearly indicates
that when and how people are using email
is evolving; online users increasingly have a
Asynchronous
burst of email in the morning, and spend the brand conversation
rest of the day communicating via alternative
tools like IM, Twitter, or Facebook. is being replaced by
Who cares? Well, probably all of those synchronous brand
companies who have spent the last decade
migrating their Customer Relationship dialogue.
Management programs from snail mail to very
elaborate email-based platforms. What was
Of course some brands have already embraced
a brilliant idea in 2003 – sending out regular
this new ethos. For example, Unilever’s
cheap, customizable email newsletters – now
Impulse brand has transitioned its CRM
looks increasingly antiquated in a world of
program to Facebook, where its audience of
600 million Facebook users poking, posting,
young teenage girls already spend significant
and liking. What’s more alarming is that a lot
time. The Impulse Diaries program acts as an
of this activity is directed at brands. Air Asia
on-going MRC platform fully integrated and
now has over 74,000 “fans” regularly engaged
sustained within Facebook.
with the brand on its official Facebook page.
Why bother with email when you can get
The Diaries is a combination of pushed and
instant information and a rapid response from
pulled marketing content, as well as real-time
your favourite brand or fellow fan in real-
contributions and dialogue between brand
time?
and fan. Impulse campaigns, sponsorships,
3. Managing real-time customers
38% of respondents
reported that they
would likely become a
fan of a brand if they
saw a family member or
close friend do so
respondents reported that they would likely
become a fan of a brand if they saw a family
member or close friend do so; a statistic not
lost on the Facebook team as they roll-out
social plug-ins and programs like Sponsored
Stories.
The Impulse team isn’t the only example of
a brand embracing MRC. Dell uses Twitter
to promote its latest offers and promotions
Impulse Diaries
in real-time; to-date they have generating
events, and news are all published and most
well over $7 million in sales. Best Buy has
importantly shared on the site. Impulse’s
launched their Facebook “Twelpforce” to
TV advertising even promotes the Facebook
crowd-source solutions to common consumer
destination rather than the brand’s traditional
electronics problems. Starbuck’s 20 million
Web site. The result: over 62,000 active fans
fans get rewarded with discounts for
regularly engaged with the Impulse brand.
checking-in using the Places feature, not to
mention the ability to share their new product
The Diaries program is a cost-effective,
ideas and innovations with the My Starbucks
insightful move by the Impulse team, which is
team. Albion Bakery in London has launched
further supported by Syncapse research that
BakerTweet on Twitter to lets their customers
demonstrates the power of embedding your
know in real-time what baked goods have just
brand into the social graph. For example, on
emerged from the oven.
average fans spend an additional $71.84 on
products for which they are fans compared to
those who are not fans. Furthermore, 38% of
Dell uses Twitter Twelpforce
4. Managing real-time customers
Once consumers get used to brands are now confronted with a myriad of
unmeasurable and inconsistent Facebook
a local bakery tweeting about baked goods
brands sites. Buddy Media addresses user
in real-time you can imagine what their
navigation issues, enforces brand consistency
expectations will be for some of the world’s
and integrity, and allows for re-publishing
best-known brands.
of Facebook content across your social
footprint, not to mention helping with the
Where to start? Before jumping into MRC
we advise clients to go through a four step
process, conveniently all starting with
the letter “A”. First, define your “Aims” so
Once consumers get
everyone has clarity on what you are trying to used to a local bakery
achieve. From the examples illustrated above
it’s clear that social networks can deliver on tweeting about baked
everything from sales to branding to customer
service to research to all of the above. goods in real-time you
Second, ensure you understand the needs
and behaviour of your “Audience”. Different can imagine what their
audiences use different social networks
for very different purposes. Third, carefully expectations will be
develop your “Approach”. In our experience,
this is where most brands fail. They often rush for some of the world’s
into places like Facebook only to disappear
for extended lengths; provide slow, corporate best-known brands.
responses to very personal, real-time needs;
and in worse case scenarios break best-
final “A”; quickly and easily “Analyzing”
practice community management rules like
your performance via bespoke reporting and
publically escalating arguments with angry
optimization tools.
customers.
So take a lesson from Albion Bakery in
Before launching ensure you assemble the
London. If a local bakery can make a
right skills, rules, processes, and technology.
Managing Real-time Customer model work,
We would highly recommend embracing one
you can too, even if you still use your index
of the new MRC technology platforms, such
finger to ring a doorbell.
as Buddy Media. Buddy Media enables you to
cost-effectively manage your entire Facebook
footprint across the globe in every market.
Similar to the early days of the Internet,
Bakertweet Buddy Media
