Building an Online Brand Through Customers | DMFB 2014

BUILDING YOUR ONLINE
BRAND THROUGH
CUSTOMERS

#wom #branding #custserv #brandlove #cxp
DIGITAL MARKETING FOR BUSINESS • #DMFB14 CASIE GILLETTE • KOMARKETING

CASIE GILLETTE
DIRECTOR OF ONLINE MARKETING
9
YEARS

2004

casiegillette.com
casieg@gmail.com
@casieg
+CasieGillette
#DMFB14 • @CASIEG • @KOMARKETING
h"p://www.slideshare.net/casieg

WHAT IS A
BRAND?

BRAND
“is the set of expectations, memories, stories and
relationships that, taken together, account for a
consumer’s decision to choose one product or service
over another.”
- Seth Godin

Your brand used to be dictated by YOU. You chose the messaging that was sent out and
that’s what people knew about your brand. Not any more…

Your brand is now dictated by what OTHER people are saying about you.

WHAT DOES
IT MEAN?

It means there are NEW opportunities for businesses. New opportunities to get customers
talking and have them do your marketing for you. It also means you better give them
something to say!

AWARENESS
49% of U.S. consumers say friends and family are their top
sources of brand awareness.
- J. Morton

INFLUENCE
81% of U.S. online consumers’ purchase decisions are
influenced by their friends’ social media posts.
- MarketForce

REVENUE
Word of mouth was the second-best source of revenue
according to US small businesses.
- eMarketer

RETENTION
It costs 6–7 times more to acquire a new customer than
retain an existing one.
- Bain & Company

LONGEVITY
A referred customer has a 16% higher life-time value.
- Wharton School of Business

THE BAD NEWS…
A dissatisfied customer will tell between 9-15 people
about their experience.
- InternetRetailer
No…Winter isn’t coming. It’s finally over! Yay!

A LinkedIn Influencer recently had a bad experience at Ikea and decided to post the
story to LinkedIn. The post received 45k+ views, 300+ comments, and almost 3k shares.

Amy’s Baking Company had a bad Facebook experience. Now, when you search for the
company, articles about their awful responses are what show up along with poor reviews.

These all happened within 20 minutes. In one day. Just because.

IT’S OK THOUGH…
Happy customers who get their issue resolved tell about
4-6 people about their experience.

AND…
66% of brand mentions on the social web are positive.
- Lithium

An agency created an entire site dedicated to Tim Horton’s donuts. They have no
association with Tim Hortons, they just like their donuts.

Melt Bar & Grill has over 500 customers with Melt logo tattoos. Why? So they can enjoy a
lifetime of 25% off grilled cheeses.

This also all happened in one day. Within 2 hours. Just because.

LET’S MAKE THEM
HAPPY!

UNDERSTAND
To understand why customers share a brand, we need to
understand why they share in general.

SOCIAL
ACCEPTANCE
One of the major reasons people discuss their product and brand experiences with others is
about belonging and contributing to the social group to which they belong.

LOVE OF
STORIES
Humans love to tell stories. We love to share experiences and information. If the experience
with the products or brands was positive, the story is positive.

TO BE
UNIQUE
While people want to fit in, they also want to distinguish themselves from the group. That
includes talking about their unique experiences.

BRAND
LOVE
Sometimes people just genuinely love a brand or the people behind a brand. They love the
product or the advertising and want to talk about it.

MOTIVATE
We need to figure out what motivates our target market
to share.

Keurig is a great example with their “Brew the Love” campaign. Keurig isn’t just a machine
on your counter, it’s a story.

Grasshopper has made themselves known for their great word of mouth tactics. From free
coffee to thank you notes to book and candy, they get people talking.

Just about everyone is familiar with the Zappos experience and their great customer service
team. But did you know they’ll even go so far as to order you a pizza?

MailChimp has created a brand of great customer service, great content, and a well-known
icon, Freddie.

What these companies all have in common is their customers love them and they talk about
them online.

What these companies all have in common is their customers love them, they talk about
them online, and they recommend them to their friends.

You can drive these experiences. Create stories. Be memorable. But you have to know where
to start. Like any marketing strategy, you don’t want to just throw darts at the wall.
GETTING
STARTED

TARGET
90% of social engagement is driven by 3% of customers.
- Social Chorus

WHO?
Customers • Brand Advocates • Employees • Press
Start with the people already talking about you. The people interested in your business and
who are invested in your company are the ones who want you to succeed.

In order to find out who’s talking about you, you have to listen. Social monitoring tools like
Sysomos, Sprout Social, or Trackur help you see who is saying what.
LISTEN

In order to find out who’s talking about you, you have to listen. Social monitoring tools like
Sysomos, Sprout Social, or Trackur help you see who is saying what.

The next step is to find out who your influencers are. Of the people talking about you, who is
connected, who is active and where are they active? Find the leaders.

Tools like Klout, Kred, Followerwonk and BuzzSumo can help you start identifying who the
influencers are.

ORGANIZE
Create a list • Utilize your CRM • Start from the top

There are a ton of inexpensive and fun ways to excite your customers. As we saw earlier,
something as simple as a handwritten note can make someone’s day.

LISTEN
IDENTIFY
SEGMENT
OUTREACH
TRACK
REPEAT

A few great books worth reading include UnMarketing, The Future of Business &
BuzzMarketing.

THANK YOU!
Casie Gillette • Director of Online Marketing • KoMarketing
Have questions? Feel free to reach out to
casieg@komarketingassociates.com.

Building an Online Brand Through Customers | DMFB 2014

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