Experiential Social Media Case Study for USI Alarms

Experiential Social Media Case Study for USI Alarms

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  Social Business Strategy& Execution Christopher S. Rollyson and Associates Plan | Learn | Scale | Integrate | Manage Experiential Social Media: Case Study for USI Alarms How serving people in digital public boosts ecommerce referrals
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  Client Profile Universal SecurityInstruments (“USI Alarms”) was founded in 1969 • #3 smoke/fire alarm manufacturer • Engineering culture, 11 patents • Invented first “smart” smoke alarm • Eclipsed by competitors in marketing • Invisible in social & mainstream media Business Challenges • USA/Canada residential smoke alarm market dominated by Kidde and First Alert • USI Alarms has superior technology but few marketing dollars • New entrants like Nest can disrupt the market CSRA Role Engagement leader & experiential subject matter expert • Partnered with ReputationTree (RT), a digital agency • Researched/Created experiential social media plan for Phase1, which was executed by RT • Led Phase2 for 4 months • Mentored 4-person RT team during Phase2 • Used the Social Network Roadmap(SM) Executive Summary: Business Context and Roles Experiential Social Media: Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material 2
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  Phase1: Focused content, moderate result Oct.2014–Feb. 2015 Phase2: Focused interaction, strong result Mar.–Jun. 2015 Ground0: General content, minimal result 2012-2014 Experiential Social Media: Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Executive Summary: Journey and Results • Both phases boosted USI Web mentions and ecommerce referrals; but ➡ Phase2 produced 2.4 times the Web mentions and 3.9 times the ecommerce referrals as Phase1 • Results strongly suggest that focused interaction outperforms focused content—and focused content outperforms general brand content 3 • PR & “brand” content makes little impact • Undifferentiated, not focused on customers • Significant budget • Result: minimal • Social media content focused on customers in defined situations • Small budget • Result: 20% boost in Web & social mentions • Result: 289% boost in ecommerce referrals • Social media interaction with customers in defined situations • Moderate budget • Result: 58% boost in Web & social mentions • Result: 1,133% boost in ecommerce referrals
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  Phase1: Focused content, moderate result Oct.2014–Feb. 2015 Experiential Social Media: Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Results Summary: Content-Led Social Media Results 1. Ecommerce referrals from social media – New sessions (visits) up 2.9 times – New users up 2.8 times 2. Web and social mentions up 20% – Brand keywords along with helping interactions, positive comments or smoke alarm discussions 3. Social media compared to competitors – USI underperformed during Phase1 • Social media mentions of positive sentiment and smokes conversations 4 0 7.5 15.0 22.5 30.0 Website sessions Website new users Social Media Referrals to Website (All Nwks) Ground 0 (gen.content) Phase1 (focused content) Conversation FirstAlert Kidde USI Positive Sentiment FirstAlert Kidde USI 1 3Social Media Comparison to Competitors 2Social Impact [USI brand mentions] + Helping interactions + Positive comments + Smokes discussions Content [1009] None [959] 20% boost 0% boost
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  Experiential Social Media:Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Results Summary: Content-Led Social Media Results: Twitter and Facebook Twitter launched at Phase1 start • Launched the account • Averaged 1.3 tweets/day • Low interactivity and follower growth Facebook had been dormant with 330 Fans for years at Phase1 start • Relaunched the Facebook Page • Averaged 1.5 posts/day • Earned 55 Likes • Earned low-trust social actions (“Other”) 5 Phase1: Focused content, moderate result Oct. 2014–Feb. 2015
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  Experiential Social Media:Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Process Summary: Content-Led Social Media Research and planning • Researched key stakeholders (niches of people with specific characteristics) and workstreams (their actions relevant to smoke alarms). • Designed tools to find stakeholder and workstream interactions on the digital social web. • Determined optimal social venues in which to engage them. Conducted several levels of behavioral analysis. • Created experiential social media plan – Recommended the interaction and content strategy for engaging stakeholders in distinctive ways. – Specific guidance for interacting and sharing content with key stakeholders, the topics with which to engage them, and specific guidance for “serving, not selling.” Execution • ReputationTree followed the experiential research/plan, focusing on content. • CSRA provided light weekly guidance to the ReputationTree team for 4 weeks. • Main focus on sharing customer-focused content on Facebook and Twitter 6 Phase1: Focused content, moderate result Oct. 2014–Feb. 2015
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  0 27.5 55.0 82.5 110.0 Website sessions Websitenew users Social Media Referrals to Website (All Nwks) Ground 0 (gen.content) Phase1 (focused content) Phase2 (interaction) Experiential Social Media: Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Results Summary: Interaction-Led Social Media Results 1. Ecommerce referrals from social media – New sessions (visits) up 11.3 times – New users up 7.5 times 2. Web and social mentions up 58% – Brand keywords along with helping interactions, positive comments or smoke alarm discussions 3. Social media compared to competitors – USI outperformed during Phase2 • Social media mentions of positive sentiment and smokes conversations • Significant recovery from Phase1 7 1 2 Conversation FirstAlert Kidde USI Positive Sentiment FirstAlert Kidde USI 3Social Media Comparison to Competitors Social Impact [USI brand mentions] + Helping interactions + Positive comments + Smokes discussions Experiential [1296] Content [1009] None [959] 58% boost 20% boost 0% boost Phase2: Focused interaction, strong result Mar.–Jun. 2015
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  Experiential Social Media:Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Results Summary: Interaction-Led Social Media Results: Twitter and Facebook Twitter set records in Phase2 • Boosted tweets 10-fold while more than doubling engagement rate • Earned almost 10-fold increase in followers • Replies/tweets 27% and Profile clicks 62% reflect engagement • 13% of tweets earned followers Facebook results were stellar • Fans interacted with our Page’s posts 160% of the time • Fans grew 14% on a minuscule 33 average post reach • Facebook website referrals and pageviews broke records 8 Phase2: Focused interaction, strong result Mar.–Jun. 2015
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  Experiential Social Media:Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Process Summary: Interaction-Led Social Media Research and Planning • Created experiential social media plan based on Phase1 results – Specified 4 stakeholders & workstreams; wrote interaction templates for each – Templates: false alarm, family, product-focus, and professional (installers) Execution, March-May • During March and April, mentored team members in experiential interaction – Iterated tools, and gathered baseline metrics – Learned what worked and what didn’t with each stakeholder template • In May, segmented each template into more specific niches. – Designed filters, a tag taxonomy, and tools to enable the team to learn quickly and boost results – Optimized segments for relevance to technical advantages of USI’s products • For example, segmented family template into children, pets and elderly – Segments improved the quality of interaction since team members knew their segments better • Worked one of the templates as a team member while mentoring three social media team members and one project manager 9 Phase2: Focused interaction, strong result Mar.–Jun. 2015
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  Experiential Social Media:Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Process Summary: Interaction-Led Social Media Execution, June • Led team to triple interactions while focusing on select segments – Introduced USI Alarms’ products when it added value to stakeholders – Used Facebook Notes for long-form sharing by team members who had developed specialized knowledge of their stakeholders’ fire safety and smoke alarm situations. Then promoted the Notes on Twitter. • Built a Facebook Tab to synthesize and curate hundreds of references to empower people frustrated by nuisance alarms. Outlined the problem in two paragraphs and showed how the two prevalent types of smoke alarms* performed in specific household scenarios. Introduced USST/IoPhic alarms as “the third way,” and included deep links into USI Alarms’ product pages from the Facebook Tab. • Built “reference graphics” from the University of Maryland study for the team to use when talking about the alarm performance, the two dominant types on the market. Introduced USI Alarms’ software-controlled “Universal Smoke Sensing Technology” (USST) alarms into conversations. Educated people about when each type of alarm performed best without selling. • Designed experiential metrics to reflect changing levels of trust exhibited by stakeholder behavior. Built reporting formats for monthly client status calls. 10* Ionization and photoelectric alarms Phase2: Focused interaction, strong result Mar.–Jun. 2015
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  Experiential Social Media:Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Lessons Learned • Specificity makes interacting easier because it increases relevance and empathy. When CSRA segmented stakeholders, the team understood them more and had more to share. • Mirroring stakeholder behavior improves results. We shifted away from our original network building strategy to interacting episodically because few stakeholders discuss smoke alarms at length, but they’re passionate when they do. • Scaling quality interactions produces breakthrough results. In March-May, we researched and iterated our experiential approach, and it scaled beautifully in June. It’s eye-opening, there are people out there who are willing to engage in conversation about products, way more than I imagined. We also learned that social media is essential, just like email and phone. But it takes time, and it’s hard to put a dollar amount to. – Karen Yaggie, Director of Marketing 11
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  Experiential Social Media:Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Lessons Learned • Negativity can’t hurt us; it actually helps us build reputation faster. We served frustrated people as other people, by encouraging interaction and helping them. No one can be angry for long when they are being helped. • Bloggers spawn rich interaction because they can describe smoke alarm situations from stakeholders’ perspective, and they are usually on multiple social media channels where we can engage. • Facebook works for testing; we tested the landing page concept quickly and cheaply before building the web version. • Twitter helps build Facebook pages. We shared extensive links to detailed Facebook posts and notes and drove up the number of Fans. The case study confirmed there’s much more to social media than just posting content... It also gives us the ability to update our website with hot issues direct from smoke alarm users. – Karen Yaggie, Director of Marketing 12
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  Website • Bypass overwhelming choice •In-depth product info • Easy buy button Experiential Social Media: Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Lessons Learned: Build a bridge • Concept: The Facebook Tab functioned as a landing page for the team’s activities – It reflected our learning about people’s situations and offered advice and tools – We promoted it extensively on Twitter – Within the context of helping, it linked USI’s alarms to specific situations, so it showed products’ value in stakeholder terms, and it reduced confusion • Results: The Facebook Tab dramatically increased referrals to USI’s website because it was relevant – People don’t understand or care about products or technology, and they don’t trust brands • They do understand their situations • They are overwhelmed by product choices – Tying alarms to situations makes purchase easier 13 Landing page • Serve people • Show relevance • Tie alarms to situations • Deep links to website
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  Experiential Social Media:Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Results Detail • Ground0: prior to our involvement in Phase1, USI Alarms had engaged a PR firm to publicize its release of the breakthrough Universal Smoke Sensing Technology (USST, IoPhic), and the PR firm had launched the USI Facebook Page. CSRA’s analysis revealed typical brand-centric content that did not relate to USI Alarms’ stakeholders. According to USI executives, the cost was high and the results minimal. • Phase1 began with high-level experiential research, so content was relevant to stakeholders and their workstreams. Phase1 improved USI Alarms’ digital and social mentions in help requests, positive sentiment, and smoke alarm conversations 120.4% in four months. I wasn’t a believer initially, but the project’s results speak for themselves... it proved itself. I was surprised that results improved, especially after we engaged a few people who had posted negative comments. – Ron Lazarus, President 14
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  Experiential Social Media:Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Results Detail • Phase2 improved USI Alarms’ digital and social mentions in help requests, positive sentiment, and smoke alarm conversations by 158.3%. This indicates that interacting with stakeholders specifically about their situations produces much better results than content sharing. • Ecommerce referrals to USI Alarms’ website revealed even stronger results. Phase1 increased social media referrals 2.88 times previous while Phase2 boosted referrals 11.33 times over previous. The Facebook Tab produced 4 times as many referrals in June, and Pageviews (pages/ session) grew 7 times over the average of the previous 3 months, which indicates high referral quality. I was very surprised at the effect of helping people... I’d have been talking products and promotion... and we got the results we wanted. – Karen Yaggie, Director of Marketing 15
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  Experiential Social Media:Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material Results Detail • Negative social media appeared, but it actually helped USI’s reputation. By serving angry, frustrated people in public, we showed how much USI Alarms cared about people and that we didn’t take ourselves too seriously. • USI earned dozens of public thank yous from smoke alarm users—in conversations highly relevant to stakeholders. These expressions of gratitude can serve as endorsements of USI Alarms’ relevance to and care for customers. Landing pages are an opportunity to engage people around different rooms, and we can match them to our packaging. – Ron Lazarus, President 16
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  Experiential Social Media:Case Study for USI AlarmsDecember 2015 Copyrighted material 17 CSRA Thought Leadership and Contacts More Thought Leadership: Text version of this case study with analysis • http://bit.ly/expsocmedcase Experiential overview on main website • http://bit.ly/expsocmedia The Social Channel: how to outmaneuver competitors • http://www.socialchannelapp.com B2B social business website+case studies • http://www.socialbusinessservices.biz For More Information or Questions: http://linkedin.com/in/csrollyson http://about.me/csrollyson iphone - chris@rollyson.net iphone +1.312.925.1549