Brands aim to engage consumers through social media conversations. A study analyzed over 2 million online conversations across 300 brands on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The research found that positive conversations outweighed negative ones, and that managing content is key to driving engagement on social media pages rather than just focusing on fan numbers. Complaints about customer service, product issues and advertising were the main drivers of negative conversations.

2. We went on a safari

3. Brands try to
win the What can
Engaging
hearts of we learn
consumers from those
is key consumers experiences
through social
across brands?
media

4. Goal:
Identifying what is driving consumers to engage in branded
conversations across social media
About this study:
We collected branded conversations on the big 3 social media:
Facebook, Twitter, Youtube
• Over 2 million online conversations
• > 300 brands included in our study
• We applied social media netnography to identify the
rules of consumer engagement
• Results were presented in March

5. What we learnt

6. Engagement ≠ number fans content
management is key for activity
• A large fan page does not lead to engagement if the brand does
not manage the content (0,11 correlation).
• In case of good conversation and content management, this
correlation increases to 0,92 showing that you can tap into your
social potential with a good conversation strategy.

7. Many more positive conversations than
negative conversations
• Finance
• 17% positive conversations vs. 11% negative conversations on Twitter
• 36% positive conversations vs. 27% negative conversations on Youtube
• 35% positive conversations vs. 9% negative conversations on Facebook
• Telco
• 16% positive conversations vs. 11% negative conversations on Twitter
• 32% positive conversations vs. 29% negative conversations on Youtube
• 24% positive conversations vs. 8% negative conversations on Facebook
• Travel
• 17% positive conversations vs. 14% negative conversations on Twitter
• 38% positive conversations vs. 25% negative conversations on Youtube
• 21% positive conversations vs. 6% negative conversations on Facebook
Don‟t forget to leverage these positive stories!

8. The main drivers behind negative
conversations are bad
consumer service,
product failure and bad
advertisement
3 offline touchpoints
you can work on
every day!
BUT…
These were also the three most
positively discussed themes!

9. 1 Consumers are in love with your product
And promote the product to the early majority
Technology is a popular topic on social
media with a lot of detailed reviews. A
“First Strike DLC for Black high number of serenades are retrieved
Ops is now available on the from satisfied customers. The
PlayStation Store! Did you
already take an exclusive conversations peak with the launch of
look at the Ascension
trailer?” (Most liked Making unboxing movies; a new a new product results also in plenty of
trend where one fabricates a
Facebook comment in our
home-made movie while
product demonstrations where
study within technology
PlayStation) „unboxing‟ something (e.g. the consumers explain the product benefits
new Iphone 5)
to others.

10. 2 Difficulties to advertize your sector?
Get inspired by what AXA bank & insurances did
AXA Bank and insurances
create interesting videos and
campaigns that stand out,
while seemingly not directly
linked to their financial
products and services. Yet,
these videos were the most
AXA declares 2011 as the year of
renovation. And for the launch of their Consumer research conducted by frequently watched videos
respective renovation loan, AXA AXA Insurance showed that old-
created one of the largest and possibly fashioned neighbourhood courtesy is in the financial sector at the
also one of the most beautiful QR becoming a thing of the past. They time of data collection and
codes in Belgium. They have achieved took to the streets to find the most
this by assembling thousands of cans neighbourly residence in the UK and received the most positive
of paint of different colours to form a found out who's the most willing to comments.
gigantic QR code. help.

11. 3 Sponsored events
In order to create a better world
What a great night last night at Consumers love to talk
our Volunteer & Charity
Appreciation Party! We had over about events and teams
800 volunteers attend, and gave sponsored by financial
away more than 150 prizes!
Thank you to those who were institutions. Charities
able to make it, and to those who
brought food for the Norton such as fundraisers
Cupboard of Kindness! It took our definitely help financial
staff 2 SUV's and 3 full sized cars
to transport all the food to the institutions to get a better
Bank of America Chicago
marathon. Especially when people pantry this AM! What a great way image and to engage their
to kick off the Holiday Season!”
can participate themselves, for customers.
(Deutsche Bank on their official
example in a marathon, they Facebook page)
enthusiastically engage in
conversations about the event,
training, and so on.

12. 4 Keep your promise
Or it will backfire on social media
Consumers are quick to vent
their anger and frustration online
“I will keep posting if you delete my in case of a problem. Especially
posts all the time! It‟s been eleven in the case of bad after-sales
months and I am still waiting for the
payment of my lost luggage. My service or a bad customer
luggage was lost eight out of eleven experience, they immediately
flights, found seven times. And now
they are dragging out the payment of post their grievances on social
my claim!” media when promises are not
kept. This is also the moment
when price becomes a big topic
of discussion.

13. Hate pages hardly exist
They contain almost no conversations
and have very few fans
Protest pages are more
realistic
Corporate
Social
Responsibility
is key

14. What if it goes wrong?
Most companies apologize to their
customers
Consumers are
redirected to
the
customer
service
department The reaction of consumers?
None!
Don‟t expect a thank you!

15. 5 Webcare and offline consumer care
complement each other
It is common practice
It is a good „best practice‟ for
“Hi, we're sorry to hear
that; a month is a long companies to readily reply on
time without a phone. “Dear Tino, we are very sorry to read their social media pages to
about your frustrating experience
Please e-mail us at
with us. Would you please fill in the customers‟ complaints. Moreover,
support.discussions@nok
ia.com with your contact
enclosed online form and send all they are quick to openly
the necessary documents? Your
information and more claim will be dealt with as soon as apologize to these customers.
details and we'll ask possible by Air France's Customer
Nokia Care management Disappointed customers are very
Care department. Thank you for
in Lebanon to help.” understanding. Best regards.” often pointed towards a external
link or telephone number.

16. 6 When things really get out of hand
Learn from PlayStation how even a disaster can turn into many likes and
positive comments
Last year PlayStation was the victim of a cyber attack. During our
study, they launched an open letter from the senior Director
corporate communications and social media, apologizing for the
event. This more formal apology lead to over 10,000 likes on
Facebook and in this case people did express their gratitude.
Clearly, in the case of mistakes that affect a larger group of
customers, apologizing can be a good way of restoring the trust in
your brand.

17. The basic marketing tricks still work
Although social media is a relatively new area, we should not be afraid of applying existing
marketing principles that also work in the offline world.
• Your fans like to share news about your company and like to be kept informed about
the developments relating to their favourite brand. The newer and the hotter the news,
the more conversation power.
• Evoking curiosity: show consumers a little bit of what they can expect later or spread
a rumour to evoke attention.
• Giving away free things is used as a powerful mechanism to increase the number of
fans or likes.
• One of the main pillars of traditional advertising is that funny commercials work. And
this is also the case on social media. „Joke of the day‟ is one of the most popular topics
on Facebook pages. Jokes or funny one-liners are easily re-tweeted on Twitter. Also on
YouTube we found that movies commented as being funny were often given a higher
YouTube rating.
Find out some more marketing
tricks on the next slides

18. 1 Free always works
Don‟t forget about branded utility
“Join us for a FREE concert at the Capital One
JamFest as part of The Big Dance Concert Series - Giving away free things is used as a powerful
Sunday April 3 from 3:00 to 10:00 p.m. at Discovery mechanism to increase the number of fans
Green, downtown. At 8:45, the headliner Kenny
Chesney will be taking the stage. Plus, be one of the
or likes !
first 5,000 to show us your Capital One card (debit
or credit) and receive a commemorative NCAA® Do not only think about free products or
Men‟s Final Four gift.” (Capital One
services, but also of free content or
sponsored/organized the Capital One JamFest in
Houston. No less than 5000 of its customers could experiences!
win a special gift.)

19. 2 Evoking curiosity
Generates traffic to your other digital touchpoints
The classic communication models preach
that it is important to draw the attention of
“Have a PlayBook? We‟ve got big news!!
An update to the BlackBerry PlayBook your target group before spreading the
Tablet OS is coming THIS WEEK! Think
video chat app, BBM, one-click calls and message. This is also true on social media.
more! Read all about it here! (BlackBerry
evoking curiosity and linking fans to their
Brands typically first spread a rumour about
official blog) something which will help them to get
attention for the actual content.

20. 3 Gamification
Reckitt Benckiser is very active on their Facebook page and
regularly offers fans games to enjoy, in the process
engaging their fans and probably creating new ones. One of
these games is called Urban Thrill and invites fans to
perform all sorts of stunts and climb heights.
“Check the wrapper of your favourite
Crunch bar to receive a promotional code “Perform stunts, climb new heights, feel the pace! We have
for the Nestle Gold Rush Game and enter launched our new free-running game - UrbAN THRILL! Play now
by clicking on the 'Nestle Gold Rush and enter into the prize draw to win a flight for 2 to destination of
Promotion' tab on the left. You can also visit your choice worth up to £2,000. Spread the word and share this
apps.facebook.com/nestlegoldrush to enter. game with all your friends”.
Good luck!”

21. The power is in the mix of media
• Social media are a natural place to talk about anything related to the
digital environment. So, digital initiatives from brands will be picked up
easily online.
• When you spread something online, make sure that you also follow the
rules of social media: tweets that contain a hash tag are more likely to
be spread.
• Don‟t think too much in silos. Go for integration of social media types,
not separation. Don‟t forget about the offline too.

22. 1 Integration, not separation
Go for integration between online and offline touchpoints
Providing information on different offline and
online platforms to patients and their families
is key in the health sector. Integration, not
separation of offline and online media is
“”Fly away with Air France” is your new needed.
monthly travel magazine on this page! The
destination in the spotlight this month,
We observed a lot of cross referencing
Lima, features cultural events not to be
missed, practical information and travel between different types of media. In the
tips to make travelling easier. Click on the case of YouTube movies, the comments on
link to discover the very first issue!”
the best movies (rating) often contain
references to television, radio and the
company„s website. Also people mentioned
more frequently that they had engaged in
offline word-of-mouth, suggesting that if you
integrate offline & online social media, you
are more effective.

23. 2 Social media, the new website?
Not a good strategy if you want to reach engagement
“Question to you, Visa, do you have a credit
card that works both in Europe and the Some consumers use social media as a
USA?” replacement of the company websites.
“I just moved to a new address. Should I use
Tactical questions do not lead to
my new address or the old address where I engagement.
lived for five years?”
Keep your website as the main source for
“I have a question for you, Emirates Airlines. practical information about your product &
Do you have plans for Boeings 747-800 service.
Intercontinental? Please reply.”

24. 3 Hitting the sweet spot
No difference between online and offline movies
For the branded YouTube movies, we looked
at the correlation between the topics that
“Hi Lisa, the episode where Louis makes were raised in the comments and the
us believe he can‟t read, can only be ranking of the movies (1-5 scale). The
heard on the radio. As from today, these results revealed that movies with a higher
radio spots are on air! Enjoy the radio
spot!” (Comment on a YouTube movie rating were typically judged as
from Jetair) „original‟, „nice‟, „warm‟ and „not
boring‟. People also made the link more
frequently with their personal situation:
they mentioned recognizing certain aspects
in the movie or even referred to their
personal memories and childhood. The
elements found are also the crucial
characteristics in offline advertising.

25. Consumers want to collaborate with
brands
• Ask consumers for feedback on your products & communication
• Co-create new products or campaigns with your fans
• Invite them to think along with your brand
• ...it will lead to a lot of activation on your digital platforms!

26. Consumer advice in
1 When consumers take over
How can consumers be involved in <…>
sales
Getting feedback on Consumer help in
your social media aftersales support
strategy
Can someone tell me if the DV6-
3127 is a good choice? Thanks!”
(Comment on the Facebook page
of HP Play)
Sometimes collaboration is
the only option
“I just activated my new World
Mastercard, what exactly is a
World Mastercard? The
Deutsche Bank now presents its Social website does not provide
Media activities on a new website: “Follow much info. Can someone give
our current tweets, read our Facebook me a summary?” 45% of Facebook brand pages are
news, watch our latest video on YouTube owned by consumers, e.g. the „Bright
or our photos on Flickr. Enjoy yourself and Ideas‟ page of the Facebook group of
give us your feedback!” KLM, where people can brainstorm
about all sorts of relevant topics for
KLM.

27. 2 Treat them as colleagues
Consumers love to know the people behind the brand
“A new episode of your
series „Behind the scene‟, at
Air France this time, we're
heading to Lomé in Africa!
Flight AF861 by A340 to “Behind the scene” give
Paris-CDG takes off at 22:00
consumers and fans a nice peak
local time...follow Manal, our
station manager in the into the daily business of a
Togolese capital. What are company and its employees.
her responsibilities before the
flight's departure? She
reveals all…”
“Behind the scene” gives consumers
and fans a nice peak into the daily
business of travel companies and
their employees. Air France
uploaded a series of behind-the-
scene videos about what they do.

28. 3 Be one of them
Don‟t forget about the small things in live
Brands need to be a friend to
consumers. They need to act as a
person, paying attention also to the
small things in daily life. It is a crucial
element to stress that you consider
American Express is often referring to small events in peoples‟
lives. It leads to a lot of likes and comments on their pages. your consumer as an equal.

29. It is not about your brand
• It is crucial to understand the (digital) lifestyle of your fans. A customized
approach is so much more powerful!
• Don‟t forget about the social graph

30. 1 It is about your customer
Think broad!
In the financial You should think broader than just your
industry, we found brand and product. Especially on
some positive buzz Facebook fan pages or on YouTube,
on a marathon that
was organized and
people like to talk about what they are
sponsored by ING interested in in general. On many
Bank. On many pages, music and sports are very
pages, music and
sports are also very popular themes. Especially for brand in
popular themes. a low involvement product strategy, this
seems to be the way to go.
The most popular branded YouTube Understanding the digital lifestyle of
videos are by airplane enthusiasts your target is key!
filming planes taking off and landing
at airports, others filming themselves
and their on-board experiences. Such
videos can receive thousands and
thousands of views.

31. The rules of engagement
• Content management is key for consumer engagement
• Don‟t forget about your offline touchpoints. They will determine the
buzz online
• The basic marketing tricks still work
• The power is in the mix of the media
• Consumers want to collaborate with brands
• Understand the (digital) lifestyle & interests of your target group

32. Thank you!
@InSites
marketing@insites-consulting.com
http://www.facebook.com/insitesconsulting
http://www.slideshare.net/InSitesConsulting

33. Research team
Annelies Verhaeghe Martijn Huisman
+32 9 269 1406 +31 10 742 10 34
annelies@insites-consulting.com martijnH@insites-consulting.com
@annaliezze http://be.linkedin.com/in/martijnhuisman86
http://be.linkedin.com/in/anneliesverhaeghe

34. Want to know more about
research within the
services sector?
Christophe Vergult
Business Director Telco & Services
+44 20 7870 2547
christophe@insites-consulting.com