A great deal of buzz over the past two years has been focused on the concept that Facebook referrals (peer-to-peer referrals) are emerging as a major factor in brand effectiveness. We’re finally beginning to see the results of studies that are based on these concepts. Morepace, a market research company, has recently found that 68% of the 110 million US Facebook users are more likely to buy a product or visit a retailer based on a positive Facebook friend referral.
This is a very powerful finding and defines the strength and absolute neccessity to include social communications strategies in any brand/promotional endeavors.
Let us know if we can share with you how social messaging can positively impact your promotional efforts and measurably impact your business.
Let’s face it: If you have a brand, somewhere on the web your market, your consumer, is talking about your brand. As the web emerged as a medium for social communication, brands struggled with how to approach consumer commentary on their product, service or image. Do we issue a cease and desist? Do we engage directly with the consumer? Do we care? Do we ignore it, and hope it goes away?
For the longest time, the talk in corporate marketing circles was community. “We need a website that keeps the consumer engaged with our brand and on our site constantly. We’ll build forums, comment forms, chat channels, wikis – brand portals and allow consumers to set up their own profiles.”
These assignments were often followed, usually before launch and sometimes just after, with this question: “How do we manage the consumer’s commentary, opinions and complaints?”
We’ve always (as webziens ourselves) stood on the platform of open communication. But often, there were other procedures put into place that made it more difficult for the consumer to be heard and ultimately worked better for the corporation. For instance, comments were not posted instantaneously – they were moderated. Forums were dropped altogether as a platform, as conversation could go south quickly. Wikis were locked. And profiles became private [- not that many users created profiles anyways- necessary?].
But this lockdown of consumer messaging on the brand website and un-communalization efforts doesn’t really stop the consumer from saying anything. They just say it elsewhere, which leaves brands in need of strategies for the external management of brand commentary.
The internet is now in its adolescent phase and we’re seeing a new invocation of consumer-to-brand communication channels and, with that, an opportunity for brands to become netizens themselves- to speak with a unified to voice, to listen, and participate. Sites like GetSatisfaction provide manageable channels for fielding customer questions for support and quality control while allowing consumers a forum for suggestions. This type of conversation management is a great tool, but 1. it costs money and 2. users’ must be directed to the experience.
The true brand conversation, however, IS happening in the social ecosystem. This means that Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are where the conversations about your brand exist. If a consumer has a less-than-par experience and they’re connected, chances are they’re commenting on it within their social web experience.
While we focus primarily on promotions, the methodologies that we use apply to any brand management experience. There are three types of messages that we’re spreading around within the social ecosystem:
1.Promotionally Aligned Messaging (talk about the promotion and relevant topics).
2.Make it Real Messaging (where we announce winners and prizes).
3.Consumer Experience Management Messaging (where we give guidance to optimize experiences) [would stray away from les than par]
Promotionally Aligned Messaging is probably the easiest for a brand to pull off. You’re talking about your latest product launch, a great deal or, in our case, the promotional messaging surrounding the incentive experience. Use this messaging to continue to bring buzz and add value to the program.
Make it Real Messaging allows you to make the experience that your consumer is having real and personal for them. We announce winners on Twitter & Facebook and, when a winner – or a winners friend – sees this messaging, they react and instantly validate that the program, the chance to win, and your brand are legit with call outs like, “wow that’s me! I love brand X”. Because of the personal connection visible within the platform, a user is more likely to participate knowing that Sally in Austin won some prize and she’s here, on Facebook.
Finally Consumer Experience Management Messaging is still, even in these adolescent internet years,the most challenging for brands to tackle. Being out in the social web and addressing issues is often a very daunting task. It’s always best to start within your own real estate– a Facebook Fan Page for example. Encourage positive feedback and an environment for fostering a better user experience.
The first goal with any experience related consumer contact is to not react with a defensive measure. Rather recognize the experience and evaluate the situational possibilities. A: Is this a scenario where a business decision can be made to positively impact the consumer group as a whole? B: Will giving the consumer (or group) some benefit or freebie potentially eleviate the situation? C: If neither of the first two fit, then provided the scenario requires a response, craft a thoughtful positive and brand reinforcing response. Finally recognize that ever situation involving a consumer experience begins with one personal response – with that response comes emotion and the failure to respond can lead to elevation of that dialogue. Just Google Nestle + Consumer + Facebook and you’ll get a sense of how mismanagement of the consumer experience can elevate and additionally be used by opposition groups to launch an assault on a brand.
The continuing consumer experience mantra should be to use Social Media to openly and holistically engage with your consumer bringing value to their experience of your brand and to encourage and nurture their feedback and allow it to enrich your product, brand appearance and message. Creating a true relationship between the consumer and the brand – allowing the brand to take on an identity of it’s own – will create a stronger trust for the brand and additionally encourage more consumers to advocate the brand to their peers.
There are 400+ million potential customers on Facebook. They’re talking about your brand and they are eager to participate with it, learn more about it and share their love for it and what it can offer others. Retailers are missing a huge opportunity to not just reach their customers but to actually engage and begin the purchase process in the social sphere. But, before we jump in too deeply to tactical thoughts, let’s look at a few details which cannot be ignored.
The “2010 Social Media Report” from ForeSee Results shares that 69% of online shoppers regularly use social media sites. Furthermore, it was found that more than half of these shoppers choose to engage with these brands on social sites by friending or following. These users clearly want to engage with brands, but as for all of us, their time and attention span is limited.
When teamDigital develops promotional programs for brands that operate in a retail environment, we recommend in path product/service offers and deals. This might mean that, after a direct interaction within a share and ‘you could win instantly’ scenario, we deliver a product that is relevant to the experience at a discounted price or offer free shipping. Consumers can them be driven to the brand’s existing e-commerce system to fulfill on that offer. teamDigital encourages and often works with our clients to continue this methodology within their Facebook fan page, adding value and incentive for consumers to stay engaged with their brand even after the promotional period has ended. A few ways in which brands can continue to add value and drive consumers to purchase consideration:
1. A Facebook Fan Page Mini-Product Shopping Experience.
Utilize your Facebook tabs to showcase product that is relevant to the consumer right now. They’re within Facebook (which is perceived as comfortable, safe and friendly) and they’re already engaged with your brand. Run seasonal, holiday or other thematically based product selections on this tab and offer some sort of incentive: free shipping, a discount, buy one-get-one. Then allow the user to click out to an in-cart shopping experience on your site. Threadless, a t-shirt company that allows individuals to upload graphics to a website and then via a community voting system produces the most popular, is using Facebook to extend their community experience and rating system while also allowing users to step directly into the purchase process. See it in action.
2. Use Facebook to Drive Interest in these Products and Incentivize Participation.
Extending from the above or another similar experience, you can allow users to share their favorite products, recommend them to friends or send as virtual gifts directly within the Facebook platform. Now, here’s the hook.You can link that peer to peer recommendation directly back to your Page, and if the user is not already your Fan, require them to become one in order to take advantage of your special offers.
3. Use Video to Create Stories About Your Product.
Will It Blend is web only content segment that showcases a product blender from a company called BlendTech. There is a charismatically awkward host who each week uses a BlendTech blender to destroy the newest hottest electronic gadget. Two things happen. First the video showcases something new and hot for consumers and leverages the internet-buzz about that product to drive traffic - the iPad for instance. And then, with a magical change of focus, the once amazing new device is pulverized to dust by a seemingly ordinary product (the blender) when compared side by side. Will it Blend has created a reputation for its BlendTech blenders as being the most powerful blender on the market by creating content that is semi-relevant and slightly shocking. Sharing this content within a social network such as YouTube or Vimeo has allowed them to expand their reach and provided nearly free advertising as the videos are embedded in blogs, social sites, emails and other mediums around the web.
As the US retail e-commerce sales begin to resume their estimated 12.7% year over year growth, staying ahead of competitors and being innovative where consumers are active most will lead to greater brand awareness, consumer social share participation and ultimately sales.
Godiva Chocolatier is going social with a Valentine’s Day Facebook promotion that invites consumers to send virtual Valentines to their friends and loved ones on Facebook for a chance to win two special edition boxes of Godiva Chocolate. One to keep, and one to share. The promotion, which runs until February 14th, gives consumers a chance to win every time they send a Valentine through Facebook or Email.
The promotion and microsite created by teamDigital Promotions also features a Valentine’s Day shop and special discount offers at Godiva.com leading up to Valentine’s Day.
With the social web constantly changing teamDigital strives to stay on top of the latest techonologies and regulations. Running promotions on Facebook Pages and inside Facebook apps is one of the most effective ways of engaging Facebook users. However, Facebook recently announced significant updates to its promo/sweepstakes policies for Facebook Pages that have very practical impact for marketers on Facebook. For a deeper dive on the rule changes, see the updated promotional guidelines. But essentially, the new rules:
1. Require all marketers to get explicit permission from Facebook at least 7 days before administering any promotion inside Facebook.
2. Prohibit running any contests or promotions that require users to become a fan, interact with a feed story, or do anything else outside an application tab or canvas page in order to enter.
This means that “become a fan” contests, “status update” contests, “photo upload” contests, and any other kind of contest that requires commenting on or responding to items in the News Feed are no longer allowed. Rather, Pages must send users to a custom application tab to enter contests.
Many marketers have been experimenting with different types of contests to drive traffic and engagement on their Facebook Pages over recent months, and several promotions that seem to violate the policies have appeared lately.
Vitaminwater has selected a new flavor after soliciting fan information through Facebook, with the latest offering from the Coke beverage company appropriately called “Connect.” The new Black Cherry and Lime flavor was voted on and inspired by Facebook users. One grand prize winner responsible for the creation of the Vitamin Water Connect label design and several finalists were also named.
Vitaminwater is an extremely popular brand on Facebook, with about 1.1 million fans of its very interactive and often-updated page. The brand launched a flavor creator game in the fall of ‘09, and fans flocked to the page to take a crack at concocting the next new flavor, partially driven by extensive online and television advertising. The application was unique in that it not only used the opinions of Facebook fans, but reached out across several other sites to bring in already popular flavor combinations to inspire the new vitaminwater flavor.
The winning label announcement also hints at an early sampling of the new flavor for vitaminwater Facebook fans. It doesn’t specify if this will be a sampling distributed through Facebook like some of the campaigns we’ve seen from Splenda, Texas Pete and others, or if it will be a tasting in stores or other venues that will be revealed on the Facebook page.
Social media has become mainstream media with over 300 million users on Facebook alone and, according to Forrester Research, most of those people interact socially at least once a month. This year Marketers will spend almost $1 billion on display ads in social networks and another $750 million on social media marketing.
Thousands of brands have entered the Social Media space this year, but many marketers still struggle to create social media value. Creating value for your consumers can be broken down into these three steps.
Step 1: Be Active
Companies must establish an active presence in social media that creates value before consumers will be willing to share with others. Dunkin’ Donuts illustrates how an engaging Facebook fan page can create value for customers and connect them to the brand. The company’s page has a variety of content including contests and quizzes. It also promotes other company content on other social media sites (Twitter, YouTube), and serves as a distribution point for promotions and news about local store openings.
Step 2: Connect
To connect with consumers, brands must establish strong relationships with brand followers. This means finding ways to connect with consumers beyond simply trying to sell them something. In other words, they need to find their advocates, connect with those people who are fans of the brand and will speak favorably of it online. These connections enable companies to communicate value propositions and encourage sharing. For example, Life is Good maintains a Facebook page. The company promotes local events and virtual rewards sent among Facebook members — the clothing is not even mentioned explicitly. Sales and promotion of the company’s clothing line is left to the website and catalogue.
Step 3: Give
Online interactions with brand followers and fans need to involve two things: an opportunity to contribute and an incentive. Promotions and contests are an excellent way to engage brand followers and fans. We recently helped Godiva create a promotion for the holidays that let’s consumers send their friends on Facebook virtual gifts for a chance to win a year of Godiva chocolate. If the receiver wins, the sender also wins.
By making themselves available and engaging fans and followers online, companies can augment and improve marketing efforts significantly. Many marketers are unsure about how to enter social media marketing and fear that social media campaigns aren’t measurable. By following these steps and taking a data-driven and measured approach to social media marketing, marketers can identify, recruit and engage socially active customers and create ongoing value.
Enter for a chance to win one of five grand prize trips and up to $500 in daily travel prizes through January 31, 2010 at www.JetandDriveGiveaway.com.
NEW YORK, — JetBlue Airways, the airline known for giving customers more value for their airfare, and The Hertz Corporation, the world’s largest general use car rental brand, are pleased to announce an online “Jet & Drive Giveaway,” giving customers the chance to win one of five great trips plus one of more than 100 daily prizes in an escalating sweepstakes through January 31, 2010. The promotion is designed to engage JetBlue’s social media-friendly audience with escalating prizes that increase in value as participants share the promotion with others. As more people enter daily, the value of that day’s prize increases.
Customers can enter every day at www.JetandDriveGiveaway.com for a chance to win up to $250 in Hertz rental certificates and up to $500 JetBlue Gift Cards based on the number of daily entries received. Additionally for every 50,000 overall entries, one of five grand prize trips will be awarded, including four-day, three-night accommodations for two courtesy of a JetBlue Getaways hotel partner, roundtrip air transportation on JetBlue, and a premium car rental from Hertz. Winners can select from one of five JetBlue destinations: Aruba; New York; Los Angeles; Las Vegas; and Orlando.
To make entering online that much easier, a Jet & Drive Widget was also developed to engage consumers in the spaces and places they interact most. Site visitors can easily grab the widget, enter, and share it with friends across blogs and social networking sites. Entrants are encouraged to spread the word to help increase the daily prize values.
“For almost ten years, JetBlue has delivered more services, more amenities, and an award-winning flight experience to our customers,” said Leah Britton, analyst of business development for JetBlue Airways. “As more of our customers share their travel experiences with friends, family and colleagues, our loyalty base grows. As a way of saying thank you, we’re excited to offer them this opportunity to receive even more value from JetBlue and Hertz.”
The Giveaway also extends exclusive Hertz savings to customers booking a Jet & Drive combo on jetblue.com during the promotion period, with an additional $25 savings on future qualifying Hertz rentals (b). JetBlue and Hertz offer an everyday Jet and Drive discount of up to 20 percent off of a car rental when booking online at jetblue.com.
For a detailed description of prizes, eligibility, entry instructions, rules and information about the Giveaway, please visit www.JetandDriveGiveaway.com. Jet & Drive is designed, developed, and managed by teamDigital Promotions, Bethel, CT and administration is handled by Project Support Team, Inc.
DMB fans are invited to host a listening party and create a Facebook Event page scheduled for Memorial Day weekend and invite all their friends. The top 100 hosts will win a personalized advance copy of the new album to use for the listening party. Hosts must submit an entry form on the Advance Listening Party Contest Page by May 12th.
The host of the best listening party will win a trip to meet Dave Matthews and see the band perform live from the front row at their show in West Palm Beach, FL on Saturday, August 15th!
Sony has launched a viral game for Terminator Salvation called Resistance 2018 that involves users on twitter joining various resistance squadrons in order to fight the machines.
If you want to play the viral game, first visit twitter.com/Resistance2018 and follow the twitter account. Then visit the website Resistance2018.com where you can login with your twitter password and read the instructions on how to play. The basic premise is that as a member of the human resistance, you follow out orders that are tweeted out on twitter and you gain points by doing so. The more points you get, the more opportunities you have, including the ability to join various squadrons, like John Connor’s Squadron.
There are various assignments and messages that apparently will be tweeted out by Resistance2018 with coding as follows: RA (Resistance Assignments), WM (Word Mix), TR (Trivia), PT (Partial Transmission), SW (SkyNet Warnings), and so on. In essence, it’s a mass multiplayer online viral game coordinated entirely via twitter. This is the first time any studio has ever done anything like this. The movie, which opens Memorial Day weekend looks like it is going to be the blockbuster movie of the summer. Check out the extended trailer above if you haven’t already seen it.
