Tag Archives: Facebook

Social CRM / Big Data in the News: Princess Kate Middleton is Expecting a Baby

December 4, 2012

Kate Middleton and husband William are expecting their first child and the world is breathless! Will this save us from the fiscal cliff, as one homeless person’s cardboard sign stated in New York City? Will the future king or queen be able to remove that darn sword in the stone? And what, pray tell, does this have to do with Social CRM / Big Data? As it turns out, plenty.

First, it boggles the mind how seemingly normal, sedate and supposedly sensible people – especially journalists – get positively giddy when there is even a tiny morsel of news about the British monarchy. However, when this news concerns a royal baby, exclamation points come by the dozen and even Kim Kardashian, well-known for her subtle intelligence, had an articulate comment (“Aw! A baby! So cute!”).

In a story reporting the impending visit from the royal stork, the Associated Press offered a trenchant observation about the weird fascination that Americans have about the family that maintains their position in society the old fashion way – by Divine Right. “When Americans proudly declared their independence, they swore off sovereign kings and queens forever, yet several centuries later they find themselves drawn to the royals’ pomp and pageantry, embracing the more colorful aspects of a system whose substance they had eagerly overthrown.”

The Situation is Pregnant with Opportunity – For Marketers 

In the context of this impending blessed event for Kate and William, it’s a good time to consider what Social CRM / Big Data can mean for the multibillion dollar market surrounding new mommies. The diversity of products and services that are impacted by a new baby in a family is much greater than baby bottles, blankets and strollers.

There are literally dozens of industries that benefit from families adding a new child or two to the brood and each of them should consider the advantages of use Social CRM / Big Data to understand and benefit from this market. Companies that manufacture and sell baby product are obvious, but what about financial services? Kate‘s not worried about paying for her baby’s college education, but ever other normal parent is.

How about real estate companies (this old house is too small), do-it-yourself retailers such as Home Depot and Lowes (let’s turn that garage into a nursery), automotive retailers (time for a more sensible car or even one of those soccer mom vans), health and fitness products and services (how’s mom going to get back into shape), pharmaceuticals (the baby’s sick) and the list goes on and on. Each of these industries has a stake in the health and well-being of new moms and growing families. So, what should they be doing to take advantage of this opportunity?

What Can Be Learned From Amazon

For many years, online retailer Amazon has tapped into Big Data to power its recommendation engine. Billions of dollars of profit have been earned by this retail behemoth because it understands that Big Data informs buying decisions. Collecting, storing and synthesizing Social CRM / Big Data in one repository allows data to become actionable information and it allows any industry – whether it targets new moms or heavy machinery buyers – to listen to their customers, effectively message these prospects and (with enough data) predict consumer behavior.

As evidence of the power of Social CRM / Big Data, BMO Capital Markets recently announced that companies will spend $50 billion on advanced, Big Data analytics platforms this year. This financial group understands that Big Data can transform business, but only when it is simplified (via analytics) and strategically employed in all phases of the enterprise.

New moms are especially sensitive to the social, mobile and digital channels tracked by Social CRM / Big Data. There are several good reasons for this.

Because she is a “new” mom, she is eager to do the right things in caring for this cuddly but vulnerable infant. This is an archetype of a consumer who will search out digital solutions about pre-natal information and post birth care. She’s also busy, so the convenience of mobile channels is of great benefit.  Plus, she has a beautiful new child and who doesn’t want to share pictures and experiences about this little bundle of joy on social networks such as Facebook?

Marketing management of the industries noted above, can use Social CRM / Big Data to help new mothers successfully transverse the labyrinth of care giving and social sharing. One important part of this endeavor involves the proper gathering, storage and synthesizing of this data from thousands or millions of new mothers and then building strategies that predict what future moms might be interested in. Data that can enable companies to predict behavior is the holy grail of Social CRM / Big Data.

Place Your Bets

Whether you think the news about the royal baby is fascinating or foolish, we all wish the best for the couple and their new addition. They seem to be reasonably nice young people and at the very least, this pregnancy has taught those of us who never attended medical school the meaning of hyperemesis gravidarum.

Not only that, but this event has given the supermarket tabloids a much-needed shot in the headlines and given gamblers something else to do. As is often the case in Great Britain when there is some doubt about pending circumstances – outcomes of soccer games or whether the sun will rise tomorrow –   there is a wagering line on the gender and potential name of the royal babe.

I like Arthur if it’s a boy and Diana if it’s a girl.

Interested in Social CRM/Big Data? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo Credit: huffingtonpost.com via Jackie on Pinterest

Social CRM/Big Data in the News: How it can be Cyber Monday Every Day

November 27, 2012

To the surprise of no one, Social CRM/Big Data tactics have helped retailers that rely on ecommerce to claw their way into the “black” again this year. In fact, the line between “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” has completely disappeared and both retailers and consumers are basking in the glow of the shopping frenzy. Doors were busting at all hours – in both bricks and mortar stores and cyberspace – and anyone who happened to be in the way was in danger of being trampled!

While pundits have hailed the days immediately following Thanksgiving and the Monday following this period as prime time for Christmas shopping, trends suggest that shoppers might not be following the script. With ecommerce enabled smartphones, tablets and old-fashion websites supported by the promotional clout of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Four Square and other media, consumers can comparison shop and buy 24/7. Therefore, savvy retailers are using Social CRM/Big Data tactics to leverage the holiday shopping period to build brand loyalty and predicting consumer behavior every day of the year.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

The people who keep track of this kind of data – companies such as comScore and others – estimate that ecommerce spending on the Friday after Thanksgiving surpassed $1 billion for the first time in history. This represents a 25 percent increase over last year and the momentum continued in the days that followed.

Online media publication, Media Post, reported on the Tuesday following Cyber Monday, when this blog is being posted, that for the holiday season to date, $13.7 billion had been spend online, marking a 16 percent increase over last year. Even on Thanksgiving Day, where rabid Christmas shoppers have heretofore spent the day in a tryptophan stupor, achieved a 32 percent increase to approximately $633 million in online sales.

Retail industry media point to digital content and subscriptions as leading the charge as the top growing online retail product categories (up 29 percent over last year) with the huge increase in the number of consumers using smartphones, tablets and e-readers driving demand for these gadgets and digital books, audio and video content that fill them.

Other mainstays in this ecommerce stampede are toys (up 27 percent), consumer packaged goods (up 23 percent), video games and accessories (up 18 percent) and consumer electronics (up 18 percent). The apparel and accessories category, which has always enjoyed strong preference for bricks and mortar shoppers on Black Friday, was the top category for online sales representing one-quarter of all dollars spent!

Grab the Smartphone and Let’s Go Shopping

Mobile is one of the critical elements of a Social CRM/Big Data marketing strategy and it’s clear that holiday shoppers have discovered the convenience of smartphones and tablets. Trade publication Mobile Commerce Daily reported that 24 percent of consumers used a mobile device to visit a retailer’s website over Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Interestingly, “it appears that tablets – in particular the iPad – were significant drivers of online sales over the holiday weekend. Smartphones, on the other hand, provided significant traffic drivers and invaluable in-store shopping tools.”

Smart retailers will learn from this research and plan year-round strategies accordingly. For example, the price comparison app PriceGrabber reported that smartphone use is growing faster – up an amazing 3,288 percent – than tablets which had an astounding, but still smaller increase of only 1,027 percent. However, tablet owners consistently spent more per order than smartphones and desktop users and tablet users viewed approximately two more pages per visit than smartphone users and converted at a rate of 3.5 higher than smartphone users (source: Branding Brand).

What Are the Social CRM/Big Data Lessons Here?

A report from research organization Skava found that on 7 percent of the top 100 online retailers have tablet optimized websites while 95 percent are optimized for smartphones. If this search and conversion data is accurate, retailers should immediately put resources behind tablet optimization. Since tablet users spend more than smartphone users, retailers with poorly optimized tablets are leaving millions of dollars on the cyber table!

There’s also the consideration of which tablet drives more revenue. Every retail research organization agrees that the Apple iPad was one of the biggest factors in driving mobile shopping and commerce over the biggest shopping weekend and Monday of the year. Mobile Commerce Daily noted that “the iPad dominated tablet traffic with an 88.3 percent share distantly followed by Nook (Barnes and Noble) with 3.1 percent, Amazon Kindle 2.4 percent and Samsung Galaxy with 1.8 percent.”

The big Social CRM/Big Data takeaway from these reports lies in the unequivocal clout of mobile media. Smartphones and tablets are no longer just cool toys. They have become the main point of consumer/retailer interaction. Building an opt-in text database by using digitally delivered coupons and other incentives should be at the top of the list for any retailer – consumer goods, food and services – who wants to be around for next year’s Black Friday.

Another important Social CRM/Big Data lesson that can be gleaned from this year’s spend-fest involves the requirement for retailers to coordinate all media – mobile, digital, social and traditional media. For this to occur, they must gather and store information from these disparate media in one, actionable database.

The social network promotions must be coordinated with the mobile texting coupon promotions and these must enhance the web, print and broadcast tactics. This can only occur if all consumer data, from all media, are gathered and stored in one repository and then acted upon in a manner that is consistent with past consumer preference trends. This is the primary reason that Social CRM is a retailer’s most powerful weapon.

Another important take-away from this year’s holiday shopping experience involves predicting human behavior. It’s no coincidence that that the most successful consumer products companies such as Apple and Amazon (with its Kindle) had sufficient quantities of their products available for shoppers who were in the mood for buying before, during and after Thanksgiving Day. They accurately predicted this demand because they had gathered vast amounts of consumer spending data.

The reason for this collection of data seems obvious, but is often lost on other retailers. These companies constantly track consumer purchases in terms of demographics, psychographics, location of sales and myriad other factors. They use this Big Data to plan effective cross-promotions, just-in-time inventory and media placement to reach the maximum number of potential buyers and the best possible times.

When this information is known, effective loyalty programs can be developed to make the next sale easier to make and accurate predictions on likely prospects for future sales can be made. These are textbook Social CRM/Big Data tactics.

As we hope is evident, the tremendous success of retailers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday don’t have to be limited to the day after Thanksgiving or the Monday when we all go back to work. When Social CRM/Big Data techniques and tools are used, consumers can be treated with the respect that they expect and deserve and companies that want to sell them products can effectively deliver meaningful information on a timely basis. It’s one of those win/win situations that we hear so much about.

Now, if someone can just figure out how to keep our co-workers from spending hours online during the work day ordering holiday gifts instead of returning emails and making sales calls, everyone will be happy!

Interested in Social CRM/Big Data? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo credit: squidoo.com via Jimmy on Pinterest

Social CRM/Big Data in the News: How to Avoid Tumbling off the Fiscal Cliff

November 13, 2012

Social CRM/Big Data

 

What in the name of Armageddon does the so-called “fiscal cliff” (over which the U.S. government is rumored to plunge in 2013) have to do with Social CRM/Big Data? As it turns out, quite a bit. First, a little background is in order about this much ballyhooed fiscal cliff and why some believe we are about to tumble headlong into oblivion. Then, we’ll look at what this means to businesses.

Why Reducing the Deficit is Leading to the Fiscal Cliff

The phrase “fiscal cliff” refers to the simultaneous spending cuts and tax increases that are slated to take place at the end of 2012. In addition, provisions that limit the reach of the Alternative Minimum Tax (income taxes) and cut payroll taxes are also scheduled to expire at the end of this year.

Just to make matters worse and encourage the political pundits into apoplexy, automatic spending cuts, as per the language laid out in the Budget Control Act of 2011, are also currently planned for the 2013 fiscal year. While this should rightfully drive the governmental budgetary wonks crazy, many otherwise calm, cool and collected business people are worried that this combination of actions will plunge the most powerful government on planet earth over this mythical cliff, thereby causing another recession.

Since recently the U.S. economy has been dependent on fiscal stimulus – see automotive industry, banking and investment industry bailouts – many economists, while happy that the tax increases and spending cuts would reduce the size of the national deficit, feel as though the sudden changes would plunge the country into another recession. It is for this reason that many elected officials want to avoid the “fiscal cliff” that is currently looming in the distance.

Staring Into the Abyss

While it is perfectly reasonable to be worried about the prospects for the fragile U.S. economy if the government falls off this fiscal cliff, the odds are pretty good that cooler heads will prevail – among both political parties – at the last possible second. One is reminded of the lyrics of the song by musical group Dawes: “When My Time Comes.”

You can judge all the world on sparkle that you think it lacks.

    Yes, you can stare into the abyss, but its staring right back.

The fact is, many industries and the companies that comprise them have already fallen over the fiscal cliff or are standing on a banana peel and teetering very close to the edge. Some of these industries and companies include:

  •  Airlines (Have you taken any plane trips, just for fun, lately?)
  • Companies that make and sell supersized fast food products  (Sales down for the first time at McDonalds and the mayor of New York is demonizing supersized portions)
  • Manufacturers of large, low-gas mileage vehicles (Anybody thinking of buying a Hummer?)
  • Traditional newspaper publishers (With critically low levels of cash, some such as the N.O. Times Picayune are publishing only 3 times a week)
  • Traditional book publishers (Big publishers are merging with other big ones to survive)
  • Big box retailers (BestBuy, JC Penny both report sales declines)
  • High fructose corn syrup producers (nutrition experts blame this substance for everything but typhoid fever)
  • Big box video rental retailers (Blockbuster is in the tank)
  • Single-purpose gadgets (Blackberry is hanging by a thread)

And, as they say, the list goes on and on.

The companies in these industries have been buffeted by advances in technology, hammered by a struggling economy and, in the case of processed food companies, beaten down by weather patterns such as the long-term drought. However, each of the categories, have been guilty of another cardinal sin and this transgression has forced them to line up next to the U.S. government on the edge of the fiscal cliff. They have failed to systematically listen to their customers and make strategic changes to products and engagement with these people – their customers. They’ve failed to properly use the powerful tools – made possible by the amazing advancements in social, mobile and digital media – Social CRM/Big Data.

How Social CRM/Big Data Can Help Companies Avoid Their Own Fiscal Cliff

Advances in technology or changes in customer preferences can be a company’s best friend or worst enemy. When Apple, or Amazon Kindle introduce a new tablet which is capable of downloading and presenting hundreds of newspapers, books and magazines, those large, expensive printing presses and the people who run them at the New York Times, HarperCollins and People magazine go from asset to liability overnight.

When enough moms discover Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and begin posting negative content about high fructose corn syrup in soft drinks or the effects of supersized fast food on the obesity of their children, the industries that spawn these products are painted with a very broad and negative brush. However, these actions can be predicted and ameliorated with enough data, tools to understand this Big Data and tactics to deliver messages that are counter-arguments.

While Social CRM/Big Data can’t help all of these industries and companies from tumbling over the fiscal cliff, it can help every company, and perhaps even the federal government, understand the concerns of their customers, engage them with compelling dialog and keep them away from the big fall. Here are just some of the ways that Social CRM/Big Data can help companies avoid the abyss.

  • Social CRM/Big Data programs enable companies to use social, mobile and digital media to efficiently “listen” to the needs, concerns and wants of current and prospective customers and build a large, useable repository of this critical data.
  • Digital, mobile and social media can be deployed in a manner that is consistent with the customer preferences. Wasting time and promotional funds on expensive and broad-based mass media is eliminated or at least reduced when Social CRM/Big Data tactics are used.
  • With enough customer insights, gleaned from Social CRM/Big Data campaigns, the company’s products can be modified or scrapped altogether to meet changing customer demands. Following this line of thinking, the daily newspapers and monthly magazines will then realize that they are in the content aggregation and delivery business but NOT necessarily in the business of delivering this content via ink-on-paper.
  • Ailing companies can also use Social CRM/Big Data to amass enough pertinent data to be able to predict the actions of potential customers and use the knowledge to avoid expensive mistakes on new products and services that have no hope of success.

Can Business and Government Avoid the Fiscal Cliff?

Industries that are on the brink of the fiscal cliff and the companies that comprise these groups don’t have to stare into the abyss. They can adapt to a quickly changing marketplace. By truly listening to their prospects and customers, making tweaks and even wholesale changes to their products and marketing and then communicating the benefits of these goods and services via the social, digital, mobile or traditional media that they – the customers – prefer, companies can move away from the cliff. This is a textbook example of Social CRM/Big Data tactics.

Is it possible for the highly politicized branches of the U.S. federal government to use these Social CRM/Big Data strategies? Perhaps. However, it will require all concerned to be logical (which is typically a challenge in political environments), collaborative and to seek the greater good rather than short-term political gains.

Interested in Social CRM/Big Data? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo credit: Source: ivoras.net via Margie on Pinterest

 

 

Social CRM/Big Data in the News: Marketing Lessons Learned from Hurricane Sandy

October 30, 2012

Social CRM/Big Data

Social CRM/Big Data tactics are normally used to help businesses understand their customers and drive revenues However, when a major storm hits one of the most populated and most digitally plugged-in areas in the world – the cities in the northeastern United States – and disrupts even the most basic services such as power and public transit, it can have other uses such as response and rescue. Hurricane Sandy and her aftermath is also proving to be an excellent testing ground for companies that want to build loyalty that will stay in effect long after the water has been pumped out of the subway tunnels.

Real Terror on the Eve of Halloween

The so-called “Frankenstorm” that traveled up the Atlantic seaboard during the final week of October 2012 got its name from its proximity to Halloween and the fact that many dangerous weather elements – hurricane winds, rain, snow, wind and even the full moon – combined to form one, monstrous storm. Since hurricanes usually slam into warmer coastal areas that typically don’t have the population density as the northeast U.S., the circumstances surrounding this storm held the prospect of much more mayhem than its Category 1 status might suggest.

Hurricane Sandy, with its high winds and drenching rain collided with a strong cold front from Canada and battered the heavily populated northeastern U.S. Even the moon joined forces with the superstorm. The day that this hurricane came on shore was the day of the full moon of October. This astronomical event is also known as the “Hunter’s Moon” and it marks a time when the sun, earth and moon are in a straight line. Because of this, the gravitational effect of the moon is increased.

This phenomenon results in higher tides and this had devastating effects on water surge in the area. The reason for this is simple. When the moon is directly over the water, gravity lifts the water toward the moon, resulting in higher tides. When the wind of the hurricane blows over these tides, the wall of water is blown much higher over the land than normal. This resulted in a high water surge that swamped one Consolidated Edison substation in Manhattan’s East Village, which has never before been flooded, and caused an outage of the underground electrical systems. More than 1 million ConEd customers lost power and most of these will not regain electricity for days.

Mobile is Always On

Reliance on mobile media took a giant step forward as a result of this massive storm. With all of the hoopla surrounding social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, some Social CRM/Big Data practitioners forget about the unique benefits of mobile communication. Mobile has been called the “always on media” and this distinction has proven to be invaluable to pre-storm warnings, aftermath rescue efforts and practical marketing programs for those who are affected by Hurricane Sandy. This is especially true with news and weather websites. More on this later.

Social CRM/Big DataDuring and after the storm, Social CRM/Big Data experts are watching the performance of the mobile media such as mobile websites and SMS texting programs to ensure that the systems can withstand the pressure of dramatic increases in usage. This represents a never-before case study of the effectiveness and performance of mobile communication.

With the power outages that are associated with this storm, where millions of people are without electricity, smartphones are being used to access the web, connect on social media, send and receive texts and communicate with loved one using old fashion telephone function.

Consumers have already begun to rely on their mobile devices for everyday activities such as shopping in record numbers. However during the aftermath of the storm they will be accessing mobile apps such as the Weather Channel app and taking advantage of the temporary lifting of the subscription payment wall from publications such as The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. These publications normally charge a fee for their content but chose to make it free to help inform readers who are affected by the storm. While the intent of this action is no doubt altruistic, it is also a brilliant promotional tool to introduce the content of these media to millions of prospective subscribers!

What Happens When Frankenstorm Goes Back to the Laboratory?

It’s interesting to consider what effect Social CRM/Big Data tactics will have after Frankenstorm is just a bad memory. How will customer engagement change with such media such as the Weather Channel, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times? What about the forward-thinking retailers who use Social CRM/Big Data tactics to help consumers find goods and services during and after the storm? Hurricane Sandy might offer another excellent case study for the efficacy of Social CRM/Big Data.

First, here are a few predictions:

  • Mobile media will be used by millions of new customers and found to be invaluable for emergency situations. This will translate into more mobile penetration post hurricane.
  • Mobile applications such as the excellent Red Cross app will be emulated by other philanthropic organizations.
  • Media such as the Weather Channel, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times will be consumed by hundreds of thousands of new readers, some of whom will choose to pay the fees for this content in the future.
  • Retailers that use social, mobile and digital media combined with sound Social CRM/Big Data tactics such as tracking customer complaints media habits will earn new customers and increased market share.
  • Talented citizen journalists who posted about the storm on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks via blogs will establish new followers and some will keep these readers long after the mess of the storm has been cleared.
  • Smart companies will see this type of stressful situation as a chance to build consumer sampling programs for their products.

What Doesn’t Destroy You Makes You Stronger

Many technology companies are closely watching the effects of Hurricane Sandy on their digital, mobile and social network tools and equipment. The stress that results from emergency situations force companies to build sturdier and more robust equipment and software. However, the people who are involved in the marketing strategy and tactics for consumer products companies, media companies and other categories can also benefit from the lessons of Hurricane Sandy.

Innovative Social CRM/Big Data tactics can help companies “listen” to their customers more effectively, predict what might occur under emergency conditions and communicate with these customers before, during and after the emergency. Because these events of Hurricane Sandy occurred in and around the media center of New York City, the effects of social, mobile and digital media responses – Social CRM/Big Data – will be magnified and communicated worldwide.

Our hopes and prayers are with the people in the affected areas. When the winds and rain die down, let’s put our contributions and our support behind the families who will be rebuilding some of the greatest cities in the world.

Interested in Social CRM/Big Data? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo Credits: ccho on Flickr, Duke Punhong

Social CRM in the News: Supersonic Skydive Lights Up Mobile, Social and Digital Media

October 16, 2012

 

Social CRM

Social CRM and the Big Event took a giant leap Sunday when daredevil Felix Baumgartner jumped into the stratosphere, risking life and limb, protected only by a high-tech spacesuit and parachute adorned by the logos of his corporate sponsor: Red Bull. This jump was the culmination of what some media pundits such as Huffington Post called “the most successful marketing campaign of all time” and it is another excellent example of how consumer products companies can control earned, social, digital and mobile. In other words, it’s a case study for Social CRM.

In order to understand the significance of this promotion/scientific endeavor, some background on Baumgartner and Red Bull is necessary.

Faster Than a Speeding Can of Red Bull

As ABC News reporter Ryan Owens noted in a post-plummet post, “Fearless Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic skydive from 24 miles above the New Mexico desert was a rousing success.” This could very well be the understatement of the year.

Owens continued by noting that “Baumgartner, whose Sunday freefall was watched around the world, was at one point traveling at 833 mph or Mach 1.24, and he shattered the speed of sound during his 4 minute 20 second freefall. He is the only human to do so without the aid of a supersonic jet or space shuttle.

Dangling from a 55-story balloon with a capsule beneath, which took two and a half hours to reach the edge of space, the skydiver and B.A.S.E. jumper leapt after getting the okay from the only voice he heard during his ascent – that of 84-year-old Joe Kittinger, a former air force pilot who in 1960 set the record for longest skydive.

For a terror-inducing 4 minutes and 20 seconds Baumgartner freefalls, his body plummeting toward the earth at 833 miles an hour. He finally managed to regain control, and deploy his parachute.” For anyone of the millions of people who were watching this feat live, via streaming media, there were likely many deep breaths when this chute finally deployed.

Why Red Bull Paid for this Leap of Faith

While there have been no official reports from Austrian-based Red Bull as to the budget for the planning and execution of this event, media experts have estimated that, all in, the expenses for the jump will cost the company about $65 million. That’s gonna require that a lot of Red Bull make its way down the gullets of that 18-34 year old male, Type-A demo that the company wants to keep on the edge of their seats!

Red Bull may have had a teeney, tiny sliver of scientific altruism in mind when it was contemplating this monster promotion, but science was way down the list on the priorities for this supersonic skydive. On top of the list: ROI. However, in order to herd this group of Red Bull-swigging wannabe daredevils, the company must successfully execute some stratospheric Social CRM.

As Thom Ford of Media Post noted, “Red Bull was more than just along for the ride Sunday when Felix Baumgartner successfully touched down on Earth after a jump of 128,000 feet in a mere space suit. Some observers are telling us that sponsorship boundaries were also shattered along with the sound barrier, which was officially known as Red Bull Stratos. Folks watched on YouTube (more than 8 million livestreams), followed in the tweetosphere, and later caught up with the feat on blogs, traditional news broadcasts and print articles.

Ford quoted Janean Chun of Huffington Post as saying that the brand “broke the traditional barriers of marketing, sponsorship and social media, skyrocketing from an energy drink known for providing a quick buzz to a big-time generator of international buzz that makes the endeavors of other marketing innovators like Apple look small by comparison.” It was noted by several sources that Red Bull will likely reap substantial benefits from the stunt because it promulgates the brand’s current campaign theme: “Red Bull gives you wings.”

This Event Was Content Marketing at the Highest Level

As any company that uses Social CRM for customer identification, messaging and activation knows, content marketing – the process of developing original, compelling content that is tailored to the target audience – can quickly move the needle for all social, mobile and digital campaigns. Everything about this Red Bull Stratos promotion screams compelling content!

In the Media Post article published a couple of days after this giant leap for mankind, Andrew Warren-Payne, a research analyst at Econsultancy, noted five lessons to be gleaned from the Red Bull sponsorship:

  • Develop a story;
  • Capture as much content as possible;
  • Provide content worth sharing – and introduce your audience to something new;
  • Get contact details for further communications;
  • Spin-out content into the future.

“The jump was not simply good PR, but something more,” Warren-Payne writes. “It was great content marketing, something that will become increasingly important.”

The fact that this stunt had the potential for mortal danger just enhanced the compelling nature of this content marketing tactic. In the minds of many hard core Red Bull customers, danger is the secret elixir. If a brand wants to be known as an important part of “life on the edge,” it must take some risks. Sometimes, as in the case of Red Bull athlete Antoine Montant who was killed while base jumping in the French Alps, someone might perish in the process. While this is sad, it has the effect of enhancing the adrenaline flow of the next death-defying event. Red Bull knows this and has put its money where its marketing strategy is.

Social CRM Lessons From Red Bull: How You Can Use Big Event Content Marketing

The Social CRM lessons that can be learned from the jump of Fearless Felix are many. First, it’s illustrative to note that the best Social CRM practices involve using traditional media and/or special events and/or both to drive customer engagement with the brand. As we have noted in previous Pocketstop Basement Blog posts, this has been done with sports like the Wimbledon championship, media-intensive political events such as the Presidential debates or spectacular events such as the Red Bull Stratos skydive. Each of these events, when coordinated with a well-designed Social CRM program can yield invaluable customer insights and engagements.

How? Let’s use the Red Bull Stratos for a case study in Social CRM

  • The company can (and given its savvy, will) capture the publically available data on the millions of people who tweeted or posted on social networks about the event. Given that many of the people who were engaged enough to post comment are likely interested in extreme sports (at least on some level) or meet the demographic characteristics of the optimal Red Bull customer, there is an tremendous opportunity to seek permission from these prospects for further engagement with the brand. Mobile coupons for Red Bull, social media promotions using “inside info” about the skydive and Baumgartner and follow up posts about the scientific information gleaned from the jump are all easy ways to use Social CRM to leverage the event.
  • It should leverage the vast amount of original content developed from the event to build more channels of engagement, using Social CRM tactics to place this content on media where these fans like to receive this type of information. There are likely social channels, such as YouTube, where the content can be parsed out over the next few months.
  • It should use data collected on the purchase of Red Bull Stratos merchandise (developed for this event and currently for sale on the website that is supporting the even) to further engage prospective customers of the energy drink.

Besides the Social CRM ramification, this Red Bull scientific/promotional event also suggests a way for the United States government to finance dangerous and costly military or scientific research. If we need to test the next superfast fighter jet, space vehicle, volcano exploration or any other potentially expensive or dangerous feat, let’s just go find a company that wants to sell something to that 18-34 year old male demo and let them put their logo on the uniform, lab coat, cap or vehicle of the participants. We’ll save several million tax dollars and they can engage the prospects who feel the need for speed.

Interested in Social CRM? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo credit: frankgomezg.tumblr.com via Frank on Pinterest

Social CRM in the News: What Big Bird Can Teach PBS About Using Social, Mobile and Digital Channels to Raise Money?

October 9, 2012

social CRM

     Big Bird: Social CRM change agent

 

This blog post is brought to you by the word “Social” and the letters “C-R-M.” As many online and traditional media pundits have noted, last week’s presidential debate has a clear and obvious winner and his name is Big Bird. In less than seven days, this large and somewhat shy yellow bird has become a multimedia sensation. He’s large and in charge.

With appearances on “Saturday Night Live,” “The Today Show” and thousands of other television newscasts, plus hundreds of thousands of tweets and other social network mentions and goodness knows how many emails and blog references, Big Bird has accomplished in less than one week what it took “The Most Interesting Man in the World” years to do. He’s become a meme.

The phenomenal social, digital, mobile and traditional media chatter that surrounds the Big Bird controversy could serve as a platform for Public Broadcasting to get in the black without taking another federal dollar. All it will take is some well-conceived Social CRM tactics.

The Back Story

For anyone who has been in a coma since Wednesday night’s presidential debate and has not seen any news & entertainment websites, blogs, twitter feeds, Facebook posts or text messages, here’s the back story on Big Bird’s blow-up. It’s a textbook case for the power of social, digital, mobile technology, in other words, it’s another example of how Social CRM can be used for fun and profit.

It started simply enough. Midway through the debate, Republican challenger Mitt Romney vowed to cut subsidies for television’s PBS. He followed that claim by stating “I love Big Bird. I actually like you too (referring to the debate’s moderator, PBS’ Jim Lehrer) but I’m going to stop borrowing money from China to pay for things we don’t need.” Pretty tame stuff as campaign rhetoric goes. However, somebody forgot to tell the world.

As social media blogger Jason Boies notes, “After that, “Big Bird” was Tweeted 17,000 times per minute and it was also the fourth highest-rising search term on Google… Showcasing just how quickly social media allows people to respond to major TV events and news happenings.” Over the next 36-hours, it was reported that social media posts that mentioned Big Bird exceeded 373,000 conversations. Not bad for fictional character on educational TV.

“Entrepreneur’s” Catherine Clifford wrote, “Almost instantaneously, Big Bird became a social media sensation. Twitter handles were created — @FiredBigBird and @BigBirdRomney — among others. The debate was the most tweeted political event in history, according to Twitter’s political branch, with 10.3 million Tweets in 90 minutes.” It’s enough to make even Oscar the Grouch smile.

In Clifford’s article she highlighted the “lessons” entrepreneurs should learn from the public’s response to the threat to downsize the big yellow bird. “(1) Emotional is best. The reason that everyone got so up in arms about Big Bird, during a presidential debate chock full of economic policy no less, is because people care about Big Bird. People remember Big Bird from their childhood, or they know that their own children are fans of Big Bird.  (2)  Make it visual. Big Bird is more than 8 feet tall and bright yellow. He’s hard to miss. There were images of Big Bird served on a Thanksgiving dish and Big Bird waiting on an employment line. People react to the images and share them. (3) You have got to be on top of your brand on social media. The worst thing an entrepreneur can do is not respond when his or her brand is on stage in the social media world. Things happen quickly. And you can’t have your head in the sand.”

What Does This Mean for PBS and Other Non-Profits

Professional sports teams know that investing in a superstar can pay big dividends in the form of putting butts in seats. The movie industry is also based on this simple premise. People will pay to see an athletic star or an “A” list star perform. We don’t need the The Count to prove this. The numbers don’t lie. So, what does this mean to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? Can Big Bird save them? Yes he can. All it takes is for someone at the public television network to embrace Social CRM tactics.

There are several Social CRM tactics that should be explored by PBS while Big Bird is a media maven. There is no doubt that a “non-profit” organization like PBS has very specific and likely proprietary objectives that outsiders may not have access to or understand. Ultimately, however, the network is similar to other philanthropic endeavors in that it seeks to engage the largest group of supporters and, in the process, encourages these supporters to put their money where their support is. This is where Social CRM can help.

Hopefully, the network, which is seen as social media savvy by many experts, has started doing some of these things while the yellow bird is red hot. Social CRM strategists would suggest that PBS, immediately implement these tactics.

  • Publically available data should be gathered from all of the social networks and aggregated in a database. This can enable the network to identify its supporters and use the Social CRM data to solicit donations to “Save Big Bird and All of His Friends.”
  • This database of supporters can also be used for ongoing messaging via digital media such as electronic newsletters, websites or mobile media such as opt-in text messaging and other media about how funds are used, what innovative programs are upcoming, how to support local and national PBS initiatives.
  • Permission for future communications can be obtained from those (millions) of people who were/are up in arms about the prospect of Big Bird getting his pink slip. All it takes is a simple Social CRM tool to ask for this.
  • With this level of excitement, PBS might consider using a very effective Social CRM tactic to raise money – crowdsourced fund-raising. Using Big Bird as the primary creative element on a platform such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo and then employing social media to promote this effort could reap substantial investments from friends of the Bird.
  • Another simple fund-raising/engagement technique that Social CRM practitioners use involves building cross-promotions between PBS and other traditional media such as newspapers and other broadcaster, websites, social network contests, mobile applications and any number of media that allow supporters of the Bird to weigh in with their checkbooks.

The possibility that an iconic character of our collective childhood – Big Bird – could possibly be eliminated clearly struck a chord with millions of Republicans, Democrats and independents. Now is a great time for PBS to use this hue and cry to build a funding juggernaut and all it takes is learning the lessons of the word and letters that brought you today’s post – Social CRM.

Interested in Social CRM? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo credit: britannica.com via Beth on Pinterest

 

Social CRM in the News: Social Media is an Important Part of the Presidential Debate

October 2, 2012

social CRM

Social CRM and politics are not strange bedfellows at all. They are perfectly suited for each other and during the Presidential debate on October 3rd they will amplify and filter every word President Barack Obama and former governor Mitt Romney utter. This is the first election when the Social CRM stars are in line to produce the biggest cache of usable “Big Data” in the history of electoral politics. Some pundits have called this debate the “Super Bowl” of politics. Hopefully, unlike most Super Bowls, the game will live up to the hype.

The Social CRM components – social, mobile and digital media – will be focused on the participants of this first presidential debate like never before. It’s a sign of the times that many companies are introducing new ways for mobile, digital and social media to be enabled by this event. Want some proof? How about these three announcements that arrived a few of days before the Presidential debate?

YouTube, Samsung and Twitter Get Ready for the Debate

Cynopsis media reported that the YouTube Elections Hub plans to offer live streams of the debates. Each stream will be available on the video site’s official Elections Hub thanks to a partnership with ABC News. “In addition to the actual debates, the Election Hub will offer commentary and analysis from YouTube’s eight media partners, including the aforementioned ABC News, as well as Al Jazeera, BuzzFeed, Larry King, The New York Times, Phil DeFranco, Univision, and The Wall Street Journal.”

YouTube says these eight partners will also be offering their own unique live and on-demand coverage of the debates throughout each night and Univision will offer a version of the debates translated into Spanish. This is further proof that online and interactive video has become an important element of Social CRM.

Even the techno-gadgets are involved in this debate. Online newsletter, Mobile Marketing Watch reported that “on Monday, Peel and Samsung Electronics announced that owners of Samsung GALAXY devices preloaded with the Peel Smart Remote TV app can provide real-time user generated feedback during the presidential debates. Revealing the power of Social CRM, viewers using the Peel Smart Remote app on the Samsung GALAXY Tab 7.0 with built-in IR blaster will able to use the Peel Smart Remote TV App to easily switch the TV channel to any of the available stations showing the debate.

The publication notes that “based on the details announced, during the course of the debate, users will be able to “cheer” and “boo” candidate responses to voice their support for or against. Immediately following each presidential or vice presidential debate, Peel will be the ‘first to provide a broad range of sentiment from thousands of viewers based on the in-app feedback.”’

Washington Post columnist Chris Cillizza notes that it is extremely rare for everything to ‘stop’ in a campaign. “Wednesday night’s first general election debate is just such a moment. Think of it like the Super Bowl, but for politics; even if you don’t like the game all that much, you tune in because it’s a cultural happening.” This is not lost on Twitter. Nothing of this magnitude happens without Twitter and therefore Social CRM being involved because we want to know who won and why? Mobile Marketing Watch adds, “Twitter will all but certainly amplify every boom and bust moment for the candidates who endure them.”

Cillizza opines, “Most people who tune in will have made their minds up about who won (and who they are going to vote for) before a word is uttered by either candidate — and, in the post-debate analysis, they’ll tune in to whatever commentary best fits that view. For the tiny sliver of undecided voters, it’s hard to imagine they will find a way to cut through all the clutter to find a reason to choose either candidate — at least not yet.”

What Does This Debate Mean to You?

Businesses and individuals who use Social CRM tactics to listen to their markets and respond with targeted messaging delivered on the medium that customers prefer can learn a lot from the “pre and post” debate tactics of both candidates. This debate is a great case example of how to use Social CRM in building a customer base and then motivating this base to take action.

Before, during and after the debate on October 3, the Social CRM specialists who work for both candidates will be hard at work on the following tactics.

  • Publically available voter data will be gathered from social media and aggregated in a database that enables the campaign to identify like-minded voters and (a) solicit campaign funds (b) message them with candidate positions during the remainder of the campaign and (c) turn them out to vote for their candidate on Election Day.
  • Additional trends that might modify the candidate’s stance on a given issue can be obtained using Social CRM tactics. Identification of influences that can be used for last-minute speeches, TV spots, regional media placements and unforeseen problems are all possible with good Social CRM practices.
  • Permission for future communication can be obtained from those responding on social, mobile and digital channels.
  • Cross-promotions with traditional media and social, mobile and digital media are possible when Social CRM tactics are employed by the campaigns.

Aside from helping American’s choose the person who will lead the country for the next four years, the interesting thing about this presidential debate and those that follow is its applicability to businesses and individuals that might use the same Social CRM tactics to build revenue, target prospects and (hopefully) turn them into customers. It will be interesting to observe how these Social CRM tactics will be used by these two candidates to accomplish research, fund-raising, messaging and voter turn-out. The lessons learned from this process can be applied by companies that understand the power of Social CRM.

Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo source: mashable.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

 

Social Series: The Social Success of Fashion’s Night Out

September 6, 2012

Source: mooshoes.com via raven on Pinterest

 

Designers, editors, celebrities, and fashionistas from all over the globe will be joining together tonight for the fashion extravaganza that is Fashion’s Night Out. The one night event was created in 2009 by Vogue’s Editor in Chief, Anna Wintour as a way to “restore consumer confidence” during the recession. This year FNO turns 4 and the fashion industry is pulling out all the stops. This of course, includes going social.

Before I plunge like the necklines on Alexander Wang’s new Spring collection into the many ways Fashion’s Night Out will incorporate social media into the big night, let me first tell you why social media has been so vital to the fashion world since its debut. Many believe it’s because fashion is all about telling a story and social media creates a better, more interactive, more engaging way to tell that story. Stacey Bendet of Alice+Olivia looks at social media as creating the world of your brand. Ari Goldberg, CEO of Stylecaster goes as far to say that “Brands that do not engage using social media will not be here in ten years to talk about it!” Quite a bold statement. Bold, but predictably true. It’s evident that brands are not taking the addition of social media into their marketing mix very lightly as we can see with designers such as Calvin Klein. The well-known brand increased its advertising budget for interactive and online media from just 1% in 2009 to 23% in 2012.

This being the fourth year for FNO, the core-team of organizers behind it wanted to expand the impact of the night, and what better way to engage with people all over the world and with all different interests than through social media? But how exactly is Fashion’s Night Out going to use the socialsphere to tell their story tonight? To start out, fashionistas can join the conversation by following the event at #FNO on Twitter and by liking the Fashion’s Night Out page on Facebook. By following the event, fans will get exclusive info on different offerings and sweepstakes, as well as the scoop on where to find celebrity designers throughout the night. Then of course there’s Pinterest, every designer’s social dreamscape, where you’ll be sure to come across fabulous contests like the one Milly NY is hosting: to participate each entry must create their own Pinterest board showcasing what they believe embodies the lifestyle of a true “Milly Girl.” And for the winners, tickets to the Milly Spring 2013 show. And while you are out and about during Fashion’s Night Out, you can tag your instagram photos to #FNO for a chance to have your pics featured on FNO live.

The main strategy behind FNO is to engage with customers and retailers, and thanks to social platforms, Fashion’s Night Out will succeed in “putting the fun back in shopping.”

Are you looking to grow your brand and increase engagement? Find out how social media can work for your brand, right here.

- Katie Cohen, Junior Copywriter

 

Social CRM in the News: Social Media at the Democratic and Republican Conventions

September 4, 2012

Social CRM

 

TV viewership of the recently completed Republican convention plummeted from that of 2008 and the Democrats will likely experience the same erosion. In spite of this seemingly lack of interest, tweets about the GOP gathering were out the roof. What gives here? Both political parties have discovered social media and they are about to stage the first U.S. election that will feature Social CRM as a primary tactic.

TV rating service Nielsen Co. estimated that 30.3 million viewers watched the GOP convention on the night that Mitt Romney delivered his prime time acceptance speech. This represented a 23 percent plunge from the same night, four years ago, when John McCain basked in the radiance of an adoring convention. It’s interesting to note that the Republicans drew a decidedly older audience, well over half the viewers were 55 or older and a very small percentage falling in the 18-34 year range. Meanwhile, the Democrats meeting in Charlotte this week can expect the same dearth in viewers with likely more 18-34 years olds and less 55+ viewers.

What does this mean for Social CRM? Plenty!

While relatively few people were watching the Romney speech on TV, those who did were tweeting up a storm – about 14,300 tweets per minute – making it the most tweeted political event of 2012. Given the higher digital penetration among the younger Obama supporters, we can expect an even bigger twitter outbreak when the President takes to the podium Thursday night.

The President’s team showed their social network savvy on Thursday after actor/director Clint Eastwood performed a parody with an empty chair intended to represent Obama. The Obama team tweeted a photo showing the president seated in the cabinet room in his “commander and chief” chair with the caption: “This seat’s taken.” This was the most tweeted item of the GOP convention. Touche’.

Twitter, Facebook and other social media have largely replaced network TV for political junkies and normal citizens alike. As one Fordham University professor told AP, “the changing media landscape has given people a chance to gather convention information relevant to them through social networks and other nontraditional sources.”

Both political parties understand this and will try and exploit this “new media landscape” on Election Day using Social CRM tactics to: (1) identify their base – those favor their candidate, (2) communicate candidate positions on issues that are narrowly (but potentially powerful) focused to specific audiences, (3) disseminate these messages through the social media that these votes prefer to receive this information and (4) turn out these voters in November in a very efficient manner (i.e. without spending enormous sums on network TV, phone solicitations and millions of yard signs).

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are both savvy digital communicators and both of their teams are hard at work developing what they hope will be a winning Social CRM strategy. Which will prove victorious? Stay tuned. Or, better yet, log on and find out.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo credit: prnewsonline.com via Meg on Pinterest

I am Man (or Woman), Hear Me Roar

August 7, 2012

 

The other day I was on the phone with my mom and she was going on and on about the problems she is having with her new mattress. She told me how she and my dad had picked out a great mattress from one of those home shopping channels, we’ll call it CVQ for now, but when it was delivered she noticed the mattress had two defective box springs. Right away, my mother picked up the phone and called CVQ to talk to customer service, but they told her she would have to call the mattress company, then the mattress company told her she would have to call the delivery company. Long story short, my mom was given the ol’ run around and nothing was getting accomplished. After telling me all this, I recommended that she post her complaint on CVQ’s Facebook wall. I explained that posting something for their 1 million fans to see might help you get the kind of customer service that they pride themselves on. We, as consumers want our needs (and complaints) heard and social media acts as our megaphone. No more having to call and wait on the phone, or take the time to write a complaint letter. Things have changed. The ball is in the consumer’s court.

I guess the most expected question to this new form of complaining would be, does it work? Does it create change? Does reading your post compel the brand to follow up and do whatever it takes to turn you into a happy, loyal customer? Well in my parent’s case, yes CVQ delivered her new mattress within the week – hassle free. And as a manager of social communities I have experienced this new voice-of-the-consumer revolution first hand and I would say yes, using social media as a vehicle for the consumer to get the attention of the brand does work. When a complaint or unsatisfactory review is posted on one of my brand’s pages, I take action, immediately. I call the brand and let them know what was said and they tell me how to address it, which is usually by first, giving our most sincere apologies and then offering them some sort of deal or offer to bring them back to the brand.

Back in April of this year, a survey was done where 2,000 UK resident were polled about their use of social media. The results showed that 65 percent of these people believed social media was a better way to communicate with companies. In other words, social media has finally allowed for 2-way communication between consumer and brand or company. I myself experienced this sense of empowerment just the other day. I had unsuccessfully tried to return a pair of shoes that did not fit and after feeling unsatisfied that I would have to keep a pair of shoes that I would never wear and couldn’t do anything about it, I turned to social media. I went on to this shoe brand’s page and posted my issue. Within the hour I had been contacted with an address of where to send the shoes and the receipt and a promise that the money spent on the shoes would be back in my bank account within three days. Mission accomplished: shoes returned, money back and smile on my face. Thanks Facebook.

A fellow consumer, Peter Davis agrees that Twitter and Facebook are a great tool for means of venting our issues with brands and services. Mr. Davis complained on Twitter after he bought a computer online only for a microwave to be delivered to his Brighton home.

“This was preferable to calling their customer services line and being put on hold for inordinate length of time listening to pulsating dance music,” he says.

As you can see this idea of VIP treatment is spreading and I can’t speak for all brands, but for myself, my parents, Mr. Davis, and all the brands I represent, social media can bring a brand and it’s consumer much closer.

- Katie Cohen, Junior Copywriter