Practical IT Research that Drives Measurable Results

Leverage Social Media for Customer Interaction

Introduction
Consumers are rapidly adopting social media, yet adoption of social media by organizations is lagging. Most organizations are struggling to define a business strategy for social media and are unprepared to link it to their CRM strategy. IT is unsure of their role and where they can bring value to the table. Lack of coordination results in more manual, resource intensive processes that are difficult to measure. Organizational use of social media can bring benefits to marketing, sales and service when implemented properly.

This document will help you understand:

Social Media

Social Media channels

Assess Opportunities & Strategize

Plan the Implementation

Executive Summary
Social media customer interaction opportunities exist for marketing, sales, and service gains. Social media provides another channel for organizations to interact with their customers and customers with each other. Consider social media as part of the current customer interaction strategy as customers will continue to communicate via social media with or without you. Link social media to existing customer relationship management solutions. Integration can improve information accuracy, reduce manual effort and provide more in-depth customer insights. IT has an important role to play in managing social media infrastructure and security. Defining the goals and posting actual content lies with the business side. Evaluate vendors in three distinct categories to make sound technology decisions. Consider what goals you want to achieve prior to selecting social media services. Determine if CRM vendors have begun to offer social media integration. Alternatively, pure-play vendors provide social channel aggregators and managers. Assess which social media opportunities exist for your organization, build your plan, test your theories, and grow your interaction level based on your results. Secure privacy and integrity by managing organizational use of social media with a policy.

Road Map
Understanding Social Media Social Media Channels
Market Overview Value Proposition Role of I.T

Facebook

Twitter

Linked-in

YouTube

Blog

Strategize

Opportunity Assessment

Business Plan

Implement

Project Planning

Securing Privacy & Integrity

Social media revolution: It is fast becoming the communication medium of choice across the globe
Social media services facilitate the foundation and propagation of usergenerated content. Social media services have experienced explosive growth during the past five years; consumers are flocking to outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Social media is ubiquitous: consumers can access social media services from their computers, smartphones and tablets. This ease of access has further driven social media adoption. Adoption of social media began with younger consumers, but sustained growth is taking place across a range of demographic tiers, from young to old. Social media is displacing traditional echannels, such as e-mail, as consumers preferred method of one-to-one interaction. Businesses need to understand that social media is an integral part of their customers lives.

LinkedIn has users on every continent Social networking is now more popular than e-mail* Global time spent on social media is up by 82% over last year* Every minute, 24 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube Last year, Tweets grew 1400% Facebooks greatest growth has come from people aged 35-49*

*Source: Nielson Online

Social Network users flock together to form communities of people with similar interests
Social Networks create the Friend-of-a friend (FOAF) trust model
Social media outlets, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, consist of extensive networks of users who are self-organized into groups and communities. Users establish connections directly with other users to form a personal friends network. Users also join groups and communities that are organized around attributes such as products, lifestyles, entertainment, institutions, politics, and geographic locations. The Friend-of-a-Friend (FOAF) model enables interactions beyond direct connections.

Organizations need to be aware of the fact that customers are more likely to trust an opinion of a product or service of someone within their FOAF model than statements made by the company itself.

The competitive landscape of business is changing thanks to use of social media

Social media implementation highest in education and government organizations surveyed

Organizations are realizing the potential value of social media; they need to be in the same space as their customers and stakeholders. Education and government organizations have high deployment rates as they use social media to connect with stakeholders, while adoption has been slowest in the primary sector. As with Web 1.0, firms vary in the degree with which they embrace social media. Organizational size has no impact on deployment. Rather, those taking a waitand-see approach cited high perceived risks as the number one reason why they have yet to deploy social media.

Education Government Business Services Financial Services Trans/Utilities/Comms Healthcare Wholesale/Retail Manuf acturing Primary Industry 0% Implemented 20%

78% 65%
55%

22% 35%
45%

54% 53%
50%

46% 47%
50%

50% 31%
100%

50% 69%

40%

60%

80% 100%

Not Implemented

Multi-channel customer interaction is not a new concept to organizations

In the last few years, new delivery and interaction channel options such as e-mail, chat, Web self-service, kiosks, bulletin boards, and discussion forums have been introduced. Interaction management evolved as a component of a larger Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy in to manage this new hybrid channel. Organizations have been creating more sophisticated market coverage models employing hybrid channel interaction strategies. These models were optimized around customers affinity for different channels and the ability of different products and services to be marketed, sold, and serviced through these channels.

Customers

Conversations

Information

Communication Channels
Face to Face Phone E-mail Web

Marketing

Sales

Service

Customer Relationship Management

Social media is a new channel where organizations interact with their customers and customers with each other

Customers
Individuals are interacting with each other and with organizations in the social cloud. Organizations must follow their customers, prospects and partners into this new world. The lessons learned from integration of 1.0 e-channels should be leveraged as organizations add the social media channel into their overall customer interaction management. Social Media integration is not about rebuilding your CRM, It is merely another module to be integrated with it.

Conversations & Information Communication Channels

Face to Face Phone E-mail Web Social Media

Marketing

Sales

Service

Customer Relationship Management

Social media interaction is happening; whether you join in or you dont..

Absence from social media participation may lead to the following consequences Brand image can now be heavily influenced by the entire social cloud, whether the company participates or not. Organizations can leverage both the positive and negative feedback for marketing, sales and service. IT plays a critical role in supporting the organizational use of the social cloud while minimizing risks.

Social media is there whether we participate or not, therefore participation on our company's part isn't optional. - CIO, Manufacturing

You can use the people who are passionate about your brand effectively, but at the same time, you have to be mindful that there will be others who will say things that you dont want. What are you going to do? How are you going to deal with that? - Dr. Nicole Haggerty, Associate Professor

You have to know what the business model is in order to dictate what you restrict and what you don't along with knowing what the risk to IT and the infrastructure environment are. - Thomas Uyehara, IT Director, Independence First

Although there are risks that need to be managed when participating, there are also risks to the organization if they choose not to participate. Conduct an online search for Motrin Mom for a popular example of the power of social media in the absence of company involvement.

It serves multiple purposes: Marketing, Sales, and Service gains

Social media has applications in marketing, sales and customer service: Marketing: Social media can be used as an inexpensive and highly effective channel for advertising and creating brand awareness with customers and prospects. Sales: A number of social media services can be used to prospect for potential clients. Service: Social media can be used as an avenue for providing service to customers. Achieving social media gains is possible in both a B2C, B2B, and G2C context.: B2C organizations can achieve gains across all areas. B2B organizations can particularly benefit from customer acquisition and the ability to build more meaningful relationships. G2C, health care, non-profit and education organizations can leverage social media as an integral channel for effectively reaching out to stakeholders and citizens.

Social Media has demonstrated positive influence on brand image and customer share of mind
Building positive brand image Increasing mind share Improving customer satisfaction Gaining customer insights Increasing customer retention
14 12 7 13 10 6 38 39 39
6 31 17

53 55 56 38 20 16 24 15

12 8 20

21 24 18 24 33 40 35
46

Customer acquisition

Reducing cost of service 2 Increasing revenue

0% Fully achieved

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Partially achieved

Did not achieve

Not a goal

Social CRM: influence of social media in collecting more information and building better relationships
Social CRM refers to the hybridization and merging of social media with CRM. Social media is a powerful tool for communicating with customers, but relatively few organizations are linking social media to their customer relationship management. Social CRM is about using Web 2.0 technologies to better understand, communicate with and service customers. Information is power, and social CRM aims to provide companies with the most complete picture of the customer available.

Social CRM is taking advantage of edge infrastructure (social media) where we have access to communities of interest by linking them to the goals of our infrastructure (CRM) where we have better controls and measures. Social media strengthens the relationship in an environment where the customer is comfortable and familiar providing us an opportunity to bridge this trust into our organization. - IT Director, Public Administration

Social CRM goes beyond simple databases of customer information - it actively seeks to capture and analyze customer information and conversations that are available in the social media landscape.

Lack of formality results in manual, resource intensive processes that are difficult to measure
Sometimes social media initiatives are pursued in an ad-hoc manner rather than with a formal strategy and setting up appropriate technical solutions. Objectives are not clearly defined and efforts are in-coherent. In some instances, poor distribution of responsibilities causes confusion among people/teams. A formal social media strategy quantifies the goals, provides operational guidelines for existing CRM strategies and outlines ways to achieve them. Software solutions that integrate with CRM technology reduce the resource intensive processes required for ongoing social media involvement and keeps projects on track by providing reporting metrics. Social media and CRM are often being done without a defined strategy Many processes related to social media are being done manually, despite the existence of software solutions

Formally integrating social media and CRM technology pays off big dividends in goal achievement
Organizations that integrated their social media and CRM technology with software realized more of their goals Linking social media to existing customer relationship management solutions can improve information accuracy, reduce manual effort and provide more in-depth customer insights.
Several major CRM vendors are now offering products that integrate with popular social networking services (either natively or by providing support for third-party add-ons) For companies that have not formally integrated social media with customer relationship management, IT should develop the business case in conjunction with the applicable business-side partner (marketing, sales etc.). No Integration Software Integration

69

+68%

41

Social Media & CRM Technology

I.T has an important role to play in managing social media infrastructure and security

I.Ts primary role lies in providing necessary infrastructure and identifying and mitigating security concerns. Archiving content, providing reporting, managing integration and monitoring sites may be joint responsibilities or held by either side. The push for adoption usually comes from the business (for example, the marketing or communications department) and thus defining the goals and posting actual content lies with the business side.

IT manages infrastructure and security, while social media goals and content are typically handled by the business side
Social media technology support Managing social media security Social media content archival Providing social media reporting Social media and CRM integration
40% 40% 38% 20% 14%
11%

69% 62% 28% 19% 45% 35% 29%

26%

25% 24% 32% 41%

7% 14%

IT

18% 44% 57%

64%

Monitoring social media sites

Def ining the goals of social media Posting content to social media sites

Business
80% 100%

0% IT

20% Both

40% Business

60%

Road Map
Understanding Social Media Social Media Channels
Market Overview Value Proposition Role of I.T

Facebook

Twitter

Linked-in

YouTube

Blog

Strategize

Opportunity Assessment

Business Plan

Implement

Project Planning

Securing Privacy & Integrity

Social CRM vendors fit into three distinct categories

Social Media Services CRM Suites with Social Media Integration Social Channel Aggregators and Managers

Social CRM vendors can be categorized into three silos: social media services (i.e. Facebook, Twitter), CRM suites that feature social media integration (i.e. Oracle, Salesforce.com), and pureplay social channel aggregators and managers (such as TweetDeck and Socialware). Different products from the three silos can be brought together to create a cohesive social CRM platform.

Social media services allow consumers to create, manage and share content with each other
Social networking
There are four main types of services: social networking, blogging, micro-blogging and social multimedia. Social Networking: Social networking services allow users to communicate with their personal networks. These services rely on the friend-of-a-friend model of social interaction. Users can share a wide variety of information and media with one another. Prominent social networking sites include Facebook and LinkedIn. Blogging: Blogs are websites that allow users to upload text entries and media. Entries are typically displayed in reverse-chronological order, and often contain ongoing commentary and discussion of recent events. Prominent blogging services include Blogger and WordPress.

Blogging

MicroBlogging

Micro-Blogging: Micro-blogging is similar to blogs, with the exception that written content is typically limited to a set number of characters. For example, the popular microblogging service Twitter allows users to post messages up to 140 characters in length.
Social Multimedia: Social multimedia is an easy way for users to upload and share multimedia content (i.e. pictures and video) on a personal and community level. YouTube is most popular for video sharing, while Flickr is common for sharing photo albums.

Social Multimedia

In many cases, each service does not fit neatly into each category. While Facebook is focused on social networking, it also provides tools for sharing photo and videos. Conversely, YouTube includes basic social networking capabilities insofar as users can add each other as friends. With minor exceptions, creating an account on a social media service is free this makes using these services extremely cost effective.

Facebook is the worlds most popular social networking service; it is an indispensable tool for connecting with your customers
Facebook has the highest organizational adoption of any social networking service

Marketing

30%

Launched in 2004, Facebook is now the worlds most popular social networking service, boasting over 700 million users worldwide. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world. Users on Facebook can exchange messages, share photos and video, create event invitations and build pages dedicated to specific topics or products. Many companies have found that maintaining a presence on Facebook is essential for connecting with both current and prospective customers. As the sites popularity continues to grow, companies must follow their customers to the service. Companies are also monitoring Facebook to gather consumer thoughts and perceptions about their brands. The site can be an invaluable tool for gaining product marketing insights.

Sales

13%

Service

13%

0%

10%

20%

30%

Twitter is a versatile communication channel; the service is extremely useful for pushing out real-time information
Although relatively new, Twitter has seen widespread adoption by businesses
Marketing
22%

Launched in 2006, Twitter is a popular micro-blogging website that allows users to post short messages up to 140 characters in length. Users can follow one another on the site. When a user updates his or her Twitter feed, a notification is pushed out to everyone following the account. This makes Twitter an indispensible tool for quickly disseminating information. Twitter has rapidly gained traction as a viable service for pushing out real-time updates about products and services, corporate news and information bulletins. Many organizations are opening Twitter accounts in order to better communicate with their customer bases. Several forward-thinking businesses (such as Dell) are now using Twitter as an additional avenue for customer service.

Sales

10%

Service 0% 10%

13% 20% 30%

LinkedIn is the business formal of social networking; the service is valuable for B2B lead generation and prospecting
LinkedIn is particularly useful for sales and marketing, especially in a B2B context

LinkedIn is a social networking service targeted at working professionals. The site is geared towards building and communicating with professional networks (as opposed to services such as Facebook, which emphasize staying in touch with family and friends). LinkedIn features group pages where users can associate with one another based on characteristics like career interest or alumni affiliation. In addition to giving users the ability to create individual profiles, the site also maintains several company profile pages. Users can view company details such as industry and demographics. The site features LinkedIn Answers, where users can pose questions and receive answers from other members of the LinkedIn community. LinkedIns rich collection of business profiles makes it a valuable service for sales prospecting. The site is also popular as a recruitment tool.

Marketing

10%

Sales

7%

Service

2%

0%

10%

20%

30%

YouTube is the leading video sharing service; it is the unrivalled medium for building awareness through viral advertising
YouTube is used predominantly for raising product awareness

Since its inception in 2005, YouTube has rapidly grown to become one of the most popular websites in the world. The service allows users to upload and publish video content free-of-charge. Content on YouTube ranges from home videos to movie trailers to viral advertising campaigns. User accounts on YouTube are referred to as channels. The site provides comprehensive tools for managing video content, including basic video and audio editing. The site provides a free analytics tool called YouTube Insights that can be used to track the referrers and demographics of those viewing a video. This makes the site useful for gathering customer insights. YouTube is extremely valuable for hosting video content such as viral advertisements; because the site is free, hosting video content on YouTube is more bandwidth-effective than hosting it locally. YouTube provides a channel for distributing video content for smaller organizations lacking the media budgets to purchase TV airtime.

Marketing

11%

Sales

3%

Service 0%

4% 10% 20% 30%

Blogs: from online diaries to global boardrooms where every thing from manufacturing to marketing is discussed
43% of US companies will be blogging in 2012
39% 43%

34%

Blogging started in the 1990s as online diaries. In 2011 Huffington Post, which became the largest blog in the world was sold to AOL for $315 million. Blogging has changed! Blogging platforms such as WordPress and a web that makes sharing efficient and viral are transforming how we produce, consume and engage with knowledge and information. Publishing is evolving to whole new level that is global, instant and multimedia. Blogs offer a wide spectrum of information that is used by corporations. From discussion panels and focus groups to customer experience and sales promotions; there is virtually no limit to what a blog cannot address. Blogs are used as feedback mechanisms for products and services and produce real time results that can be used to improve a multitude of product aspects.

29% 25% 16%

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Not all social networking services are created equal: some are more useful than others for achieving certain goals
Different social media services are more effective than others for reaching different goals. For example, YouTube is useful as an avenue for distributing marketing campaigns, but its of substantially less use for sales functions like lead generation.
Domain Opportunity
Building Positive Brand Image Increasing Mind Share Gaining Customer Insights Gaining Sales Insights
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube Blog

Marketing

Potentially Useful
Proven Useful*

Sales

Increasing Revenue Customer Acquisition Customer Satisfaction

Service

Increasing Customer Retention

Reducing Cost of Service

Incumbent CRM vendors are rapidly integrating social media with their solutions as they realize its potential value
CRM Suites with Social Media Integration

Rapid adoption of social media by consumers has driven most large vendors of CRM solutions to integrate social media functionality into their products. Some vendors (such as Oracle) natively support social channels, while others (such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SugarCRM) are dependant on third-party tools (like InsideView) to enable social media functionality. While social media integration has been proceeding quickly, it is still a relatively new direction for most CRM vendors. As a result, integration hasnt reached full maturity yet. This is an area where further development and refinement can be expected.

Due to the rapid adoption of social media by incumbent CRM vendors, the market for pure-play social channel aggregators and managers will be smaller than the market for similar Web 1.0 services.

Oracle and Salesforce.com are leading vendors that have integrated social media into their CRM products
Oracle leverages social media to drive sales performance. Oracle has incorporated social media into its sales prospecting and automation solutions. Currently, Oracles Sales Prospector OnDemand pulls potential clients from both internal and external data sources. Third-party plug-ins allow Oracles Social CRM suites to integrate with services like LinkedIn, pulling contact information such as job title and background. Salesforce.com provides cloud-native CRM solutions. Salesforce.com provides a comprehensive tool set for managing customer conversations in social media space. Salesforce can link to Facebook and Twitter. Currently, social media can be used as a channel for lead generation and sales management, as well as customer service.

Pure-play vendors provide social channel aggregators and managers that can be used to harness the power of social media
Social channel aggregators

Social channel managers

With the proliferation of different social media services, a number of vendors have begun offering pure-play social channel aggregators and social channel management solutions. Social channel aggregators collate and summarize information from several social media services (for example, Facebook and Twitter) and allow users to simultaneously update multiple social media accounts across multiple services. This can be a tremendous time-saver for both collecting customer insights as well as publishing information to social media services. Social channel managers are applications and vendors that provide services for managing social channels. For example, social channel managers may monitor social media services for consumer thoughts and perceptions about a particular brand, or they may provide on-demand analytics for tracking how consumers are clicking through to the firms social media pages.

Using a combination of social channel aggregators and managers can simplify social media campaigns while accumulating useful analytics and archiving content to meet security needs.

TweetDeck and Socialware are breaking new ground in the pure-play social channel aggregator and manager market
TweetDeck makes managing multiple services easy by aggregating Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn TweetDeck aggregates feeds from several popular social networking services, and displays them in a unified manner. This eliminates having to continuously check multiple social networking sites. Presently, TweetDeck supports Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn. TweetDeck can also be used to simultaneously update multiple user accounts across several different services. TweetDecks ability to aggregate and sort information combined with its update functionality make it a versatile tool for managing social media initiatives. Socialware provides numerous value-added social channel management services Socialware bills itself as the first social middleware company, an accurate label given the range of social channel management solutions it provides. Socialware Compass is a product that allows companies to implement and automate their social media policies by providing internal access controls, content archival and backup, content moderation, and analytics for monitoring and tracking use of social media usage. Subscriptions to Socialwares services start at $100 per month.

Insource Performance Solutions uses InsideView to monitor and gather information from social media channels
Insource is a business-to-business organization that provides labor and staffing solutions to companies primarily focused on manufacturing and distribution. They employ approximately 2,000 people. Instead of approaching social media as a task for individuals, they chose a monitoring solution that enables their entire sales and business development teams to deliver a specific message.
Summary:

Insource was looking for a tool to streamline their sales forces efforts to gather online information about prospects and customers. They chose InsideView to aggregate information within SugarCRM in a meaningful way that complements how they go to market. This enables Insource to expand client relationships, search for new opportunities, and leverage data from social media for prospecting. In addition to monitoring brand mentions and actions, InsideView compiles reference connectors that link Insources customers and prospects through LinkedIn, providing insight into relationships that may be leveraged to increase sales.
As we talk with prospects and customers were engaging in conversations that are relevant to them because we are better informed. These tools are enabling sales and they also, in my view - and I dont think Im alone, help us serve our customers better. And anything that does that is a good investment on our part. - Chip Meyers, Sales Operation Manager, Insource

Insource relies on InsideView within SugarCRM to provide the most complete picture of a customer

Monitoring company name mentions provides insight into your clients activities and the conversations in which they are engaged.

Information harvested from social media channels is integrated into client records for easy access without the manual task of searching across multiple channels.

InsideView uses LinkedIn to display the connections associated with members of Insources customer database

LinkedIn network connections are related to clients already in your database for easier prospecting.

Road Map
Understand
Market Overview Value to Organizations ITs Role Risk Mitigation

Compare Strategize
Implement

Social Media Vendor Segmentation

Opportunity Assessment

Business Plan

Project Planning

Securing Privacy & Integrity

Info-Tech Research Group

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Social media opportunities exist in marketing, sales and service

1. Build Positive Brand Image 2. Increase Mind Share 3. Gain Marketing Customer Insights

Marketing

Customers

1. Increase Revenue 2. Customer Acquisition 3. Gain Sales Insights

Face to Face

Conversations & Information Communication Channels

Phone E-mail Web Social Media

Sales Service

1. Improve Customer Satisfaction 2. Increase Customer Retention 3. Reduce Cost of Service

Marketing

Sales

Service

Customer Relationship Management

Info-Tech Research Group 33

Social media can be effectively used for marketing purposes when target customer segments overlap user demographics.

Share information and listen to customers to improve brand image and increase mind share
Customers

The top 3 marketing opportunities are:

1 2
3

Positive Brand Image: Organizations can use social media to promote a positive brand image. This is particularly important for organizations generally vulnerable to negative press or consumer discontent.
Interaction Goals:

Increased Mind Share. Social media can reach large audiences at very low monetary cost, giving organizations another medium to promote their organization/brand to increase awareness. Related Research: Getting Social with E-Mail Marketing Campaigns Customer Insights: Users discuss experiences with products/services via social media. Monitoring social media can provide valuable feedback on your products as well as on those of competitors for product intelligence.
Info-Tech Research Group

Positive Brand Image Increased Mind Share Customer Insights

Communication Channels
Social Media

Marketing

Customer Relationship Management

34

Social media can be exploited for a variety of sales purposes when acquisition and sales can be linked to existing sales processes.

Connect with new prospects for customer acquisition and revenue generation
Customers

The top 3 sales opportunities are:

Increased Revenue: An additional channel for organizations to provide product and service information that can convert consumers researching a product/service into a sale or encourage future purchases with coupons.
Customer Acquisition: Social media can be exploited for lead generation, particularly by leveraging the FOAF model in B2B scenarios. Many CRM Vendors are linking platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook to its sales automation software to enable sales to leverage referrals through their business and personal networks. Customer Insights: Consumer buying behaviors and patterns can be gathered by monitoring social media sites and then used to design sales delivery models.
Info-Tech Research Group

2 3

Interaction Goals:
Increased Revenue Customer Acquisition Customer Insights

Communication Channels
Social Media

Sales

Customer Relationship Management

35

Engage with your customers via social media to provide more meaningful service and support for satisfaction and retention
Social media provides another channel for organizations to respond to customer inquiries or service issues.

Customers

1 2 3

The top 3 service opportunities include:

Improving Customer Satisfaction: Customers that receive more timely and personal service in the medium that they prefer will be more satisfied.
Interaction Goals:

Increasing Customer Retention. Using social media with customers builds barriers to exit since customers are engaged using a medium they prefer something the organization needs to offer to remain competitive.

Improving Customer Satisfaction Increasing Customer Retention Reducing Cost of Service

Communication Channels
Social Media

Reducing Cost of Service: Organizations use social media to quickly and efficiently respond to customer service issues. The answer to the problem can be public, making it searchable by other customers that have the same request.

Customer Service

Customer Relationship Management

Info-Tech Research Group 36

implementations across the nine social media opportunity areas

The following slides provide social media cases at a variety of organizational types. Each case is evaluated using Info-Techs social media scorecard to help you understand how success looks for different organizations.
The Social Media Scorecard: Area of Opportunity Marketing Social Media Goals Build a positive brand image Increase mind share Gain customer insights Increase revenue per customer Acquire customers Gain customer insights Increase customer retention Increase customer satisfaction Reduce cost of serving customers

We evaluated four organizations across all major social media platforms: Dell H & R Block Scripps Health State of Vermont The effectiveness of their social media campaigns is directly related to goals in the social media scorecard. We also looked at exemplary cases in individual social media channels: The Coffee Groundz (Facebook) CME Group (Twitter) Zappos (Twitter) BooneOakley (YouTube) Control Engineering (LinkedIN)

Marketing Marketing Sales Sales Sales Service Service Service

These cases are meant to illustrate how social media can be applied to a variety of organizations. An opportunity assessment follows so that you can determine what areas exist for your specific situation.
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Info-Tech Research Group

 Dell Inc. is a multinational information technology corporation that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. They are extremely successful across all platforms. Their focus is on driving sales and building relationships through enhanced customer service. One of the most notable companies to successfully monetize their initiatives, Dell reported achieving $3 million in revenue directly through Twitter since 2007.
Cross-platform summary:

Dell is used as the standard by which other social media campaigns are measured

Dells page includes an app that enables a user to configure a custom laptop, share the resulting product, and then connect seamlessly with Dells online store. Also includes an app that connects Facebook fans directly with Dell customer service. 27 Twitter accounts include geo-targeted offers for consumers, offers for business, tech support, customer support, and customer insight aggregation. They engage in extensive brand monitoring and customer engagement.

The videos on Dells YouTube channel have been viewed over 4.3 million times. Videos are created for both consumer and business audiences, and are used cross-platform with integration into Facebook and referrals from Twitter.
Dell uses LinkedIN for employee collaboration and communication as well as recruiting for global operations. Groups for Dell Certified Specialists are open for networking and discussion.
Info-Tech Research Group 38

Dells Facebook apps integrate with online sales and customer service

Generate brand awareness through community endorsement by building apps that are easy to share. Increase sales with direct integration of the app and your online store.

A dedicated support team is recommended to ensure timely responses to service requests. Our testing with Dell revealed response times of thirty minutes or less.

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Dells Twitter streams drive sales and provide customer service

Measure conversion from each social media source by providing links to tracked landing pages. Analytics through a URL -shortner such as http://bit.ly offer insight into clickthrough rates. Info-Tech Research Group 40

Dells comprehensive social media strategy produces wins for marketing, sales, and service
Dells approach of incorporating sales, marketing/branding, and customer service into their social media initiatives makes their campaigns remarkably successful.

Social Media Goals

Building positive brand image
Increasing mind share Improving customer satisfaction Gaining customer insights Increasing customer retention Increasing revenue per customer Customer acquisition Reducing cost of servicing customers

Associated Activities
Extensive brand monitoring and rapid response to potentially inflammatory comments Outreach activities that keep Dell top-of-mind Authority granted to CSRs to resolve customer issues via Social Media Aggressively solicit customer opinions Maintains focus on conversation post-sale Uptake on special offers is high Seamless integration with online store Unknown; customer service and sales are dominant drivers of Dells strategy

Achieved

Info-Tech Insight:
Many of your prospective buyers may already be using web channels; if you neglect to address those customers using social media, your audience is likely to choose a competitor who is established in this space.
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 H&R Block is a tax preparation company in the United States claiming more than 22 million customers worldwide. They operate offices in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. H&R Block relies on social media as an avenue for providing comprehensive customer service. They interact with customers by answering tax questions and offering advice. They are quick to address and resolve negative experiences people are discussing via social media.
Cross-platform summary:

H&R Blocks approach to social media is driven by service

H&R Blocks Facebook page has over 14,000 fans and is built around customer service and client engagement. They have created apps that are interactive, informative, and easy-to-share. Reps quickly and directly respond to both positive and negative comments posted on their wall. H&R Block uses Twitter as a powerful customer service tool, engaging in brand monitoring to ensure that no mention of H&R Block goes unanswered. Multiple customer service reps are authorized to use this account to create one stream of ongoing support. Branding and marketing are the primary objectives of H&R Blocks YouTube channel. Their videos, a combination of commercials and instructional videos, have been viewed over 1.7 million times. They have also completely customized the YouTube interface to be branded consistently with their website.
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and motivates users to share content

Use the tabs of your page as a miniwebsite that addresses user experience first and branding second. Make your tabs relevant to the problem your customer is trying to solve.

Creating a quiz and adding it to your page requires no special programming ability.
This is a quick way to provide fans with an interactive experience while promoting your brand in their news feed. Info-Tech Research Group 43

H&R Block answers questions and solves complaints via Twitter

Number of followers is an obvious metric but often is not the meter by which success on Twitter should be measured. Monitor mentions of your brand so you can address comments or concerns whenever people are tweeting about you, whether they are a follower or not.

Direct messages can only be seen by the sender and recipient. Communicate via DM sparingly, or when sensitive information is being shared, so the rest of the community can see how engaged and attentive your organization is. Info-Tech Research Group 44

H&R Block successfully achieves marketing and service goals

H&R Blocks extensive brand monitoring and employee customer service outreach make social media a powerful tool to reach current and potential customers, as well as increase mind share. Associated Activities
Extensive brand monitoring and rapid response to negative or damaging remarks to alleviate potential brand impact
Social outreach activities that keep H&R Block top-of-mind when customers are searching for tax advice/information Authority granted to CSRs to resolve customer issues via Social Media Provide opportunities for customer interaction and solicit opinions Timely responses to customer questions increases the likelihood of repeat business Revenue affected indirectly through customer satisfaction; initiative is not sales-driven Unknown; although unproven, it is likely that positive branding will affect customers not already engaged Unknown; customer service is the driver behind H&R Blocks strategy

Social Media Goals

Building positive brand image Increasing mind share Improving customer satisfaction Gaining customer insights Increasing customer retention Increasing revenue per customer Customer acquisition Reducing cost of servicing customers

Achieved

Info-Tech Insight:
Organizations whose primary social media driver is improved service can still leverage customer interaction to increase customer acquisition through shareable content and viral special offers.
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Scripps Health uses social media to connect patients and employees

Scripps Health is a nonprofit health care system based in San Diego, California. The system includes four hospitals and 19 outpatient facilities, and treats a half-million patients annually through 2,600 affiliated physicians. The social media strategy employed by Scripps Health is centered on inviting conversation between patients and employees, fostering community and generating positive branding opportunities.

Cross-platform summary:

Scripps Healths Facebook page is intended for both employees and patients. The comments on their wall include open-ended discussion questions about medical issues with responses from employees to encourage debate, as well as posts highlighting employee contributions and achievements. Scripps Healths twitter account has over 5,000 followers. A recent sample showed that approximately 50% of their tweets are in direct reply to someone who has mentioned Scripps Health in a tweet, with the remainder split between sharing company news and promoting local events. The videos on Scripps Healths YouTube channel have been viewed more than 79,000 times and offer a combination of health care news, patient stories, and company news and PR. They have created a YouTube group for health-care professionals, a technique that shows promise in connecting similar-minded organizations for the purpose of increasing visibility.

I do consider [our social media efforts] successful, and growing more so everyday. It's a slow process, but there have been numerous examples of patient experiences that have been made better because we were listening, and then reaching out. - G. Anderson, Marketing & Communications, Scripps Health
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Scripps Healths Facebook page encourages patient interaction

Raise the profile of your organization for visitors to your Facebook page by highlighting employee contributions and company news.

Encourage employees to become fans of your page and contribute to the discussion to enrich the patient experience.

Leverage your content across social media platform by syndicating content via RSS.

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Scripps Health builds community on Twitter and YouTube

Customer (patient) stories and testimonials posted on your YouTube channel are a natural fit for social media and should be shared with your fans/followers across all social media channels.

Encourage employees who are tasked with manning your social media initiatives to inject personal comments to add dimension to the conversation. People follow/friend other people, not organizations.

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Scripps Health demonstrates a solid healthcare social media strategy

Scripps Healths use of social media to connect patients and employees creates opportunities for effective conflict resolution and for positive branding within their community. Associated Activities
Focuses on community activities and positive contributions by employees Seeks out people who are discussing Scripps Health and initiates conversation, highlights positive comments

Social Media Goals

Building positive brand image Increasing mind share Improving customer satisfaction Gaining customer insights Increasing customer retention Increasing revenue per customer Customer acquisition Reducing cost of servicing customers

Achieved

The team manning their social media initiatives is able to provide conflict resolution or refer to someone who can
Offers insight into community needs through open discussion Little indication of follow-up with patients past the initial conversation Building awareness and employee retention are more significant Unknown; recruiting given high priority Unlikely; numerous comments from patients are initiated because the medium is available and are unlikely to have prompted a phone call or other contact

Info-Tech Insight:
Building community via social media helps connect patients and health care support services for improved patient satisfaction.
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The State of Vermont employs over 7,000 people. It had to deal with social media initiatives that were being created independently and without standard process. Their audience was already interacting with non-sanctioned pages and accounts. While the conversation happening in the social arena was largely positive, it did not leave recourse in the event of questionable postings. The state CIO worked with the Chief Marketing Officer to develop a plan for official pages that include administrators who monitor communications for objectionable content 365 days a year.
Cross-platform summary:

media conversation for marketing gains

Official Vermont marketing pages have been created around tourism and state parks, with 3,000 to 5,000 fans. The unsanctioned Vermont fan page has over 21,000 fans who are passionate about sharing their opinions. They are a very engaged community that should be leveraged and not excluded from official communications. Two notable official Twitter streams (VermontGov and VermontTourism) are run by their respective agencies, with the official account having almost 1,800 followers. This account is used purely as a broadcast medium. Vermont Tourism has 4,400 followers, is following 3,500 people, and is actively engaging in two-way conversation as well as promotion. The videos on Vermont Tourisms YouTube channel have been viewed over 17,000 times. Videos include traditional television commercials and long-form promotional videos created specifically for this medium. In addition to casual browsers, the channel has 59 followers who are attentive and interested: one recent video garnered 25 views in the first three hours .
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Vermonts Facebook presence is overshadowed by a pre-existing fan page

Note: This is a fan page in the original sense of the word: this page was created, not by government agencies, but by a fan.

Harness the motivation of independent fans who are inclined to help you with positive branding. Acknowledge their efforts even when they lie outside your official strategy.

Having a sanctioned and official page satisfies your need for quality control, but gaining customer insight is easier when the conversation is already started.

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Vermonts government Twitter account is a one-sided affair, which limits its effectiveness
Following a low number of people limits the amount of noise you have to filter when interacting with your audience. This is common when a Twitter account is automated to publish updates (via RSS, for example)

The absence of RT (re-tweet) or @name tweets indicates that this account is not interacting with anyone.
Use Twitter as a communication facilitator, not a broadcast medium for press releases.

Info-Tech Insight:
Limiting the amount of interaction you have with your audience also restricts the benefits you can expect when participating in social media.
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Vermonts conservative strategy is a safe approach for positive branding

Limiting the amount of interaction they have with their audience also restricts the benefits Vermont can expect when participating in social media. They have a solid foundation on which to build. Associated Activities
Actively positioning Vermont in a positive light Social media content is increasingly showing up in search engines, so it is probable that someone searching for Vermont will also have access to this content When present, fan/follower interaction is prompt Conversation is largely promotional Focus is on brand building N/A Interactions are occurring with current fans and followers Unknown; savings may be present if social media is replacing traditional advertising

Social Media Goals

Building positive brand image Increasing mind share Improving customer satisfaction Gaining customer insights Increasing customer retention Increasing revenue per customer Customer acquisition Reducing cost of servicing customers

Achieved

Info-Tech Insight:
Developing a social media presence is not an all-or-nothing endeavor. Assess each medium on its own merits and dedicate resources accordingly.
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The Coffee Groundz gives their audience an online gathering place on Facebook
The Coffee Groundz is a small business in Houston, Texas. It has built a strong Facebook following by promoting in-store and community events, along with advertising exclusive special offers for Facebook fans. They currently have over 1,650 fans. Their fans are extremely active, posting photos and videos of events hosted at The Coffee Groundz.

Social Media Goal

Positive brand image

Increased mind share Increase customer satisfaction Gain customer insights Increase customer retention Increase revenue per customer Acquire customers Reduce cost of serving customers Info-Tech Research Group Encourage participation and feedback by publishing photo/video contributions on your wall. 54

With over 750,000 followers, CME Group tweets about global economic and financial news. They are diligent about responding to their followers and engaging in conversation despite the volume of tweets. They have posted an impressive 6,600 tweets and have empowered their employees to work in a variety of Twitter clients, including HootSuite, TweetDeck, Twitter for Blackberry, and OpenBeak.
Social Media Goal Positive brand image Increased mind share Increase customer satisfaction Gain customer insights Increase customer retention Increase revenue per customer Acquire customers Reduce cost of serving customers

CME empowers a team of employees relative in size to their number of followers

Reciprocate positive sentiments by calling out by @name those who are contributing to your conversation. 55

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Zappos.com has almost 500 employees on Twitter dedicated to customer service and retention
Approx 500 Zappos employees are on Twitter, including the CEO, tasked with providing exceptional customer service and positive brand representation. Customers can talk directly to a customer service representative about a previous, current or future purchase, issues with the Zappos.com website, or ideas for future products and improvements.

Social Media Goal Positive brand image Increased mind share Increase customer satisfaction Gain customer insights Increase customer retention Increase revenue per customer Acquire customers Reduce cost of serving customers Be transparent about who is tweeting. Zappos.com CEO, Tony Hsieh, has gained over 1.6 million followers by being open about his position and sharing unvarnished thoughts about his company. 56

Info-Tech Research Group

BooneOakley builds on the aspects of YouTubes interactivity that go virtually untapped by most users
Ad agency BooneOakley has taken the interactivity potential of YouTube and turned it into their website. www.BooneOakley.com points to their main YouTube video, which utilizes the Flash component of YouTube to link to other videos that correspond with the different traditional pages of their website.

Social Media Goal Positive brand image Increased mind share Increase customer satisfaction Gain customer insights Increase customer retention Increase revenue per customer Acquire customers Reduce cost of serving customers Create collateral that takes advantage of the capabilities of each medium. BooneOakleys site demonstrates the capabilities YouTube has to transform videos into full-fledged web content that interacts seamlessly with other components of your website. 57

Info-Tech Research Group

Control Engineering uses LinkedIn groups to connect and discuss, not to sell
B-to-B magazine Control Engineering built a community for engineers that focuses on members' needs for expertise and in-depth advice, both from their peers and from easy access to editorial content. The most interesting discussions were then used as articles in their print publication, which encouraged subscribers to find and use the LinkedIn group.
Social Media Goal Positive brand image Increased mind share Increase customer satisfaction Gain customer insights Increase customer retention Increase revenue per customer Acquire customers Reduce cost of serving customers Start a discussion that sparks interaction with your employee representatives.

If your group gets off track, moderate with discretion. You may still find valuable insights in the conversation.
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Assess which social media opportunities exist for your organization with Info-Techs tool
Not all organizations will strive to achieve results in all three areas of opportunity. Use Info-Techs Social Media Opportunity Assessment Tool to determine, based on your unique criteria, where opportunity exists for your organization in marketing, sales and service.

Info-Tech Advice: 1. Remember that departmental goals will overlap; gaining customer insight is valuable to sales, marketing and customer service. The social media benefits you can expect to achieve will evolve as your processes mature. Often, organizations jump into social media because they feel they have to. Use this assessment to identify early on what your drivers should be.
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2.

3.

management strategy and achievable opportunities in Info-Techs business plan template

Use the results from the opportunity assessment to build a Social Media Business Plan for the enterprise. Document business justifications for specific near-term customer interaction management-related projects. Info-Tech Advice: 1. 2. 3. Include 2-3 business stakeholders and one person from IT in the creation of the business plan. Use this framework to quick-start your projects at the same time that the strategy is being developed. Your social media strategy may be used across many customer interaction management-related projects. This document is intended to mature and grow with subsequent projects. Identify both the potential gains as well as the risks of social media, and how you plan to mitigate those.

4.

Info-Tech Insight:
If the term social media carries a negative connotation in your organization, then terms like customer channel strategy or customer interaction management could be substituted.
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Road Map
Understand
Market Overview Value to Organizations ITs Role Risk Mitigation

Compare Strategize
Implement

Social Media Vendor Segmentation

Opportunity Assessment

Business Plan

Project Planning

Securing Privacy & Integrity

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Build your plan, test your theories, and grow your interaction level based on your results
Dont jump into social media all at once; build your plan in stages.

Example Social Media Implementation Timeline

Little to no measurable benefits Benefits become visible for marketing and service

Sales, marketing, and customer service benefits are seen and measured

One-sided interactions

Multi-faceted conversations

Begin by building your Facebook fan page and setting up your Twitter account Focus on following other people, joining groups, and locating your customers where they are using social media

Build your following by posting relevant information, asking questions, replying to brand mentions Establish your presence on LinkedIn by creating a discussion group Create a YouTube channel and post videos link to and from other social media accounts

Aggressively seek out brand mentions and provide conflict resolution Integrate social media sales efforts with your website Social channel manager or aggregator implemented to integrate with CRM suite Advertise your social media presence in all other collateral: your website, brochures, business cards, etc. 62

Info-Tech Research Group

Use this comprehensive project charter template to keep multiple departments on the same page
A social media project is a multi-departmental undertaking that must be managed well to be successful. Document the process in Info-Techs Social CRM Project Charter Template to ensure project success. Info-Tech Advice: 1. If you cannot assign FTEs to social media activities, be sure to clearly outline time expectations of part-time social media reps. Provide a framework for obtaining and reporting metrics and project successes. Be prepared to evaluate frequently and reassign priorities as your project progresses. Your audience will tell you which opportunities will be most successful (sales, marketing, and/or customer service).

2. 3.

Info-Tech Insight:
Due to the rapidly changing nature of social media, project requirements need to be both well-defined and flexible.
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Secure privacy and integrity by managing organizational use of social media with this policy
The use of external social media within organizations for business purposes is here to stay. The risk of inappropriate information transfer between personal and business contacts must be mitigated by implementing Info-Techs Social Media Acceptable Use Policy. Info-Tech Advice: 1. Separate employee use of public social networks for personal purposes from official employee use of these networks for business purposes. Establish guidelines for privacy settings in user profiles on public social networks aimed at consumers (Facebook, MySpace and Friendster). Prohibit installation of additional applications from a public social network platforms application partners without IT approval. It is the responsibility of the business unit to monitor individual group member activity.

2.

3.

4.

Info-Tech Insight:
Tools to establish barriers between personal and private networks and tools to centrally manage accounts are only beginning to emerge. Start with the implementation of a paper policy.
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Conclusion

Social media is not a new world: its an add-on to existing channels. Youve always been communicating with your customers and social media provides another medium to leverage. Integrating social media and CRM technology is crucial to achieving goals. ITs primary role is managing social media infrastructure and security The technology decision involves evaluating vendors in three distinct categories: social media services, CRM suites, and social channel aggregators/managers. Determine what social media opportunities exist for your organization in marketing, sales and service. Leverage current real-world implementations for lessons learned. A social media implementation is a multi-department undertaking that should be managed with a business plan and project charter. Your social media plan should be built in stages.

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Appendix
Tools & Templates Associated with This Solution Set:
Understand
Leverage Social Media for Customer Interaction(Video)

Strategize
Social Media Opportunity Assessment Tool Social Media Business Plan Template

Implement
Social CRM Project Charter Social Media Acceptable Use Policy

Related Research:
Customer Interaction Management in a Web 2.0 World Public Social Networks for Business: Is a FOAF a Foe? Four Companies Benefit from the Friend of a Friend: A Social Networking Saga Getting Social with E-Mail Marketing Campaigns Social Networking and Recruiting: Reap the Benefits; Reduce the Risks

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