Sales ROI - Social Media

Social Media ROI Series Part 5: Sales

Members of the c-suite like this ultimate ROI. Will it boost our sales? They tend to ask immediately. Who wouldn’t? I mean, businesses exist to make sales. The more sales a business makes, the more profits it makes in that financial year. However, businesses involved in e-commerce, stand a better chance of reaping this rewards through social media efforts.

According to Peter Friedman, LiveWorld, ‘There are two types of sales ROI. Firstly, there is the direct revenue lift brands see when they push promotions through social.’

Direct revenue, because of direct sales; belong to the short-term category of sales ROI. In this category, all that businesses want is to sale, sale…sale! They will post a product, its price, and a bold call to action, prompting immediate sales. This is a characteristic of businesses in the e-commerce industry.

Through a social media program, a business can make direct sales (short-term) by offering their products up for sale and or through promotions. Through coupons and or sales promotions, products can indeed move. As we know, immediate sales, is what members of the c-suite want to see: making it quite a challenge.

‘Of course, short-term sales are not bad. They’re good—as long as the promotional push to make them happen doesn’t compromise building a social experience with committed, long-term customer relationships (and the revenue they create).’ says, Peter.

If your goal is to drive sales, it is advisable that you embed call to actions in your messages and or have some metric in place that will show you how you are doing in regards to making sales. For instance, having a link on social media that directs the visitor to a landing page and or sign-up to a newsletter page, and or build a mailing list. These are good places to start. The key is to have some way of measuring your sales efforts.

‘Long-term sales ROI generated from relationship-building ROI when customers become active with the brand community, form a deeper relationship, and build a space for the brand and its products in there and their friends’ everyday lives. Here is where we see increased loyalty, increased lifetime customer value, and enhanced revenue growth that is sustained overtime.’ says Peter.

Still on the path to making sales, businesses can decide to go the long route and or short route. Instead of hitting their visitors with hard selling messages, they choose to forge a relationship first. Then cultivate that relationship into a lifetime customer.

This is the best route businesses are always advised to take. In the process, they not only make sales but also, convert total strangers into loyal and lifetime customers. Who better to evangelize your products and or services other than your customers?

Research has shown that people will tend to buy more if they get recommendations from close relations, compared to advertising and or persuasions by a business. Then why not leverage this opportunity? Make her want to talk about your products and or services, wherever they are.

In the sales funnel, for which social media plays a critical part, its takes time to convert a prospect. Holding his hand all the way from awareness, interest, decision, and action needs patience. In addition, social media plays a pivotal role in taking a prospect through all the stages.

In conclusion, knowing social media ROI is key to knowing the value any social media program brings to the table. Without which, any social media efforts would be seen as throwing away money. Knowing which ROI to be on the lookout for helps in finding a way forward. Knowing what works and what does not.

If you missed my earlier posts on social media ROI, read them here. I would love to hear from you on this. Until then, happy reading.

Welcome to our place of business.

Social Media ROI Series Part 4: Relationship Building

We are all familiar with the business motto: ‘A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so.’

                                              

This motto has served many businesses in understanding that at the center of their operations is the customer. They (customers) determine the growth of a business. That is why organizations spend a fortune in recruiting new customers and still work round the clock to keep the old ones.

Knowing this, businesses then try to find ways to ensure that they build a formidable client base: which can be achieved through good customer relations. What businesses will realize is that social media can aid in cultivating good customer relationships, which will then lead to sustainable sales ROI.

“Delivering outstanding service [through social] creates impassioned advocates and can serve as a powerful marketing weapon for companies,” according to Jim Bush, Executive Vice President of American Express World Service, in a company press release. 

“For example, consumers who have used social media for service in the last year are willing to pay a 21 percent premium at companies that provide great service. They also tell three times as many people about positive service experiences compared to the general population. Ultimately, getting service right with these social media–savvy consumers can help a business grow.”  He adds.

Jim's testament, further proves the value of building relationships on the social web. On that note, social media delivers the following benefits:

• Customer Loyalty
• Brand Advocacy
•  Intent To Buy

Customer Loyalty

This is a result of consistently providing positive emotional experience, physical attribute-based satisfaction and perceived value of an experience, which includes the product or services.

According to beyondphilosophy, to build customer loyalty, customer experience management blends the physical, emotional and value elements of an experience into one cohesive experience.

It is said, retaining customers is less expensive than acquiring new ones, and customer experience management is the most cost-effective way to drive customer satisfaction, customer retention and customer loyalty.

Not only do loyal customers ensure sales, but also they are also more likely to purchase ancillary, high-margin supplemental products, and services. Loyal customers reduce costs associated with consumer education and marketing, especially when they become Net Promoters for your organization.

Brand Advocacy

The big and famous brands use brand advocates:  people who talk favourably about the brand and pass on positive word-of-mouth  messages to other people.

One thing a small business owner should know is that brand advocates are just as important to a small business as they are to the bigger corporations out there. People like to buy from companies or people that they know and trust, and they tend not to buy from those they do not.

However, how do you build that trust, particularly online? How do you get customers to come to you without spending a lot of money on advertising? By setting up a social site, and sharing topics that are of interest to your target audience.

Intent to buy

This is the ultimate goal of all business relationships. Yes, a business will feel good having a cohort of loyal customers. Having them (brand ambassadors) sell your business name, services and or products to their peers. 

However, building a relationship to the point that customers desire your products and or services and eventually decide to act on their desires, is the ultimate ROI.

For a business to walk the journey from building relationships and converting page visitors into loyal customers all the way to repeat buyers, takes good relationship building skills. Social media has provided a platform for which we can spend less, reach many people, and establish a connection. One that would eventually lead to sales. 

By monitoring the sales metric, you are able to quantify the value social media is bringing to the table. Understanding ROI helps us stand firm, and set our eyes on the prize.

If you missed by previous post, read it here.

Social Media ROI - Learning

Social Media ROI Series Part 3: Learning

As technology finds its way into the hearts of businesses, revolutionizing the way we do business, only the fittest brands will survive. Why not be among the fittest?

Those operating businesses, always feel their lungs crushing whenever there is a new player in the market. This is years after the pioneers thought that they had the only keys to the kingdom. Suddenly they realize people are willing to make their own keys and thus doors. Making it clear that the kingdom does not belong to them: and it never did in the first place. More can be said about competition: suffice it to say, it is alive and well.

How do you become fit? You listen. You research. You simply find all information available that will go towards improving the quality of services and products your business offers. It is at the precipice of succumbing to competition that social media comes in.

By supporting your social media team and efforts, you have created a 24/7 focus group which is rich in information. I will go a step further to say, information you will find useful.

Usually when businesses want to find out new information about the newly launched soap for instance, a team armed with questionnaires, surveys and any other research method is deployed to the field. After months of tedious work, long when the product is almost being phased out, results come in. Only to find a swift young blood with superior products at affordable prices. Rather one that meets the needs of his target market. But how, you ask. Social media.

Having a robust social media presence will help you gather this information within a day of dedicated listening. As Peter says, ‘What you’ll find is that what customers reveal when they talk to each other is even more authentic and useful than what they tell you directly.’ Paid focus groups. ‘The opinions they express there are apt to be more honest and less self-conscious than what they would have contributed in the structured, paid environment of traditional focus groups.’ He adds.

Therefore, how is this a return on investment (ROI) you wonder? Well, because you are getting quality useful information within the shortest time possible and at a lesser cost. Compared to the many months you would have spent tasking the marketing team and paying dearly for every piece of information you get in both human resource, time and money.

Here are Edward Stening thoughts on the value of social as a market research channel. “[Our social marketers] know what customers like, they know what they don’t like, what pisses them off, and they know how to get a reaction from them. They know what brand messages will or won’t excite them, what time of year to talk with them,” Stening said. “It used to be random; we’d send out a mailing, do a print ad and a TV ad, and we’d get research nine months after the fact. Now our marketers can get on our social pages and can learn more about their customers from a half an hour of looking through our engagement than what they would have learned from a market research document. We’ve tried to use this as a keyhole into the world of the customer.”

This cements the idea that those on the social media bandwagon stand to reap the rewards of social as a market research channel. By having, a 24/7 focus group, thus ready information, waiting for you to gather and analyse it you increase the chances of your business to compete. However, the key is to listen. Through listening, you learn about these insights, which then form the building blocks for any decision you make aimed at improving the products and or services rendered.

“It is important to leverage social media as a listening post. In one form, it is an extension of customer care, and in another form, it is giving you product feedback and suggestions. If you are engaged with customers, having a dialogue and an ongoing community, you will learn who the posters and the leaders are, and you can start to influence them. You can create calls to action and drive behaviour,” said Winell.

Now what information are you seeking? Go to your social media sites and go through the comments your audience has been posting. Listen. You will find the answers you are looking for. Good luck!

In case you missed my part 1 and 2 series, you can read them here.

Social Media ROI - Marketing Statistics

Marketing Statistics

Glad you could join me in this part 2 series. Hoping that part 1, proved valuable. I would like to hear from you on that. Today, lets look at some other ROI model.

Do you know that most organizations socialize their operations solely for marketing purposes? This happens to be the most important part of any social media program: thus the famous social media marketing discipline.

Then, what should you be on the lookout for? In as far as marketing statistics go brands should measure:

• Reach and awareness
•  Marketing equivalency

Reach and awareness

Find any social media strategy and you are bound to find, increasing brand awareness neatly written down as a goal. Brands (all) want prospective customers to know they exist. And not only that, but their ability to solve their (customers) day-to-day challenges. It is believed that the more people get to see or hear something about your brand, the more the likelihood of them seeking your brand’s services/products when a need strikes.

In the social realm, reach refers to the number of people who have seen your post. And just so you know content is what drives social media reach. Facebook’s algorithm takes your content and feeds it into your fans/followers newsfeed. The quality and freshness of your content determines if it will be seen or disappear into the content abyss.

Assuming that all factors are kept constant, then the total number of people who see your post, equals your social media reach.

This metric is categorised into paid and organic. According to Facebook, organic reach is the total number of unique people who were shown your post through unpaid distribution. Paid reach on the other hand is the total number of unique people who were shown your post because of ads. This implies that when you feel your content or page is not getting the desirable organic reach you set out for: you can always go the paid way.

Unfortunately, a study from Social@ogilvy explained how we are fast approaching the end of organic reach. And, true to their prediction: today before your content gains the traction it needs, you have to really…really offer value in every piece of content. Good news, you have a reason to explain your spend: paid reach.

Be careful not to lose out. Yes, you can get all the reach you want and in return awareness. But will you be pushing the brand goals forward? If you pair reach with key goals such as lead generation, you add value to the whole metric. Thus, reach in themselves do not count for much.

Marketing Equivalency

According to Liveworld, ‘Marketing equivalency ROI should reveal how social media costs compare to those of other media, ideally demonstrating that social achieves its goals more efficiently than other spend.’

In his book, Social Media Handbook, Peter explains how we can determine marketing equivalency. Simply measure your social reach and ask yourself how much money you would spend to reach the same number of people using traditional media.

Consider this: suppose a social media program runs 300,000 to reach 1 million people with 60 million impressions. You might calculate that it would cost 4 million to get the same results through advertising.

This is the value of calculating this equivalency. Once you calculate a campaign’s marketing equivalency ROI, you can go to your CEO and say, “Instead of spending 4 million on traditional marketing on that campaign, let’s spend 300,000 doing it through social channels, save a few million, and increase our overall social media budget!”

At the end of the day, companies are looking to save costs but achieve the same results. If you can prove value through minimal spend then what will prevent the management from giving you all the backing you need?

Brands spend a fortune on ads that might just not be as effective as social media programs. In addition, as all marketing objectives aim to drive more business, then why not be on the lookout for this metric.

What is your biggest challenge in as far as marketing statistics are concerned?

Social Media ROI

Social Media Statistics

Perhaps by now you are wondering, ‘I have a social media program going, now what?’ You have every right to think so. Convincing management to permit the launch of a social media program is no mean feat. More so, when they have pumped money to keep it afloat: pay for the team and other social media related costs. You just need to prove value.

Be warned though, some will be waiting for you to fail for them to pull the rag under you. We will not let them. By identifying how to spend the money and what to expect, usually referred to as Return on Investment (ROI) they will wait, and wait. Meanwhile, you will be smiling.

Contrary to what you have been told, social media can be measured. As social media was starting out, no one knew how to measure progress. A dark cloud hang over us in as far as knowing if your program was succeeding and or failing. In appreciation to those who were courageous to march forth amidst the uncertainty, today we have ways of telling success from failure (and I use failure, loosely.)

Therefore, what will you be on the lookout for? In his book, Social Media Handbook, the author Peter Friedman, writes about five social media ROI models (which will form my blog post series). In this first post, we will look at one of the models: social media statistics.

In this ROI model, we will be on the lookout for:

• Fans
• Likes
• Engagement

Fan Metrics

Through what social@ogilvy call ‘fanning’ this is when, you get people signing up for a connection with you on social media and or liking your facebook page.

This is the metric many managers and or directors, watch out for. You launch a corporate page today and one month down the line, they expect to see 1000’s of fans on your social sites. Starting out with this expectation can be detrimental. This metric might indicate you are not doing anything, when below the surface you are paddling like crazy.

As much as we all like to get millions of fans/followers/subscribers, it is pointless to center your entire social universe on this metric.

‘Building your customer audience is important, of course, but just building these numbers in themselves yields a vanity metric.’ – Peter Friedman, CEO LiveWorld. It cannot be said better than that. You are right to get excited about the entire fanning process, but aim for something better. But take note of how you are doing in as far as this metric is concerned.

Engagement Metrics

This is where all glory lies. However, be warned, it is not easy. Like my high school Principal used to say, 'Good things are expensive.' To relate: in order to reach reputable levels of engagement you will need to really invest resources (money and time).

That said, imagine you have almost a million fans. How do you get them to comment on a post, share their opinions, and or refer your products and or services to their close relations? This is the end game we all should strive to achieve.

This metric points to the levels of commitment your audience has to your brand. Moreover, someone who shows this level of commitment is sharing and or spreading the word to others. Better yet, and this is good news for sales, they may be buying from you.

Mr. Friedman says, ‘Liking a comment is good. Sharing or re-tweeting it takes more effort and is a statement that the user thinks the comment is worth the attention of others. Commenting is the best, because that takes more energy and time and suggests the person is truly engaged, mind, and hopefully heart.’

Well, how do you tell that you are hitting this metric? By looking at retweets, likes, shares, talking abouts, and comments. For you to make their social media experience worthwhile to merit the engagement you desire, you need to curate content that they will care about. Stop being egocentric in as far as content curation and publishing is concerned. Ensure your content centers on them, and not you. I mean, they are sharing their social presence with you: and you (brands) are many. Try not to waste their time.

Social media statistics, will tell when we are doing something right. And when we are doing something wrong. In both cases, we can know whether to revise our strategies or continue doing more of what we are doing. It will suffice to have this written down under goals when starting out but make a point of emphasizing the importance of engagement, and not likes.

So next time, be on the look out for these metrics. But know the value of each. 

Yesterday (16^th, 2016) I logged on to my twitter account and I noticed something different. The welcome window that lets you log onto your account has changed into something quite intuitive. I hope you noticed this. If anything, I would advocate for the current log in window. Well, the big three (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) always seem to be up to something. According to Mashable, ' Twitter's new algorithm, has arrived.'

Prior to this change, I had read in an article from social@ogilvy, of how the number of people using twitter would flatten out in 2016. If this by any chance got to the team at twitter, then anything and everything is being done to ensure this prediction does not come to pass: for it would mean the end of twitter as we know it. But, I bet we are just getting started in as far as social networking is concerned.

Perhaps you are wondering why all the hype about social media. Here is why, in a world whose people go online to search for anything including friends, social media has all that under its roof. Populated with corporations, and people from all lifestyles, social media is becoming an integral part of our lives. 

Better yet, the day-to-day operations of corporations. I know it gets a bit debatable when it comes to convincing the board to allow the launch of a premiere social media program. In a post preceding this, I wrote about the benefits that companies not on social media are missing. Read it here. Once you get the nod to execute the social media program, what then? Well, it all comes down to remaining committed to the course.

Many think social media is the silver bullet to all the marketing and or communication challenges. No, it is not. With a dedicated team, ready to grind day and night to implement the social media strategy, create content, distribute that content, and ensure that it is promoted well : results will come.

In all this however, we tend to be consumed with what we can give (rightly so) and never stop to ask how people benefit from using our social media. Determining these benefits goes a long way in helping the social media team, leverage this information, and plan on how best to position social media for maximum impact.

Therefore, the question becomes, what are the benefits people get from social media that drives them to use it? What will make a visitor like your post, page, and or re-tweet your update?

Peter Friedman, CEO-LiveWorld says, ‘To see how a brand can get the most value, first we must understand two critical aspects of how to be social: customer benefits and conversational dynamics.’ On this post, we will focus on customer benefits.

Through your social media pages, accounts etc., customers can:

Express themselves

These are good times for corporations. Days when you had something to say with no one to say it to or had to pay someone to actually see or read your message (traditional media) are gone. Today, social media is teeming with people eager to take up your message in return, you let them be part of the conversation.

Yes, I know a bit of worry sneaks in when we let our customers express themselves. This is because we think they will fill our timelines with complaints. However, it is a blessing in disguise. It is okay. By letting you know that they are unhappy with a product and or service, is a good indicator that something has to be done. 

Your response then henceforth will determine the relationship going forward. In addition, as best customer support practices are concerned we should aim to resolve whatever problem the customer has and build good relations going forward.

Thus those social media/community managers who like barring their fans, followers from commenting and or posting on their timeline should stop. For it is a destructive path. Let go of the old, one-way model of communication and embrace the two-way model of communication. Let your fans feel free to talk to you and be sure to listen.

Find people with whom they share interests

Social media is home to communities: a group of people who share similar interests. People who like politics will follow and or like pages and or people with regular political news. Those with a keen fashion sense will follow fashion gurus and or check out blogs ran by fashion bloggers. Of course, how can we forget sports? Mention any topic and a community will be formed, if not already around it.

Through such communities, a sense of camaraderie is established. With work taking most of people’s time, they know at least whenever they log on to their social channels; they will catch up with friends, which in most cases works just fine. For you as a social media manager, these helps you tailor messages when it comes to posting. These communities give you an insight into the topics they find interesting and once you know that, it becomes easier to tailor messages around their shared interest.

Get Attention

We do not want to go to parties and find no one reserved a sit or drinks for us. Feeling out of place thrashes our self-esteem making us retreat into our cocoons.

If you go to a party and find people are dying to meet you, the best table has been reserved for you and the Dj is playing your favourite music: then you are bound to let loose and have fun.

The same applies in social media. Customers will come to your social networks not for the sake of it. But to see if anyone notices their presence. It follows that as a social media manager keep this nugget close by. Like their comments, respond and mention their names, better yet give them something to walk away with. It is in all of us to want, desire even, recognition. Do these and wait for the magic to happen.

Unless you realize what it is in it for your customer (audience), many a times, you will make your social media efforts seem vain. These nuggets have shed light on what customers stand to benefit when they are on social media. Give it to them: rather provide a conducive environment that will make all the above possible. Because the bottom line is, we are on social media because of our customers (audience). Use these and let me know, how it goes. I would like to hear from you.

Social Media

Social media has come of age. There is no communication and or marketing campaign, without the integration of social networks. Despite some companies being cautious, as is with human nature: whenever faced with change, we need to sail the social wave. Is your company on social media? Read along to find out what you are missing.

With mobile phones penetrating every corner of the world, people are joining social networks every single day to the millions. According to Smartinsights, 80% of global users own and use smartphones to search the internet. The world is going mobile, Vis a Vis digital.

1 billion plus users worldwide, facebook tops the list as the most populated social channel in the world. In fact, experts have said that if facebook would be a country, it would be equal to an entire continent. That is how powerful social media has become.

The more reason why, as a business you need to join the social media wave. The social channels have made it easy for businesses to interact with their audiences. In a way, social channels have assembled millions of people in one place; waiting for someone to talk to them should anyone have great news to share. And this should be great news, right? Then, why is your business and or organizations still spectating?

I know: members of the C-suite are not yet convinced why they need a social media program.

‘Social media is a tool that allows individuals to improve their lives by interacting with groups—both with people and with brands—facilitated by online platforms that erase typical boundaries of time and space.’ says Peter Friedman, CEO Liveworld.

Perhaps this thought might re-tool your resolve when making your case as to why your company needs a social media program. Ready? Good.

Many in the C-Suite still wonder what roles Social media can play in their corporations. Some even think that running a social media program is ‘free’. This are all but misconceptions that we need to address and make the C-suite understand the enormous roles social media plays in organizations. I mean if Coca-Cola is doing it: why can’t we? Why can’t you?

If you are wondering, what social media can do for you: wonder no more.

• Distributing content
• Building a reputation
• Customer service and support
• Building brand loyal ambassadors

A little more on each.

Distributing Content: Have you ever had something to say, with no one to say it to? Well no more. Social media has convened an audience for you. All you need to do is show up and deliver you message. However, make it useful. So that, when you come back with another message, they will be waiting. In fact, some would have come with friends. Gone is the time when speakers lacked an audience.

It could be the amazing research you just conducted and you would like the world to know of the amazing findings. Alternatively, perhaps you have rebranded but word has not gotten out: post it. Tweet it. Pin It. It will be heard. Social media is a great avenue for which companies can distribute whatever content they have. One thing is for sure: an audience is waiting.

Building a Reputation: How is your reputation thus far? Remember the ad campaign, ‘Image is nothing. Thirst is everything.’ Well forget it. In pursuit of building a reputation, this tagline will land you in trouble.

Social media, teeming with a ready audience, will help you build your company’s reputation. How, you ask? It is all about the type of reputation you would like to build. Suppose you would like the world to perceive you as Trustworthy – Insurance and Banking industry: then you need to relay messages that will hold you to that standard.

Sharing accurate messages: not hiding anything from the world will go a long way in making you trustworthy. Where else to share this information? On social media.

Customer Service and Support: Welcome to the 21^st century customer service. The mantra ‘the customer is always right’ has been adopted by companies aiming to toe the line for impeccable customer support. They engrave it in their day-to-day work.

Serve a customer right and he will keep coming back. Through social media, companies can respond to customer queries, concerns in real-time making sure that they are satisfied with the dealings of the company.

In January 2016, Kenya Power & Lighting Company was in a tight spot. Due to some electric fault at their Juja substation, Nairobi, Kisumu, and Kajiado were left in total darkness. Despite their error: through their twitter handle they were able to respond to distraught residents by assuring them, their best team was on the problem. Moreover, the power came back, true to their word.

It is such commitment to be there with answers even when you do not have them yet, that makes for great customer support.

Building Brand Loyal Ambassadors: State always appoints people of repute to go to foreign land and sell our interests. Companies can do the same. By identifying people who are loyal to the brand, companies through social media, can ‘appoint’ them to sell their interests among groups.

If you are wondering why you need to be on social media, I hope this helps. Let me know what you think. Until then, take the plunge. This is what you will find out: social media is what you have been missing. Moreover, brand ambassadors are waiting for you to ‘appoint’ them for duty.

Whatever the size of your business, you cannot afford not to be on social media. If you are wondering what metrics, you will use to show value for money, check out my next post. Meanwhile, set up those accounts and best of luck.