Archive for June, 2010
How to use Twitter for business: Case study:Pepsi
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Online Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on June 30th, 2010
@Pepsi or @PepsiCo
Pepsi may be a classic brand, but it’s using 21st century tools to collaborate and build relationships with customers. For years, PepsiCo, has had a toll-free number that consumers can call to share product feedback. People call in all the time, and the company considers the line successful.
But when Pepsi brand managers wanted faster and more personal ways to connect with soft drinks enthusiasts, they looked online—and in January 2009, the team started using Twitter to listen to and talk with consumers. (The brand twitters as @Pepsi; the corporation twitters as @PepsiCo.)
“We’re trying to humanize the brand, to make it more accessible to consumers,” says Anamaria Irazabal, brand director for Pepsi. “On Twitter, they can complain or praise, and we can use it as a way to gauge how people are feeling.”
Reaching a new audience
Interestingly, the company finds the conversations on Twitter are different from those on the toll-free line. The callers, says Irazabal, tend to focus on products.
Twitterers, on the other hand, tend to have opinions not just on the products, but on promotions, too. “They feel they’re invited to give their opinions on the how the brand should move forward, and they’re very detailed.”
After the spring 2009 launch of Pepsi Throwback—an initiative that involved packaging with a retro look and real-sugar sweeteners—the company was able to collect quick reactions on Twitter. The company has also found asking questions works well on Twitter. Even something as simple as “How many Pepsis do you drink a day?” generates a lot of chatter.
“Consumers own the brands as much as we do, and they want to share their interests and likes,” says Bonin Bough, director of social and emerging media for PepsiCo. “Twitter is the only medium where we can have a two-way continuous dialog about the brand.”
Fast response
Pepsi brand managers find that Twitter is useful not only for quick responses from consumers but for quick responses from the company, too.
When Michael Jackson—who made high-profile commercials for Pepsi during the 1980s—died suddenly in July, the company used Twitter right away in its “Thank you, Michael” tribute, engaging with fans. “We can move at the speed of culture,” says Irazabal. “Twitter means we can react to something that happens and provide a platform for dialog, That’s the key word. It’s about engagement and building the relationship.”
Dealing with complaints
Although Pepsi finds that nearly all of the conversation on Twitter is very positive, people do sometimes complain via tweets. The brand managers try to address negative comments very quickly.
“We try to gauge the overall tone and type of problem,” says Josh Karpf, manager of social and emerging media for PepsiCo. If somebody doesn’t like a piece of advertising, the company accepts that. But if a person has had a problem with a product or is attacking the company in some way, Pepsi has a process in place to resolve the issue directly. The company responds once in public, and if the person stays negative, they switch to DM and then to email or phone if needed. Internally, a cross-functional team can help solve problems.
The logistics
Pepsi’s assistant marketing manager, Rachel Mills, works closely with two agencies to coordinate the @Pepsi Twitter account. With Mills’s oversight, one agency does the day-to-day twittering. But Mills sees all the tweets, and she gets involved if there’s a problem of any kind. Another agency helps Pepsi develop its digital promotion calendar three months ahead of time.
The calendar—along with guidance on tone of voice and how to respond to certain types of comments—help Pepsi maintain a consistent brand presence across the Web, including its Twitter account.
Finally, Pepsi requires that staffers maintain personal accounts on social media sites—not to interact on behalf of the brand, but to learn about the channels. “It’s very hard to talk to agencies if you have never used the tools,” says Irazabal. “So we ask our teams to use these tools to learn what we can get out of them.”
Measuring success
Like many brands, Pepsi looks at the number of followers it has. But the company also looks at the sentiment of tweets, rating them on a scale from positive to negative. The balance changes from week to week, and the company—which considers itself to be in experimental phase with Twitter—is still figuring out what affects consumer feeling and how to measure it.
Takeaway: “We’ve got a lot ahead of us, and we’re learning every day.” In other words “Have a go”
Advertisers embrace social networks
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, Online Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions, Traditional Marketing on June 29th, 2010
Advertisers and their agencies have embraced Facebook and Twitter, as social media reaches a size and scale few brands can ignore.
Many leading brands have used some form of social media, which agencies contrast with traditional advertising slots bought on television, billboards, or in print.
Unilever’s Dove Soap brand, and P&G’s brands Pantene shampoo and Pampers Nappies have active presences on Facebook, and Coca-Cola this week launched adverts on Twitter.
The leaning is toward “earned media”; the term coined for messages which spread by word of mouth. Even recent controversy over privacy has failed to dent advertisers’ enthusiasm for Facebook in particular, which has almost 500m members and is planning to expand in Asia.
If privacy can be managed properly, many leading advertising agencies, feel that Facebook is something which is incredibly strong, and which will represent a big new platform of communication going forward.
It surprises me just how long leading agencies have taken to commit fully to social media. No doubt, brands are resistant to change, especially when budgets are increasingly under threat. But the measurability of social media can be much more clearly defined than magazines or television. Sure, you can track who has seen it, through readership or viewing figures; but you can’t measure the response to it, as closely as you can through social media.
Consequently, this enhanced level of measurability, enables you to essentially tailor your message accordingly in future campaigns. And this can be achieved at a more cost-effective rate. That is a much stronger proposition in my mind.
Social media is particularly powerful for consumer goods brands. People talk about brands, and companies need to be part of the conversation. If not so much to steer it or indeed influence it, at least to be participative in it.
Social networks create a deeper relationship with consumers, that simply cannot be achieved through TV or magazines. This is why Facebook is, for me, the world’s largest message board from a brand perspective.
Coca-Cola has achieved strong results through its sponsorship of a “trending topic”; using “promoted tweets” to be involved in this week’s World Cup discussions.
This is not so much the future, but the present. The main point, is that you can achieve a closer relationship with your customers, and in an instantaneous and completely measurable fashion.
Three Tuns Brewery gets great review!
Posted by David Harrison in World News on June 29th, 2010
Regular readers will know what a great fan of The Three Tuns Brewery we are – great beer and John Russell is one of my oldest mates – in time known, not years old! This is just a quick post for all those who like their beer to check out a great article on the brewery – http://bit.ly/bJAnqe … well done to John, Bill and Sam …. keep up the good work!
10 tips on how to keep focused on social media marketing
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E Mail Marketing, Facebook, Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking on June 28th, 2010
Some of our clients tell us how frustrated they can get with all this social media stuff. Despite the hours they spend on it, they just don’t seem to engage in as many conversations as they had envisaged at the outset. And they start to question whether it is really all worth it.
The flipside is that Social media marketing can be so compelling and addictive that if you are not careful an hour is gone and you haven’t done a thing. Friends and colleagues often make the observation that there is so much valuable information and tempting headlines that compel us to read and view that like the temptations of the mythoglical Greek Ulysses ‘Sirens’ who lured away away ancient mariners we too can be turned from away from our destination.
So how do we keep on track so that the ‘Sirens’ of Ulysses don’t distract us to destruction and ensure we meet our goals?
1. Check your goals
Why did you set up your social media marketing channels in the first place? Is what you are currently doing on social media moving you towards those goals. Some goals may be quite specific such as to to increase inquiries by 20%. It may be a more general goal such as to connect, engage and communicate or create more brand awareness. It may be to write one blog post a day.
2. Get Focused
You have now checked back to your original goals and now you need to refine and continue to determine what are the most important and prioritize them. For me one major goal is to write our blog post on a daily basis.
3. Set a Schedule & A Routine
Providing yourself with a schedule and a deadline can ensure.. mostly… that the activity is done and then you can move on to the next task.
4. Planning , Creating and Developing Content
To ensure that we have information to place on the social media channels that we are using we need to be constantly brainstorming and keeping an eye out for content to post that provides value to your clients and answers their questions and helps solve their problems.
5. Optimizing your Channels
So you now have the content on your social media platforms….are they set up to ensure that people will find them online and when they get there they will find it easy to view and read. A blog may need some search engine optimisation tweaking and with the changes to Google’s search with the recently announced ‘Google Caffeine’ having more recent content on your web presence is more important than ever. Do you have your LinkedIn profile public and do you have your website, blog and facebook pages entered in the page?
6. Promoting Your Brand on Social Media
A lot of people think that once they have published their blog or posted that the online world is just going to turn up… they won’t .. so you need to tell the world. Tweet it (a few times). Place your content on as many channels as time, money and resources allow. Take your eNewsletter and embed social media buttons at the top and the bottom of the email and also place buttons and links to your blog.. email can be integrated into your whole social media activities.
7. Measuring and Monitoring
Set up measuring and monitoring tools and use them as these can provide the feedback on what is working and what isn’t,
8. Analyze and Adjust your Activities
You now have the numbers on your different activities…. use this tweak and fine tune your activities to ensure that they are producing the best result for the least effort.
9. Communicate and Engage with your Social Media Tribe
Ok .. so you have had your head down and tail up, pumping out great content and doing fantastic things but you haven’t had time to listen and engage. You need to ensure that you are not just doing but also connecting otherwise one day you will look up and the tribe has dissappeared
10. Help Someone in your Social Media Community
Take time to promote and help someone in your online community achieve their goals and you will be find that reciprocation is often forthcoming and your efforts will be paid back in spades.
How do you keep focused?
Facebook looks for growth in China and Russia
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, M-Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions, Traditional Marketing on June 25th, 2010
Facebook is looking east for its next phase of expansion, as the US company prepares to take on entrenched competition in China, Russia and Japan to become the first social network company to connect 1bn people.
After relying largely on organic growth to reach almost 500m members, Facebook must now make its first strategic local moves. The facebook founder has thus far not specified as to whether this would involve local customisation of Facebook in these countries, or acquisitions.
Facebook faces large, established competitors in Asian markets, including Japan’s Mixi, Tencent QQ in China, and Vkondakte in Russia.
The facebook founder, at an audience of marketers in Cannes. said that mobile internet would be a big driver of global growth in social media. Some countries now have more mobile usage than web usage; citing India as an example. He also said that the company was “pretty close” to releasing a new mobile service, which would add location data to the platform.
Some tips on social media best practice for business.
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E Mail Marketing, E-Commerce, Facebook, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on June 24th, 2010
Social networks and blogs are changing how consumers find places and services, how and where they share their experiences, and eventually, where they will spend their time and money.
Without an understanding of, and participation in, social networks, you can miss shaping and contributing to the decision-making process of those who define the success of your business.
While social media cheat-sheets and short cuts are available almost everywhere you look, the truth is that we have some work ahead of us. To help, I’ve assembled a list of five best practices to help you build, cultivate, and measure success in the new web right now.
1. Dedicate the time
Because time is a big concern, think about social media as an opportunity cost. Will your investment in identifying and connecting with prospects, customers, and influencers outperform your other activities? The answer is yes for most businesses, so carve out time for strategic experimentation. In short, you get out of it, what you invest.
2. Conquer your fears
Many business owners believe that social media gives people a chance to criticize their business. That’s true, but avoiding social media doesn’t mean that their opinions will never see the light of day.
Your brand is at the mercy of those who take to social media to share their experiences, so you might as well take an active role to contributes to the stature and perception of your brand. You might even learn how to improve your product and service in the process.
3. Listen and research to learn and contribute
Social networking is far more effective when you realize that creating profiles and updating social networks aren’t arbitrary. There’s an art and science to all of this, and the process begins with listening and research.
Step one: create a list of keywords that represent your market and then use the search box in each social network to see what people are saying about you. As you examine the results, you’ll identify the people who are leading conversations and the dialogue that invites and inspires participation. If local business is paramount to success, use services such as Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn. Also monitor location-based networks such as Foursquare, Gowalla, and Loopt.
4. Establish an attractive and expansive presence
Your presence online is far more valuable than you may realize. While you may think that you should focus on your website, your social-media presence also represents you and what you offer. The ability to showcase your products and services to attract customers and spark conversation is arguably greater on social networking sites than your own website. In any case, connecting the dots between social networks, websites, and the real world is now as important as the service and products that you offer.
5. Use engagement as the new customer service and marketing
It’s not what you say about you, it’s what they say about you that counts. Customer service and engagement overall is a new and genuine form of unmarketing. Customers, prospects, and influencers are already engaging with others to contribute, learn, and discover.
They are forming and sharing opinions and making decisions based on the information they find online—with or without you. You should use engagement as a fast, free, and powerful way to reach and serve customers.
This is your time to engage! Doing so will earn you permanent residence in the hearts and minds of the people who make up your markets. This will expand market opportunities, build brand awareness, stimulate demand, and engender loyalty and advocacy.
How to keep selling online through the economic downturn
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E Mail Marketing, E-Commerce, Facebook, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on June 23rd, 2010
After years of growth rates of in the double digits, e-commerce sales are projected to increase at a single-digit pace from now until 2012. There are two forces acting toward this trend: the economic downturn has added additional downward pressure on short-term sales, and according to some sources, the population of Internet buyers is approaching saturation. The global economic downturn undercut consumer retail spending in most channels, except the U.S. online channels, which analysts forecast to reach $229.1 billion in 2013, or 8 percent of total U.S. retail sales.
Some executives are more optimistic. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, has said on several occasions that e-commerce will account for up to 15 percent by 2016. The major catalyst for e-commerce growth in the short term seems to be in stimulating existing online shoppers to continue to buy and to shift a greater percentage of their total purchases to the web.
To do this, companies will employee online marketing initiatives but also stress the convenience, broader selection, and ostensible cost savings associated with buying online. In the longer term, teenagers already spending online will acquire more purchasing power and independence and will invigorate the online channel.
More than half of online retailers believe that the outlook for the retail industry as a whole is gloomy and that retail sales will continue to slow in the coming 12 months. But 8o percent of online retailers said that they believe that the Web channel is better suited than other channels to withstand an extended economic downturn. (But more than half also think that multi-channel retailers are better suited to weather the economic turbulence than single-channel retailers).
E-commerce retailers report that their conversion rates continue to range from 3% to 3.5% as they have for years, which is another indication that the Web has not been as adversely impacted as other channels.
Going forward, online retailers will continue investing heavily in interactive marketing, a significant expenditure for e-commerce groups. In this vein, companies will experiment with social commerce initiatives, even though questions still remain for social marketing ROI, such as blogs and social networks.
Acquiring new customers is still the number one goal of online marketing efforts. While other retail channels struggle to innovate and perform, e-commerce managers have a unique opportunity to drive more sales and to test different tactics that resonate with consumers. Even more so now than in fatter times, retailers must strictly segment their customer groups and create messaging that speaks directly and powerfully to these groups.
Social networks need users’ trust before they part with cash
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E-Commerce, Facebook, Social Commerce, Social Media, Thoughts & Opinions on June 22nd, 2010
Facebook’s plan to introduce a currency called Facebook Credits will encourage people to spend on social networks but is a long way from becoming an activitymost people are comfortable with.
In February, Facebook announced in a blog post the beta test of Facebook Credits – a virtual currency that it aims to roll out across all applications, and which it hopes will increase the amount users spend on virtual goods. Only a few developers have so far been allowed access to the service to integrate it into their applications, but Facebook is slowly increasing the number of developers in the testing phase.
If an online currency makes people more interested in spending online, then this will only be good news for brands starting to look into social commerce. In the US, Disney has been the first brand to allow people to transact directly from Facebook by creating an app that lets them buy tickets to see Toy Story 3 at the cinema. In the UK, no brands have yet created an app where you can buy directly from Facebook, but the likes of easyJet and Dell are looking into ways to socialise their ecommerce experience.
Similarly, media owners looking at the possibility of micropayments could look to social networks and create apps in which people can access content using their Facebook Credits.
The majority of people are now comfortable shopping online, but the bad press about social networks and issues of privacy will prove hugely detrimental when inviting people to part with credit card or PayPal details.
For it to be worthwhile for brands to invest in social commerce on third-party sites, enough users need to be happy to part with their cash in social networks. Sites such as Facebook have a lot of work to do in gaining users’ trust before social commerce comes even close to being mass-market.
Amazon is moving upmarket
Posted by Paul McSweeney in World News on June 21st, 2010
Amazon is relaunching its online clothing and shoe business with a focus on high-end style as it vies with rivals such as Yoox and Net-a-Porter in the expanding online fashion market.
US online sales of clothing, shoes and accessories increased 17% last year to $27bn. Growth in clothing is expected to outstrip other categories such as electronics over the next five years.
Amazon has recruited software engineers who are said to building “great new features to change the way people shop for clothing”.
Amazon’s push into fashion coincides with a drive by eBay, whose sales in clothing, shoes and accessories topped $5bn last year. eBay relaunched its clothing sales under the eBay Fashion brand in April, adding videos and comments from fashion stylists and a “find similar items” image-matching feature.
It has also launched a “fashion outlet” in the UK and created “storefronts” in the US with leading retailers selling excess and discounted stock directly to buyers.
Both Amazon and eBay clearly view this is a significant growth area; and are adopting site innovations normally deployed by more specialised clothing sites. Expanding viewing options such as zoom, multiple views and colour variation being some examples.
The success of “flash sale” sites such as Gilt, Hautelook and Rue La La, coupled with the consumer slump, has caused many retailers to revisit this market. Selling heavily discounted stock direct to consumers is on the up..so good news for us!
WordPress 3.0 “Thelonious”
Posted by David Page in Web Development on June 18th, 2010
It’s finally here. Version 3 of WordPress. There’s more details on exactly what is new at the WordPress Development Blog but I wanted to share what I believe are the highlights.
-
-
You are currently browsing the archives for June, 2010
