Web Business by Ken Burbary

Three Tips for Better Social Business

We’re in the era of building the infrastructure necessary for social business to succeed. Eventually it will bring benefits and rewards to both brands and consumers alike. However, there are some steps brands can take now to ensure they don’t confuse consumers as they evolve from social media to social business. One important perspective that can get lost in the buzz over social marketing, social crm, or social innovation initiatives is arguably, the most important one: the customer perspective.

Here are some tips to ensure you’re making sure customers are informed and aware of what your social business initiatives WILL and WILL NOT do for them.

Tell Your Brand’s Social Business Story

There are many departments and groups within a company. It’s now common for each of them to have social initiatives of their own, albeit they may be independent of one another, in a silo away from the rest of the organization. Do these provide value to the customer? Sure, but how does an individual really know about everything a company is doing in social that they may benefit from?

Companies have long published directories to help customers get in touch to the department they need via phone. In digital, they produce sitemaps on their websites for the same purpose. What can they do to help people understand their fragmented landscape of social outposts? Tell their social business story! This will educate consumers, raise awareness of their efforts, and remove any confusion over where/what/when their social business initiatives are.

An example of a brand that is telling their social business story well is Dell. Just visit the ‘”Dell in Social Media” section of dell.com and you’re able to learn everything about Dell’s social business activities, with links and descriptions to their social outposts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, Slideshare, Xing), their communities for owners and clubs, or even Dell’s official global social media policy.

Share Service and Support Expectations

Many companies are realizing the benefit of social technologies for customer support and developing formal social business initiatives for doing so. It can be a great benefit, and provide better/faster/cheaper service to customers under the right circumstances. However, it’s easier said than done. Especially when consumer expectations are rapidly moving closer to instant gratification.

Social platforms never sleep. They don’t turn off (usually). They are constantly moving forward, with a seemingly infinite stream of activity, discussion and sharing. That preconditions consumer expectations when dealing with a formal brand presence via social, into near real-time resolutions of customer problems. And when a brand cannot live up to such a high standard, it sets the stage for a negative customer experience.

Brands can avoid this by setting expectations for service and response times up front. For example, if you’re supporting customers via Twitter, define hours of operation. The Microsoft Xbox and the Bank of America customer support teams have done a terrific job of this, providing support hours directly in the Twitter profile description, as well as the background image for their profile page.

Curate Conversations About Your Brand

Consumer trust is has evolved. Consumers are actively seeking “people like me”, to understand their opinions, preferences and perspectives on brands, products and services. Brands all have a story, and tell that story through branded content through paid and owned media. What can brands do to help provide consumers with what “people like them” are saying about the brand? Curate conversations that meet the consumer need and make it easily accessible for them to consumer and digest.

Ford recently launched the new, redesigned Explorer SUV. While they have been curating consumer reaction and conversation about their products for awhile now, I point you to the Explorer home page as an example of a brand curating content that matters. Visit the Ford Explorer Buzz page to see the curated results of reactions from media sites, blogs, forums, etc… about the new product.

Think Global. Act Local. How you can Support the Growing Digital Detroit Community

Detroit has an thriving community of Digital marketing, advertising, creative and technology professionals. The community does exceptional work supporting the online communication efforts of brands like Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Jeep, GeekSquad, United States Postal Service, Unite States Navy, and Michelin to name a few. However, we’ve long lived in the shadow of our industrial reputation the region earned decades ago. We’re trying to change that and show a different side of Detroit, the Digital side. Some ambitious members of this community have submitted their ideas for panels at the 2010 SXSW interactive festival. For those unfamiliar with it, SXSWi is one of, if not, the biggest annual industry event. People travel from all over the globe to attend, learn and share their professional experience in digital communications.

“SXSW Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer.”

I’m highlighting 6 sessions submitted by Detroit based Digital professionals. I’m asking for your help to get their ideas selected for the conference. It takes only a few moments of your time to vote. Simply go to the SXSW panel picker by clicking on the session titles below, and click the icon to vote (note: you will need to register if you don’t already have an account). Every vote counts. Let’s get these panelists into the “big show” and highlight the emerging talent that is right in your own backyard.

Building Social Strategies at Fortune 100 Companies - panel session with Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company

Description: Companies of all sizes are adopting social media and community, but large organizations have some unique challenges and opportunities. This panel will uncover best practices through stories told by social media leaders from Ford, Nationwide, IBM, Microsoft, SAP and Dell.

Using Social Media to Find a New Gig – panel session by Shelli Gutholm, Aquent

Description: Don’t expect to get your next job by stuffing a bunch of resumes into envelopes and sending to “HR”. The best way to find the job of your dreams is by networking through Social Media. Social networking helps bypass the anonymity of the proverbial resume “black hole”. How you can use Social Media to secure your next job? We will be reviewing the tools and best practices that job seekers should utilize in a search. Also, we will outline some of the common mistakes job seekers make when using Social Media, which could lead to your efforts being sabotaged before they even begin.

Real World ROI and Social Media Strategies – panel session by Cosmin Ghiurau, BOSSdev Inc.

Description: Why Social Matters to Business Calculating the ROI of Social Case Study: CPR Week Digital Campaign for the American Heart Association Available with a client representative to participate These three topics can be presented as independent sessions or combined into one session. All three topics are focused upon how business can effectively understand, implement and measure web 2.0 marketing programs. Knowledge on the latest research and methods for digital marketing and social media Resources to leverage to stay informed on digital marketing and social media Real world examples of how businesses implement and measure web 2.0 programs ROI calculator to estimate and measure your own web 2.0 programs

Beyond the Click: Converting Website Visitors into Customers – solo session by Ayat Shukairy, Invesp Consulting

Description: For an online business, persuading visitors to purchase your product or service is crucial to increasing sales. Using the science and art of analytics analysis, marketing, usability and software, discover how the Conversion Framework approach can convert online visitors into customers such as RHDJapan and Metro Uniforms.

Industrial To Interactive: From Old Town To Tech Town – panel session by iDetroit members

Description: The idea of your city being home to the next thriving digital community is enticing. However, traditionally non-tech regions face a challenge. How do you introduce, develop and grow a digital movement within a location that has never seen one? Detroit is one such city currently grappling with this issue.

Using Facebook to Leverage Social Marketing and Gain ROI - dual session by K. Alan Robbins, BOSSdev Inc.

Description: Panel will cover the evolution of the social networking universe; provide valuable information with respect to the capabilities and unique aspects of the Facebook platform; valuable tips to help you craft an effective Facebook guerilla marketing campaign; and provide key criteria to help you to pick an effective development partner.

The New Brand Web Site Standard – Social Media Integration

A new trend is beginning to emerge among brand websites. Some brands, more established in social media uses, have taken the next step beyond maintaining a social presence on the platforms and begun integrating relevant online conversation into their brand websites, providing consumers with a real-time view into what others are saying about a brand’s products and/or services. This isn’t insignificant, nor the first time it has been done. Earlier this year, Skittles took the first step and threw out the typical brand web site only to replace it with a home base of Skittles content pulled directly from the social web (Wikipedia, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr pages).

However, social media integration within brand sites has evolved since Skittles took the leap. Recent examples by Nissan and Ford offer consumers a hybrid of traditional brand site content mashed up with social media content. Let’s look at a few examples in detail.

Nissan – http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/

Initial observations: Nissan is displaying questions and answers submitted via Twitter. Is it really a raw, unfiltered, feed though? My submission wasn’t displayed instantly, and appeared to get submitted for review. Which means this is more of a moderated approach to social media integration. This is understandble given the risks associated with blindly displaying content from the social web, yet one that has also caused problems for other brands in the past due to censorship concerns, and calls for more transparency. Regardless, I admire Nissan’s spirit in attempting to provide a real world view of what questions other consumers are asking, and the answers given. Is this a step towards car buyers research 2.0?

Ford – http://www.fordvehicles.com/the2010mustang/

Initial observations: Ford is taking a different approach but sticking with the same spirit of social integration. The 2010 Ford Mustang site provides the traditional brand site data but enhances that by pulling in relevant blog posts across the social web. Again, I applaud the brands efforts to be transparent and provide related social content for prospective buyers. The process for determining where to pull from and which social web content gets displayed is unknown, but one can assume some moderation, much like the Nissan example.

Verdict: I like it. Adding more consumer value beyond basic product info. In-market buyers can not only get product specs on the brand site but also other consumers perspectives and answers. We’re seeing the evolution of the corporate and product brand site. The impact social media is having on consumer perception and expectation is staggering. These examples show progressive brands that are rapidly experimenting with the most effective ways to integrate traditional and social content together. This is only the beginning and I look forward to watching the continued evolution because in the end both parties win. Brands and consumers. And that is an ending we don’t typically see enough.

More?

Have you seen other examples like these? Please share in the comments below.