Digital Transformation Social Media Perspective Web

8/6/2019 Digital Transformation Social Media Perspective Web

1/20Digital Transformation 1

Engage customersthrough social media

Digital transformation

www.pwc.co.uk/digitaltransformation

The worlds top brands

are using social mediaas a meaningful way of

deepening relationships

with their customers. Is it

now time for your business

to join in?


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Digital Transformation2

The number of global users Facebook

reports they have registered.

500,000,000


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Digital Transformation 3

Table of contents

Whats going on? 5

How big is social media? 6

Its bigger than you think 6

Popular platforms 7

What are the leaders doing? 8

Socialmediaandnancialservices 8

What makes social media different? 10

Case study 11

Why should you care? 12

What are the implications for your business? 14

How to balance security and social networking 15

How can you get started? 16

Tools you can use to start listening 17

Contact us 18


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Questions to consider as you read this document

Who manages your social media strategy?

Do you know what your customers are saying about youon Facebook? What about on Twitter? LinkedIn?

Do your employees know what theyre allowed to say(and not say) about your business when they are online?

Do you know how to sustain a meaningful conversationwith your customers?

How will you create content that people will nd valuable

and engaging?

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When Facebook announced lastsummer that it had registered halfa billion users around the globe, itresultedinaurryofpublicityand

commentary. The media excitementgrew exponentially this January whenGoldmanSachsinvested$450millionin the social networking site andvalueditatajaw-dropping$50billion.

It is clear that social networking hasbecome one of the dominant culturalphenomena in these digital times.

The rapidity of this rise to prominenceineverydaylifeforsomanypeople,aswell as its global impact, is remarkable.

What had appeared to be simplyanother Western teenage fad was, infact, being embraced by many differentsocieties and groups of people aroundthe world.

Mightthis500million-usermilestoneand$50billionvaluationbethewarning shot for organisations thathadpreviouslyconsideredsocialmedia

anirrelevance?Isitnowtimeforallbusinesses to start thinking about itspotentialimpact?

Anumberofleadingorganisationshavealready recognised the importance ofengaging their customers through socialmedia.FirmssuchasBMW,Coca-ColaandStarbuckshavebeenusingYouTube,Facebook, Twitter and other socialmedia mechanisms to grow awarenessof their brand and products and to buildcustomer loyalty.

Its not surprising, then, to see thesesame organisations and other earlyadopters feature prominently in socialbrandindexingservicesprovidedbysuchcompaniesasVitrue,VivaldiPartners and Techlightenment (due thismonth).

Whats going on?As you might expect, the picture socialbrand indexing paints is one of rapid,dynamic change. Top brands swapplaces, often many times a day. Whatis also interesting to see is the gapbetween the leading global brands that

havedevelopedastrategyandthosethat remain uncertain about what thesocial media phenomenon means forthem.

In the rest of this article we explainwhat social media is and how it differsfrom, and is similar to, traditionalmarketing and communication media.We look at some of the reasons theleaders are successful and what lessonsthey may offer. We also explore thepotentialvalueofsocialmediafor

business and most importantly, how toget started and successfully grow in thisdynamic, burgeoning marketplace.


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How big is social media?

Its bigger thanyou think.The speed, breadth, depth

and scope of social mediapenetration is astonishing. Ittook13yearsfortelevisionto reach a worldwideaudienceof50million.Ittook Facebook three years;andjustanotherfouryearstoreachoverhalfabillionusers worldwide.

500,000,000The number of global users Facebook

reports they have registered.

Social media

advertisingspend will

increase 400%

by the year 2014.

Forrester

One out of every veminutes online is spent on

social media related sites. Nielsen

The average UK

user spent nearly

an entire 24 hour

day on the internet

in April 2010.

The ConnectedKingdom

Google UK, BCG


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Popular platforms

FacebookLaunchedin2004,byJuly2010itreachedthe500million-usermarkdoublingtheuser base in a year. It is the most widely used

social network globally. As the name suggestsFacebooks initial purpose was to facilitate thesharing of photographs amongst friends. Ithas since expanded into a platform for socialnetworking,andprovidesblogging,real-timechat,applicationdevelopment,sharing,gaming and polling functionality. FacebookhasnowovertakenGoogleasthemostvisitedsiteintheworldandisamajorplatformforcommunicating with customers.

LinkedInLaunchedin2003LinkedInisoftenconsideredthe professional face of social networking. Ithas80millionregisteredusersandprimarily

providesaddressbookstylefunctionalityforbusinessusers.Itis,however,alsousedasasitetopostjobopportunitiesandforjobseekerstoapplyforthem.Overthelastfew

years LinkedIn has added a number of newFacebook-likefeaturessuchasstatusupdates,groups,companyfollowing,LinkedInAnswersand LinkedIn polls to increase the usage of theplatform.

TwitterLaunchedin2006,TwitterprovidedasimilarmicrobloggingservicetoFacebooksstatusupdatesinallowinguserstocreatetweets

of140charactersorless.ThesetweetsareavailabletoallusersofTwitteranduserscansubscribeorfollowaparticularusersTwitterfeed.Anumberofcelebritieshavetakentotweeting and are being followed by their fanbase (Lady Gaga currently has 7.1m followers).The growth in tweets has been astounding,goingfrom60,000adayinMarch2007to95milliontweetsadayinSeptember2010.

OrkutLaunchedin2004byGoogle,Orkutinitiallyhad a fast take up in the United States. Today,howeveritsprimaryuserbaseisinBrazilandIndia,where90%ofitsusersreside.UnlikeFacebook,Orkutallowsanyuserproletobevisiblebyanyotheruser,ratherthantheneedtofriendsomeone.

YouTubeFoundedinFebruary2005,YouTubeallowspeopletosearchfor,watchandsharevideos.Italsoprovidesaforumforpeopletocommentandinteractarounditscontent.YouTubereportsmorethan2billionviewsperdayfromaroundtheworld,with24hoursofvideouploadedeveryminute,andabroaddemographic(18-54year-olds)commenting

onmorethan50%ofthecontent.

51.com, renren.com,QQ, kaixin001.com

A number of Chinese social networking sitesare popular within China, with incredibleuser statistics for a single country. 51.comhasover160millionusers,withover38.5million logging in each month. The lack ofaccessibilitytoFacebook,TwitterandYouTubehaspotentiallydriventhisgrowth.

To understand the social mediamovementitsnecessarytounderstandthe most popular platforms for userengagement and how they differ.


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What are theleaders doing?

There are number of companiesleading the way with social mediainitiativesthatachievepositiveresultsin customer engagement.

Thesebusinesseshaveeitherdeliberatelyororganicallyinvestedinplatforms that are aligned with theirstrategies and assets. Brands with agreat deal of media content (such asDisneyandBMW)tendtoinvestinYouTubemorethanthoseforwhomcommunity and functionality areparamount (such as Starbucks andCoca-Cola).

Facebookis,inalmosteverycase,theplatform that attracts the greatestinvestment,whileTwitterisaclosesecond(andinsomeindustries,rst;65%ofnancialservicesrmsuseTwitter).

Regardless of the platform focus,puttinguservaluebeforenetworkvaluethatis,creatinganexperiencethat begins with user needs rather thanbusiness needs is the key to a socialmediaeffortthatisvibrantandactiverather than barren and stale.

A word about social media

and nancial servicesAccordingtoDatamonitorsSocialMediainFinancial

Servicesstudy,aboutathirdofconsumersgloballyareusingonlineresourcestogetnancialadviceintheformofpricecomparisons,calculators,blogsandonlinereviews.

Thisdatawascollectedina2009surveyandexcludedJapan,France and Spain at that time, but social media has continuedtogrowasaviablechannelsincethenbolsteredbyconsumerspreferenceforpeerrecommendationsovertraditionalmarketingpropositions.

Thismeansthatthepowerofthemessagingaboutnancialserviceshasshiftedtothecustomers,whohaveamultitudeofwaystoexpresstheiropinionsaboutproductsandservices.

AccordingtoaForresterreportfromSeptember2010(SocialMediaMarketingforFinancialServices)mostnancialservicesrmshaveatleastpartiallyexploredsocialmedia,buthaventfully embraced it in the manner that American Express andUSAAhave.


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StarbucksStarbucksareactivelyengaginginsocial media and are talking withtheir customers through a number ofdifferentchannels.Withtheir700,000

followers on Twitter they are answeringquestions, retweeting what people aresaying about the brand and engaging inrealconversations.Totheir18millionFacebook fans they upload contentto their fan page but also engagewith their customers by allowingmanagement of the customersStarbucks card (e.g. checking balance,reloading)andevenallowinguserstoupload credit to other customers cards.

Coca-Cola

Asatraditionaltop5brandCoca-Colawouldbeexpectedtohaveastrongpresence in social media, and withnearly20millionfansitisoneofthemost popular in the world. The pagewas originally created by fans andthenadoptedbyCoca-Colaandusedtocreatetheofcialsite.Althoughonrstlookitseemsanormalfanpage,Coca-Colahaveengagedcustomersbyallowing user generated content on thesiteincludingphotosandposts.Coca-Cola has also embedded social media

within the organisation and last yearlaunched their social media strategy.ThisincludesensuringthatCertiedOnline Spokespeople complete acerticationprogrammepriortorepresenting the company online andencourageseveryemployeetoengageinsocialmediaandreportbothpositiveandnegativecomments.

USAAOne of the pioneers of directmarketing,UnitedServicesAutomobileAssociation (USAA), conducts mostofitsbusinessovertheInternetor

telephone. It currently maintains a fanpageonFacebookwithover122,000fans. This page offers USAA productsandservices,aneligibilityapplication,andusefultips.Youcanalsoaccessandmanage a USAA account directly onFacebookthroughabuilt-inapplicationwith enhanced security.

American ExpressAmerican Express OPEN Forum is a sitewhichgivesmembersmallbusinessesthe tools to communicate and

collaborate. The Connectodex linksmemberbusinessesseekingservicestothosesupplyingservices;lterablebyindustry,geographyandsize.TheIdeaHuboffersinsightsandperspectivesfrom small business experts, in anenvironmentthatencouragesfeedbackandinteraction,whilearticles,videos,discussionboardsandeventlistingshighlight case studies and areas ofinterest to the member community.

ITV Live

ThenewinteractiveITVportalcombines the strengths of online TVstreaming with the popularity of socialnetworks.Userscanengageinlivechatanddiscusstheirfavouriteshowsin real time, using their Facebookcredentials. According to ITV, theapplicationistheperfectdual-screencompanion to ITV Shows. Launchedduringthe2010FIFAWorldCup,ITVLiveachievedtwomillionuserswithinfourweeksbyprovidingadditionalincentivessuchasdirectchatwith

celebrities, factoids, etc.

AnthonyvanderHoek,DirectorofStrategyandBusinessSolutionsataCoca-ColaCompany global team, puts it this way:

It takes years, not weeks, to embed consumer conversations

in an organisation. Companies need to address this now or it

will be a huge challenge to catch up.

HowConsumerConversationsWillTransformBusiness,aPwC1 Publication.

Webelievethatnancialservicesrmscancreateferventcustomersbyusingsocialmediatohavemeaningfulconversationswiththeir clientele. They can then usethatdialoguetoinformanddrivetheir offerings and propositions.

That said, any such

strategy will require

careful planning, as

well as knowledgeable

guidance from regulatorsand compliance ofcers.

1PwC refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (a limited liability partnership in the UnitedKingdom),whichisamemberrmofPricewaterhouseCoopersInternationalLimited,eachmemberrmofwhichisaseparatelegalentity


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What makes social mediadifferent from other ways ofengaging with customers?

Traditional marketing channelsbroadcast in one direction and areusually only targeted in a general way.Social media, when done well, creates

dialoguewithaveryspecicandlargeaudience one person at a time.

Social media also runs across all otherchannels whether web, mobile,phone or physical stores. This is ahighly connected community wherethe most unlikely contributorscan be celebrities and other socialinuencers.Customersdonthavetocometoyouanymore.Yourcustomerstake their social media applicationswiththemwherevertheygo,whether

its to your store, on the phone to yourcall centre, linked to your website oron their Xbox.

In order to truly exploit the powerof social media for your business,you need to understand how thisnew channel differs from the moretraditional channels.


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You have no control (or atleast only a little)

Oneofthemajortrendsthatsocialmedia is accelerating is the shift ofcontrol from companies to customersand their social communities. Whetheracompanychoosestohaveasocialmedia strategy or not, the reality isyour customers are already engaging insocial media and are talking about yourcompany.

Traditional broadcast methods ofdisseminating messaging are beingcircumventedbyemergingsocialmedia channels. In an era when

more and more customers are basingtheir purchasing decisions on peerinteraction,theroleofadvertising,branding, marketing, PR and othertraditional means of communicationsneedtobere-evaluated.

Acknowledge that you are no longer incontrol of your business message. Goto your customers social sites, listen totheirdiscussions,respondandprovidethecustomised,value-addingcontentthat they want.

Its a conversation

The expectations of those whoengage in social networks are that thecommunicationwillbetwo-way;inotherwords,itwillbeaconversation.Authenticity, transparency and honestyare mandatory characteristics of thisconversationandtheirabsencehasthe potential to cause great harm.Attempts to use social media networksasvehiclesforglibPRormarketinginvariablybackre.Thoseinyourorganisation tasked with engagingwithcustomersviasocialmedia(i.e.everyone)mustbeempoweredtospeak openly and genuinely (but makesure you remember to put in place thepolicies and procedures to managethe interaction see the InformationSecurity section on page 15 of thisdocument).

Listening, rather than broadcastingmarketing messages, is not somethingthat comes naturally to mostbusinesses; but if you want to harnessthe power of social networks, its anecessaryrststep.

It gives your customersa job

Theabilitytoco-createcontent,serviceofferingsorevenproductswithcustomers, employees or businesspartners offers huge potential forbusiness.Youdontneedtobetheone to do the research or create theinnovationinordertobenetfromit,aslongastheideasarefreelygiven,ofcourse.

And youd be surprised at how willingpeoplearetofreelygivetheirideaswhengivenaplatformforsharingandincentivefordoingso.IntheUK,Direct

Linehasreceivedgreatengagementfromcustomers,whohaveactivelyshared their ideas on Facebook forthedevelopmentofDirectLinesnewiPhone app.

How a major airline is using social media to

offset rising fuel prices and operational costs

Faced with rising fuel prices, one of the

worlds largest airlines sought to identifyonlineopportunitiestoincreaserevenuesand help counter higher operationalcosts. They were also interested insettingupaconsolidatedvisionfortheirmarketinginitiatives,whichhadbeenlanguishing in harsh economic times.

Working with us to establish anappropriate social media strategy andvision,theairlinesetupmeaningfulwaysfor customers to connect and contributecontent around the brand.

This social solution includes not only

elements of the companys website, butalsopartnersites(forcross-sell)and,ofcourse, social media mainstays such asTwitter,FacebookandYouTube.

Further, the airline has used thisopportunity to increase collaborationinternally as well, and makes sure itsmedia team employees are well preparedto address questions and issues throughthese channels.

The airline is now able to directly connectall of its customers to its employeesmessages and also the thoughts ofinuencerssuchasavidtravelbloggers

and fans of the brand.

As of January, the airline reported three

millionvisitorstoitsonlineblog,abouta million Twitter followers, and anothermillion Facebook fans. Furthermore,Nielsen/Netratings rated it as the largestairlinesiteintermsofuniquevisitors.

These social media assets will continue topaylong-termeconomicdividendstothecompany.


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Its where yourcustomers aregathering

If you knew that members of yourtarget customer segments spent timein a particular place, wouldnt it makesensetosetupastorefrontthere-oratleastpostanadvertthere?Halfofthe29millionFacebooksubscribersinthe UK check their page at least once aday.Areyouthere?Ifyouarent,doyouhaveagoodreasonnottobe?

Conversations about yourbusiness are happening with or without you

Its not a question of whether theyretalking about you, its a question ofwhether youre paying attention andparticipating. What you might thinkof as a potential threat to your brand,may actually be an opportunity tobuildloyaltyandadvocacyamongyourcustomers and employees.

US online shoes and clothing retailerZapposCEOTonyHsiehbelievesthatthesenewchannelsgiveeveryoneavoiceandwhattheysaycanreachmillions. Zappos staff are encouragedto use Twitter to engage with customersandtotreateverycustomerinteractionas an opportunity to create loyalty notnecessarilytomakeasale.ThevalueofthisearnedPRisdifculttoestimate,butZappossuccessisnot;saleshavegrownfrom$1.6millionin2000to$1billionin2008.

Why should you care?(Here are fve good reasons.)

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Your brandis beingcircumvented

AccordingtoForrester,morethan33%ofEuropeanonlineconsumersevaluateand compare the things they wantto buy based on what their peers aresaying on social platforms not basedonthemessagestheyreceivefromyour business. Offering mechanismsfor your customers to connect witheachothertofacilitateevaluation,andthenparticipatingactivelyinthoseconversations,canputyoubackintheloop.Thiswillgiveyousomeinuence

on purchasing decisions and createcustomer loyalty.

Its the worldslargest focusgroup

Social media offers the potentialofhighlypersonalised,one-to-oneinteractions with your customers, andleads to much better interaction ratesthan traditional marketing effortsdeliver.

If what youre selling is not meetingcustomer needs or expectations, thereis no better way to become immediatelyaware of the shortcomings. It alsoexpedites customer input into theproductdevelopmentcycle.Buildthe

platform,giveyourcustomersareasonto participate, and then listen to whatthey say. This sounds easier than it is,becausesocialmediaisverydifferenttoother engagement channels.

It can be the mosteffective way to reachyour customers

For a surprising breadth of demographicsegments,engagementviasocialmediacanbethemosteffectivewayofmovingcustomersupthevaluechainfrom initial awareness to passionateevangelism.AccordingtoareportbyChadwick,Martin&Bailey,67%ofsocial media users are more likely to buya brand they follow on Twitter, while79%aremorelikelytorecommendabrand they follow on Twitter.

Techlightenment reports that, comparedtoagenericdisplayad,amicro-targetedsocial media message (to a morespecicallychosenaudience)willattract2-4timestheresponses.Theideaistocreate many smaller placements andhaveeachvisibleonlytothepeoplemostlikely to interact with it.

Takingitaleveldeeper,Techlightenment reports that responsestomicro-messagingthatis,withthetextcarefullycraftedtobespecicallymeaningful to the chosen target

audienceyieldsa5xto10xincreasein responses. Increases of thismagnitudeclearlyjustifyaninvestmentin the channel, but its not the onlyreason to participate.

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The impact of social mediawill challenge your brandand be felt throughout

your organisation. Inorder to respond andadapt, changes will needto take place, from processand policy, to broadorganisational change.

Youll need a deliberateengagement strategyAlthough social media changes the

way in which an organisation interactswith customers, the essentials ofbusiness are still true: create a productorservice,makepeopleawareofit,encourage them to buy it, maintaina good relationship so that they areinclined to recommend you and buymore from you. In doing this, youremainefcientandcosteffectivethroughouttomaximiseprot.

Youmustassesstheimpactandopportunity presented by social mediaon your business model, understandhow your customers and potentialcustomers are using this medium andvisualisehowyoucouldusesocialmedia to build relationships.

If your brand attributes are notunderstood well enough to allowanauthenticconversationwithyourcustomersandyoudonthavesomethingofvaluetosaytothem,inalllikelihood you will be ignored.

Marketing, sales andservice will change...for the better

Marketing,salesandservicesfunctionsare most affected by the onset of socialmediaandalsohavethemosttogain.Inan era when more and more customersare basing their purchasing decisions onpeerinteraction,theroleofadvertising,branding, marketing, PR and othertraditional means of communicationsneedtobere-evaluated.

Spend on marketing online in the UKnow exceeds that of TV and althoughtodatethemajorityofthatspendison

search engine optimisation (e.g. Googleadvertising)andbanneradvertising,companies are turning to social mediasites such as Facebook because of thelevelofmicrotargetingthatispossible.Manypeopletravelinpacksandmanycometogetherforimportantlifeevents.Customers are using social media as away of connecting to communities withcommon interests and needs.

Positioningproductsandservicesto these target communities allowscompaniestoeffectivelypositionkeymessages to the right type of customerattheirmomentofneed.Astheoldsayinggoes,itsonlyjunkmailifthecustomer doesnt want it.

What are the implications of allthis for your business?

US bank Citi is looking

to hire an attorney toprovide legal oversightfor its social mediaactivities.

nextra

The people in charge of talking are in the marketing

department. The people in charge of listening arein the research or service or sales department. Theyhardly ever talk to each other, let alone have full-duplex conversations with customers.

Josh Bernoff, Why Marketers Have Trouble With Full-duplex

Social Technology, June 30, 2009

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You will need to involveyour people and examineyour culture

Giventheneedtobeauthenticand transparent when conductingconversationsviasocialmedia,itisimportantthatallmessagestwiththepublicbrandfaceofyourbusiness.Infact, your online presence will alreadyhavebeguntoimplicitlydeneyourbusinessvaluestoyourcustomers,social media takes this exposure ofcorporatecultureandbrandvaluestoanotherleveloftransparency.

One of the biggest challenges ofusingsocialmediaisthelevelofempowerment it implicitly requires ofyour staff. If they are communicatingwithyourcustomersdirectlyviaTwitter,aleveloftrustandcondenceis required that many organisationswouldcurrentlystruggletoenvisage.

Some businesses are simply not readyto go down the path of a people changeprogramme that fully embracing socialmedia implies. Others are hinderedbymultiple,potentiallyconicting,

internal cultures that reduce theeffectivenessofusingthisasapublic-facing medium.

However,adoptingsocialnetworksinside the organisation presents greatopportunities for internal knowledgesharing,productivitygrowthand

improvementstoteam-workingandmorale.

The structure of yourorganisation will need toevolve to accommodateconversationsThe question of who owns the customerisevenmorerelevantwiththeonsetofsocial media. Now added to that is thequestionofwhoownstheconversation.Socialmediawillcreateconversations

with customers that cut across productlines,sales,serviceandmarketingboundaries and therefore organisationsneed to look beyond the silo structures.A number of organisations are nowlooking to recruit heads of socialmediatodenestrategy,directionandmessaging but this then needs to beembedded across the organisation.

You will need to organise,manage and secure newsources of content

Whether were talking about customers,banks, insurers, credit unions,communitiesorsuperusers,everyoneis creating content now.

Companies are facing the samechallengesthatentertainmentrmsare grappling with: how to create,produce, place and keep the contentfor easy dispersal and retention. Thesedaysyoumayhavebrandedcontentanywhere,whetheritsaYouTubevideohere,avideoblogthereorappsallover

the place. Keeping it safe, secure andaccessible is critical. The strategic useofvideoblogs,blogsandcommunitiescan help companies repeat their keymessages through multiple channels.Forexample,avideoonretirementplanningcanbeleveragedonawebsite,a retirement blog and retirementcommunities.

In an era of abundant access and scarceattention, content is (still) king, butmanaging that content has become alot more complicated.

A balanced approach to information security

Thereisnostoppingthetwo-wayowofinformationthatsocialmediaenables.Webelievethatbusinessesshould adopt a strategy to safeguardtheir corporate networks and datafocusing on three aspects: processes,people and technology.

This remains a complex issue. Technicaldefenceisvitaltoprotectagainstnegligentandmaliciousacts.Howeverthere is also a human element;negligence,ignoranceorevencuriositycangiverisetoincidents.

What is required is a programmedesigned to raise security awarenessandinuencethebehavioursofallthose concerned, and balanced againstcontinuedinvestmentintechnologyand processes. It is also essentialthat you classify data so that youremployees understand precisely whatis,andisnot,sensitiveinformation.

Thispolicyshoulddenewhoisauthorised to access and sharecorporate content, and it should lay outprocedures that specify how employeesmayusesensitivedata.Policy,too,must delineate the types of socialmedia accounts that the companysponsors.

All employees must know that thecompanys accounts are separate andverydifferentfromtheirpersonalaccounts. The boundaries of proper useof social media can be ambiguous asthelineblursbetweenworkandprivatelife. But your social networking policymust not be.

Business should also consider securityproductsorservicesthatactivelyscanandmonitortrafcformalware,dataleakageandothersuspiciousactivity.Possiblesolutionsincludemulti-layered security at the gateway and endpoints,contentclassication,contentlteringanddatalossprevention.Identifying the right mix of these toolscan be daunting because of how rapidly

technologyisevolving.

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Youneedtohaveastrategy.Aswehaveseen, social media offerstremendous opportunitiesforrmstoengagewiththeircustomersanddriverealbusinessbenets,butthat engagement has tobe earned. But where doyoubegin?

How can youget started ...

Start by listeningIf you do nothing else, listen! Anysocialmediainitiativeshouldbeginby listening to what your customersare already saying about you on socialchannels.Fortunately,itsneverbeeneasier to capture this information.Onlinetoolsprovideterricopportunities to gain deep insightinto what your customers think, want,need, and expect, making it possibletodirectlyaccessactualbehaviour,likes and needs. Analytical listeningdashboardscanprovideanoverviewof your position in the marketplaceandprovidedrilldownstoindividualtweets, Facebook updates, messageboard comments and blog posts. Thisoffersapotentiallyunparalleledlevelof insight into your brand and yourcustomersperspectivesonit.

Start smallYoudonthavetogeteverythingcompleteatthebeginning.Whilstits important to get the basics right(avoidingtheobviouspitfalls),itisjustasimportanttolearnanditeratequickly. Honesty and transparency willhelp to build your customers trust, sothat when mistakes do get made, youare more likely to get the chance toredeem yourself!

Deliver on your brandvaluesItsnotenoughtojustbeoutthere.Youractivitieswithinthesocialmedia

space need to be appropriate to yourbrand. Engaging through social mediaplaces an onus on brand integrity andauthenticity;manyrmswillneedto reassess and understand their keybrand attributes in order to participateeffectively.Astrategyisrequiredthatfully considers the appropriate useof different social media channelsto match your brand attributes andproperlyreectsthevalueyourbranddeliversforyourcustomers.Thisisa prerequisite for web designs, web

applicationsandcontentprovision.


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... and keep momentum?Create value for yourcustomersIts not realistic to think that yourcustomers will participate in acommunityifitoffersnoobviousandimmediatebenettothem.SometimescalledtheDel.icio.usLesson(afterJoshuaPorters2006essay(http://bokardo.com/archives/the-delicious-lesson/), this principle states simply

thatthevaluetothoseinthenetworkmustprecedethevaluetothenetwork.

Thinkaboutwhatassetsyouhavethatyourcustomersmightnduseful,andallowaccesstothisresource-itcouldbedata,itcouldbeconnectivityto others in the network, it could beanopportunitytoshare-withoutpreconditions (registration, paymentorsubscription).Soonyoullndcommunityactivityspringinguparoundthissocialobject.Interestingly,one of the main reasons customers siteforfriendingacorporateFacebookpage is to get access to special offersand sales discounts.

Facilitate sharingSocial media may be a low cost way tocommunicate and engage with yourcustomers, but it takes effort to makeit work. Organise discussion forums,chats and Q&A sections on their mediachannels, to make it easy for customerstosharetheirviewsandprovide

feedback (hopefully good as well asbad)aboutyourproductsandservices.

Make the caseUndertakingasocialmediainitiativeis no different from any other businessundertaking, in that its essential to beable to articulate a compelling case anddemonstratebusinessbenet.Oftenthebenetsareofthesofterkind:brandbuilding,awarenessandadvocacy;but its still possible to calculate ROIthroughqualitativeandquantitativecustomer feedback and increasinglythroughend-to-endtrackingofsocialmedia campaigns.

Keep it excitingTo attract customers, you need tondwaysofmakingyoursocialmedia channel interesting andexciting.Forexample,usevideosandphotographseffectivelytodeliverinteresting facts about products andservices,providetipsonuseandshowreal customer highlight clips. Use

competitions, games and blogs to getpeople interacting with your socialsite;considerprovidingadditional,uniqueservicestocustomersthroughsocial media channels. For example,Starbucks allows its customer tomanage their Starbucks cards onFacebook.

Make it relevant

Havingnothingrelevanttosayisabigturn off for consumers. To maintaincustomer interest and a steady supplyofrepeatvisits,yoursocialmediachannels must be updated frequentlywith the latest breaking news, content

and features. This means a socialmedia team should be established tomanage social communications andcontent. Customers feedback andquestions about the company productsandservicesmustbeansweredquicklyifthesiteisnottosuffernegativefeedback or the ignominy of beingignored by consumers.

Keep it accurate

Customers want to know correctinformation about the companyin which they are interested. Keepthe information posted about yourcompanyproducts,activitiesandpromotions accurate and up to dateifyouwantpeopletovisit.Youwillneedtodevelopasocialmediapolicy,with a risk and control assessment, inorder to manage the accuracy of theinformation posted on your social sitesby your company and to respond to theinformation (hopefully) posted there

by your customers.

Keep listening!Ifsomethingnegativeoccurs,youllbewell-positionedtorespondquicklyandmeaningfully.

Moreimportantly,youwillnowhavereal-timeaccesstobehaviouranddialogue that can greatly enhanceyour current understanding of yourcustomers, as well as the ability to trackthebenetstoyourbusiness.

These tools can give you an idea of whats being said

about you out there, and by whom:

RSS Feed aggregators:

Google reader

NetNewsWire

FeedDemon

Rockmelt (browser)

Tracking and listening sites:

SocialMention.com

Tweetgrid.com

WorkStreamer.com

Engagement and visualisation:

MentionMap

Tweepskey

Klout

Peerindex


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Contact us

Matt Hobbs

Partner

+44(0)2072131565

[email protected]

Sean Mahdi

Director

+44(0)2072135564 [email protected]


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Tony Moreno

Sean Mahdi

Gorham Palmer

Steven Gough

Debbie Dimoff

William Beer

Anh Pham

Peter Molker

Matt Partovi

Acknowledgements


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2011PricewaterhouseCoopersLLP.Allrightsreserved.Inthisdocument,PwCreferstoPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (a limited liability partnership in the United Kingdom), which is a memberrmofPricewaterhouseCoopersInternationalLimited,eachmemberrmofwhichisaseparatelegalentity.

This publication has been prepared or general guidance on matters o interest only, and does not constitute proessional

advice. You should not act upon the inormation contained in this publication without obtaining specifc proessional advice.

No representation or warranty (express or implied) is given as to the accuracy or completeness o the inormation contained

in this publication, and, to the extent permitted by law, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, its members, employees and agents

do not accept or assume any liability, responsibility or duty o care or any consequences o you or anyone else acting, or

reraining to act, in reliance on the inormation contained in this publication or or any decision based on it.

2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. All rights reserved. In this document, PwC reers to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (a

limited liability partnership in the United Kingdom), which is a member frm o PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited,

each member frm o which is a separate legal entity.

www.pwc.co.uk

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