Download Getting the most from social: An integrated marketing approach

Getting the
most from social:
An integrated
marketing approach
Foreword
Matt Glasner
General Manager, Experian Marketing Services
How does social media fit in as part of a true multichannel marketing strategy?
This is a crucial question that marketers must ask if they are going to reap real value
from this booming channel.
Social media is an integral part of many brands’
marketing strategies and Facebook, in particular, is
becoming critical to the success of direct consumer
engagement. In the past few years, we have witnessed
the phenomenal growth of social media in people’s
lives. According to Experian Hitwise data, Australians
notched up 11.4 billion visits to social networks in
20111, and the obsession shows no signs of slowing.
As the channel becomes ‘normalised’ in people’s minds
as a legitimate forum for brand engagement, marketers
can really start to leverage social networks to establish
long-term dialogue and engagement. To be successful,
it’s important to use information such as demographic
insights and competitive intelligence to optimise
and target campaigns, working out what to post on
social networks to elicit the best response from fans.
A very captive audience exists across social media
channels in Australia, presenting a great opportunity
for companies to engage with consumers via these
interactive channels. Already, some brands are
making it work. Quiksilver, Streets Bubble O’Bill
Ice Cream and UGG Australia are among the top
Australian brands on Facebook by number of fans,
each with over one million.2 How did these brands
get to this point? And what are they doing to
extract the most value from the fans they’ve got?
Along the way, marketers will confront pressures
to demonstrate business and brand value, and
measure return on investment. At the heart of each
social media campaign is the desire to gain a better
understanding of the role of social media ‘influencers’
and how they impact customer conversions. Armed
with this clear understanding of their customers,
marketers are in an ideal position to target campaigns
to acquire more customers and – crucially – engage
with and retain the customers they’ve got.
These are questions that many marketers ask
themselves as they formulate and implement a social
media strategy. They must consider which camp
their brand falls into: the proactive or the reactive? In
general, proactive brands actively post messages that
get high response rates from fans. Deals Direct is a
great example. This brand may not have as many fans
as Quiksilver, but its strategy of posting trivia questions,
brain teasers, requests for photo captions – as well
as pushing marketing messages and product offers
– ensures that its legion of fans are well engaged.
More reactive brands – which typically fall into the
service industries, such as banks, e-commerce
organisations and utilities – have a large customer
base and need a social media presence to monitor and
respond to customer comments. These brands face
the challenge of shedding their ‘transactional’ image
and finding a way to engage with consumers
on social media.
1
Data sourced from Experian Hitwise
2
http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-pages/brands/australia/
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Getting the most from social: An integrated marketing approach
The current state of social play
As mentioned in the foreword, Australians are proving keen participants in social
networks. There are 11 million active Facebook users in Australia, and of these,
67 per cent return daily 3.
Data obtained using Experian Hitwise tools analysed
user behaviour across Australia and showed:
Australians visited Facebook 6.2 billion times in the
twelve months to end December 2011
Facebook represents a 54 per cent visit share of all
social media websites visited by Australians4 (which
includes social networks such as Twitter, YouTube,
LinkedIn)
Australians visited Facebook an average of 1.6 times
per day per person, and spent an average of 26
minutes on the site each visit between January 2011
and December 2011
‘Facebook’ is the most popular search term typed
into search engines, and three of the top 10
most popular search terms online are Facebook
related (‘Facebook’, ‘Facebook login’ and ‘FB’)
3
Experian Hitwise
4
Websites within Experian’s Computers and Internet - Social Networking and Forums category
5
Websites within Experian’s Shopping and Classifieds category
3
Getting the most from social: An integrated marketing approach
Further analysis of the Experian Hitwise data shows
that the amount of people leaving Facebook to visit
an online retail website5 grew 15 per cent in 2011,
from 4.51 per cent to 5.22 per cent. This increase
sends a strong message to retailers about the
value in growing their social media fan base and
incentivising click-throughs to their websites.
Clearly, social media’s influence is growing. Marketers
need concrete action plans to make the most of
the vast opportunities it presents. The question is,
how can you best prepare for this evolving world?
This whitepaper draws upon recent research conducted
by Experian Marketing Services among Australian
marketers and consumers to answer these and other
questions. You can use the insights within this report
to support key decisions about how your brand can use
social media marketing to bolster business results.
Executive
Summary
To shed light on the current state of play in the social media landscape,
Experian Marketing Services commissioned independent research with 330 Australian
marketing professionals and 1,000 consumers.
The research gives us a greater understanding of how
marketers across Australia are using social media
channels and how consumers engage with brands via
social networks. It reveals the discrepancies and similarities
that exist between user experiences and marketer
expectations, and potential areas in which marketers
can improve their efforts in the social media space.
The research is part of a two part series looking at how well
marketers’ and consumers’ interests are aligned. The first
report published in late 2011, ‘The future of multichannel
marketing’6, demonstrates where marketers in Australia
are investing their dollars and which channels they value
most highly in their communication. From a consumer
perspective, it explores how effectively the general Australian
population respond to and engage with marketing efforts.
The marketing participants in both pieces of research
came from the retail, financial services, government,
technology, digital and travel industries; while
consumers were from across all demographics.
The research shows that social media is becoming a
valued part of the overall marketing mix, with marketers
setting budget aside specifically for social media.
They are certainly adapting to the changing habits
of consumers; and are very much present on social
media channels. Alongside this growing investment in
social media, the shape of the marketing department is
changing with the growing trend of hiring Community
Managers to take care of social media interactions.
While marketers have invested significant dollars in
developing a presence on social media channels, many
still take a ‘broad brush’ approach – whereby the same
campaigns are rolled-out to all audiences across all
social networks, without effective use of demographic
insights to target consumers with the right message
at the right time. This approach is very normal for new
communication channels as marketers find their feet.
6
http://www.experian.com.au/resources/future-of-multi-channel-marketing.html
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Getting the most from social: An integrated marketing approach
When they do, they will reap the benefits of getting closer
to customers and achieving an in-depth, long-term level of
engagement via social media. Along the way, marketers will
need better ways to measure return on investment (ROI) –
currently, when it comes to measuring social media’s value
to the business, many organisations hit a stumbling block.
With brand engagement via social media still in its early
days, it’s natural for consumers to be wary of brand
messages they receive via social media channels. Yet this will
not last forever and there is a real opportunity for marketers
to change the way they engage – through clever, incentivised
acquisition campaigns; highly targeted post-acquisition
campaigns; developing clear policies around responding
to negative comments; using analytic tools to target their
social media advertising; and ensuring that any social media
activity ties in with broader multichannel marketing activities.
For long-term engagement with a captive consumer
audience using social media, marketers need to
apply clever thinking and communicate with them
on the consumers’ terms. Get it right, and brands can
enhance their customer communication and develop
an immensely valuable, long-lasting dialogue.
Research
Results
Brands’ investment in social is growing
Spend in social media on par with online advertising
Marketers have great insights into their target audience;
and for most marketers, these insights show that the majority
of their target audience is active on social media networks.
Budgets are being reallocated to reflect this growing channel.
The allocation of budget to social media very much
depends on the brand. Larger companies tend to
outsource the management of social media to big media
agencies, and their social media budget becomes part
of their branding budget. Then there are companies
that view social media as a pure acquisition channel,
and put a cost-per-acquisition limit on the channel.
Take Facebook. In Australia, marketers are spending 18 per
cent more on this network every year. Gross annual spend
on Facebook is expected to hit $100m by the end of 20137.
The structure of marketing departments may evolve at the
same time, with more and more companies seeing the value
in hiring a dedicated Community Manager. The Community
Manager’s role is to ensure that every person within the
brand’s social media community is communicated to in a
timely and engaging way. This may mean sending different
messages to different demographic groups on Facebook,
or a timely tweet to the cohort of Twitter followers. It is the
Community Manager’s responsibility to ensure that social
media has a measurable effect on the business. Given the
potential impact such a role can have, it is expected that
Community Managers will become more prevalent in large
organisations in the next 12 months – indeed, organisations’
commitment to this new role is another indication of
how much they are prepared to invest in social media.
Indeed, the Experian research shows that 28 per cent
of marketers say they spend more than 10 per cent of
their budget on social media. This is a significant budget
allocation – similar to online advertising spend (34 per
cent of marketers say they spend more than 10 per cent of
their budget in this area) – and is likely to cover everything
from staff costs and strategy, to agencies and design.
This figure is set to grow in the next 12 months. Already,
business trust in social media is growing, with 48 per cent
of marketers saying that it isn’t hard to get budgets approved
for new channels like social media. Given this, 58 per cent
of marketers anticipate that the proportion of marketing
budget they allocate to social media advertising and channel
development will increase over the next 12 months.
Proportion of marketing budget allocated to the following channels:
Proportion
Social media
advertising
and channel
development
Email
marketing
Sponsored
search
engine /
PPC result
SEO
Online
advertising
Online
video
Direct mail
TV or radio
advertising
Print
advertising
Apps
Events
Other
Zero
23%
14%
25%
30%
18%
32%
21%
32%
15%
38%
22%
32%
Less than 5%
28%
26%
23%
29%
20%
24%
27%
19%
21%
24%
25%
25%
6 - 10%
21%
25%
22%
19%
28%
18%
19%
18%
20%
17%
20%
18%
11 - 25%
15%
19%
17%
12%
16%
13%
16%
14%
20%
9%
17%
10%
26 - 50%
8%
10%
8%
6%
13%
8%
10%
10%
15%
8%
9%
7%
More than 50%
5%
6%
5%
4%
5%
5%
7%
7%
9%
4%
7%
8%
The structure of marketing departments
is evolving, with more and more
companies seeing the value in hiring
a dedicated Community Manager.
7
http://www.afr.com/p/national/local_facebook_chief_quits_uIEYwKknUdaArhEvUB2JDK
5
Getting the most from social: An integrated marketing approach
Research
Results
The bottom line for ROI
Social media a close second to email
When it comes to delivering ROI, marketers are confident about the performance
of social media – despite the challenge of trying to answer the seemingly unanswerable:
How do you measure the value of a fan on Facebook?
According to the research, 75 per cent of respondents
rank social media marketing and advertising as one
of the most effective ways to deliver ROI. This comes
a close second to email marketing, which topped
the table with 83 per cent of marketers believing it to
be the most effective channel at delivering ROI.
However, emerging social attribution tools are now
becoming available to do just this. Tools can track the
movement of consumers from social media to websites
and vice versa; they can be used to measure the impact
of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’; and can provide rich intelligence
around the significance of an influencer’s comment
or re-tweet. The ability to gather such data will give
marketers valuable insights into how their social media
activities fit in with their broader marketing strategy.
Marketers know that there is immense value in social
media attribution and loyalty. This is particularly the
case when ‘high influencers’ get on board to endorse
a product or brand. Yet, until now, marketers have not
been able to put a tangible measure on this attribution.
While they certainly acknowledge it’s a good thing,
marketers want more concrete proof of the impact
that an influencer’s comment or tweet has on the
brand’s image or, more importantly, bottom line.
Tools to better target Facebook advertising are also
becoming available – brands can now use technology
platforms to optimise Facebook ads so that they reach
their core audience and build a strong online community
of brand advocates at the lowest possible cost.
Rank the following marketing channels in terms of their effectiveness to deliver the most ROI:
Proportion
Email
marketing
Social
media
marketing/
advertising
Print
advertising
TV / radio
advertising
Online
advertising
Brand
experiences
e.g. stunts,
promotions,
interactive
digital
content
Apps
Events
SEO
PPC
Other
(4) Highly Effective
36%
27%
30%
27%
26%
21%
18%
26%
20%
16%
14%
(3) Effective
47%
48%
44%
36%
50%
46%
32%
45%
31%
29%
37%
(2) Ineffective
11%
14%
19%
18%
13%
19%
27%
14%
30%
32%
28%
(1) Not Effective
6%
11%
7%
19%
11%
14%
23%
15%
19%
23%
21%
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Getting the most from social: An integrated marketing approach
Research
Results
Yet it is still early days. Despite the emergence of new
analytical tools, reporting back on the success of social
media channel activity is a stumbling block for many
brands. The research shows that 40 per cent of marketers
do not have measurement tools in place for their
social media strategy; and 20 per cent of marketers are
evaluating their strategy less than biannually, if at all.
As more analytics tools hit the market in 2012, marketers
will have at their fingertips valuable information so they
can measure the real value of a fan or impact of a ‘like’.
Of increasing importance is the ability to understand the
value of social attribution – what impact does it have on
the business if a fan re-posts a brand message or shares
an offer or advert via Facebook between their friends?
Whilst the person who shared the advert may not click
on the link, one of their friends may take action.
It’s the ability to track this attribution that will give marketers
the insights they need to understand valuable Facebook
influencers and the way in which they impact conversions,
thus driving more value from their social media campaigns.
At the same time, they will be able to accurately measure
the ROI from social media channels, and present an even
more compelling case for future investment in the channel.
Tools to better target Facebook advertising
are also becoming available – brands can
now use technology platforms to optimise
Facebook ads so that they reach their core
audience and build a strong online community
of brand advocates at the lowest possible cost.
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Getting the most from social: An integrated marketing approach
Research
Results
Crossing the social frontier
Brands are going social, but people don’t fully trust them yet
The Experian research shows that Australian marketers are committed to building
a social media presence; yet have some work to do in gaining the trust of consumers.
The social media channel is the new kid on the block
in the multichannel marketing mix. Marketers and their
audiences are treating this kid with a mix of reverence
and caution – they are keen to get on board, but they
are treading carefully, wary of making early mistakes.
Currently, 58 per cent of brands have a presence on
social media in Australia. Of these, 40 per cent have
been in the social media fray for more than one year.
It is clearly a channel that consumers love. According to
Experian’s research, 73 per cent of Australian consumers
use Facebook, while 48 per cent visit YouTube and 32
per cent are using the relative newcomer, Google+.
Despite embracing social networks, consumers are
still wary of the brands they encounter through social
channels. Only four per cent of consumers would
trust a brand’s official social media channel – be it
Facebook, Twitter or YouTube – the most for obtaining
information about the brand or company. Nineteen per
cent of consumers regard social media as the least
trustworthy channel for obtaining information.
In fact, consumers trust information about a brand
on Wikipedia more than they trust the information
they receive on a brand’s official social media
channel, with six per cent of respondents saying
Wikipedia is the most trustworthy channel.
8
Getting the most from social: An integrated marketing approach
That’s not to say consumers won’t use social sites when
sourcing information about a new product or a brand. Forty
one per cent of consumers classify blogs, forums and review
sites as relevant sources of information. “Social commerce”
has never been more important. As consumers turn to
blogs, review sites and forums to help them evaluate where
to purchase a product, marketers need to understand the
importance of this valuable third party endorsement and the
way in which social is used to shape purchasing decisions.
As a new marketing medium, social networks still have
some way to go and it is expected that consumers will
be wary about engaging with brands using this channel.
Such reticence is not unusual – marketing professionals
will have encountered the ‘normalisation curve’ that
follows the introduction of any new channel in the
marketing mix, and only need to think back five years
to when email marketing campaigns were introduced
to see how quickly the ‘new’ became mainstream.
Indeed, while marketers are waiting for the normalisation
curve to flatten, it may pay to get their overall online
strategy right. Many organisations in Australia – retailers, in
particular – haven’t made the most of their web presence, let
alone started using social media. While some retailers are
forging ahead with the integration of web, mobile, apps and
social media, too many are still struggling to articulate their
online strategy and how it fits into their broader business.
Getting this right will put the foundations in place for an
effective social media strategy further down the line.
Research
Results
Striking the right balance
Consumers will engage, but are wary of too much contact
Consumers are starting to show some willingness to follow and engage with
brands via social media; yet marketers face the challenge of getting them to choose
their brand to follow.
The average consumer doesn’t have the time or the
inclination to follow every brand they are loyal to via social
media. With that in mind, acquisition is a top priority for
marketers trying to build their social media presence. Then,
attention shifts to making the engagement as relevant
and rewarding as possible for the brand’s followers.
Yet striking the right balance is always going to be
difficult. When it comes to the most appropriate levels
and frequency of communication, there is a disconnect
between marketer activity and consumer perception – 22
per cent of marketers feel that they don’t communicate with
their customers enough; while 36 per cent of consumers
feel overwhelmed by the volume of communications
they receive from a brand across all channels.
Focusing on social media, there is a great opportunity
for marketers to engage with consumers. While
many consumers cite information overload as a
deterrent to brand loyalty, the same number (34
per cent) are actively following brands on social
media. This suggests a willingness to engage with
brands – as long as it’s on the consumer’s terms.
Of those that follow a brand, 46 per cent of consumers
follow one to three brands, while 45 per cent follow between
four and ten brands on social media channels. Given that
marketers face stiff competition from other non-corporate
‘brands’ out there – such as celebrities, musicians,
television shows – it is a fierce battle to win the ‘likes’
of consumers who may limit the number they give out.
Approximately how many brands do you follow?
Number
of brands
Total
18 – 24 years
25 – 31 years
32 – 38 years
39 – 44 years
45 – 50 years
51+ years
1 to 3 brands
46%
43%
32%
43%
61%
47%
68%
4 to 6 brands
37%
37%
39%
41%
30%
44%
29%
7 to 10 brands
8%
7%
12%
8%
4%
9%
–
10+ brands
9%
13%
17%
8%
5%
–
3%
When it comes to the best volume of
communication, there is a disconnect
between marketer activity and consumer
perception – 22 per cent of marketers feel
that they don’t communicate with their
customers enough; while 36 per cent
of consumers feel overwhelmed by the
volume of communications they receive
from a brand across all channels.
9
Getting the most from social: An integrated marketing approach
Research
Results
Shaping social media strategy
Marketers must listen to what consumers want, and deliver
Growing a fan-base on social media is the first step.
But for marketers, the focus lies in getting long-term value from each and every
customer relationship on social networks.
As a starting point, it pays for marketers to consider the
reasons why consumers ‘like’ them. The research shows
that the top three reasons why people follow brands
on social media channels are to: get updates on new
products or services (77 per cent), gain access to special
offers or discounts (71 per cent), or enter competitions
(56 per cent). While not all marketers are in the position
to develop content strategies that are shaped around
these three angles – product updates, special offers and
competitions – they must be mindful of the motivation
behind a ‘like’ and strive to give consumers what they want.
Indeed, it’s not all about how many fans a brand has.
Rather, it is what the brand does with these fans. There
is a large difference between a one-off engagement
and the nurturing of long-term relationships. The more
successful brands on social media ensure that they’re
not always pushing marketing messages, and provide a
good mix of entertainment, interaction or information.
This practice of ‘giving something back’ helps to strengthen
the sense of community and increase the likelihood of
fans becoming brand ambassadors over the long term.
Another important element of a social media strategy is
based upon the old fashioned notion of customer service.
Brands must not shy away from saying sorry. If a customer
posts a negative comment, or is rightfully angry about
a brand’s product or service, consumers often expect to
receive an explanation or apology via social media channels.
The more successful brands on social media
ensure that they’re not always pushing
marketing messages, and provide a good mix
of entertainment, interaction or information.
10
Getting the most from social: An integrated marketing approach
Finally, brands must ensure that their social media strategy
is tied in with all other marketing activities. It is critical
to present a consistent experience across all channels,
so that those consumers who dive from one to the next
are receiving the same message across all mediums.
As with any communication channel, social should
not be used in silo to other interaction with customers.
Ensuring a consistent multi-channel communication
experience will increase the engagement that organisations
have with consumers on an individual level.
Clearly, there are many things to consider when developing
and implementing a social media strategy. To do it properly,
marketers cannot simply add the job to their to-do list
and expect that it will happen. Social media marketing
is a full-time job that requires priority attention.
Summary
The Experian Marketing Services research sought to shed light on one of the fastest
growing areas of marketing – offering both marketer and consumer views on the value
and impact of social media, and its role in brand engagement.
As a relatively new communications channel, marketers
need to tread carefully in how they communicate
with consumers via social media. Like any emergent
channel, consumers are still wary about interacting with
brands in this space, despite the fact that, on a personal
level, they embrace the channel wholeheartedly.
Marketers need patience and caution, yet with the
right strategies in place they can win the trust of their
consumers and start reaping immense value.
Before any communication starts, marketers need to acquire
a deep understanding of their audience – including such
things as demographic insights and behavioural analyses –
to determine the right social media networks and means of
communication. The ability to understand how audiences
are using social media to evaluate and purchase a product
will help shape marketers’ online communication strategy.
They also need to steer clear of a ‘broad brush’ approach –
where social media campaigns target all consumers
without thinking about how information can be tailored
to specific audiences. Taking this tack, they run the risk
of doing more harm than good by missing out on targeted
engagement and losing a captive online audience.
With these foundations in place, marketers can offer
tailored, personal and relevant communication, via the
right channel for the right audience. This communication
can address three key stages in the customer lifecycle
– acquiring, understanding and retaining customers –
and as such be relevant and engaging at each stage.
11
Getting the most from social: An integrated marketing approach
Analysis is an important adjunct to this social media
activity. Whilst marketers certainly recognise the potential
of social media and are actively using the channel to engage
with customers, many lack the tools to report against its
effectiveness and the value it brings to their organisation.
And it’s not just about ROI. Marketers want and need
to know the value that a social interaction brings to their
organisation. What does a Facebook ‘like’ mean? How
much value does a re-tweet of a product launch bring?
Marketers must have ways to measure the value of every
single interaction in social media – whether it be a ‘like’, a
tweet, a comment or a share. With the right tools in place,
a quantifiable figure can be placed against social media’s
ROI and lessons from previous campaigns can be learnt.
Social media is firmly entrenched in the marketing
vernacular. We are now moving beyond the early-adopter
mentality of ‘it’s here and we have to do it’, and into the
more strategic ‘let’s make this work for our business’ phase
of adoption. In 2012 and beyond, we will see Australian
marketers leverage the channel in even more creative
and exciting ways – delivering real business value.
Summary
Social media marketing:
top tips
1
Understand your audience
As with any marketing campaign, develop a detailed
picture of the audience you are targeting. Then
drill even deeper. Understand the demographic
you are reaching, their likes and dislikes and the
social channels they use. And then develop a
campaign that will work for them based on how your
audience interacts with and uses social channels.
2
Make your campaign to acquire
fans actionable
If you are going to launch a social media campaign,
include an incentive to make it actionable (e.g.
fan of the month, competition for the best photo
of your product, coupons or giveaways).
3
Build a strong post-acquisition strategy
Once you’ve got fans, you need a strategy in place to
encourage these people to become brand ambassadors.
This strategy should include a plan for dealing with
negative comments about your brand, which are
bound to arise in this new era of ‘free speech’.
4
Measure every influencer
Extend your measurement and analysis capabilities
to include the value of social attribution. Develop
an understanding of the impact of a re-tweet
or the sharing of a Facebook advert amongst
friends. Report back on this to the business.
12
Getting the most from social: An integrated marketing approach
5
Recognise the multiplicity
of social media
Social media is not just one channel; there are many
social media networks and different ways of interacting
(e.g. inbound and outbound requests) to consider. What
works for one brand won’t necessarily work for yours,
and you don’t need to be on every channel to succeed.
6
Get creative
To stand out on social networks you need to be
different. Creativity paired with a genuine relevance
to your brand will boost your chances of engagement.
7
See the bigger, multichannel picture
Always remember that social media marketing
is just one element of a good marketing plan.
Wherever possible, tie your social media campaigns
in with your website, your print or TV ads, your
email marketing, and so on. Customers want a
consistent experience across all channels.
Research Methodology
Experian Marketing Services commissioned independent
research with 330 Australian marketing professionals across
the retail, financial services, government, technology, digital
and travel industries; and 1,000 consumers aged 18+ across
all geographic regions in Australia. The findings were
used to develop the industry whitepapers on ‘The Future
of Multichannel Marketing’ and ‘Getting The Most
from Social – An Integrated Marketing Approach’.
Experian Australia
Level 6, 580 St Kilda Road,
Melbourne, VIC, 3004
T+61 (03) 8699 0100
F +61 (03) 9600 4676
[email protected]
www.experian.com.au