the three cs of social media: content, community and customer acquisition

C3

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

The Three Cs of Social Media

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Before You Start,See Below.

If you like what you see, get the cheat sheet at threecsofsocial.com

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Approach.

Two Approaches to Using the 3 Cs

1. The Outside In Approach: Turning outside communities into customers

2. The Inside Out Approach: Creating content for existing customers &

communities

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Outside In.

Turning Outside Communities into Customers

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Outside In.

Key Questions

What Community Does Your Customer Belong To?

What Content Do They Want?

How Can You Create That Content?

How Can You Turn Them into Customers?

CommunityWhat Community Does Your Customer Belong To?

#NaNoWriMo had 400,000 participants in 2012 that tried to write a novel.

Many of Lulu.com’s customers (aspiring and established authors) participate.

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Content What Content Does the Community Want?

We asked NaNoWrimo what their community wanted:

Answer? Empowerment.• Help reaching their

goals• Support and a sense of

togetherness• Visibility for their effort

Result: Letsgowrimos.com

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Content How Do You Create the Content You Need?

Listen: Twitter, Forums, Blogs

Translate: Polls, Video, Blogs, Memes

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Customer

How Do You Convert Visitors to Customers?

All leads receive something, select leads receive something better.

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Inside Out.

Creating Content for Existing Customers & Communities

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Inside Out.

What Does Your Customer Want?

How Can You Source It from Your Community?

What Would It Look Like as Content?

How Can You Turn Content into New Customers?

Key Questions

Customer

What Does Your Customer Want?

We asked our customers what they wanted to achieve.

Answers?

1. Build an audience2. Sell books3. Name recognition

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Community How Can Your Source it from Your Community?

We wondered how our most successful community members achieved those objectives.

So we developed a list of our top 1%, and sent out a survey with an offer for sharing their experiences.Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet

Summit 2013

Content What Would it Look Like as Content?

http://success.lulu.com

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

And turned insights into an eBook, checklist, infographics and blog posts

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Customer

How Do You Convert Content to Customers?

That we’re promoting through paid, owned and earned media.

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

ROI.

Cost per Lead, Cross-Channel Tracking, ROI Analysis

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

ROI.

What is Your Target Cost per Lead (or Customer)?

What is Your Initial Budget or Acquisition Goal?

What’s Your ROI in Terms in $ Over Time?

How Do You Optimize Across Channels?

Key Questions

Cost Target Cost Per Acquisition and Budget

LTV of Acquired Customers

Over Last 6 Months

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Conversion Rate from Lead to Monetization

Cost to Acquire Those Leads

Time it Takes to Realize the ROI

$136 .15

ROI Target Cost Per Acquisition and Budget

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Dear Finance/Budget Owner,

Based on our revenue goals for Q2+Q3 of $1M in revenue from new customers, and after analyzing the customers that were acquired via marketing spend over the previous 6 months, we arrived at a need to acquire 2,000 new customers in Q1, at a 6 month LTV of $500. Looking at our average conversion rate from lead to customer of 10%, average margin of 50%, and target ROI of 2X, we’ve identified a budget per lead of $12.50, and an overall budget of $250,000 to acquire 20,000 leads. Please approve.

Toodle-oo,Your ROI-Focused Social Media Team

Q2/Q3 Revenue from New Customers $1,000,000

LTV of New Customers Over 6 Months $500

New Customers Need 2000

Conversion Rate from Lead to Customer 10%

Leads Needed 20000

Margin 50%

Profitability $500,000

ROI Target Multiple 200%

Budget $250,000

Target Cost Per Lead $12.50

Tracking How Do You Optimize Across Channels?

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Tracking links by

channels/campaigns

Pass through at the point of lead capture

View through from lead to KPIs towards

revenue

Regular optimization checkpoints

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Conclusion.

Key Takeaways, Action Items and Tips

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Takeaways.

Two approaches to using content and community for customer acquisition: Outside in and Inside out.

Listen to what customers and communities want, and translate what you hear into a variety of content.

Two lead capture approaches: Free content wrapped around a compelling offer vs. Content as the compelling offer.

Cost per acquisition and budget come from revenue goals, customer LTV, conversion rates and profit margin.

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Actions.

Research communities your customers belong to (including your own customer community).

Form relationships with the leaders and influencers in those communities.

Identify the emotional and aspirational needs of those communities.

Map needs to content types and overarching campaigns.

Figure out the financial drivers: Revenue goals, time to realize customer LTV, profit margins, lead to monetization conversion rate, target cost per lead and budget.

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Tips.

Don’t sweat the data you don’t have.

• Pull together what you do have• Make some safe assumptions about what you don’t

have• Set a plan to fill in the blanks

Don’t get hung up on all the content you need.

• Crowdsource. Curate. Then Create.

Don’t launch a campaign without a tracking and optimization plan.

• Establish a view through from impression on a channel to $1 of revenue

• Hire a consultant, find a platform or outsource it if you need

Arik Abel | @Arik Abel | Director, Online Marketing, Lulu.com | Internet Summit 2013

Good Luck!

Get the cheat sheet of this presentation at threecsofsocial.com