understanding the customer journey in the social era

SOCIAL ERAunderstanding the customer journey in the

Social is a silver bullet.

Do this and you will have

overnight success.

Social is about

mastering the tools.

3 THINGS THAT I WON’T TELL YOU:

”“Tara Hunt

The Whuffie Factor

Social isn’t about the tools. If you focus on tools, you’ll look like

one.

Hmmmmm…maybe this isn’t just a bunch of malarky after all…

customerlet’s start with the

journey

a story about meatloaf

Andrew

Davis

http://www.akadrewdavis.com/ https://youtu.be/IDubyeOWLTk

the customer journey is:non-linear

highly personalinterrupted constantly

noisya paradox of choice

completely unpredictable

in the social era,

myth #1:busy business people don’t have time for the internet.

fact:According to Google’s studies, 89% of B2B researchers

use the internet during the B2B research process

myth #2:this is what the CFO making

the decisions looks like

fact:This is closer to the truth and it’s changing rapidly. According to Google, nearly half of all B2B researchers are millennials + they

heavily influence purchase decisions.

The Shift in the B2B Researcher Demographic:

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/the-changing-face-b2b-marketing/

Employee influence on purchase decisions:

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/the-changing-face-b2b-marketing/

81% of non-C-Suite

employees influence purchase decisions.

social eraand wth is the

anyway?

HINT: I’m not talking about social media, though that is part of it.

”“Nilofer Merchant

11 Rules for the Social Era

If the industrial era was about building things, the social era is

about connecting things, people, and ideas.

RULES FOR THE SOCIAL ERA:

1. EVERYTHING is social

2. The lines between social and professional are blurred

3. The ‘consumer’ is no longer passive - they are PROsumers

4. Sharing communicates identity - people share what they want others to think they are

5. Relationships are more important than ever. Transactional interactions will be disintermediated by technology.

ARE YOU REALLY BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS?

TRANSACTIONALOnly interact when you want

something (or when your CRM says to reach out).

Focus on your value being coverage and price.

Always Be Closing.

Customer service driven.

RELATIONAL

Really become part of your clients/contacts lives. Care. Follow. Listen.

Focus on helping your clients figure out and achieve their goals.

Always Be Listening.

Customer EXPERIENCE driven.

“You’re not in the insurance business, you’re in the

EXPERIENCE business.”Competing on price, coverage and service is a race to the bottom and AI/chatbots/

algorithms will outcompete you there every day.

disruptionsnot to mention there are a few

MILLENNIALS!

#insurtech

ACA? not even sure .

3 IMPORTANT TAKEAWAYS:

1.If you’re not at

enough touchpoints along

the customer journey, you don’t

exist.

3.Insurtech will win in the race to the

bottom of the price/

convenience war. Compete on

EXPERIENCE.

2.You can’t say “we don’t need social”

because EVERYTHING is social. It’s not a

tool, it’s a cultural shift.

let’s lay some

foundationsto becoming truly social.

traditional b2b tactics:Cold calling, professional networking, joining local business groups, buying lists of prospects (to call

and email), advertising seminars/webinars, encouraging referrals from clients and professional

connections, golf? etc.

direct sales social is NOT good for

relationships,but it’s really good at building

trust, bonds, confidence…

a universe of tools to connect with your audience (or at least stalk them)

if there was EVER a great use for social media, it is to learn more about your audience.

BEING SOCIAL STARTS WITH KNOWING YOUR AUDIENCE

listeningshould be 75% of your social plan.

WHO ARE MY CUSTOMERS?HOW DID THEY FIND ME?

(OR) HOW DID I FIND THEM AND HAS THIS CHANGED?

WHY DID THEY CHOOSE ME?WHAT WAS THEIR JOURNEY?

HOW HAS THIS CHANGED?

have you asked:

”“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product

or service fits him and sells itself.

Peter Drucker,Father of Management Theory

WE HAVE CRAZY POWERFUL DATA AT OUR FINGERTIPS:

1. Social Media Platform Analytics

2. Social Intelligence Tools

3. Social Listening

SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM ANALYTICS

Social media platforms offer up everything from demographics to deeper psychographics, interests, and incomes like Twitter analytics.

https://analytics.twitter.com/

SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE

Social Intelligence tools pull data from social networks to analyze interests and affinities of audiences.

You can tell a lot about people by who they explicitly follow online.(mostly not free, but mind-blowingand make learning about youraudience instantaneous)

People Who Follow CFO Mag:

….tend to follow multiple business sources (and entrepreneurs) and are interested in content on: Financial Analysis, Analytical Skills, Budgeting, Business Process Improvement/ Management, Risk Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Leadership, Strategic Planning + Financial Modelling.

SOCIAL LISTENING

There are several free and inexpensive social listening tools that help you keep track of the ongoing conversation around #insurtech, #digitalhealth, #HealthIT, #HRtech and more.

3 IMPORTANT TAKEAWAYS:

1.Listening is the most important

function of social. You’ve never had so much insight

into your audience!

3.There are tons of free tools to help

you figure out your audience. All you need to do to

use them is to listen.

2.You need a

strategy and that strategy will come

from really understanding your audience.

CUSTOMER JOURNEYlet’s take a walk through the

and see where else social can help you out...

1. I know you2. I’m looking for you3. I’m comparing you to your

competition4. I’m buying from you5. I’m using your product6. I’m reviewing you

THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY

1. A

WAR

E2.

SEA

RCH

3. D

ECID

E

4. T

RANS

ACT

5. U

SE

6. A

DVO

CATE

p.s. It is actually NOT as neat and clear as this, it just looks that way to be pretty to look at.

AWARENESS

AWARE

Customer’s state:

Isn’t looking for you, hasn’t heard of you. Lots of other things on their minds.

Another word for increasing awareness is ‘prospecting’.

ACTIVELY RESEARCHING POTENTIAL LEADS ON SOCIAL

Using social intelligence tools - like LinkedIN’s Sales Navigator - to identify and ‘stalk’ potential leads.

https://www.linkedin.com/sales

SOCIAL THAT LEADS TO PROSPECTING

When online influencers share your excellent online content with their audience, creating a buzz.

SEARCH

SEARCHCustomer’s state:

Actively looking and researching for a good option in your product category.

It is better if you are already part of the consideration (built awareness), but there are other ways to get you in the search path.

SOCIAL HELPING YOU GET FOUND WHEN THE CUSTOMER IS RESEARCHING

Blog posts, YouTube videos, Tweets and other fresh content ranks very high in Google Search results.

Zane Benefits is on PAGE 1 of a search for “employee benefits” because of their blog content.

BLOG CONTENT

!

DECIDE

DECIDE

Customer’s state:

Narrowing down options to find the very best one. Most likely made her mind up, but may be swayed by reviews and differentiation.

MOST CUSTOMERS HAVE ALREADY DECIDED BEFORE THEY CALL YOU

“Today's business buyers do not contact suppliers directly until 57 percent of the purchase process is complete.

The challenge for marketers is to be present in these channels at all times with content that educates buyers and helps guide commercial decisions.”

B2B’s Digital Revolution, Think With Google

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/b2b-digital-evolution/

SOCIAL TACTICS THAT HELP SWAY THE CUSTOMER TO CHOOSE YOU

When it comes to making a decision, it’s not just about price.

If you have social content (helpful videos and posts) and lots of people talking about you positively, it will help to steer the decision in your favour.

TRANSACT

Customer’s state:

Time to purchase! The customer is having their first experience with your product.

TRANSACT

SOCIAL THAT CAN HELP THE ONBOARDING EXPERIENCE

Helpful content can make the difference between a new customer being lost and feeling educated.

One of the videos in particular generated close to $30,000 of revenue. “And it all had to do with the fact that we were answering questions that, at the time, weren’t even on the NYS [New York State] Department of Insurance’s website,” (Ryan) Hanley said.

State of Content Marketing: InsuranceContently, July 1, 2015https://contently.com/strategist/2015/07/01/state-of-content-marketing-insurance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyrt84STlgE

UTILIZE

UTILIZE

Customer’s state:

They’ve signed up. But how can you enhance their experience?

DEEPENING CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH CONTENT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXtlh_Ei5hc

ADVOCATE

ADVOCATE

Customer’s state:

They love you (of course!), now how can you give them the tools to help them spread the word?

Every time you or a happy customer posts online, you create another opportunity to appear along another customer’s journey.

3 Final Takeaways

1.The customer’s

journey is complex, non-

linear, and CONSTANT. You never know when an impression can

be made.

3.Dismissing social

as part of your growth strategy, is

dismissing multiple

opportunities. Your competitors

won’t.

2.No matter where

your potential customers are on their journey, you can be there with social. Social is really great at building trust.

”“Terry Golesworthy,

President of the Customer Respect Group

Offering ongoing advice is now critical with today’s consumer choosing products and suppliers not on the advice of a single expert at a single moment in time, but on an accumulation of information from a

variety of sources over a period.

Hmmmmm…maybe this isn’t just a bunch of malarky after all…

you?

THANK YOU!Tara Hunt, President

Truly Social Inc.

http://www.trulysocial.ca http://www.youtube.com/tarahunt

http://twitter.com/missrogue

tara@trulysocial.ca