1. 1. Everyone is online 0. Its a reality, mobile marketing + statistics0. Proliferation of digital devices1. Why are people online?1. 2. Easy to measure success/ROI 1. Figures are solid 1. Pay to click, click through rates, do not need to pay extra, money is worth it. 1. 3. SEO, SEM 2. SEO appear at top 0. Limitaiton. 0. However, despite growth of online advertising. 0. People trust search engines more.

1. Australian/US online advertising industry. Statistics3. How many people are using it? 3. How much is it worth3. Compare with old print media. 1. CRM/Information Management + Online Advertising (Through strategically placed banner ads + Emails + Social Media) 4. Acquiring new customers. 4. Retain existing customers. 4. Generate revenue and profit drives traffic + increase size of the purchase cart. 1. Resolving customer service issues 5. Amazon, broken guitar 0. How you can use service recovery paradox 0. Two ways either insult them or say it is good. 1. Group Blog6. Brand community 1. Instagram1. Online advertising offers companies the ability to get innovative and creative in their marketing campaigns. 8. Interactive increase customer involvement. 8. Makes it more meaningful. 8. McDonalds example1. Talk about how online advertising is getting bigger, traditional is slowly dying0. Initial rise of online advertising was through the innovative banner ad0. Achieved marketing objectives of increased awareness, click Throug, easy to measure ROI. 0. However, as internet developed and consuemrs become more savvy/internet conscious, they have grown cynical. Effectiveness of banner ad has greatly depreciated (provide statistics). 0. Tall about how now the rise of interactive, diagloue creating, creative forms of online adveritisng via blogs, games, articles, forums, social media creates an interneconected web. 1. E.g. Blackmilk 1. Increase brand awareness, etc. 0. Q. is the banner ad dead? 2. No actually better implementation makes it better. 1. Integration idea online and ofline chip company. 0. Awareness0. Ads with just the logo and name (Gibson, Fender, ESP, LTD). 0. Interest1. Ads with a specific product/model/make of the guitar. 0. Evaluation2. Ads that answer any of the consumers lingering questions. 2. What are the specific features of the product? Is there life-time warranty? 0. Decision Cart-page, havent yet converted. 3. Particular promotion/discount for the product. Just nudge them forward. 0. Purchase 4. Products similar to what they have bought4. Cross and up sell http://www.petergrandstaff.com/marketing/adwords-remarketing0. Amazon can set up its remarketing ads with a tracking code that delivers the same ad to anyone who visits their website, or they can specifically target people who have viewed multiple individual pages on their website. 0. http://rocketmedia.com/blog/ad-remarketing-can-you-afford-to-ignore-it-any-longer 1. Post-Purchase Message1. Remarketing ad to display a thank you message. 1. An offer of an incentive/free gift/discount if the purchaser refers Amazon to someone else. 1. http://www.petergrandstaff.com/marketing/adwords-remarketing

Take the large retailerNordstrom.For nearly 100 years, Nordstroms purpose has beento provide a fabulous customer experience by empowering customers and the employees who serve them https://hbr.org/2015/01/why-nordstroms-digital-strategy-works-and-yours-probably-doesnt Using social media to interact with customers brings a degree of transparency not possible with other, more traditional methods of customer service (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c). Comment by ivan chan: Using social media as a platform for resolving customer service issues is a double-edged sword. On one hand it allows the company to advertise itself this is how we deal with complaints + brand exposure. On the other hand, if it isnt done right, can hang you faster than you can imagine. Australian businesses received 700,000 queries via Facebook, Twitter and other social networks in September 2013 alone (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c). Schenkel, head of Telstra Digital, states that one difference that is unique with social media is that people can observe us and how we deal with customer issues and how we treat them (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c). Comment by ivan chan: Nordstroms use of Pininterest as the only medium of social media with which to facilitate online advertising, also uses twitter, google+, facebook - CS If we get an inquiry on Facebook and resolve their issue, then thousands of people watch us do so, and that is a unique opportunity that is not possible in a store or in a contact centre. Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index social media is the fastest growing customer service channel along with mobile applications. Consumers want to speak to companies on what channel, what time and the way they want to way they want to. When you try to steer any consumer and to do it your way not their way, you lose your customer base (Tim Gentry, Avaya Australia cited in Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).Forbes 7 Advantages of using Social Media as a Customer Service Portal. Growth of social media as a platform with which to deal with customer service complaints has been drive by what PWC describes as a growing cultural shift towards which has been fed by globalisation and the proliferation of the internet. listen-to-my-complaints-right-this-second Culture This stance is not without empirical backing, with PWC stating that amongst consumers, there is a growing cultural shift towards impatience which has been fed by globalisation and the proliferation of the internet. Consumer attitudes are dominated by the thought process of listen-to-my-complaints-right-this-second. An online response not within 48 hours from any global organisation just doesnt cut it anymore. Amazons customers want and expect instant responses. Customers who use social media channels expect a speedy acknowledgment and resolution of their problems (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c). Response team must be prepared, if not itll cost you. If you respond with a sense of urgency, then cash money. Customers driving the demand for online customer service: It doesnt matter what the company thinks is an important customer service channel, it matters what the consumer thinks is important. Therefore businesses must invest in this new form of customer service as it will have an impact on their online advertising i.e. whether they present a good image, or bad. When people are upset, or when they need answers to their questions, they want a response right away. They dont want to wait 24 hours for their email to be read, sorted and responded to. They dont want to wait on hold by some customer service operator in Bangladesh putting on a dodgy American accent for 30 minutes whilst elevator music drives them insane. Social media offers the solution to this by providing immediacy (Forbes). As soon as you post on FB, a notification immediately pops up. Give customers a more personal brand experience Customers tend to favour dealing with other people rather than the corporation. However, managing customer service through social media gives the best f both worlds. People will immediately recognise and call out to your brand, but it will be a person reaching out in response. They wont be subject to bombardments by irksome, generic, automatically generated emails. There wont be any tone-based phone menus + elevator music. On social media, it just a question followed by an answer. Also allows you to think carefully about your response and perent in a more casual, conversational tone. Transparency For the customer, transparency is all about vindication. When customers are upset, they want to rave, rant and be heard, and posting on social media provides the perfect platform with which to do so. For companies, transparency offers the opportunity to show themselves off, flex their muscles and let customers see how well a situation is handled. If a company can resolve a customers concerns quickly, expeditiously, nicely, effectively, conclusively and nicely, youll instantly leave all of your followers with a good feeling confidence that your customer service is top-notch. Comment by ivan chan: Subliminal subtext underpinning each handling of a complaint. Customer Service Paradox a form of advertising + customer retention + customer loyalty + bolster customer confidence + increased satisfaction Customers who experience a service failure, but subsequently receive excellent service recovery beyond what they expected, may ultimately be even more satisfied than they were before the failure (Lovelock, Patterson, Wirtz, Services textbook). Creates a huge swing from a negative brand moment to a positive one (Baxter, CS printout). Encourage More brand mentions More interactions on social media equates to more opportunities to point back to your brand. Increase customer dialogue as the company gets mentioned in posts, making the brand visible to all their contacts. Get brand visibility. Aids SEO rankings. Where relevant, can also post links to the companys site for more information. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/customer-service-on-social-media/ Customers hate the funnel. When customers reach out to you, they want to be responded to in the same medium. Otherwise, they feel like they are being sent through a mechanical series of hoops, which leaves them with an alienated, impersonal feeling. Many major companies make the mistake of ushering people through one dedicated communication channel, usually a phone number or an email address, and isolating customers who reach out in any other method. For example, if a customer reaches out on Facebook, they want to be responded to on Facebook. They dont want to see a formulaic welcome message with instructions to call an 800 number. Eliminate the funnel by having dynamic customer interactions on every platform.

EMarketing PresentationWeek 9: 4 May 2015eMarketer (16 Dec 2013) estimates USA online advertising spending will reach $46.2 billion in 2013, pushing it ahead of total spending on print newspapers and magazines. Double-digit growth is expected through 2014, when US online ad spending will reach $52.8 billion. In 2016, eMarketers expects advertisers to spend $62 billion online.

Discuss and analyse the reasons behind this growth, looking at the effectiveness of digital media category in delivering key business and marketing objectives, such as generating revenue and profit, acquiring new customers, retaining existing customers, and providing customers service and support. Use examples.

1. Everyone is online Its a reality, mobile marketing + statistics Proliferation of digital devices Why are people online? 2. Easy to measure success/ROI Figures are solid Pay to click, click through rates, do not need to pay extra, money is worth it. 3. SEO, SEM SEO appear at top Limitaiton. However, despite growth of online advertising. People trust search engines more.

Australian/US online advertising industry. Statistics How many people are using it? How much is it worth Compare with old print media. CRM/Information Management + Online Advertising (Through strategically placed banner ads + Emails + Social Media) Acquiring new customers. Retain existing customers. Generate revenue and profit drives traffic + increase size of the purchase cart. Resolving customer service issues Amazon, broken guitar How you can use service recovery paradox Two ways either insult them or say it is good. Group Blog Brand community Instagram Online advertising offers companies the ability to get innovative and creative in their marketing campaigns. Interactive increase customer involvement. Makes it more meaningful. McDonalds example Talk about how online advertising is getting bigger, traditional is slowly dying Initial rise of online advertising was through the innovative banner ad Achieved marketing objectives of increased awareness, click Throug, easy to measure ROI. However, as internet developed and consuemrs become more savvy/internet conscious, they have grown cynical. Effectiveness of banner ad has greatly depreciated (provide statistics). Tall about how now the rise of interactive, diagloue creating, creative forms of online adveritisng via blogs, games, articles, forums, social media creates an interneconected web. E.g. Blackmilk Increase brand awareness, etc. Q. is the banner ad dead? No actually better implementation makes it better. Integration idea online and ofline chip company.

Advertising industry in General According to PWCs annual Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook report, one in four marketing departments are now spending b/w 20-30% of their cash building and maintaining their own channels (Steve Jones, cited I). Print advertising is forecast to fall from $1.9b in 2013 - $1.3b in 2018, an average annual decline of 7.2%. On the other hand, advertising through media companies digital platforms will rise from $418m - $627m, a growth of 8.4%. Mobile IAB (I Mobile and Video advertising) Mobile advertising grew 118% from 2013-2014 to each $762 million. Signifies advertisers are seeing digital categories as being a comparable investment to their traditional counterparts (Alice, CEO of IAB Australia).

1. Two business principles of Amazon are CRM and information management. Discuss these principles and connect your discussion to social media use in an international context. http://blog.rejoiner.com/2012/03/remarketing-vs-retargeting-whats-the-difference/Another major catalyst that has led to the exponential growth of online advertising lies in the eMarketing strategy of Retargeting. In saying this, Im going to analyse one particular company that stands as a testament to this particular strategy, and that company is non-other than the digital-powerhouse Amazon. Data, targeting and customer service are Amazons primary competitive differentiators. And one of the key ways way in which Amazon implements these three elements is through Retargeting. So what is retargeting? Well its essentially an online advertising platform that allows Amazon to deliver targeted ads to a consumer who has been on their website even after they have left and gone to another website (http://rocketmedia.com/blog/ad-remarketing-can-you-afford-to-ignore-it-any-longer). It allows them to track the online journey of their consumers through the use of various online tools and techniques (cookies and strategically placed ads). This helps them in segmenting the market and targeting them through the appropriate online advertising channels with respects to the unique, individualistic ways in which they perceive and process information. Comment by ivan chan: Privacy Issue, cookiesTo put things in perspective, lets create a hypothetical scenario. So you go on Amazons website wanting to buy something(ask audience) come on guys throw something at me, what do you want? (Click)...ASK CHRISTINE A gguiguitar, just what I was thinking about. You browse and scroll around for this guitar by entering brands on the search bar, reading product reviews, looking at related items youve viewed, buying guides and along your online adventure you even create an online account, check out their social media pages and sign up for their newsletter. But after all that effortyou remember that youre just a penniless university student (youre feeling epically stingy) so you exit the page and continue downloading the nextGame of Thrones Episode. So thats annoying for Amazon right, because youve pretty much just bailed on them, giving them nothing in return? However, Amazons success is founded on its ability to manage and gather exorbitant amounts of information. In embracing Retargeting, Amazon has ensured that your online interactions with them dont go unnoticed. Not only have they monitored every tiny action youve made on their site, but theyve also put a cookie in your computer to track your online journey and browsing behaviour on any other websites you have since visited. Theyll also be able to gather information regarding your gender, age, location, occupation, website interactions and purchase history. So that the next time you go on their website, or any of their other affiliate websites, whether it be on your laptop (during a really boring emarketing presentation,), tablet or mobile (whilst youre taking a dump, and yes I know everyone uses their mobile in the toilet), theyll be ready to bombard and assault you with a tsunamis worth of banner and pop-up ads, emails, recommendations, upcoming sales and newsletters prompting you to buy the guitar. Theyll even use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pininterest to make sure they reach you (to do their dirty work). (Click) As you can see from this guitar example, Amazons use of retargeting as an online advertising strategy is smart and innovative its website is designed as a sophisticated online communication tool that automates the process of creating value for the customer by recognising their interests. Unsurprisingly, retargeting ultimately enables Amazon to deliver key business and marketing objectives. One of these objectives includes increasing brand exposure and awareness. As I alluded to earlier, retargeting is an interactive, digital direct marketing tool that facilitates a stream of dialogue between prospective customers and the Amazon brand. As a customer opts to either purchase or not purchase a product, Amazons knowledge about the customer increases and in turn, so does their ability to provide targeted online advertising for an individual customer, which allows them to stay engaged and aware of the Amazon brand whether it be on a conscious or subconscious level http://blog.rejoiner.com/2012/03/remarketing-vs-retargeting-whats-the-difference/. The importance of this increase in brand exposure is evidenced in a 2012 Emaketer study, which found that nearly 3 out of 5 online US buyers would notice an online ad for products they searched for on previous sites. www.emarketer.com/article/online-buyers-notice-retargeted-ads/1010122. Another fact is that although the average click-through rate for normal, untargeted ads is a mere 0.07%, retargeted ads have a10-fold increased click-through rate at 0.7% www.emarketer.com/article/online-buyers-notice-retargeted-ads/1010122. In saying this, increasing brand awareness naturally leads to higher conversion rates. This not only increases Amazons profitability of a purchase per visit significantly http://seewhy.com/amazon-thinking/, but also the total size of a consumers checkout cart. Visitors who are retargeted with display ads are 70% more likely to convert on Amazons website www.emarketer.com/article/online-buyers-notice-retargeted-ads/1010122. Moreover, the percentage of users who return and complete the check-out process after being exposed to retargeted ads increases by 26%. Before I go on about another benefit that Retargeting provides Amazon, I want to draw your attention to this [Point at Model]. Can anyone tell me what this is? Yes thats right, its the consumer decision making model, which you would have encountered in Consumer Behaviour. The reason Ive got this up is because Retargeting empowers Amazon with the ability and flexibility to create a vast array of tailor-made ads for individual consumers along any stage of their consumer decision making process. http://programmaticadvertising.org/2014/10/21/why-retargeting-is-still-important-today/. To put this in perspective, lets go back to our guitar example. Say youre a consumer in the Awareness stage, Amazon would likely post ads with the logo and names of various guitar brands (such as Gibson, Fender or Gretsch). In contrast, if you were to be at the purchase stage, Amazon could attempt to cross and up sell guitar related products (such as leads, amps or strings) to further entice repeat purchases http://www.petergrandstaff.com/marketing/adwords-remarketing. Awareness Ads with just the logo and name (Gibson, Fender, ESP, LTD). Interest Ads with a specific product/model/make of the guitar. Evaluation Ads that answer any of the consumers lingering questions. What are the specific features of the product? Is there life-time warranty? Decision Cart-page, havent yet converted. Particular promotion/discount for the product. Just nudge them forward. Purchase Products similar to what they have bought Cross and up sell http://www.petergrandstaff.com/marketing/adwords-remarketing Amazon can set up its remarketing ads with a tracking code that delivers the same ad to anyone who visits their website, or they can specifically target people who have viewed multiple individual pages on their website. http://rocketmedia.com/blog/ad-remarketing-can-you-afford-to-ignore-it-any-longer Post-Purchase Message Remarketing ad to display a thank you message. An offer of an incentive/free gift/discount if the purchaser refers Amazon to someone else. http://www.petergrandstaff.com/marketing/adwords-remarketingAnother reason behind the growth of online advertising lies in the fact that it offers the prospect of using social media as a platform for customer service. To put things in perspective, Ill go back to my guitar example. So youve finally scraped together every little penny in your piggybank (Click) to buy the God of all guitars, the Gibson Les Paul Standard. Youve been waiting for this moment for years and using Amazons patented one-click payment technology, youve finally sealed the deal. Now all youve got to do is wait for its arrival. And that day finally arrives, as the guitar shows up at your front door. Your palms begin to sweat and your heart hammers in anticipation as you carefully pry open the lidand then.(Click) this greets you A sad, sorry excuse for a guitar. Lets face it youre angry, scrap that, youre feeling down right murderous and you pledge that heads will roll by the time youve had your way.(Click) So who do you blame? Amazon. And how do vent your anger? Social media. So in your anger induced rage, you hastily login to Facebook and you (Click) post this scathing tirade on the Amazon page: Furious at Amazon, ordered a guitar and it turns out smashed. So far youve done nothing to help! (and etc) F**k you Amazon. And now you wait for Amazons reply. And to your pleasant surprising, within the hour, they post this: We are deeply sorry for what has happened to your guitar. We will refund your order immediately and give you a 20% discount off your next purchase. Crisis averted. So as you can see, Amazons use of social media as a platform for customer service comprises a vital component of its online advertising strategy, which in turn, allows to it fulfil key marketing objectives. That being said, the growth of social media as a platform for customer service can largely be attributed to what PWC describes as a growing cultural shift towards impatience which has been fed by globalisation and the proliferation of the internet. In 2013 alone, Australian businesses received 700,000 queries via social media (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).However, rather than cower in fear of this brave new world, Amazon has chosen to integrate social media into its online advertising strategy. More specifically, Amazon has realised that social media gives customers a more personal and intimate brand experience. They understand that when their customers are upset or need answers to their questions, they want the company to listen-to-my-complaints-right-this-second. This is substantiated by Forbes, who states that customers dont want to be funnelled down one dedicated communication channel that either forces them to wait for days on end for a generic email; nor do they want to be placed on hold by some phone operator in India putting on a dodgy American accent for 30 minutes whilst a never-ending loop of elevator music drives them insane. This arduous series of mechanical hoops only serves to leave a companys customer base bitter, marginalised and disenfranchised (Forbes). In light of this, Amazons elimination of the funnel through dynamic customer interactions on social media, helps facilitate its online advertising strategy. Social media is beneficial as it simply involves a question a notification followed by a clear, succinct answer. It allows Amazon to think carefully about their responses and present it in a more casual, personable tone. This in turn heightens the customers sense of trust, belongingness and self-worth. Where relevant, Amazon can also answer customer queries by posting links back to the companys website for more information, which in turn drives traffic to its website and increases the brands visibility (Forbes). Another benefit from using social media as a platform for customer redress stems from the fact that it is transparent. For the customer, transparency is all about vindication. When customers are upset, they want to rave, rant and vent their frustrations to all the world, and what better platform to do so then social media? It comes as no surprise then that social media is generally regarded as a double-edged sword. As Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says, if you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. But if you make customers unhappy in the digital world, they can each tell 6,000 (http://www.desk.com/blog/jeff-bezos-lessons/). Despite this, Amazon views transparency as an opportunity to show themselves off, flex their muscles and give their customers a masterclass on how they treat their customers and deal with their issues. By resolving a customers concern quickly, expeditiously, conclusively and with a sense of urgency, Amazon is able to achieve their marketing objectives which include inspiring customer retention and loyalty, whilst also bolstering their confidence, increasing satisfaction and generating positive word-of-mouth as customers become evangelists.

Consumers want to speak to companies on what channel, what time and the way they want to way they want to. When you try to steer any consumer and to do it your way not their way, you lose your customer base (Tim Gentry, Avaya Australia cited in Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).

Transparency/ If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell six friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000. As one of the originalecommercepioneers, there can be little argument that Bezos firmly understands the authority of todays customer. Todays customer is listening to peers, researching heavily online and posting complaints on social media changing everything business owners thought they knew about customer relationships. Put in the work and research so that you fully understand your customer base and never take them for granted. Respected brands have fallen high from their perches due to poorly mishandled situations in dealing with an unhappy customer. Make sure to have a clear and concise plan with how you deal with bad reviews or complaints from customers (its going to happen). Above all else, no matter how frustrated you may be with a customer who takes a complaint to the Internet, never fail to respond and always say thank you. http://www.desk.com/blog/jeff-bezos-lessons/ Receive customer feedback without costly surveys or focus groups Likes, comments, and other social feedback level the playing field for your brand when gathering the insights. Previously, these insights would have required expensive surveys or focus groups. With social media you can know immediately if a campaign is well received or requires fine-tuning http://www.globalresponse.com/2013/09/9-benefits-of-social-media-customer-service/ Transparency For the customer, transparency is all about vindication. When customers are upset, they want to rave, rant and be heard, and posting on social media provides the perfect platform with which to do so. For companies, transparency offers the opportunity to show themselves off, flex their muscles and let customers see how well a situation is handled. If a company can resolve a customers concerns quickly, expeditiously, nicely, effectively, conclusively and nicely, it will instantly leave all of your followers with a good feeling confidence that your customer service is top-notch. Comment by ivan chan: Subliminal subtext underpinning each handling of a complaint. Customer Service Paradox a form of advertising + customer retention + customer loyalty + bolster customer confidence + increased satisfaction Customers who experience a service failure, but subsequently receive excellent service recovery beyond what they expected, may ultimately be even more satisfied than they were before the failure (Lovelock, Patterson, Wirtz, Services textbook). Creates a huge swing from a negative brand moment to a positive one (Baxter, CS printout). Using social media to interact with customers brings a degree of transparency not possible with other, more traditional methods of customer service (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c). Comment by ivan chan: Using social media as a platform for resolving customer service issues is a double-edged sword. On one hand it allows the company to advertise itself this is how we deal with complaints + brand exposure. On the other hand, if it isnt done right, can hang you faster than you can imagine. Schenkel, head of Telstra Digital, states that one difference that is unique with social media is that people can observe us and how we deal with customer issues and how we treat them (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c). Comment by ivan chan: Nordstroms use of Pininterest as the only medium of social media with which to facilitate online advertising, also uses twitter, google+, facebook - CS If we get an inquiry on Facebook and resolve their issue, then thousands of people watch us do so, and that is a unique opportunity that is not possible in a store or in a contact centre.

listen-to-my-complaints-right-this-second Culture This stance is not without empirical backing, with PWC stating that amongst consumers, there is a growing cultural shift towards impatience which has been fed by globalisation and the proliferation of the internet. Consumer attitudes are dominated by the thought process of listen-to-my-complaints-right-this-second. An online response not within 48 hours from any global organisation just doesnt cut it anymore. Amazons customers want and expect instant responses. Customers who use social media channels expect a speedy acknowledgment and resolution of their problems (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c). Response team must be prepared, if not itll cost you. If you respond with a sense of urgency, then cash money. Customers driving the demand for online customer service: It doesnt matter what the company thinks is an important customer service channel, it matters what the consumer thinks is important. Therefore businesses must invest in this new form of customer service as it will have an impact on their online advertising i.e. whether they present a good image, or bad. When people are upset, or when they need answers to their questions, they want a response right away. They dont want to wait 24 hours for their email to be read, sorted and responded to. They dont want to wait on hold by some customer service operator in Bangladesh putting on a dodgy American accent for 30 minutes whilst elevator music drives them insane. Social media offers the solution to this by providing immediacy (Forbes). As soon as you post on FB, a notification immediately pops up. Give customers a more personal brand experience Customers tend to favour dealing with other people rather than the corporation. However, managing customer service through social media gives the best f both worlds. People will immediately recognise and call out to your brand, but it will be a person reaching out in response. They wont be subject to bombardments by irksome, generic, automatically generated emails. There wont be any tone-based phone menus + elevator music. On social media, it just a question followed by an answer. Also allows you to think carefully about your response and present in a more casual, conversational tone. Transparency For the customer, transparency is all about vindication. When customers are upset, they want to rave, rant and be heard, and posting on social media provides the perfect platform with which to do so. For companies, transparency offers the opportunity to show themselves off, flex their muscles and let customers see how well a situation is handled. If a company can resolve a customers concerns quickly, expeditiously, nicely, effectively, conclusively and nicely, youll instantly leave all of your followers with a good feeling confidence that your customer service is top-notch. Comment by ivan chan: Subliminal subtext underpinning each handling of a complaint. Customer Service Paradox a form of advertising + customer retention + customer loyalty + bolster customer confidence + increased satisfaction Customers who experience a service failure, but subsequently receive excellent service recovery beyond what they expected, may ultimately be even more satisfied than they were before the failure (Lovelock, Patterson, Wirtz, Services textbook). Creates a huge swing from a negative brand moment to a positive one (Baxter, CS printout). Encourage More brand mentions More interactions on social media equates to more opportunities to point back to your brand. Increase customer dialogue as the company gets mentioned in posts, making the brand visible to all their contacts. Get brand visibility. Aids SEO rankings. Where relevant, can also post links to the companys site for more information. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/customer-service-on-social-media/

PininterestMarketLine Article Retailers are increasingly using social media to enhance their brands and to drive traffic and sales. Mobile shopping is growing fast on Pininterest B/w Jan 2013 and Jan 2014, mobile transactions through Pininterest went up by 77.2%, mobile revenue grew by 224.1% and average order values went up by 79.3%. Number of new visitors that were sent to retailers by Pininterest increased by 46.2% in 2013. Social media helps retailers increase exposure and traffic Social Media Examiner (2013, cited p. 6 MarketLine) found that 89% of retailers reported increased exposure for their business through social media use, compared to 85% in 2012. Additionally, 75% reported increased traffic as a major benefit, compared to 69% the previous year. 57% of marketers taking the survey reported that sales had not been improved by social media. Size As of March 2014, Pininterest had 58.2 million unique users, making it the 4th largest social network behind Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. However, what distinguishes Pininterest from the rest of the pack is its female-heavy demographic which has made the platform exceptionally attractive to female-fashion oriented businesses. 71.4% of users are female, as of December 2013. When 70% of the users are female then 70% of the content is going to be female-oriented (Morrissey, 2014, 2p). Look at graph. Pininterest facilitates the marketing of products by retailers Pininterests success in generating more tangible business value, compared to many other social networks, lies in the fact that it is much more than a social network. Pininterest has driven a shift in the way people discover products and the things they care about. Pininterest is driven by visual information, which humands can process more rapidly than text. Users are able to both take in and segment information rapidly through the visual web. Piininterest enables customers to more quickly discover product, collect them and subsequently purchase them. Product Pins Ability o track price changes for shoppers favourite products, and then alerting them if the products price dropped. $ = 25, $$ = 25-51, $$$ = 50-200, $$$$>200 Pininterest can help generate sales for retailers. Pininterest is an image-based social media website which acts as a virtual inspiration pin board to which users can Pin various information recipes, pictures, articles, products to various Boards. As the information Pinned by users may be on a wide range of topics, the use of boards enables users to categorise their pins more easily. Pininterest saves all Pins, allows a user to follow friend and Re-Pin things they have already Pinned, as well as browsing a live feed of pins from strangers. Reverse Showrooming Pininterest has been credited with reverse-showrooming. Show-rooming is defiend as a shopper visitng a traditional brick and mortar store to look at merchandise, but then shopping around online to find a lower price and purchasing it. However, businesses are beginning to see the tangible benefits that Pininterest provides as a medium for online advertising. More specifically, Pininterest has largely been credited with reverse showrooming. In doing so, shoppers now use the internet (whether it be on smartphones, tablets or laptops) to compare prices, products, reviews, product availability/locations, and search for promotions and coupons from there they go in store to purchase the product, thus driving retail traffic/sales. Vision Critical (2013, cited MarketLine p. 15) 21% of Pininterest users had bought an intem in a bricks and mortar store after Pinning, Re-Pinning, or liking the item on Pininterest. Pininterested Pins are 100 times more viral than Tweets. Pinners spend an average of $2000 per order, compared with $92 for FB and $58 for Twitter. Nordstrom and Pins Nordstrom has 4.4 million followers on Pininterest, making it one of the largest followings of any Fortune 500 company. Nordstrom has realised the importance that online advertising, stemming from Pininterest, has in driving its retail sales. Nordstrom recognises thefact that cosumers dont often like beig told what to buy by companies. In light of this, Nordstrom uses Pininterest to dictate the merchandise it chooses to stock and sell via crowd-sources in-store Pininterest merchandising whereby Top-Pinned items are marked and displayed with Pininterest signage. This innovative, integration b/w online and retail marketing represents a move away from this is what we think are the hot buys towards this is what consumers think are the hot buys. Whats hot right now? Chinos you want to buy browse on Pininterest, see a god pair, like it, repin it etc, price location tells you, go to store, get it. Nordstrom strive to provide a multi-channel shopping experience by integrating all aspects of its online store (Nordstrom.com) with its physical store + physical store + Pininteret. Galipeau stated each month, customers engage with our Pins hundreds of thousands of times, generating millions of impressions and significant site traffic and demand. Our customers are on Pininterest, so we want to be there too. Pininterest is the worlds biggest wish list and so it also fits well with our goal of having our merchandise show up in our customers wish list (Bryan Galipeau social media manager at Nordstrom cite in Lutz 2p). Currently has 64 boards with various themes including seasons: Winter Fashion, Pick Pink, Holiday Cheer, Nordstrom@fashion week, designers (Rebecca Minkoff Spring 2014), sales (Nordstrom Half Yearly Sales) and Fashion Cats. Future Growth 2013 Nordstrom Annual Report social media is a dynamic area of the business that requires us to move faster and try new things. Though weve made good headway, were still in the early innings with ecommerce and will continue to invest aggressively in its growth.