socialmediacsc-101215181913-phpapp01.pdf

Social Media ROI Success StoriesHow 11 companies—like OfficeMax, Nissan, BMC and Microsoft—are listening, engaging and measuring.

CASE STUDY COLLECTION

Contents at a Glance

INTRODUCTION 1

EXCLUSIVE MARKETINGPROFS POLL: SOCIAL MEDIA ROI, AN ELUSIVE TARGET 3

SNAPSHOT: ESSENTIAL TOOLS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA AND PR MEASUREMENT 5

11 CASE STUDIES: SOCIAL MEDIA MEASUREMENT & MONITORING 8

SOCIAL MEDIA MEASUREMENT 9

Intuit 9

Nissan Canada 11

Lollapalooza 13

Dell Outlet 15

PR MEASUREMENT 17

BMC Software 17

OfficeMax 19

ShareMethods 20

SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING 23

AAA 23

Crocs 24

SAP 26

Microsoft 28

READY TO GET STARTED? 31

NOW WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! 33

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 34

ABOUT MARKETINGPROFS 34

1SOCIAL MEDIA ROI SUCCESS STORIES©2009 MARKETINGPROFS LLC • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Socialmediaisredefiningthewaywemarkettoconsumersandbusinessprospects.Majorbrandsareincreasinglyusingblogs,Facebook,Twitterandotheroutletstoreachcustomersinadeeper,morecost-effectivemannerthantraditionaladvertisingallows.Inarecentreport1byForresterResearchInc.,95percentofmarketerssay,despitetheeconomy,theywillcontinuetoinvestinsocialmediaoratleastmaintaintheirsamelevelofinvestment.

Theonefactorthatcouldaltersocialmedia’scurrentgrowthtrajectoryisreturn on investment(ROI).Mostmarketershaven’tfiguredouthowtomeasureityet.Untiltheydo,companiesmaybereluctanttocontinuetheirsocialmediainvestments.

Accordingtothesamereport,75percentofmarketershavebudgetedlessthan$100,000forsocialmediainitiativesoverthenextyear,afractioncomparedtotheamountspentonsearchenginemarketingandonlinedisplayadvertising.Onereasoncitedbyanalystsisthelackofacceptablemeasurementstandardsandprovenimpact.

Forsocialmediatobecomeaseriousmarketingchannel—ratherthanjustacoolyetunprofitableexperiment—businessesmustfigureoutthemeasure-mentgame.Itwon’tbeeasy.Accordingtotheresultsofasmall,informalMarketingProfspoll,70percentofrespondentsdonotfeeltheircompaniesareadequatelytrackingsocialmediaintermsofdrivingtangibleresults.Inanotherquestion,20percentfeelthatsocialmedia,“isn’tprimarilyaboutROI.”

Certainly,responsetosocialmediaeffortscanbedifficulttotrack.Conversationsandactivityaretakingplaceoutsideoftraditionalwebsiteswheremarketerscaneasilyanalyzethemillionsofelectronicfootprints.

Despitethesechallenges,agrowingbandofbusinessesarebucklingdownandgettingseriousaboutsocialmediameasurement.Manyaremakingstrongheadwayinquantifyingtheirinitiatives,asthisreporthighlights.Companiesarealsomakingstrideswhenitcomestopublicrelationsmeasurement—tradition-allyablackboxformarketingprofessionals.

Thenthere’ssocialmediamonitoring:theprocessoflisteningandengagingwithcustomersandprospectswhoaretalkingaboutacompany’sbrandorproductwithinsocialmediacircles.Companiesareusingsocialmediamonitoringlessformeasuringtheircampaignsthanforimprovingawiderangeofinitiatives,suchascustomerservice,prospectingandbrand-reputationmanagement.And

1 Jeremiah K. Owyang, “Social Media Playtime is Over,” Forrester Research, March 16, 2009.

INTRODUCTION


INTRODUCTION

unlikesocialmediameasurement,socialmediamonitoringhasidentifiablevendorsandbestpractices.

Thiscasestudycollectioncoversthefollowingcategories:

Social Media Measurement:Whatarecompaniesdoingtomeasureandquantifytheimpactoftheirsocialmediainitiatives,suchasthoseemployingTwitterandFacebookConnect?Thesecasestudiesshowhowcompaniesarecombiningmeasurementtoolsandtechniquestobetterunderstandtheirinvest-mentsinsocialmediacampaigns.

PR Measurement:PRprofessionalsarenowmoreaggressiveinmeasuringtheirpublicrelationscampaigns,whichincreasinglyinvolvesocialmediaelements.ThesecasestudiesfocusonwhatcompaniesaredoingtoimprovemeasurementandPRperformance,includingusingtechnologythattranslatesPRandsocialmediaactivityintobottom-lineresults.

Social Media Monitoring:Thisrapidlygrowingfieldenablescompaniestoseewhatcustomersandprospectsaresayingwithinsocialmediaabouttheirbrandsandproducts.Thesecasestudiesfocusonhowcompaniesareusingintelligencefromsocialmediamonitoringtoimprovecustomerservice,publicrelationsandbrand-reputationmanagement.

Inadditiontothecasestudies,thisreportalsofeaturesexclusivepolldata,aselectlistofcutting-edgetoolsandservices,andquestionstoconsiderbeforeyoustartoptimizingyoursocialmediaandPRinitiatives.

Most marketers haven’t figured out how to measure ROI yet. Until they do, companies may be reluctant to continue their social media investments.


ForresterResearchprojectscompanieswillspend$3.1billionannuallyonsocialmediaby2014.2Soitisn’tsurprisingthatsocialmediameasurementistopofmindamongmarketerssurveyedinapollbyMarketingProfs.3Nearly50percentofrespondentssaythatsocialmediameasurementis“Important”tothem;another36percentsayitis“SomewhatImportant.”

Determiningreturnoninvestment,however,appearstobeamajorchallenge.Morethan70percentofrespondentsdonotbelievetheircompaniesaread-equatelymeasuringtheimpactofsocialmediacampaignsintermsoftangibleresults.Only20percentthinktheyare.

Surprisingly,thebiggesthurdletosocialmediameasurementisfindingthepersonneltodothemeasurementandanalysiswork.Ina“pickallthatapply”questionaboutmeasurementobstacles,“DedicatedResources”waschosenby30percentoftherespondents,followedby“Don’tKnowWhattoMeasure”(25percent)and“SocialMediaMeasurementIsn’tPrimarilyAboutROI”(20percent).

Publicrelationsmeasurementrankssimilarlytosocialmediaintermsofpriority,with51percentcallingit,“Important”andanother36percentconsideringit“SomewhatImportant.”

ForbothsocialmediameasurementandPRmeasurement,manymarketersreportusingtheirWebanalyticspackagestoquantifyresults.OthermethodsofmeasuringPRresponseincludetrackingstoriesandblogmentionsovertime.Circulationnumbersisthefourthmostcommonanswer,pollresultsshow.

2 Shar VanBoskirk, “US Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2009 to 2014,” Forrester Research, July 6, 2009. 3 MarketingProfs poll data includes responses from 338 participants. MarketingProfs promoted the poll during a two-week period in June 2009 through a variety of marketing channels, including Twitter, blogs and email newsletters targeting marketing professionals.

EXCLUSIVE MARKETINGPROFS POLL: SOCIAL MEDIA ROI, AN ELUSIVE TARGET

Only 20 percent of participants in a new MarketingProfs poll believe they are adequately measuring the impact of social media campaigns in terms of tangible results.


EXCLUSIVE MARKETINGPROFS POLL: SOCIAL MEDIA ROI, AN ELUSIVE TARGET

DedicatedresourcesisalsocitedasthebiggesthurdletoPRmeasurement,(re-portedby38percent),followedby“Don’tKnowWhattoMeasure”(27percent)and“LackofMeasurementTools”(17percent).

Fifty-eightpercentofrespondentsbelievesocialmediamonitoringis“Important”totheircompanies;31percentthinkitis“SomewhatImportant.”Agoodsignforvendors,78percentofrespondentssaytheyplantoincreasesocialmediamonitoringoverthenextsixmonths;18percentexpectthelevelofmonitoringtoremainthesame.Notonepersonthinkshisorhercompanyplanstodecreasetheuseofmonitoring.

Intermsofhowcompaniesareusingsocialmediamonitoring,brand-reputationmanagementandprospectingcomeoutontop.Thenextmostcommonuseisidentifyingbrandadvocates.

ThedatafromthisinformalpollclearlyshowsalthoughcompaniesunderstandtheimportanceofsocialmediaandPRmeasurement,theyarenotthereyetintermsofexecution.However,businessesarestronglycommittedtoincreasingtheiruseofsocialmediamonitoringtobettermanagetheirbrandreputationsandtoengagewithcustomersandpotentialprospects.


SNAPSHOT: ESSENTIAL TOOLS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA AND PR MEASUREMENT

Forsocialmediamonitoring,therearedozensoftoolsandservices,suchasfreeapplicationsandenterprise-classsolutions.TheoptionsforsocialmediaandPRmeasurement,ontheotherhand,arelessvariedandtypicallyincludethestandardWebanalyticspackages.Thisshortlistwillhelpyougetstarted.

Social Media Measurement• Google Analytics:ThisfreeWebanalyticsserviceisofferedoverthe

Internet.ItrequiresuserstopasteafewsnippetsofcodeintheHTMLoftheirwebsites.Don’tletitsfreestatusfoolyou,though.GoogleAnalyticsisbecomingincreasinglysophisticatedintermsoffeaturesandcapabilities,anditiseasytouse.Plus,itintegrateswithGoogleAdwords.Alsocheckout: Yahoo! Web Analytics,whichrecentlyacquiredIndexTools,asmall-businessWebanalyticsvendor.

• Omniture:Thisservicehasthebiggestmarketshareamongsubscription-based,enterprise-classWebanalyticsservices.ThroughitsSiteCatalystservice,OmniturehasaddedspecializedtrackingforTwitterandFacebook.Theonlydrawbackisitsprice.Alsocheckout:Webtrends, anOmniturecompetitorofferingahigh-endWebanalyticsservice.WebtrendshasrecentlypartneredwithRadian6toprovidesocialmediamonitoring.Expectatechnologyintegrationbetweenthetwoserviceslaterthisyear.

• bit.ly:ItservesasbothaURLshortener(i.e.,atoolthatreduceslongURLstoafriendlierlength)andameasurementtool.Usebit.lytogetreal-timemetricstobetterunderstandtheclicksonlinksyoupostinyourTwitterandFacebookaccounts.Theshorteneralsoprovidesanarrayofstatistics,suchasconversationsincludingthatlink,referralsandlocations.Alsocheckout:ow.ly, anotherURLshortenerandtrackerthatcomespackagedwithHootSuite,ausefulTwittermanagementapplication.

PR Measurement• DIY Dashboard:PRmeasurementguruKatieDelahaye(KD)Paineoffers

aWeb-basedapplicationforcommunicationsprofessionalscalledtheDIY(Do-It-Yourself)Dashboard.ThetoolletsPRprosgeneratechartsandgraphstailoredaroundanorganization’sneeds.Thedashboardfocusesonsentimentanalysis—positivevs.negativementions—andenablesuserstocreatecustomqueries,Webchartsandanalyticsnapshots.Userscanalsomakecustomelectronicclipbooks.Inadditiontothedashboard,Paineoffersextensiveconsulting.

• Tealium:FoundedlastyearbythreeformeremployeesofWebSideStory(aWebanalyticspioneernowpartofOmniture),Tealiumoffersasocialmedia

Google Analytics

DIY Web Dashboard

http://www.google.com/analytics

http://web.analytics.yahoo.com/

http://www.omniture.com

http://www.webtrends.com

http://bit.ly/

http://hootsuite.com/

http://www.diydashboard.com/(oefvd23jrh2rjw45jui3aim5)/diy_login.aspx

http://www.tealium.com



trackingservicethatplugsintoastandardWebanalyticspackage(includingGoogleandOmniture).Throughpatent-pendingtechnology,TealiumhelpsusersmeasuretheirPRandsocialmediaactivityintermsofbottom-lineresults,suchasdirectWebtraffic,onlineleadsandsales.Tealiumalsocantracknewsstories,blogposts,chatforums,onlinecommentsandvideos.

• Vocus:Usersofthepopularon-demandPRcontactmanagementservicecanaccessextensiveanalyticsforthepriceofanupgrade.VocusAnalyticsoffersnumerousmetrics,includingshareofvoicecomparedtocompetitors;storiesbygeography,publication,reporterorblogger;andtheabilitytofillinsentimentanalysisforeachpresshit.Youcanalsotrackproductandspokespeoplementions,andyoucanmonitorissueresponse.Thepromi-nence-scoringmodulehelpsusersunderstandtheprominenceandimpactof newscoverage.

Social Media Monitoring• Visible Technologies:ItsTruCast®platformcomesinatthehigherend

ofthespectrumofsocialmediamonitoringservicesinbothpriceandfunctionality.VisibleTechnologiesusesaWeb-scrapingtechnologyinsteadofanRSS-basedcollectionmethod,soitpicksupconversationsfromabroaderrangeofsitesandoutlets.TruCastisoneofthefewservicestooffer“human-sampled”sentimentanalysis4(comparedtomanualormachineanalysis).TheTruCastplatformalsoprovidesadvancedcustomerrelation-shipmanagement(CRM)capabilities,whichallowuserstopinpointconver-sationsandthenengageusersdirectlyfromtheapplication.Alsocheckout:TNS Cymfony,anotherhigh-endsolution.TNSCymfonyofferssophisticatedreportingandhuman-sampledsentimentanalysis.

• Radian6:Radian6hasstrongmomentuminthemarketplacethankstodetailedsocialmediamonitoringandanextremelyvisualandintuitiveuserinterface.Radian6offersreal-timelisteninganalysis,socialmediametrics,CRMcapabilities,teamcollaborationandworkflow,andgloballanguagesupport.Radian6hassetitselfapartbystrikingpartnershipswithcompa-niessuchasSalesforce.comandWebtrends.Alsocheckout:ScoutLabs, anothersocialmediamonitoringvendorthatoffersautomatedsentimentanalysis,buzztrackingandteamcollaboration.

• Techrigy:ThispopularsocialmediamonitoringservicescoursthesocialWeb—fromwikistosocialnetworks—insearchofrelevantconversationsaboutbrands,productsandcompetitors.Thecompany’sSM2productoffersmachine-generatedsentimentanalysis,real-timemonitoringandanalysis,

4 White Horse Productions Webinar, “Social Media Monitoring Tools,” 2009.

Visible Technologies

Tealium Social Media Measurement

http://www.vocus.com

http://www.visibletechnologies.com

http://www.cymfony.com/

http://www.radian6.com

http://www.scoutlabs.com

http://www.techrigy.com



discussionclustering(groupingsimilardiscussions)andcustomizedre-porting.Note:TechrigywasrecentlyaquiredbyAlterian.Alsocheckout:BuzzGain,whichintegratessocialmediamonitoringwithmediareportingandamediadatabasetotargetinfluencers.

• Trackur:Oneofthemoreaffordablesocialmediamonitoringsolutions,Trackurdifferentiatesitselfbothonpriceandalsobyspeakingdirectlytoonlinereputationmanagement—oneoftheobjectivesofmonitoring.Thesolutionprovidesconversationtrending,emailalerts,customfilters,aniftyAJAXdashboardandtheabilitytomonitorbrands,execs,employeesandcompetitors.Alsocheckout:Google News Alerts, a free alert tool that leveragesthesearchgiant’scrawlingtechnologytopickuprelevantnewsstoriesandblogpostsaboutyourcompanyorproducts.

Trackur Social Media Monitoring Tool

http://www.buzzgain.com

http://www.trackur.com

http://www.google.com/alerts


11 CASE STUDIES: SOCIAL MEDIA MEASUREMENT & MONITORING


SOCIAL MEDIA MEASUREMENT Understandtheresultsofyoursocialmediainvestment.

Intuit

ThemakerofTurboTaxembarkedonamassivesocialmediacampaigntobuilditsbrandamonganewgenerationoftaxpayers.Surveyswereabigpartofthemeasurementmix.

Company:BasedinMountainView,Calif.,IntuitInc.(NASDAQ:INTU)isaprovideroffinancialmanagementsolutionsforsmallandmid-sizedbusinesses,financialinstitutions,consumersandaccountingprofessionals.Thecompany’sflagshipproducts(QuickBooks,QuickenandTurboTaxsoftware)enablesmall-businessmanagementandpayrollprocessing,personalfinance,andtaxprepara-tionandfiling.

Challenge:TohelpbuilditsbrandamongayoungergenerationoftaxpayersandpromoteafreeonlineTurboTaxservice,Intuitcreatedalargesocialmediacampaigninearly2009asabuilduptoApril15.The“FreeloaderNation”campaignwaslaunchedinJanuaryandincluded:

• A partnership with MySpacetoco-sponsoritsSecretShowsinitiative,wherebigacts(e.g.,LillyAllenandFallOutBoy)rockedsmall,intimateclubsforinvitation-onlyaudiences;

• HiringTayZonday(famousonlineforhis“ChocolateRain”YouTubevideo)towriteasongaboutthecampaignandtravelwiththeFreeloadercampaignfortheSecretShows;and,

• CreatingtheSuperStatuscontestinwhichparticipantsrespondedtoaseriesofquestionsbyupdatingtheirstatusonFacebook,TwitterorMySpace.com.Forexample,onequestionduringthepresidentialinaugurationwas,“Ifyouwerepresident,whatwouldyoumaketaxdeductible?”Oneresponse:“Iamarockgoddess,andIdeclareliposuc-tionshouldbetaxdeductible.”Contestantswerejudgedbythecreativityoftheirresponses,relevancetotheoriginalquestion,andabilitytogetthewordoutonthesocialnetworks.Thewinnersreceivedmorethan$100,000incashandprizes,with$25,000asthegrandprize.

Thehugechallengeofthisfar-reachingcampaignfortheTurboTaxonlinemar-ketinggroup,ledbySethGreenberg,directorofonlinemarketing,wastracking.

Solution:TurboTaxprimarilyusedWebanalyticsandsurveyresearchtomeasuretheeffectivenessofthecampaign,plusRadian6,asocialmediamonitoringsolution,tohelppickupTwitterresponsesandentries.ThegoalforGreenbergwastounderstandtheimpactacontestant’sparticipationhadonhis/hersocialnetwork.Whodidtheparticipantaffect?Wouldthecontestant’sfriendsget

http://www.myspace.com/

http://www.superstatuscontest.com

http://turbotax.intuit.com/


SOCIAL MEDIA MEASUREMENT

involvedaswell?Greenbergansweredthesequestionsbyusingsurveys,whichcontestantswereencouragedtosendtofriendsandfollowers.Togainacontrolgroup,thecompanyalsosentoutmorethan100,000surveystocustomersnotplayingthegame.Greenberg’sgroupusedWebanalyticstomeasureactivityonwebsitesandvideos.ItalsotrackedthenumberofdownloadsoftheSuperStatuswidget,whichparticipantsusedtogetupdatedcontestquestions.

Results:Overall,morethan10,000peopleparticipatedinthecampaign,includ-ingmorethan6,000SuperStatusparticipants.Throughitssurveys,TurboTaxdiscovereda10-percentliftinpurchaseintent(overthecontrolgroup)amongthosewhodirectlyparticipatedintheSuperStatuscampaign.Forfriendsandfollowersofthecontestants,however,thenumberwasonly2percentabovethecontrolgroup,Greenbergsays.

Thecampaigngenerated165millionaudienceimpressions,whichdroveanesti-mated100,000peopletoSuperStatusContest.com.AsforZonday’s“FreeloaderNation”video,itgeneratedsome800,000viewsonYouTubeanddifferentvideoplatforms.AndonlineunitsalesforTurboTaxproductsincreasedby36percentduringthequarter,comparedtothesameperiodlastyear.

Intheend,Greenbergwascarefultonotethatwhilebottom-lineresultsareex-tremelyimportant,thecompanygivesitselfsomeleewaybecauseit—likemanybusinesses—isstillexperimentingwiththerightmixofsocialmediaelements.

Business Lessons Learned• Understandwhatyourmetricsarebeforeyouembarkonalarge-scale

campaign.TurboTaxwaskeenlyinterestedinhowthecampaignwouldimpactfriendsandfollowersofcontestants.

• Usesurveysandcontrolgroupstounderstandhard-to-reachmetrics,suchasintenttobuy.

• ROIisimportant,butit’sstillearlydayswithsocialmedia;don’tbeafraidtoexperiment.

“IwouldsaytheNo.1thing[todowhenlaunchingasocialcampaign]istogetthemeasurementrightbeforeyoulaunch.Askyourselfwhatyouwanttolearnandhow[youwillmeasureit].Don’tdothisasyougobecausethistypeofcampaignistoody-namic.”—Seth Greenberg, Director of Online Marketing, TurboTax

Through its surveys, TurboTax discovered a 10-percent lift in purchase intent (over the control group) among those who directly participated in the SuperStatus campaign.



Nissan Canada

Tointroduceitsstylishnewcartoanewgeneration,theautomanufacturerlaunchedaviralsocialmediacampaigntobuildinterest.Gaugingsuccessrequiredawidearrayofmetrics. Company:BasedinToronto,NissanCanadaispartofNissanMotorCompany,amultinationalautomakerheadquarteredinJapan.InNorthAmerica,Nissan’s(NASDAQ:NSANY)operationsinclude:automotivestyling,engineering,consum-erandcorporatefinancing,salesandmarketing,distributionandmanufacturing.

Challenge:Tounveilitsall-newcubevehicleintheCanadianautomarket,Nissananditscreativepartner,Toronto-basedCapital C Communications, decidedtoengagepotentialcustomerswithaviralsocialmediacampaign—in-steadofatraditionallarge-scaleadvertisingcampaign.Theycameupwiththehypercubecontest,designedtotapintothecountry’syoung,creativecommu-nityandtohelpspreadthewordaboutthenewcar.

InlateFebruary,NissanannouncedthecontestforCanadianstoexpresstheirsocialcreativityandauditionforachancetodriveawaywithoneof50brand-newNissancubes.NissanandCapitalCCommunicationshadcreatedanonlineplatformor“canvas”soentrants—especiallyartists,musicians,Webdesigners,programmers,videographers,dancersandathletes—couldshowtheircreativitythroughimages,songandwords.Ofalltheentrants,500werechosenforthefinalaudition.

Thefinal500wereencouragedtosharetheiruploadedprojectswithasmanypeopleaspossiblethroughTwitter,Facebookandothersocialmediachannels.FinalwinnerswereannouncedinlateJune.Gettingpeopletoparticipatewasn’tdifficult.Thebigchallengewasknowinghowtochartthesuccessofsuchalarge,viralcampaign.

Solution:CapitalC’smeasurementgoalwasrelativelysimple:toshowengage-ment,awarenessandreach.CapitalCusednumerousmeasurementtools,suchaspre-andpost-awarenesssurveys;socialmediamonitoring;standardWebanalytics;andsimpleusagemetrics,suchregistrationsandtotalvotestoac-complishthisgoal.ThecompanyemployedGoogleAnalyticstochartWebtraffichighlights,suchassitevisits,referrals,pageviewspervisitor,timespentonsite,andindividualandaggregateviewsofeachartist’scanvas.

Thedifficulttaskwasmonitoringperceptionsandcampaignawarenessthroughsocialmedia.CapitalCdecidedtolaunchanawarenesssurveytargeting1,000

http://capitalc.typepad.com/

http://www.hypercube.ca/signup/en/index.html

http://www.hypercube.ca/signup/en/



participantsatthestartofthecampaign,atthemid-point(60days)andattheend.Totrackhypercubementionsacrossthesocialmedialandscape,CapitalCemployedRadian6,asocialmediamonitoringservice.

Results:Intermsofreach,engagementandawareness,thehybercubecam-paignwasasuccess.

• BetweenthestartofthecampaignonFebruary27andthecloseofauditionsonMay15,thereweremorethan330,000sitevisits.Morethanhalfofthevisitswerereferrals,manyfromFacebookwherecontes-tantspostedlinkstotheircanvases.

• Thereweremorethan1.5millioncanvasviewsbetweenApril15andMay15.

• Morethan50,000peopleregisteredatthesitetovoteonthefinalentriesorindividualcanvases,generatingatotalof250,000votes.

• Thesiteaveragednearlysixpageviewspervisit;visitorsspentanaver-ageofmorethanfourminutesonthesite.

• Afterthemid-pointofthecampaign,therewasan87percentincreaseinawareness(fromthebaseline)ofthecubeandthecube’smanufac-turer(Nissan).

• Thereweremorethan8,000tweetsaboutthehypercubecampaign.Withanaverageof330followerspertweeter,thatismorethan2.6millionimpressions.

Enthusiasmoverthecampaignextendedbeyondtheofficialsitetoincludecu-beclub.ca,anonlinechatforumsetupbyandforhybercubecontestants(about200members).Thisledtootheruser-generatedtributesites.

Business Lessons Learned• Understandyourmeasurementstrategybeforeyoubeginyour

campaign.• Don’tbeafraidtoadjust.CapitalCaddedtheawarenessstudyand

itssocialmediamonitoringjustbeforethecampaignbegan.• Incorporateavarietyofmetricstoolsasthereisoftennoonecompre-

hensivesolutionforsocialmediameasurement.

“Launchingthecubeviasocialmediacreatedsomemeasurementchallengesforus,butalsoopportunities.Typically,we’destimatereachandfrequency,but(now)we’reabletotrackawarenessandengagementwithouraudiencebasedontheironlineactivity.”—Jeff Parent, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Nissan Canada

Nissan’s difficult task was monitoring perceptions and campaign awareness through social media. Its agency launched an awareness survey targeting 1,000 participants at the start of the campaign, at the mid-point (60 days) and at the end.



Lollapalooza

Theorganizersofthissummer’salt-rockfestivalimplementedFacebookConnectandothersocialmediasharingtoolstogetpeopletalking.Butwouldthattranslateintosuccess? Company:Lollapaloozaisanannualalt-rockfestheldinChicago,Ill.inAugust.ItisorganizedbyC3Presents,anAustin-basedproductioncompany.C3creates,books,marketsandproducesmorethan800showsnationwide,includingLollapaloozaandAustinCityLimitsMusicFestival.

Challenge:Eachyear,C3Presentsgetsonlyoneshotformarketingitspremiereevents,suchasLollapalooza.Justasthecompanymustdecidewhichbandstobooktogeneratethemostinterestandthemostsales,italsohastofigureoutwhichdigitalmarketingprogramstoinvestin.Afterlastyear’sevent,thestaffatC3brainstormedabouthowtheycouldbetterengagefansonLollapalooza.comforthe2009event.C3decidedtoimplementFacebookConnect,whichleveragesFacebook’snewAPIs,sofansonLollapalooza.comcouldtalkaboutwhichofthemorethan100bandstheywereplanningtosee.C3alsobeefedupitsFacebookfanpage,addingupdates,blogpostsandrelevantlinks.C3staffintegratedsharingfeaturesforTwitterandMySpaceonitswebsite,andtheyincludedanemaillinkandan“AddThis”button.

“Oneofourkeystrategiesthisyearwastotalktopeoplewheretheyarealreadypayingattention,”saysMichaelFeferman,directorofdigitalmarketingforC3.ForTwitter,theysetupasystemwherefanscouldhoveroveraparticularband—forexample,thebandTool—andthenclicktosendoutamessagetofollowersthatread:

“IplantoseeToolatLollapaloozainAugust!http://bit.ly/138DaD.”

Thechallengewiththisapproachwasmeasuringtheimpactofthedifferentwaysfanscouldshareinformationabouttheevent.C3wantedtoknowwhetheritwouldbeworththeconsiderabletimeandefforttointegratethesesocialmediatoolsforfutureevents.

Solution:C3reliedheavilyontwomeasurementtools:GoogleAnalyticsandbit.ly.C3usedGoogleAnalyticstomeasurebasicWebtrafficdata,suchasoverallsitevisitsandpageviewspervisit.Its“eventtracking”capabilitiesmeasuredhowmanytimespeoplewereclickingthe“share”iconsC3hadimplemented(linkingtoFacebook,MySpace,Twitter,etc.)andhowoftenusersloggedintotheirFacebookaccountsviaFacebookConnect.

http://www.lollapalooza.com



http://bit.ly/138DaD



UsingGoogleAnalytics,C3wasabletodetermineusagepatternsamongvisitorswhousedthesocialmediaapplicationonLollapalooza.comandthosewhodidnot.C3usedbit.lytomeasure:1)thepre-populatedTwittermessagesandcorrespondinglinksfansweresendingfromthewebsite;and2)thereactiontodifferentlinksandcontentitwouldpostonitsFacebookfanpage.Ineachcase,C3wouldgeneratebit.lylinksthatpushedtrafficbacktoitswebsiteorblog.

Results:SinceaddingFacebookConnectandothersharingfeaturesonApril21,2009,traffictoLollapalooza.comhasdoubledcomparedtotheprevioussixweeks,driveninpartbyreferralsfromtheFacebook.comandTwitter.comdo-mains.C3estimatesthatabout70percentofthedirecttrafficfromthosesocialdomainswastheresultofthesharingapplicationsonitswebsiteandmessagingitsfansonthosenetworks. Timespentonthewebsitehasgrown20percentduringthattime;pageviewspervisitareup34percent,Fefermansays.Sincethelaunch,thenumberoffanstotheLollapaloozaFacebookpagehasincreasedby14,000to34,000atlastcount.ThenumberofTwitterfollowershasalsogrowntoabout6,000followers,fromzeroatthebeginningoftheyear.

Meanwhile,C3wasabletodeterminebyusingbit.lythatitspre-populatedlinks,mostlyonTwitter,wereclickedanaverageofseventimeseach,whichhelpedaccountfortheincreaseinsitetraffic.C3alsousedbit.lytodrivesomeofitsmessagingandcontentstrategy,includingthefrequencyofitspostsandwhattypesofmessagesandcontenttoproduce.Forexample,itfoundthatfansreactedmostfavorablytocontentthatshowcasedbandnewsandvideos.

Fefermanwouldnotdivulgeticketsalesinformationsinceimplementingthenewfeatures,butsaidthatoverallsaleshavebeen“verystrong.”

Business Lessons Learned• Makeiteasyforcustomersandfanstosharenewsandlinksabout

youreventswiththeirfriends.• ConsiderFacebookConnectasawaytoeasilyintegrateyourbusiness

withtheFacebookcommunity.

“Ourwholegoalwiththesetoolswastomakeitaseasyaspossibleforfanstotalkaboutthelineup,whichisreallywhatdrivesourticketsales.”—Michael Feferman, Director of Digital Marketing, C3 Presents

C3 used Google Analytics to measure how many times people were clicking the “share” icons C3 had implemented (linking to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter) and how often users logged into their Facebook accounts via Facebook Connect.



Dell Outlet

ThecomputermanufactureriswidelyrecognizedforbeingofoneofthefirstcompaniestomonetizeTwitter.Buthowdiditgetthere?Inpart,throughdiligenttrackingandoptimizationofitsTwitterpromotions. Company:BasedinRoundRock,Texas,Dell(NASDAQ:DELL)istheNo.1computermanufacturerintheUnitedStates.DellOutletsellsrefurbishedandpreviouslyownedlaptops,desktops,printersandmonitors.

Challenge:In2007,whenDell OutletemployeesdiscoveredTwitterattheSouthbySouthwestconferenceinAustin,theseedsofanewmarketingchannelwereplanted.EmployeesthoughtTwittercouldhelpselloutletinventorycosteffectively.Buthowcouldtheymakethechannelasviableandprofitableaspossible—ratherthanjustacoolsocialmediaexperiment?Thecompanyneededawaytooptimizeitspostsandpromotions.

Solutions:Tobegintracking,Dellusedaproprietarysoftwaretechnologytocreatecustome-commercetrackingURLs.TheseURLstrackclicksandotherimportantsalesmeasurements,includingrevenue,unitandmarginmetrics,saysStefanieNelson,DellOutletmarketingmanager.Throughthisleveloftracking,DellcantellwhichbrandsandproductsTwitterusersarerespondingto,whichdiscountsworkbest(biggerisbetter),andwhichproductsgeneratethebestmarginsormostrevenue.Forexample,oneproductmightgeneratemoreunitsaleswhileanotherwillproducehighermargins.Nelsonnowknowsexactlywhichoffers(includingcorrespondingcouponcodes)topromotetofollowerstoproducethedesiredfinancialresultforDell’squarterlyobjectives.

ToreducethelengthofDell’sproprietarytrackingURLs,Nelsonbeganexperi-mentingwithURLshortenersandtrackers,includingbit.lyandow.ly.Nelsonhasusedthesetoolstogetreal-timeclickmetrics,whichhavehelpedhertodevelopherpostingstrategy,includingwhattimeofdaytopost.Forexample,ifshewantstoreachaU.S.-onlyaudience,shewillpostintheearlyafternoon.Ifshewantstogetabiggeroverallresponse,fromshoppersintheUnitedStatesandothercountries,shewillpostinthemorning.

Results:Inlate2008,DellOutletmadebignewswhenitannouncedithadearned$1milliondirectlythroughTwitter—oneofthefirstexamplesofacompanymonetizingthemicro-bloggingserviceinaseriousway.ThenonJune11,2009,withawhopping600,000followers,DellOutletannouncedthatithadsurpassed$2millioninrevenuetraceabletoTwitter.

http://www.dell.com/outlet



NelsonnotesthatTwitterisalsodrivinginterestinnewproducts.“We’[email protected]/outletsite,andthenultimatelydecidingtopurchaseanewsystemelsewhereonDell.com.Ifwefactorthosenewsystempurchasesthatcomefrom@DellOutlet,we’veactuallyeclipsed$3millioninoverallsales,”NelsonwroteinablogpostonJune11.NelsonsaysTwitterisnowaseriousandtangiblemarketingchannel,helpingtomovelargeinventorybubbleswithafewposts.

Business Lessons Learned• FindawaytointegratesalesmeasurementdataintoyourTwitterand

socialmediatracking.• Takeadvantageoffreetools,suchasbit.lyorow.ly,tooptimizeyour

postsandpromotions.

“MeasuringTwitterdependsonyourobjectives.Ifyouaretryingtodrivee-commercesales,youshouldtrytoincluderevenuemetricsinyourtracking.Ifyourgoaliscustomerservice,thenyouneedtohavemetricsinplaceforthat.”—Stefanie Nelson, Marketing Manager, Dell Outlet (U.S.)

Twitter is now a serious and tangible marketing channel, helping to move large inventory bubbles with a few posts, explains Stefanie Nelson, marketing manager for Dell Outlet.


PR MEASUREMENT ImproveyourPRperformancethroughmetrics.

BMC Software

Tohelpboostthecompany’svisibility,thecommunicationsteamatBMCSoftwareimplementedahybridPR-salesapproachthatfocusesonperformancemetricstogenerateresults.

Company:BasedinHouston,Texas,BMCSoftwareInc.(NYSE:BMC)developssoftwarethatprovidessystemandservicemanagementsolutionsprimarilyforlargeenterprisesaroundtheworld.

Challenge:WhenMarkStouse,globalcommunicationsleaderforBMC Software,cametothecompanythreeyearsago,thecompany’svisibilitywasextremelylow,limitedmostlytotrademagazines,financialpressandareanewspapers.Thecompany’senterpriseproductswerebetter-knownthanthecorporation.BMCSoftwarehadnometricsforitspublicrelationsefforts,andthePRteamhadrelativelylittleinfluenceamongmarketingandsalesteams.Stousewantedtodramaticallyraisethecompany’svisibilityonanationalscaletohelpboostsoftwaresales.Heneededawaytofocushis65-personcommunicationsteam,includingmembersofthecompany’sPRagency,WaggonerEdstrom,ondeliveringbiggerandbetterresults. Solution:Stousealwaysfeltthatpublicrelationsismorecloselyrelatedtosalesthanmarketing,sohedecidedtosetuphiscommunicationsteamasaquasi-salesorganizationcompletewithpre-determinedpointquotas.Stouse’squotasystemtakesintoaccountthesizeandstatureofthepublication,thelengthofthearticleandthetonality(positiveorneutral).Forexample,afeaturestoryintheWallStreetJournalmightbeworth5,000points—doublethatamountifthestoryispositive—whileanormalITtradestorymightget500points.

Atthestartofeachquarter,Stousesitsdownwithmarketing,productde-velopmentandothergroupstounderstandwhat’scomingup.Basedonthatfeedback,Stousewillcommitanywherefrom200,000to300,000pointsforthequarter.Hewillthengobackandassignpointquotastohisstaff,anywherefrom30,000to50,000perperson.Stousepreachestraditionalsalesproductiv-itytohisstaff,askingthemtofocusonthenumberofstoriesorreports,thesizeandplacementofthosestories,andthevelocitywithwhichstoriesarelanded.Stouseuseswhathecalls“pre-determinedgatingfactors”tomakesurehisstaffismovingthe“deals”orstoriesthroughthepipeline.Forexample,ifateammembersaysthelikelihoodofastorylandinghascrossedthe80-percentthreshold,then“youbetterhaveareallygoodreasonifthatdealdoesnotmaterialize,”Stousesays.

http://www.bmcsoftware.com/

http://www.bmcsoftware.com/


PR MEASUREMENT

Results:BMC’scommunicationsgrouphasmetorexceededitsquotaineachofthelastthreequartersthatStouse’ssystemhasofficiallybeeninplace.Duringthelastfiscalquarter,BMCgenerated375placementsaroundtheglobe(pow-eredinpartbyahigh-profileCiscopartnerannouncement),50executivequotesand294,000“points.”

Oncerelegatedtominortradepublications,BMCnowenjoysbetterandmoreregularcoverageinbothmainstreambusinesspressandhigh-profiletechnol-ogypublications.“Threeyearsago,theprospectofourbeingintheWallStreetJournalorotherheavyweightpublicationswithasubstantialprofilewaszero,”saysStouse.“Today,wearedoingthatnotonlyonceortwice,butmanytimes.”

Thanksinparttotheincreasedcoverage,BMC’ssoftwaresaleshavecontinu-allyrisenoverthelastthreeyears.Stouse’sannualcommunicationsbudgethasalsogrownandisnowaround$5millionperyear.Insteadofbeingthelasttobecalledintotheroomforanimportantproductlaunch,Stouse’steamisthefirst.Thesalesteamhasbeenthrilledwiththeamountofpositivecoverageandcollateralatitsdisposal.Inarecentinterview,BMCCEOBobBeauchamptoldPR Week, “ManyofmysalesexecutivesconsiderthePRandanalystrelationssupporttheyreceivetobeabsolutelyindispensibletotheirsuccess.”

Business Lessons Learned• Considerdevelopingasales-focusedPRapproachthatholdsteam

membersaccountableforperformance.• Developapoint-scalethatfitsyourorganizationalgoalsand

objectives.• Don’tshyawayfromtraditionalPRmetrics,suchasplacementsover

time,iftheystillholdvalueandserveasabenchmark.

“Ifasalesguyrunsintoacustomerandthecustomersays,‘Idon’tknowwhoBMCis,’that’saproblemthatstallsthesalesprocess.Ifbyourworkweensurethatneverhappens,thenwehavemadeapowerfulcontributiontosalesproductivity.”—Mark Stouse, Global Communications Leader, BMC Software

Mark Stouse of BMC Software always felt that public relations is more closely related to sales than marketing, so he decided to set up his communications team as a quasi-sales organization—complete with point quotas.


PR MEASUREMENT

OfficeMax

Whentheretailgiantlauncheditsfirstlarge-scalesocialmediacampaigns,itmaintainedthesamemethodofmeasurementithasalwaysused—audienceimpressions—butappliedittosocialmedia. Company:BasedinNaperville,Ill.,OfficeMaxIncorporated(NYSE:OMX)isaleaderinbothbusiness-to-businessofficeproductssolutionsandretailofficeproducts.Thecompanyprovidesofficesuppliesandpaper,in-storeprintanddocumentservicesthroughOfficeMaxImPress™,technologyproductsandsolu-tions,andfurnituretobothconsumersandbusinesses.

Challenge:Earlierthisyear,OfficeMaxreachedanagreementwithinternationallyrenownedorganizationexpertPeterWalshtosellhishome-andbusiness-organi-zation solution (In Place System)initsretailstores.Topromotethepartnership,OfficeMaxdecidedtotryasocialmediacampaign,ratherthanatraditionalmainstreampush.Itstargetwasbloggerspassionateaboutgoodorganizationalhabits.TheplanwastocreatealivewebcastaroundWalshandshowhimwalk-ingthroughspeciallycreatedsetsshowcasingmessyandcleanoffices.Walshwouldthenansweremailquestionslive.

Beforetheevent,OfficeMaxsentoutsamplesofWalsh’ssolution.Morethan175bloggersattendedthewebcastinApril2009.NowhowwouldOfficeMaxmeasuretheeffectivenessoftheevent?Ittypicallyusedimpression-basedmet-ricsfromtraditionalprintandonlinemedia,andthecompanywaseagertocarrythatovertothesocialmediarealm.Anotherchallengewashowtoascertainonanaggregatedlevelwhetherthepostswerepositiveornegative. Solution:Soonaftertheevent,OfficeMax’sPRteam,ledbyWilliamBonner,be-ganscouringtheWebforblogposts,tweetsandothermentionsofthewebcast.Tostreamlinetheprocessofidentifyingblogcoverage,itreliedonVocus,anon-demandPRmanagementsolution,andGoogleAlerts.

Oncetheyidentifiedthecoverage,theyusedavarietyoftools,suchasAlexa,QuantcastandVocus,aswellasdataprovidedbythebloggersthemselves,tocomeupwithaudienceimpressionnumbers(essentiallymonthlyuniquevisi-tors).Bonner’steamalsomanuallyscannedeachpostandassignedapositive,neutralornegativescoretoeachone,andthenuploadedthatinformationintoVocustogetanaggregatedview.Finallytheteamusedsearch.twitter.comtotrackdownallTwittermentionsoftheevent.Theylookedatthenumberoffollowersofeachpostedtweettoascertainthetotalreach.

http://www.officemax.com

http://www.inplacesystem.com/


PR MEASUREMENT

Results:Theeventwasasuccess.Itgeneratedmorethan100blogposts(allpositive)withacombinedreachof2.6millionimpressions,definedasmonthlyuniquevisitors.Bloggersalsotweetedaboutthewebcastbothbefore,duringandaftertheshowing,whichgeneratedmorethan1,000totaltweets(acombinedreachof2.3millionimpressions).AccordingtoBonner,thewebcastwasoneofthetoptopics(basedonthehashtag#officemax)onsearch.twitter.comthatafternoon.Traditionalreportersnoticedtheblogcoverageandwroteanother13storiesabouttheevent,generating1.5milliononlineimpressions.TwobloggersevenproducedtheirownvideosabouttheeventandpostedthemonYouTube.BloggersalsopostedproductpicturesonFlickr.

Business Lessons Learned• Usewhatyouknow,andkeepitsimple.OfficeMaxtookitsstandard

methodofmeasurement(onlineaudienceimpressions)andappliedittoblogsandTwitter.

• SetupahashtagtoallowyoutomoreeasilymeasureTwitterconver-sationsduringawebcast.

• Don’tunderestimatesentimentanalysis—positive,neutralornega-tive—evenifyouhavetocatalogitmanually.

“Thefirstthingtoremember[inmeasuringasocialmediacam-paign]isdon’toverthinkit.Justtryit.Thinkofhowyouhavehadtomeasureinthepast.Whenwehavemeasuredinthepast,impressionshavebeenprettystandard,sowehavetriednottogettoocarriedawaynowthatthemediaisdifferent.”—Bill Bonner, Senior Director, External Relations, OfficeMax

ShareMethods

Foranupcomingproductannouncement,ShareMethodsenlistedthehelpofaPRfirmtohelpgetthewordout.ButdiditsPRinvestmentgenerateresultsintermsoftrafficandleads?

Company: BasedinSouthOrange,N.J.,ShareMethodsalignssalesandmar-ketingthroughon-demandcollaborativedocumentmanagementforsmallandmid-sizedbusinesses.Fromanywhereatanytime,salespeople,salespartnersandmarketingcanaccessthemostup-to-datesalescollateralandcustomerdocumentstohelpthemclosemoredeals,faster.

Bill Bonner’s team at OfficeMax manually scanned each blog post and assigned a positive, neutral or negative score to each one, and then uploaded that information into Vocus to get an aggregated view.

http://www.sharemethods.com


PR MEASUREMENT

Challenge:Withthelaunchofanimportantnewproductjustmonthsaway,ShareMethodsenlistedtheservicesofaNewYorkCity-basedPRfirmtohelpgetthewordoutaboutthecompany’son-demandsolutionsfordocumentmanagementandsharing.ThePRinitiativewasasignificantmarketingactivityandinvestmentforthecompany.ShareMethodswantedtoknowthenumberofarticlesandmentionsitwouldreceivefromthelaunchaswellashowmuchWebtrafficandhowmanyonlineleadsthepressactivitywouldultimatelygener-ate.Gettingthatkindofdetail,however,isdifficultandsomethingthatstandardWebanalyticssolutionsdonotprovide.

Solution:InDecember,thecompanycameacrossTealium5,whichoffersasocialmediameasurementplug-intostandardWebanalyticssolutions.Throughproprietarytechnology,Tealiumcanmeasurethereferralsfrompressarticles,blogposts,blogpostcomments,videos,chatforumsanddirectlinkstotheclientwebsite.ShareMethodspluggedTealiumintoitsexistingGoogleAnalyticssolutionandbeganmeasuringpressandblogactivitysurroundingthelaunchofitsnewestproduct,ShareSpaces,anon-demandcollaborativedocumentman-agementservicethatcombinessocialnetworkingcapabilities. Results:Followingtheproductannouncement,ShareMethods’sPRagencygeneratedcoverageinanumberofonlineandprintpublications,includingDestination CRM, KMWorld and CMS Wire, aswellassomesocialmediaout-lets.Almostimmediately,ShareMethodscouldseethetrafficfromthesesourcesstarttorisesignificantly.Inthefour-weekperiodfollowingthepubliclaunch:

• 22percentofvisitstothecompany’swebsitecamefromPRandsocialmediatraffic(asmuchas10timeshigherthanothersitesusingTealium)

• 23percentofpageviewsonthesiteweregeneratedbythePRandsocialmediasegment

• 57percentofthecompany’sPRandsocialmediatrafficcamefromtradi-tionalnewsoutlets;34percentcamefromblogs.Theremaindercamefromvideosandothersources.

Thenumberssurroundingleadgeneration,however,werenotascompelling.ShareMethods’PRactivitygeneratedonlyamodestnumberofWebleads(forexample:aprospectcompletinganonlineformforafreedemoortrial).ShareMethodsCOO,PaulSoukup,reviewedtheTealiumcampaignanddecidedthatadjustmentsneededtobemade.

SoukupaskedhisPRteam,“CanwemakeadjustmentstoourPRstrategytoimproveourleadflow?”Together,theydecidedthatShareMethodsshouldtry

5 Disclaimer: The author of this report works with Tealium to provide social media marketing services to clients, and is familiar with the company’s technology

http://www.tealium.com


PR MEASUREMENT

moreindustry-specificnewsandblogoutlets,includingonescoveringhigh-tech,networking,telecommunications,andhealthcare.Soukupiseagertoseethedifferenceinbottom-lineresultsgoingforward.

Business Lessons Learned• MeasuringPRandsocialmediaintermsoftrafficandleads(and

sales)ispossible.• MakesureyouhaveaPRmeasurementsolutionandstrategyinplace

beforeembarkingonamajorinitiative,suchasaproductlaunch.• ExamineWebtrafficdataandtrytolookatbottom-lineresults,if

possible.

“Forthefirsttimewereabletoseewhattypeofreturnwewereget-tingforourPRinvestment.Itwasincrediblyusefulindeterminingournextsteps.”—Paul Soukup, COO, ShareMethods

ShareMethods plugged Tealium into its existing Google Analytics solution and began measuring press and blog activity surrounding the launch of its newest product, ShareSpaces.


SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING Usesocialmediaintelligencetoimprovemarketingandcustomerservice.

AAA

WithanincreasingnumberofmembersstartingtotalkaboutAAAinsocialmedia,thecompanydecideditneededtostartlisteningandengaging.

Company:BasedinHeathrow,Fla.,andfoundedin1902,theAmericanAutomobileAssociation(AAA)isanot-for-profitinsurancecompanyknownprimarilyforprovidingemergencyroadsideservice,mapsandtravelservices.Ithasmorethan50millionmembers.

Challenge:AAAnoticedthatanincreasingnumberofmemberswerevoicingissuesandcomplaintswithinsocialmediainsteadofcallingtheirlocalAAAoffice.Withmorethan50millionmembers,AAAneedstokeepontopoftheseconversations,notonlytoberesponsiveaspossibletocustomers,butalsotomakesureissuesdonotsnowballintoaPRcrisis.AAAwaschallengedtobettermonitorandrespondtocustomerissuesbeingairedonthesocialWeb. Solution:AAAalreadyhadbeenusingasocialmediamonitoringsolution,butthecompanyneededamorerobustenterprisesolutionthatcouldmonitorabroaderrangeofsocialmediaoutletsandalsoprovideCRMcapabilities.AtaconferencefortheSocietyofNewCommunicationsResearch(SNCR),JanieGraziani,AAA’ssocialmediamanager,discoveredRadian6.ThesolutionfitexactlywhatAAAneeded.Withinashorttime,thecompanybeganmonitoringanaverageofabout8,500AAAmentionspermonthinsocialmedia.

Becauseofherexpertise,Grazianibecamethefocalpointforthecompany’scustomerserviceoutreachonthesocialWeb.WorkingthroughGrazianiandus-ingRadian6,thecompanybeganrespondingtoeverythingfromroadsideassis-tancequeriestowebsitelinksthatdidn’twork.Inoneinstance,Grazianihelpedprovidesupporttoawomanwhosecollege-agesonwasstuckinhiscaralongthefreewayinanotherstate.BecausehiscarhadbrokendowninanareawhereAAAwasn’tallowedtotow,thesituationrequiredspecialattention.Grazianifirstnoticedtheprobleminachatforumfortheparentsofcollegestudents.

Grazianisetsupdailyalertsforcertainkeywords,suchas“AAA,”andinstantalertsforothers,suchasanymentionofthecompany’spresidentandCEO,RobertL.Darbelnet,whichmayrequireaPRresponse.Associalmediahitsthemainstream,moreandmoremotoristsarebeginningtoshoutoutonTwitterandothersocialmediachannelsforhelp.AAAiscertainlylistening.(Pleasenote:GrazianisaysthebestwaytogetimmediatehelpisstilltocalltheAAAhotline.) Results:AAAdoesn’thaveenoughdatatoquantifythespecificimpactofsocial

http://www.aaa.com



SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING

mediamonitoring,butthecompanyhasincreasedtheimmediacywithwhichitrespondstocustomerissues.Ofthe8,500socialmediamentionsthecompanygeneratespermonth,AAArespondstobetween100and200ofthose,Grazianisays.Ifshecan’taddressthecomplaintorissueonherown,shewillfunnelittothecustomersupportteam.SocialmediamonitoringhasalsobeenaboontoAAA’spublicrelationsbecauseissuesthathavethepotentialtoflareuponblogsandinchatroomsareaddressedmorequickly.Thecompanyisalsousingsocialmediaforgeneralcustomercommunications,suchastweetingaboutthecompany’snewiPhoneapplication.

Thoughthecompanyhearsitsfairshareofcomplaints,mostofthecommentsarepositive.Graziani’sfavoritewasonethatappearedonTwitterrecently:“Don’tyouthinkAAAservicetechniciansshouldwearsuperherocostumes?”AlthoughGrazianiistechnicallyinpublicrelations,herroleinsocialmediameansshealsohasonefootincustomerservice—proofthatsocialmediacontinuestoblurthelinesbetweenpublicrelations,marketingandcustomerservice.

Business Lessons Learned• Considerincorporatingyourpublicrelationsstaffintoyourcustomer

serviceresponseprocesswhenitcomestosocialmedia.PRprosunderstandthemedium.

• Monitorothersocialmediachannels,suchaschatforums,soyoucancatchimportantconversations.

“[Socialmediamonitoring]isdoingacoupleofthingsforus.Wearefindingoutwhatpeoplearesayingaboutus.Theotherthingitisdoingishelpingusquicklyrespondwhenthereareissueswithourproductsorservices.It’sdefinitelyhelpedimproveourresponsetimes.”—Janie Graziani, Manager, New Media & Technology, AAA Public Relations

Crocs

Withmillionsofshoessold,thepopularfootwearcompanyknewithadmanyfansoutthere.Buthowtoorganizethemintoacommunity?Firststep:Listen.

Company:BasedinLongmont,Colo.,Crocs(NASDAQ:CROX)designs,manu-facturesandmarketsfootwearformen,womenandchildrenundertheCrocsbrand.Thecompanysellsshoesinmorethan6,000storelocationsintheUnitedStatesandinmorethan40countries.

Janie Graziani sets up daily alerts for certain keywords, such as “AAA,” and instant alerts for others, such as any mention of the company’s president and CEO, Robert L. Darbelnet, which may require a PR response.

http://www.crocs.com



Challenge: Startedin2002,Crocsgainedrapidsuccesssellingmillionsofitsbright,quirkysandalswithholesinthem.ItknewithadalargebaseofvocalfansoutthereontheInternetandinsocialmedia,andthecompanywantedtoreachthosefansandorganizethemintoacommunityofbrandambassadors.

Solution:GeorgeSmith,socialmediaspecialist,startedoutusingGoogleNewsalertsandotherfreetoolstomonitorsocialmediaconversations.Helearnedalotaboutreal-life crocodiles and alligators,anddiscoveredheneededamorepowerfulsolutiontopinpointconversationsaboutCrocsshoes.HebeganusingRadian6,apopularsocialmediamonitoringservicethatcutsthroughthechatter(asmanyas250conversationsperdayonTwitter,discussionboardsandblogs)topinpointimportantconversations.Smithbeganmonitoringseveralkeywords,“crocsshoes”beingoneofthemostimportant.Soonhebeganengag-ingindifferenttypesofconversations,mostlyinTwitterbecauseit’sinrealtime.

Smithfocusesonseveralobjectives:

• Customer service:Smithhelpscustomerswithproduct-relatedproblems.Forexample,hepointsthemtotherightWebpagetogetabrokenstrapreplaced.Oftenhe’lljustletcustomersknowhe’sthere—andthathecares.Whensomeonetweetedaboutbeingonacustomersupportlinefor10minutes,heletthecustomerknowtherewasanunusuallyhighamountoftrafficandtopleasebepatient.Justtheacknowledgementthatthecom-panyunderstandsthesituationandisworkingdiligentlytogettotheircallcandowonders,Smithsays.

• Creating brand advocates:Crocsshoesdefinitelyhaveauniquelook.WhenpeoplecommentthatCrocsare“theugliestshoesalive,”Smithwillseeifhecanturnthemaround.Forexample,whensomeonementioned:“Ionlywearflip-flops,IwouldneverwearCrocs,”Smithchimedinwith:“DidyouknowCrocsalsomakesafulllineofsandals?”ThepersonwasimpressedthatsomeonefromCrocswasoutthereandwillingtotalkwiththem.“Wegetalotofconvertsthatway,”Smithsays.

• Product assistance:SmithoftenhelpscustomersfindCrocseitherbysend-ingthemalinktothecompany’sonlinestorelocator,ordirectingthemtoonlineretailpartners,suchasPiperlime.comandAmazonwhenCrocs.comisoutofstockonaspecificproduct.

Results:Smithhasdefinitelynoticedanupticknotjustinthenumberofsocialmediaconversationsbutalsointhequalityofconversations.Peopleareincreas-




inglyusingtheverbiageandmessagingthatCrocsputsoutthroughblogs,Facebook,Twitterandotherchannels.Sincethebeginningoftheyear,Smithhasdoubledthenumberofconversationshehaseachdayfrom15to30.Althoughitisdifficulttocorrelateincreasedengagementwithsales,CrocsQ1onlinesalesdidincreasealongwithSmith’ssocialmediamonitoringinitiative.Downtheroad,thecompanyisplanningtousethesocialmediaintelligenceitgathersforotheruses,suchasproductdevelopmentorpinpointinglocationswhereCrocsaren’tsold,butshouldbe.

Business Lessons Learned• Ifyou’reseriousaboutsocialmediamonitoring,upgradetoan

enterprise-classpaidservicethatcanfilterimportantconversations.• Takeitslow.Sometimeslettingcustomersknowyouarethere—and

thatyoucare—isthebestthingyoucando.• Lookforactionableconversationsinwhichyoucanmakeadifference

oreventurnaroundanegativeopinion.

“Peoplehavetounderstand[socialmedia]isnotamagicbullet,andlotsofcompaniesarelookingforthat.Withmarketingbudgetsgoingdown,peoplesay,‘Wearegoingtodoitinsocialmediabe-causeit’scheapandeasy.’Itdoesn’tworklikethat.It’salong-termstrategy.”—George Smith, Social Media Specialist, Crocs

SAP

Theenterprisesoftwaregiantusessocialmediamonitoringtobetterunderstandwhatpeoplearesayingaboutitscompany,productsandservices,whilealsoengaginginfluentialbloggers. Company:BasedinWalldorf,Germany,SAP(NYSE:SAP)anditssubsidiariesdevelop,marketandsellenterpriseapplicationsoftwareproductsforcorpora-tions,governmentagenciesandeducationalinstitutions.Thecompanyemploysnearly50,000peopleworldwide.

Challenge:Since2006,SAPhasrunarobustbloggerrelationsprogram,oftentreatinginfluentialbloggersastheywouldtreatmembersofthemoretraditionalmedia.However,withthecontinuedproliferationofblogsandtheexplosionofsocialmediainthelastyear,SAPfounditincreasinglydifficulttokeeptabsonthenumberofblogpostsandothersocialmediaconversationsaboutSAP.

George Smith, social media specialist, started out using Google News alerts and other free tools to monitor social media conversations. He learned a lot about crocodiles and alligators, and he discovered he needed something that could pinpoint conversations about Crocs shoes.



MichaelProsceno,vicepresidentofsocialmediaforSAPinNorthAmerica,ini-tiallyattemptedtokeeptrackoftheseconversationsmanuallyusingRSSfeedsandcreatingalertsonvarioussearchengines.HequicklyrealizedheneededamorerobustsolutiontolistentovoiceswithintheB2Bmarketplace.

Solution:Throughamutualfriend,ProscenowasintroducedtoMukundMohan,CEO of BuzzGain.BuzzGainprovidessocialmediamonitoringservicesthathelptargetimportantconversationsacrossawidearrayofsocialmediaoutlets.Proscenonowusesthesolutionto:

• Uncovernewinfluentialvoicesinthemarketplace,particularlybloggers. ProscenospendsmuchofhisdaylisteningandmonitoringconversationsthatrelatetoSAPandthemorethan26industriesitservices.Inassessingwhethertodeveloparelationshipwithablogger,helooksatthatblogger’sposts,blogrollandjob.Isbloggingahobbyoristhebloggerconnectedtotheindustryinsomeway?Oncethatrelationshipisestablished,Proscenowillserveasanongoingresource,whetherit’sprovidinginsightonaparticulartopicorpointingthebloggertoadditionalresourcesbothonlineandwithinthecompany.

• Notify company departments of important social media conversations.Proscenoprideshimselfon“turningintelligenceintoaction.”Eachdayhesendsout12to18communicationsnotifyingdifferentdepartments—fromproductdevelopmenttomarketingorcustomersupport—aboutimportantconversionsthatmaymeritalistenoranonlineresponse.Sometimes,hewillaggregatevariousconversationsintoahigh-levelsynopsisoremailalink.Forexample,whenTomRafteryofGreenMonk,anenvironmentalsustainabilityblogfortheITindustry,postedavideointerviewofSAPexecu-tiveTomMcClellanddiscussinghowsoftwareishelpingtochangetheutilityindustry,Proscenoimmediatelysenttheinterviewtothecompany’sutilitiesandenergydivisionandotherkeyexecutives.Ifthereareimportantconver-sationsoccurringaroundthesoftware-as-aservicemarket,hewillsendthattoofficialswhooverseeSAP’sproductdevelopmenteffortsinthatarena.

Results:Twoyearsago,Proscenohadactiverelationshipswithabout20blog-gers.Today,heinteractswithmorethan200punditsandbloggersregularly,mostlyinNorthAmerica.HecitesAmeedTaylor,CEOofApplation,andVinnieMirchandaniatDealArchitectastwoinfluentialbloggersheuncoveredthroughsocialmediamonitoringtechniques.Henowhasfruitfulrelationshipswiththem.“[Blogging]isnottheirdayjob,buttheyarepassionate,”Proscenosaid.SAPreliesonProscenoforinsightintohowcustomers,partnersandpundits

Michael Prosceno prides himself on “turning intelligence into action.” Each day he sends 12 to 18 communications notifying different departments—from product development to marketing or customer support—about important conversations that may merit a listen or an online response.

http://www.buzzgain.com



onthesocialWebregardthecompany’sproducts,servicesandkeyinitiatives.Increasingly,thisintelligenceisevenbeingusedtoinformproductdecisions.

Business Lessons Learned• Commitasingleresourcetoberesponsibleforsocialmedia

monitoring.• Usesocialmediatouncoverhidden,influentialvoices,including

thoseofbloggers.• Endeavortomaketheintelligenceactionable—whetherinternalizing

productfeedbackorbuildingnewrelationships.

“Welistentothemarkettounderstandwhatisgoingon.WehavealotofbrightmindshereatSAP,butIwouldn’tsaywehavethemarketcorneredongoodideas.Whenyouopenupandlisten,youtendtolearnalotmore.”—Michael Prosceno, Vice President of Social Media Relations, SAP

Microsoft

TohelpbuildmomentumforitsupcomingWindows7launch,Microsoft’sWindowsBusinessGroupdidn’twaitforITprostocometoit.Thegroupwentout,foundthemandengaged.

Company:Microsoft Corp.(NASDAQ:MSFT)providessoftwareproductsforcomputingdevicesworldwide.

Challenge:WiththeanemiclaunchofWindowsVistainearly2007andasub-stantialportionofthemarketstillontheagingWindowsXPsystem,Microsoftwantstomakesuretheupcomingreleaseofitsnewestoperatingsystem(OS),Windows7,goesassmoothlyaspossible.RapidadoptionofthenewOS,especiallyamongdesktopITpros,iscriticalforthesoftwaregiant.

Togainthisearlymomentum,MicrosoftdecidedtotargetthoseITproswhomaystillbeonthefenceaboutthenewtechnology(dueoutinOctober2009forconsumers).ReachingthatkeygroupwasthechallengefacingStephenRose,seniorcommunitymanagerforWindowsClientITPro,partoftheWindowsBusinessGroup.

http://www.microsoft.com



Solution:Insteadofmerelybuildinganimpressivewebsitewithrelevantcontentandwaitingforvisitorstocome,theWindowsgroupfelttheyneededamoreproactiveapproach.Theydecidedtheyneededareal-time,enterprise-classmonitoringtoolanddiscoveredVisibleTechnologies.

Next,Rosesetupasmallteamofevangeliststoscourthesocialuniverse—onTwitter,onblogs,inchatforums,etc.—toidentifykeywordsindicatingthatpeopleweretalkingaboutthemeritsofWindows7.Overall,theymonitoredabout40keywordsandphrases,including:“Windows7releasecandidate,”“WindowsVista,”“WindowsXP,”“Windowsmigration,”and“WindowsXPversusWindows7.”

Oncetheyfoundrelevantconversations,groupmemberswouldactivelyengagethoseITpros,answeringquestionsandprovidinglinkstowebsitesthecompanysetup,includingwww.microsoft.com/springboard,aTechNetcommunitypackedwithtechnicalresourcesforITprosaboutallofMicrosoft’soperatingsystems,includingtheupcomingWindows7;andwww.talkingaboutwindows.com,asofter,high-touchmicrositefeaturingvideos,blogpostsandinterviewswithseniorMicrosoftdevelopers.

Thecompanyalsosetupamulti-languageTwitterfeed(@MSspringboard)tofurtherengageITprofessionalsaboutWindows7.TheTwitteraccount,whichisco-hostedbyRose,poststweetsinEnglish,FrenchandSpanish.

Results:Afterjustafewmonths,Rose’steamisaveragingbetween1,000and1,200engagementsperweek,upfromabout40to60perweekwhenRosewasdoingitalone.RosecannotgiveanyspecificWebtrafficinformation,buthedoessayactivityonthewebsiteshasincreased.

Rosecantellthecompany’ssocialmediaapproachtogainearlymomentumforWindows7isworkingduetocommentspeopleareleavingindifferentforumsandontalkingaboutwindows.comthatspecificallyreferencethesocialmediaengagements.Also,justweeksafterlaunching,the@MSspringboardTwitterfeedalreadyhasmorethan3,000followers.RosesaysthecompanyhasusedsomeoftheTwitterfeedbacktohelpguidecontentcreation.

http://www.microsoft.com/springboard

www.talkingaboutwindows.com



Business Lessons Learned• Usesocialmediamonitoringandengagementaheadofproduct

launchtogeneratesupportandmomentum.• Makecontentabigpartofyourengagementstrategy,steeringpeople

torelevantlinksandinformation.• Providededicatedresourcestoengageyourpotentialcustomers.It’s

toomuchworkforoneperson.

“WearenotlookingtosellWindows7.Wearelookingforpeopletounderstandwhywearemakingthedecisionswearemaking,whywearemigratingfromWindowsVistatoWindows7.”—Stephen Rose, Sr. Community Manager for Windows Client IT Pro

Stephen Rose of Microsoft set up a small team of evangelists to scour the social universe—on Twitter, on blogs, in chat forums, etc.—to identify keywords indicating that people were talking about the merits of Windows 7.


READY TO GET STARTED?

Answering the questions in this section is the first step toward designing your own social media measurement and monitoring processes.

You’veseenthedifferentwaysbusinessesaremeasuringtheirsocialmediaandPRinitiatives,aswellasapplyingsocialmediamonitoringtofurthertheirmarketingobjectives.Now,askyourselfthesequestionsbeforelaunchingyourmeasurementandmonitoringinitiatives.

Social Media & PR Measurement

• What are your social media and PR objectives?Considerwhetheryouaretryingtodrivebrandingandawareness,likeNissan’shypercubecampaign,ortogeneratee-commercerevenuelikeDellOutletdoes?ForPR,doyousimplywanttogaugeaudienceimpressions,likeOfficeMax,orwouldyouliketoquantifytrafficandleadgeneration,likeShareMethods?Understandingtheanswerstothosequestionswillhelpyoufigureoutwhatyouneedtomeasure.Ifyouareexpendingresourcesonso-cialmedia—whetherit’swritingablog,staffingaTwitterfeedormanagingaFacebookaccount—youshouldbequantifyingtheresultsofyourinitiatives.

• What tools will you use? Onceyouhaveyourobjectivesandcampaignssortedout,youneedtofigureoutwhattoolsyouwilluse.WillWebanalyticstoolsbesufficienttocapturethemeasurementsyouneed,ordoyouneedtoaugmentwithotherservices?Inalmosteverymeasurementcasestudyinthisreport,companiesusedavarietyoftoolsandservices,fromWebanalyticsandURLtrackerstosocialmediamonitoring.ForPRmeasurement,companiesalsoreliedonamixoftools,includingcustomperformancemetrics,totrackoutput.Mostimportant,decideonyourmeasurementgoalsandprocessesbeforestartingyourcampaign.Thentrytosetbenchmarksforgaugingincrementalincreasesintraffic,mentionsandimpressions.

• What will you do with the data? Onceyouhavethedata,whatwillyoudowithit?Ifyoucanuseittoquantifyyoursuccess,great.Ifyoucanuseittomakeadjustmentsandoptimizecurrentorfuturecampaigns,evenbetter!Remember,dataisreallyonlygoodifit’sactionable.Don’tbeafraidtoleanonyourin-houseWebanalyticsteamforhelpinprocessing,reportingandunderstandingyourPRandsocialmediadatapoints.Ifyoudon’thaveaninternalteam,consideroutsideconsultants.


READY TO GET STARTED?

Social Media Monitoring

• What are your objectives? JustlikewithsocialmediaandPRmeasurement,youneedtodecidewhatyoursocialmediamonitoringobjectivesare.Areyoulookingtoimprovecus-tomerservice,toprospectforclients,ortomanageyourbrandreputation?Also,whoisyourtarget,andwheredotheyhangoutonthesocialWeb?

• What do you want to monitor? Decidewhichkeywordsandphrasesyouneedtomonitortohelpyoumeetyourobjectives.Yourcompanynameandproductnamesaregoodplacestostart.Somebusinesses,suchasAAA,setupinstantalertstotrackanymen-tionoftheirCEOs.Youmayalsowanttomonitorcompetitors,ormentionsofwhatyoudo—likeemailmarketingbestpractices,revenuecollectionmanagementandsocialmediamonitoring.

• What tools are you going to use? Weighyouroptions.Willfreetoolsandnewsalertsdothejob,ordoyouneedamorecomprehensivepaidsolution?Canyouusealower-endsolution,ordoyouneedanenterprise-classtool?Alsoconsiderreal-timereportingandCRMcapabilities.Youranswerswilldependonyourneedsandbudget.

• Who is going to do it? Yourmarketingmanager?YourPRteam?Anoutsideconsultant?Manycompanies,suchasCrocs,SAPandAAA,haveonefocalpersondedicatedtolistening.They,inturn,filterfeedbacktootherdepartmentsandgroups,suchascustomerserviceorproductmanagement.Othercompanies,likeMicrosoft,setupteamsofpeopletomonitorandengage.Whateveryoudo,assignonepersontoberesponsibleforyourmonitoringefforts,eveniftheyalsouseadditionalresources.


Inthisreportwe’vedetailed11meaningfulcasestudies,mostlybigbrandsthatarecommittedtoshowingresultsfromtheirsocialmediainitiatives.We’veprovidedexclusivepolldata,listedmeasurementandmonitoringtoolsyoucanuse,anddescribedtipsforgettingstarted.Nowit’syourturn.

Areyoutacklingsocialmediameasurementandmonitoringinaninnova-tiveway,withtangibleresults?Wewanttohearaboutit!PleaseemailusatCaseStudies@MarketingProfs.com.Youringenuitycouldmakeitintooneofournewslettersorournextspecialreport.

YoucanalsoconnectwithusatTwitter:

Ann Handley twitter.com/marketingprofsHeadofcontentatMarketingProfs,editor,socialmedia,marketing,greatfood,goodwine,writer.

Shelley Ryan twitter.com/shelleyryanDenmotherforMarketingProfs,Webseminardiva,copywritingwhiz,lazyblogger,foisgrasfoodieonabaconbudget.Amateurdesigner,too.

Allen Weiss twitter.com/allenweissCEO/FounderofMarketingProfs,marketingexpertise,entrepreneur,professor,meditationteacher.

MarketingProfs Wiretwitter.com/mprofswireThePremiummembershipgangatMarketingProfs,updatingfollow-ersonspecialcontent,newsandoffers.

NOW WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

mailto:[email protected]

http://twitter.com/marketingprofs

http://twitter.com/shelleyryan

http://twitter.com/allenweiss

http://twitter.com/mprofswire


ABOUT THE AUTHORErik BrattisaregularcontributortoMarketingProfs.HeisaformernewspaperjournalistturnedPRandmarketingprofessionalwithmorethanadecadeofexperienceintheonline marketingindustry.HepreviouslyworkedinmarketingforMicrosoft,andbeforethatinPRandcommunicationsatWebSideStory(nowOmniture),theleaderinonlinebusinessoptimizationsoftware.Fornearly10years,hewasareporteratThe San Diego Union-Tribune.Brattisnowpresident of Engage Social Media,whichprovidesresults-orientedPRandsocialmediaconsultingservicesforbothconsumerandB2Bcompanies.Follow him on Twitter.

ABOUT MARKETINGPROFSMarketingProfsisarichandtrustedresourcethatoffersactionableknow-howonmarketingapplicationsofFacebook,Twitter,andothersocial-mediatoolsalongwithcoverageof traditionalmarketingtopicslikeleadgenerationandemailmarketing.TheMarketingProfsteamiscommittedtohelpingyoumarketproductsandservicessmarter.Entrepreneurs,small-businessownersandmarketersintheworld’slargestcorporationsmakeupour320,000 members.Ourlibraryofonlineseminars,ourconferences,thediscussionforum,specialreportsandmorethan3,000articlesdeliverthetools,templates,andtacticsyouneedtoquicklyturneventhetoughestmarketingchallengeintoyourownmarketingsuccessstory.

http://www.engagesocialmedia.com/

http://www.twitter.com/erikbratt

socialmediacsc-101215181913-phpapp01.pdf

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