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In an era where marketers have to fight harder for consumers’ attention and personalization is everything, we have taken advantage of social media as an effective means of complementing traditional marketing. More recently, marketers have also discovered the powerful relationship between social media and cause marketing.

Today, social activism really is well, social. Showing support for a cause can be as simple as using the “Like” button on Facebook or posting a hashtag to Twitter, but that’s not where is has to end. Causes and charities give people a reason to show loyalty to a particular brand and share positive messages about that brand. This is the ultimate word-of-mouth appeal that consumers can trust and marketers can appreciate.

Theses telling statistics on the topic were presented at the 2010 Cause Marketing Forum:

• 71% of consumers are giving as much or more now as they were before the economic downturn.
• 87% of consumers would switch brands based on association with a good cause.
• 50% of consumers would pay more for products from brands that support causes.

With unique opportunities to both engage audiences behind a good cause and engender brand loyalty, marketers should consider some key ideas when creating a cause marketing campaign:

1. Create a cause campaign linked to your brand purpose. A clear connection behind the purpose will resonate much more powerfully with your consumers. The Pepsi Refresh Project is giving away millions of dollars to people who come up with “refreshing” ideas that can change the world. By successfully conveying their brand personality through these unique social causes, Pepsi is attracting millions of people without ever asking them to purchase a single product.
2. Make it meaningful and invest for the long haul. Consumers need to know that you are dedicated to the cause before they can be. Yoplait’s Save Lids to Save Lives is an example of a successful campaign that is now 11 years strong.
3. Act quickly. Tide didn’t waste any time in response to Hurricane Katrina when the company launched its Loads of Hope campaign. Trucks filled with washers were sent to not only help victims clean up, but also offer comfort through clean clothes.

Finally, check out Twibbons, which are cause marketing ribbons that users can add to their Facebook and Twitter profiles to show support for your cause. The “Twibbon” can make an impactful visual statement for your brand and cause marketing campaign.

Filed under: Customer Experience Management, Facebook, Internet Marketing, Loyalty Marketing, Marketing Experts, Marketing Trends, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | No Comments »

[The Wise Marketer — July 8, 2010]

From Foursquare and Gowalla, to CheckIn and Brightkite, location-based social networking sites are becoming central to how mobile consumers are staying connected. With dozens of geo-location application options, companies are constantly pushing each other to innovate.

Whrrl, another player in location based, has introduction its new social loyalty program Whrrl Society Rewards to close the gap between a brand’s online social media presence and its real world presence. So many companies today are utilizing social media channels to engage online customers, but fail to employ the same engagement tactics in store. Whrrl makes this possible while taking full advantage of the power of word of mouth.

Whrrl allows marketers to engage customers and engender loyalty in four distinct ways:

1. Prize-based: Consumers have opportunities to win prizes as they check-in, recommend, and encourage friends to check-in at participating retail locations. These rewards are of chance for consumers, so retailers can easily start and start the prizes quickly, without any long-term transaction-based costs of traditional loyalty programs.
2. Based on the consumer’s ability to inspire friends based on recommendations. Whrrl users get points for check-ins just as competing location-based networks, but receive additional points when their friends act on their recommendations.
3. Brands can have their own Whrrl Societies. Societies are real-world interest groups bringing people together whether its the regulars society at your local coffee shop, the local mountain bike society, or the Chicago foodie society. Anyone, including brands, can create a unique society and invite people to join by activating the real world.
4. Societies are viral. Society members can connect their Facebook and Twitter profiles to their Whrrl activity to share their experiences with friends and followers across the web.

With the program’s launch, Murphy’s USA is taking advantage of the real-world social network. When customers check-in with Whrrl at any one of the 1,100 Murphy’s USA gas stations, they will be accepted into the “Murphy USA Society” to earn a chance to win a digital coupon for free fuel, among other prizes.

Social media marketing manager for Murphy USA, Casey Petersen, is optimistic about what Whrrl has to offer stating that, “Traditional loyalty programs can create the wrong expectations with customers because discounts based on transactions don’t always lead to a deeper relationship.”

Time, and locations, will certainly tell whether or not Whrrl can engender real customer loyalty for brands.

Filed under: CRM, Customer Experience Management, Facebook, Internet Marketing, Loyalty Marketing, Marketing Trends, Mobile Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | No Comments »

[Bloomberg Businessweek, June 18, 2010]

More and more businesses are understanding the value of engaging customers through social media channels. Today’s consumer has begun to expect their favorite companies—large or small—to have some sort of presence within these spaces. As these trends continue, social media strategies have become standard practice for companies’ marketing and communication strategies. Although industry best practices have been established and many companies have accomplished successful campaigns, many brands continue to make the same common mistakes in trying to engage customers.

Here are the top five common social media marketing mistakes:

1. Not, or just barely, monitoring your social efforts. Companies naturally open themselves up to a certain level of risk through social media conversations, but this risk multiples if no one is regularly listening and monitoring what people are saying about the brand. This is true of even the most liked and respected brands.
2. “Down-sourcing” to interns or junior staff. Though this younger generation may be skilled in navigating the social realm, that does not necessarily mean they can effectively execute on your brand’s “social voice.”
3. Speed over perfection. Social content can be completely viral, spreading faster than anyone can manage. Sometimes this is great and sometimes this can mean crisis, but either way speed is expected. Rather than seeking the perfect corporate response, companies must respond to social content immediately while remaining authentic and humble. Far more companies have failed from not responding quick enough compared to those who perhaps could have responded “better.”
4. Faking it. Don’t do it. Consumers will reveal the false engagements and it will nothing but hurt the brand’s reputation.
5. Having an “off” switch. Your company’s social media efforts should never have an end date as their innate purpose is to nurture customer relationships. While specific campaigns may begin and end, do not ever break connections with your customers.

Brands will inevitably make mistakes, but  must also learn as they continue to understand all the wonderful things social media marketing can achieve. Learn more about how you can foster engaged customers by taking charge of your your social media strategy.

Filed under: CRM, Customer Experience Management, Facebook, Internet Marketing, Marketing Trends, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Comments Off

[New York Times, May, 2010]

As Facebook users, advocacy groups, and the U.S. and international governments are in uproar over the site’s recent privacy issues, many are threatening to “unlike” the social network. As Facebook has continued to drive its plans of a greater openness on the web, privacy concerns have mounted.

According to a recent survey report published by Sophos, a developer of security software, 60% of Facebook users are considering removing their profiles from the popular networking site over privacy concerns. 16% of survey respondents have already done so.

Though it is doubtful that these concerns will actually trigger that significant of a proportion of people to leave the site, it is a sure indicator of the necessity of Facebook to reconsider the needs and interests of its users.

Currently, as the New York Times has reported, “to completely manage your privacy on Facebook, you’ve got to manage 50 settings with more than 170 options—and even that won’t entirely safeguard you.” This is not the convenience and personalization social media users are looking for. The infographic illustrating Facebook’s hierarchies of options below is enough to make you dizzy.

In response to the outrage, Facebook has said it plans to “simplify” its privacy controls. There is no sign yet to what this means, but the company does need to find a way to offer users high level and convenient ways to protect their privacy. With nearly 500 million users, the company seems to struggle with taking advantage of its multi-billion dollar ad opportunities for marketers while still looking out for its users.

Because of the open and viral nature of social networks, companies engaged in social media marketing must constantly ensure the privacy and safety of their users and the sensitive data that is being collected.

If you are nervous about your Facebook privacy but not ready to delete your account, reclaimprivacy.org is a free tool that scans your privacy settings and alerts you to settings that may be threatening your privacy. Similar applications will likely develop as individuals users, business organizations, and governments think twice about their social network privacy.

Read the full article here.

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Social media continues to dramatically impact the way we experience the internet. While marketers continue to respond to these rapid changes with further investments in social media marketing, many are rediscovering the social value in their own websites. Part of creating a social experience for the consumer online involves empowering what Forrester Research calls “owned media,” or the brand site.

Brand websites inherently possess the power to deliver on three key business outcomes: affinity, insight and conversation. By understanding company’s brand objectives, marketers can utilize specific social media tactics to drive these outcomes.

Social Branding
Social branding creates opportunities to build social communities that inform and entertain, but also inspire conversations about topics with which consumers can connect. These value-added connections allow the customers to gain loyalty for the brand. What issues is your target audience passionate about? How can you create a social experience online to support your brand through these interactions?

Social CRM
Marketers have long understood the power of CRM and customer data, but social CRM offers new opportunities for listening and directly engaging customers. Don’t you want to better understand what products and services your customers want and need? How you can improve your customer support systems? What if you could create a focus group through an online social community to gain direct customer insights?

Social Commerce
In order to drive conversions, marketers must first understand their audience and then determine how to connect with their interests. Target is an example of a company that has recently refocused its efforts on the company’s website. After years of relying on Amazon.com to manage the retail site, Target is now recognizing the potential this digital space has to truly engage consumers, create a social community and ultimately improve conversion rates.

According to Alterian, nearly 70% of marketers are investing in social media marketing this year. Brands can no longer simply maintain company websites isolated from their social media strategies. Instead, they must promote social activity to achieve company objectives and meet the expectations of social-savvy consumers.

Read more here.

Filed under: CRM, Customer Experience Management, Facebook, Internet Marketing, Loyalty Marketing, Marketing Trends, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Comments Off

Marketers have long understood the power of social media marketing and the influence that user generated content holds in either making or breaking a campaign, helping or hurting a brand, and creating consumer demand for products. Where marketers have struggled is in finding ways to quantify these influences.

Forrester Research’s new analytical framework, based on a survey of 10,000 consumers, reveals key findings and new ways to analyze word-of-mouth influence. Just 16% of consumers, termed Mass Influencers by Forrester, generated over 80% of the 500 billion consumer-generated product and service impressions last year. The Forrester analysts explain that “you can’t ignore the minority that creates the majority of the influence.” It is more important than ever to have a framework to understand where the social influences are occurring.

Forrester’s Peer Influence Analysis breaks these Mass Influencers into two categories:

• Mass Connectors: “Create a great number of impressions about a brand and services in social networks, like Twitter and Facebook.”
• Mass Mavens: “Create and share content about products and services in other social channels such as YouTube, blogs, forums, or ratings and review sites.”

By understanding this Peer Influence Analysis, companies can identify specific characteristics of Mass Influencers specific to a particular brand or product. What are the demographics of your Mass Influencers? What communication channels and social networks are they participating in? What are the offline influences? Mobile use? What are the product research sources and buyer behaviors prior to making a purchase?

It is time to start analyzing peer influence with the same discipline that is applied to traditional medias. Word of mouth budgets should begin to reflect the amount of influence people have, but marketers must first identify strategies to reach the Mass Influencers rather than simply the average consumer.

Read the full Forrester Report.

Is your social media strategy (or lack of strategy) still failing to reach your key audiences? 6 Steps to Turn a Stalled Social Media Strategy into a Customer Engagement Strategy

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A hot topic of discussion for CRM managers is determining the business value of Social CRM and understanding how CRM and Social CRM are different.

Traditional CRM aims to manage customer relationships and transactions, while social CRM is a strategy of engaging customers through social media with the goal of building brand loyalty and ultimately increasing company profitability.

Author of CRM at the Speed of Light, Paul Greenburg, developed these concise definitions to help explain the differences:

“Traditional CRM: “CRM is a philosophy and a business strategy, supported by a system and a technology, designed to improve human interactions in a business environment.

Social CRM: Social CRM is a philosophy & a business strategy, supported by a technology platform, business rules, work flow, processes & social characteristics, designed to engage the customer in a collaborative conversation in order to provide mutually beneficial value in a trusted & transparent business environment. It’s the company’s response to the customer’s ownership of the conversation.”

So while traditional CRM and Social CRM serve different business objectives, they can give you a holistic view of the customer relationship. For this to happen, your CRM systems need to be connected with the social networks to enable you to create effective strategies. Social CRM will help you to address problems of effectively tracking, organizing, prioritizing and responding to the social conversations that are taking place.

I am not suggesting that Social CRM is meant to replace traditional CRM, but instead it gives you the ability  to “listen to what customers are saying, to better understand their needs, their voices, and tie it back to actual customer profiles.” Though there are many details involved in establishing a social CRM strategy, marketers can begin by following Forrester’ seven steps for success for strategizing, selecting, and deploying Social CRM solutions:

1. Initiate social CRM experiments immediately. Define a near-term opportunity to apply social CRM ideas to a customer-facing challenge at your company. Build some practical experience that will break out of your of old mindsets. Refine your strategies later as new insights emerge.
2. Benchmark customer and prospect social readiness. Survey your customers to assess their Social Computing behavior and attitudes.
3. Define your social customer objectives. The most important decision is not what technology to use; most important is determining who you’re trying to reach, what you’re trying to accomplish, and how you plan to change your relationships with your customers.
4. Assess your social CRM capabilities. Undertake a self-assessment to understand how your organization stacks up compared with CRM best practices and identify where you should focus your attention for quick wins
5. Understand the social CRM solutions landscape. You must learn to navigate an emerging CRM solutions landscape that includes both traditional solutions and new Social Computing capabilities.
6. Map out your social CRM capabilities-building plan. A social CRM plan should be tightly linked to business goals, focused on customer benefits, clearly identify the processes and constituencies that will be affected, and specify the associated information and capabilities required.
7. Define your CRM metrics for success. Exceptional discipline is what sets CRM winners apart from failures. Social CRM comprises both a strategy and a set of tools, but you also need to pay attention to how well you are tracking toward your goals over the long term. Establishing the right metrics is part of the discipline that leads to success.

These seven steps seem a bit daunting to undertake when your customers are collaborating, right now, in real-time, and you haven’t any time to benchmark your readiness, set objectives, and map out a plan.

Don’t panic and jump in unprepared. Forrester is right. You need to take a strategic approach to your Social CRM strategy to engage the customers in a collaborative conversation that will achieve your business objectives.

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[Adweek, April 5, 2010]

Toyota, once known for its reliable autos and loyal customers, is now fighting to regain consumer trust since recalling millions of vehicles.

How has Toyota been digging itself out of crisis? Well, with Digg of course.

Organizations faced with crisis are increasingly turning to social media to be able to more effectively listen, connect and communicate with their stakeholders, and Toyota has been no exception over the last couple months. Although the company did have a relatively weak social media strategy prior to the crisis, Toyota quickly demonstrated they knew ‘what to do and how to do it.’

In late January, the automaker watched the hundreds of recall stories that flooded the Digg platform and the passionate comments and conversations that followed. Toyota knew that ads would not be enough to address the severity of issues and still regain brand confidence. A PR strategy that would allow listening and consumer interaction was essential. The live-stream interview Toyota arranged on Digg Dialogg with Toyota Motor Sales USA President Jim Lentz generated over 1 million views with an audience that was allowed to participate in the conversation.

Doug Frisbie, national social media and marketing integration manager at Toyota Motor Sales, has described Digg as an ongoing strategic partner for the company. The social news website allows brands to take a conversational and humanistic approach with their audiences, which can otherwise be very difficult for big companies to achieve. Though the Digg efforts were complemented by a range of other social media initiatives, Digg was the centerpiece of the strategy.

So what can companies learn from Toyota?

Build your social media efforts now, before you need them. Be ready. Interact with consumers regularly with meaningful conversations and content. Toyota’s social media strategy was too weak with too small of audiences to be effectively leveraged at the time of crisis.

As Toyota returns from crisis, the company must remain focused on their most important business advantage: their supportive fan base of loyal customers. Social networks allow companies the opportunities to promote, inform, and connect with ready audiences of consumers to create relationships with the brand.

Read the full story.

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Microsoft Dynamics is an online CRM tool that works with Microsoft Outlook as a way to manage, collect, and utilize customer information in one single place. Microsoft Dynamics enables a company to be more transparent internally because everyone can access the information from any computer. This helps improve the speed that information is passed throughout the company and help all employees understand their customers, rather than just the head people of the company. The ability to save an access the information from anywhere, if you have internet, really helps cut company costs of more expensive CRM systems and management. Overall, the program help increase sales, personalization, customer insights, etc. It has been rated #1 in consumer usability and performance.

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(GMKT) is a retail e-commerce marketplace in Korea offering buyers a selection of products and sellers a flexible sales solution. The Company’s commerce marketplace facilitates the sale of products in small or large quantities to a large number of potential buyers. The G-market’s commerce marketplace facilitates the sale of products in small or large quantities to a large number of potential buyers just like E-bay.

According to MSN money, G-market derives its revenues primarily from transaction fees on the sale of products on its Website, as well as from advertising fees and others. The Company’s e-commerce marketplace is located at www.gmarket.co.kr.

Products listed for sale on the Company’s Website are: apparel, beauty products, computers, electronics, furniture and jewelry and are coupled with product information, including pictures, product descriptions and customer reviews and commentary which runs by G-market’s sales manager software program(GSM).

G-market has a unique business model. G-market is not not just a typical auction site while E-bay focuses on single seller or sore seller to drive the commission fee, G-market’s niche market is small to medium business. Instead of focusing on large businesses or occasional sellers, G-market focuses on the needs of small to medium sized businesses. In Korea, this group of sellers has been the most active in adopting the Internet for their business and they have been the driving force of e-commerce market growth. As G-market’s business model focuses on small to medium sized business, the company is well positioned to expand its seller base to large businesses.

There are some fundamental keys on G-market that wants to be shown to share holders.

• Revenue grew to $51.6 million in Q4 2006, representing a 67% increase in revenue from $30.9 million in Q4 2005.
• Gross Merchandise Volume, the key metric used to evaluate total value of all items sold, increased by 53% to $737.4 million in Q4 2006 from $480.8 million in Q4 2005.
• Operating income grew to $6.6 million in Q4 2006, representing a 120% increase from $3 million for the same period in 2005.

G-market carries zero debt on their balance sheet, and Retained earnings have increased nearly 1400% from Q1 2006 to Q4 2006. G-market also tripled its short term & cash holdings during the same period as well. Therefore, G-market will make money for share holders.

Many analyzers think Gmarket will take over other competitor company like E-bay because  G-market’s EPS are projected to grow at 34% over the next 5 years, then, take into account that eBay has lost considerable market share to G-market. 68% of the Korean populations are internet users, the highest percentage in the world. Moreover, G-market will expand its business operations in China and Japan which will dominate all over the Asian e-business market. So, it is a good time to put money in this company.

Article source: http://www.investortrip.com/gmarket-the-korean-version-of-ebay/

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