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Brand Social Responsiveness is Far from Perfect

Brand Social Responsiveness is Far from Perfect

questionAccording to research by Social Bakers, the number of people who have chosen to use social media to get answers to customer service questions rather than telephone, email, or any other method has skyrocketed in the past year. Brands are getting better at answering more consumer questions via social media, but they have a long way to go to meet consumer expectations related to brands’ social responsiveness.

During the second quarter of 2012, brand Facebook pages tracked by Social Bakers received 756,000 customer questions, and just 360,000 of those questions were actually answered by brands. In the first quarter of 2013, the number of questions jumped to 1.2 million but only 744,000 of those questions were answered. In other words, the number of questions that consumers asked on brand Facebook pages grew by 30% in less than one year, and brands were able to increase the number of responses they provided to those questions from 47.6% to 62%.

In fact, brands in all industries tracked improved their social response rates between the second quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013. That’s great news, but it’s not good enough if brands want to meet customer expectations.

The same could be said of brands’ response times to customer questions published on Facebook. In the second quarter of 2012, Social Bakers reported that the average response time for a company to answer a customer question published on its Facebook page was 20.9 hours. During the first quarter of 2013, that response time had increased to 22.6 hours. The number of questions consumers are asking on brand Facebook pages continues to rise, but brands haven’t invested in the necessary manpower or developed the necessary processes to answer those questions in a timely manner as consumers expect.

It’s only a matter of time until that customer expectation of quick service via brand social media profiles, like Facebook pages, will grow into a customer demand. The brands that are ready for the shift from expectation to demand will reap the benefits of their forward thinking. Consumers are abandoning the frustrating automated telephone response systems, unhelpful customer service representatives, and long hold times that they’re accustomed to receiving when they call companies with questions. Instead, they’re turning to social media to directly ask companies questions — a medium where they expect instant interaction. Furthermore, that interaction must be personal, which means customer service telephone scripts and automated responses won’t work.

What do you think? How does your brand perform in social responsiveness?

Image: Sigurd Decroos

Responsible Business Summit

scarcityAre you going to the Responsible Business Summit?

It’s next week, so you’ve not got long to clear your diary, but it does look good. (See the agenda).

Key topics for discussion include:

  • Collaboration
  • Stakeholder Engagement
  • Trust
  • Supply Chain
  • Resource Constraints

I’m particularly looking forward to the discussions on resource scarcity. This is a growing area of interest for companies; for example, water usage is increasingly monitored and reductions sought as part of the CSR programme, particularly for companies where water usage is necessarily high. Food scarcity is another topic; and energy is a third.

Examples of companies who discuss these issues on the corporate website—and, indeed, go further than just discussion—include:

  • SABMiller on the nexus between water, food and energy: they host online debates, bringing together academics, thinkers and businesses.
  • Unilever have an extensive section on Water Use, and discuss the Water Footprint Network, of which they were a founding member.
  • Dupont on Food Security, discussing the index developed with the Economist Intelligence Unit, to help measure risk and the factors that drive food scarcity.

This subject will be covered in a couple of sessions, and there are lots of other fascinating topics, so if you haven’t already, book your ticket soon*, and prepare to get involved! There’s going to be lots of audience participation this year, with small round-table discussions of particular topics, speaker pitches and polling, question and answer sessions and real-life dilemma discussions.

Maybe meet you there?

(*And for the first time Ethical Corporation is offering special rate tickets to businesses with fewer than 250 employees – down to £350 +VAT for a one-day ticket or £750 +VAT for both days – a fifth of the normal price.)

Brands Avoid the Fight for Shelf Space by Launching Ecommerce Sites

Crystal LightWhy fight for shelf space when you can bypass the middle man and sell directly to consumers? That’s exactly what more and more consumer product brands are realizing as the launch of the new Crystal Light ecommerce site demonstrates. Now, U.S. consumers can find the flavors of the powdered drink mix that they like and in the package sizes they want without leaving their homes by buying directly from Kraft Food Groups.

The strategy makes sense as store shelves get more crowded and niche products have a more difficult time acquiring facings. The challenges get even bigger when a product comes in multiple sizes and shapes, and if the product can be found in multiple sections of a single store, the fight for shelf space escalates to often insurmountable heights.

The new Crystal Light ecommerce site is sleak and promises more to come in the near future. According to the press release, the site launched with a limited selection of products:

“For years we have heard for some of our most loyal fans that they want easier access to the flavors they love, especially Crystal Light Pure,” said Adam Butler, Senior Brand Manager for Crystal Light.  “This new e-commerce platform enables us to make a wide variety of unique flavors and varieties readily available to fans anywhere in the country.”

Shop.CrystalLight.com will initially offer more than 20 different SKUs from four different platforms, including Base (8 flavors), Pure (5 flavors), Mocktails (5 flavors) and Energy (4 flavors) varieties. The online store will offer a number of products available exclusively at Shop.CrystalLight.com, including Mocktails Peach Bellini and Mocktails Pomtini. The site makes Crystal Light Pure, a fan favorite offering no artificial sweeteners, no artificial flavors and no preservatives, available nationwide. Additional flavors and varieties will be added to the e-store starting in 2014.

Making hard to find products available quickly and easily through direct purchase is a growing trend, and a product like Crystal Light is a natural fit for an ecommerce site. Shop.CrystalLight.com includes more than just links to purchase products. It also includes promotions to increase sales through its e-store. Visitors can share the site with friends to get special discounts, and they can get free shipping on their first order.

At launch, social features on the site are limited. Visitors can publish product reviews and share products through social media profiles, but I’m hoping there will be more community-building features added to the site in the future.

From loyal consumers’ perspectives, who can no longer find their favorite product flavors, sizes, or varieties in a local store, this type of site fills a big gap and meets their needs. As long as pricing and promotions stay competitive, Shop.CrystalLight.com and other e-stores like it should do just fine.

What do you think of niche consumer products selling directly to consumers through branded ecommerce sites?

Image: Kraft Food Groups

Annoying Ads Cause 1 in 3 Consumers to Leave a Website

annoying adsAre your brand’s ad annoying consumers? One out of three consumers will leave a website because they’ve been annoyed by ads on the site. More than one in ten will stop using the product advertised or boycott the company doing the advertising if an ad annoys them, and nearly one in ten will complain to their friends about it. An even higher number, nearly two out of three customers will unsubscribe from future emails from the company behind the ads while nearly one in two will simply ignore future emails from the company.

Bottom-line, your online ads must be relevant and must never appear “spammy.” That means an increased effort to target relevant ads and a focus on transparency to clearly communicate your company’s honest advertising practices are more important than ever.

This data comes from a Harris Interactive study by InsightsOne (via eMarketer), which shows that consumers do understand the difference between spam and non-spam ads. However, irrelevant ads are often put in the “spam” category simply because they annoy consumers. In fact, when asked what kinds of online ads annoy them the most, consumers listed irrelevant pop-up ads as the most annoying type of ad (70%). Ads for products and services consumers don’t need were ranked as the most annoying by 58% of consumers.

Keep in mind, online ads aren’t the most annoying to consumers. That award goes to television ads. Online ads ranked in third place.  Here is the breakdown of the leading source of annoying ads according to internet users in the United States:

  • Television ads = 60%
  • Email/sidebar ads = 55%
  • Website = 52%
  • Postal junk mail = 37%
  • Social media = 37%

Again, the most important takeaway from this study is that targeting is absolutely essential. An annoying ad isn’t simply ignored by consumers. Instead, an annoying ad moves consumers to take actions that advertisers and website owners don’t want. When a consumer clicks away from a website upon seeing an annoying ad, stops using the advertised product, and complains to their friends about it, the negative effects can be quick and far-reaching.

In other words, if you can’t get the data you need to effectively target your online ads, don’t bother. The days of putting an ad out there and hoping for the best are over. No data should mean no ad.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

Image: Bob Smith

Senior Marketers Want Better Data to Quantify Event ROI

trade show floorSenior marketers are calling for better measurement of event value to quantify return on investment (ROI). According to a study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and the Exhibit & Event Marketers Association (E2MA), the call to action for both marketers and event producers is to prove event value using the analytics available in “today’s advanced, data-driven and highly targeted customer engagements.”

The “Customer Attainment from Event Engagement” study comes from a survey of more than 260 brand marketers conducted between the fourth quarter of 2012 and the third quarter of 2013. Interviews with 21 senior brand marketers and 11 experts in the event and trade show industry were also included in the analysis.

Key findings from the study include:

  • 31% of marketers believe events are essential to their organizations.
  • 89% of marketers believe events still hold some importance and value to their organizations.
  • 64% of marketers participate in events to source new prospects.
  • 62% of marketers participate in events to gather and cultivate leads.
  • 61% of marketers participate in events to have face-to-face meetings with clients and prospects.
  • 40% of marketers are decreasing large event participation to focus on smaller, targeted events.
  • 44% of marketers are hosting their own events.
  • 45% of marketers identify making a business case for the investment the top event and trade show challenge.
  • 39% of marketers identify managing escalating costs of events and trade shows as the biggest challenge.

According to the report, the challenges marketers face with events and trade shows are due to, “their lack of visibility into the conversion pipeline to determine how events are impacting sales and revenue.” While 42% of marketers are happy with their customer relationship management (CRM) tools, the metrics currently being tracked (including referrals, introductions, leads, and deal closure) don’t provide insight into the sales process. Without good data, marketers cannot determine if events are delivering adequate ROI, and they can’t be certain that events are fully-aligned with the business, financial, and marketing goals of the organization.

While marketers call for better data, E2MA calls for the development of accepted best practices for measuring face-to-face marketing efforts. By creating generally-accepted measurement principals, the event industry will be able to help marketers prove the value of events and trade shows to business executives.

Image: Phil Sexton

About and Governance: Board Experience

hays-board-experienceAn audience is always interested in Board expertise, yet this information is typically not easily accessible on most corporate websites, and is often time-consuming to obtain.

Hays Group, however, uses an interesting method to convey weight of Board expertise; they have implemented an attractive pie chart, which not only lists the range of skills, but also the relative depth of experience in each category.

This is an effective strategy that allows an interested audience to quickly access the information they need without having to extract facts that are buried in cumbersome text format.  For example, instead of taking valuable time to read that person A has 6 years of experience in X, and person B has done Y since 1999, they can simply view the pie chart.