The 4 Pillars

of Making an Impact
on Social Media
Social media is a powerful medium that can unite, inform, and move people.
One post can start a chain of events that changes the world. Introducing the Four Pillars
And we all want to create impact in what we do. When it comes to social media, of Social Media Impact
impact can take many forms - from creating stories that your community will be
talking about for months, to transforming a customers crisis into opportunities
that can set the bar for your industry.
1 Create Compelling Content
Despite the wide variety of platforms, types of users and forms of content
available on social today, there are a commonly-accepted four pillars to creating an
2 Care for Your Customers
impact on social media. And while they are widely acknowledged and deceptively
easy to understand, they remain a challenge to internalize and put into practice
3 Connect Social to Your Business
day-to-day.
4 Your Social Media Data
In this guide, we introduce you to the four pillars for creating an impact on social
- content, customer care, connecting social to business, and capitalizing on data
- and offer tips with illustrative case study examples so you can start creating
your digital legacy today.

02
 1
CREATE COMPELLING CONTENT

Content is what fuels social media. It is the fundamental unit which companies use to communciate with
their communities, their audiences and their customers. When done right, great content is quickly
amplified and spread in a matter of seconds. When done wrong, bad content falls flat and actually
does damage to your ability to communicate in the future.

Social media has opened up a door for two-way communication, making it easier than ever before
to respond to your customers with immediate feedback. Knowing the expectations of your customers
can help you get closer to the core of what your community members expect from you, which can
be used to drive your content creation and eliminate guesswork.

Recent changes to the Facebook News Feed now prioritize content that comes from friends and
family as opposed to companies and brands. This has made it more important than ever to build
content that users actually want to share. When it comes to social media content, you need to
be thinking in terms of your community and audience, not in terms of advertising and the explicit
message you want to send. What does your community want to hear from you that they would want
to share with their own friends and family?
1
Cheerios Buzzes to the Rescue
American cereal brand Cheerios launched a strong social media campaign that got
people talking. They werent talking about their product - cereal - but about bees, and
how important they are to our environent. The cereal brand created a campaign to
address the bees placement on the endangered species list1, which ignited conversation
about this real-life tragic phenomenon on and off social media. Cheerios took to Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube to raise awareness of their #BringBackTheBees
movement - giving their audiences something to share and talk about that wasnt a direct
advertisement for Cheerios.

1
NPR: Bees Added to Endangered Species List for 1st Time
Cheerios Buzzes to the Rescue
As part of the campaign, Cheerios removed their famous mascot Buzz from cereal boxes. Links were
posted across Cheerios social media channels which led audiences to a website that educated visitors
on why bees are important to the planets entire ecosystem.

The site encouraged visitors to request and plant wildflower seeds provided by Cheerios so they could do
their part to help the bee community make a comeback. The multi-channel campaign, amplified on social
channels, was a huge success, surpassing Cheerios original goal of mailing out 100 million seed packets
for their customers to plant. A total of more than 1.5 billion seeds were distributed!2

What made this campaign special was how it used social media content to shed light on a global issue,
integrating real-life events with those happening online. Cheerios used social media to encourage
Chicagoans to join the event in person. And they created a custom Snapchat lens for the area to enable
participants to share their own personalized content connected to the campaign.

2
Cheerios #BringBackTheBees
What Cheerios Did
Connected their product with making a positive change in the world and made
it achievable for everyone.
Used social to raise awareness about their campaign and drive people to their website.
Strong calls-to-action were used to motivate their audience - and it worked!
Planned their real-life event for the first day of Spring - a great way to tap into
the emotions of their communities.
Integrated new technology and formats into their strategy with the Snapchat lens,
and gave their community and fans the tools to share the campaigns message
with their friends.
What You Can Do
Create content that will get your community talking. Competition on social media
is fierce! Your content needs to be strong enough to get people to stop mid-scroll.
Leverage social media as an additional channel to get your message out. Think in
terms of shareability, and ask yourself: is this a post I would want to share with my
own network? Meaningful content is what drives reach. If you consistently create
quality content, your audience will not only engage with it, but will be more than
willing to give your content more exposure which will increase reach.
Content is more effective when it is timely. Your posts will go even further if they are
relevant to seasons, current events, or holidays. Try and find a way where possible
to tie your social media content to something bigger to increase shareability and
engagement.
Are you using all of the social media channels to their full potential? Is your campaign
using all of the various new content formats? Chances are you dont have budget to
buy a Snapchat lens, but you can definitely create a varied, integrated campaign at
a shoestring budget with a lot of creativity and ingenuity!
 2
CARE FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS

Social media has changed the game for how customers and companies interact, creating a two-way
dialogue between customers and companies. Customers are expecting companies to be accessible and
responsive, and often rate companies based on their online experiences. Standards for customer care
have changed rapidly. Smart companies are already embracing these new trends to meet the demands
of their customers.

Social customer care is the future. According to one study, 67% of customers used a social media channel
(like Facebook or Twitter) for service requests3. This number will only grow as platforms continue to adapt
their platform to fit the needs of both businesses and consumers.

Though this new reality can be a challenge and feel threatening, companies that follow the core principles
of social customer care are able to flourish. And if you are not utilizing social as a medium to provide your
customers with the help they need, you may be depriving yourself of customer loyalty and ultimately
future business.

3
J.D. Power: Poor Social Media Practices Can Negatively Impact A Businesss Bottom Line and Brand Image
2
KLMs Social Care Team Becomes
a Revenue Generator
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has been a pioneer of social customer care. For the past five years, KLM
has strived to provide their passengers with around-the-clock customer service - and the results
have been outstanding. The Dutch airline first began their social media efforts back in 2010.
After a volcano erupted in Iceland, thousands of customers were not only stranded but unable to
communicate through traditional channels. Consequently, customers used Facebook and Twitter
to reach out. KLM quickly responded to their customers needs, organizing a team of 100 employees
to field customer inquiries. KLM saw this challenge as an opportunity and has since built one
of the most successful customer service operations on social media.

Today, KLM has seamlessly connected social customer care to business revenue. Their team of 150
customer service agents on social media generate $25 million in annual revenue!4 So whats their
secret? While the company still uses social media to address complaints and smooth out flight
complications, KLM agents are able to connect with customers through Twitter, Facebook, and
other social media platforms. Agents are with their customers every step of the way, providing
relevant details and flight information until their ticket is booked. The process is made extremely
easy for their customers, which undoubtedly puts KLM ahead of their competitors.

4
Venture Beat: KLMs 150 Service Agents Generate $25M in Annual Revenue
 What KLM Did
Extinguished a crisis through the use of social media - acting fast and using the power of
social media to reach out to their customers.
Learned from their experience and continued to thrive in the social media space, taking
a proactive approach and building a solid social customer care strategy.
Turned their social customer care efforts into profits. By recognizing that social media
can be used as a way to drive sales and provide their customers with a convenient and
pleasurable experience, KLM was able to make this department one of their most prof-
itable.
Recognized that their customers simply werent using their company app - so they are
active on the channels which their customers are already using every day.
What You Can Do
Customer care never stops on social media. Always be sure to develop a customer care plan
that operates around-the-clock. This will help you identify any problems your customers are
having early on and prevent a problem from turning into a crisis.
If you dont have an internal social customer care guide, its time to make one. Your team
members represent your entire company, so their responses need to reflect your brands
tone and personality. Great customer service takes time and endless tweaks to get it right.
Meet with your team regularly and provide trainings that will arm your team with the skills
they need to tackle customer dilemmas.
Social media marketing is defined by goals. You are constantly evaluating your performance
across dozens of metrics. Customer care on social media is no different. Take a close look
at metrics such as Question Response Rate and Question Response Time and monitor how
these metrics change over time and during busy and slow seasons. Set objectives that your
team can reach and showcase outstanding examples so your team knows what success
looks like.
Find your customers where they already are - and thats all over social media. People gen-
erally tend to use just a few apps on a daily basis. Find out which platforms your customers
are on and allocate your resources appropriately.
 CONNECT SOCIAL
TO YOUR BUSINESS
Learning about whats on the minds of your customers has never been easier. Instead of having to
finance expensive focus groups, marketers can tap into their customers and audiences wants and
needs through social media. The hardest part, of course, is determining how you should act on that
intelligence.
3
Social media used properly can be a driver of product innovation, customer retention, publicity
and more. Every Like, Reaction, Share and Comment is a step on a customers journey. Companies
need to be listening to their customers so they can feed their product teams or executives with
valuable insights. Your customers are the ones interacting with your product or service daily, and
may be running into problems that are impossible to foresee during your testing phases.

Dont limit yourself by not listening. Use social media as a tool to help you connect with your community
and adapt your business strategy accordingly to show your customers that you hear them.
3
Tesla Drives Product Innovation
Through Social
American automaker Tesla is known for thinking outside the box. Their electric cars are sleek
and often attract a wealthier customer base. Though Teslas vehicles run smoothly, customers
observed a snag in their re-charging process. Tesla cars can only be recharged at supercharger
stations, often located in shopping complexes and other high traffic areas. The problem? Owners
would leave their vehicle at the station even after their car reached a full charge, abandoning
their vehicles for long periods to run errands nearby. Due to the limited number of superchargers,
other drivers were becoming frustrated because what should be vacant stations were occupied
by fully-charged Teslas just idling with no owner in sight.
3
A Telsa customer took to Twitter to
reach out to CEO Elon Musk directly
to inform him of the problem. Musk
responded in minutes, agreeing
with the statement and assuring
the customer that he will take action.
And within six days, Tesla rolled out their
solution to the problem - illustrating how
a company can use social media to listen
to their customers to create improvements
to their products. Tesla transformed
a customer complaint into an opportunity
which fueled product innovation, and into
lots of positive publicity which paints them
as a company which cares about their customer.
 What Tesla Did
Showed they are a company that cares about customers, picking up a ton of positive
news coverage. (Granted, Musk is a high-profile business magnate, which makes his
swift response to one of his customers newsworthy.)
Reacted quickly and rolled out a solution in a matter of days.
Two words: brand image. This story made headlines across news channels which
sparked positive publicity about the company. The positive news can largely contribute
to public opinion about the brand and elicit good feelings from current and prospective
customers.
What You Can Do
Not all companies are fortunate enough to have a brand spokesperson that can make
headlines with one Tweet - but thats okay (neither do we)! The real lesson here is to be
active and responsive within your community. Whether your Retweet is coming from your
brand profile or CEO, the trick is to show your community that you are listening.
Timely responses can make or break a customers day. Imagine if a brand responded to
a customer dilemma after a week. It wouldnt have the same impact. Responding to your
customers during their negative experience shows them that they are being listened to.
Actions speak louder than words. Its not enough to listen and respond - sometimes your
company will need to step in and make a grand gesture. Using customer insights to help
nurture product innovation can result in numerous benefits. Coordinating with your product
team and executives can help your company seize an opportunity for improvement - a great
way to generate PR and improve customer relationships.
 4
CAPITALIZE ON YOUR
SOCIAL MEDIA DATA

Social media marketing is the most data-driven of all marketing disciplines. However, the breadth of available
data can be overwhelming. It is crucial for you to identify which metrics are the most relevant for what
you are trying to achieve on social for the week, month, quarter and beyond. Build a data-driven strategy
by clearly defining your goals and objectives. Once you have a clear vision and understanding of what
success looks like, you can choose metrics that align.

As a marketer you know that numbers can speak louder than words. Social media is a hotspot for customer
activity, which can be used in a multitude of different ways. Every action on social media can be transcribed
into valuable data that can be used to influence content, customer care, product innovation and more.

With the help of a social media analytics partner you can tap into this data to optimize your strategy even
further. With the right tools, the possibilities are endless. Just imagine what you could discover if you
were able to categorize your posts by season, product type, or brand. Having access to these capabilities
would give you a refined look into how your community is reacting to your content by segments. Knowing
exactly how your audiences are engaging with your content by type eliminates the guesswork, allowing
you to consistently publish quality content that will generate results.
4
Desigual Use Social Data
to Become Fashion Forward
Barcelona-based fashion brand Desigual has made social media marketing a critical part of their
overall marketing strategy - and theyve been able to prove that it works for them. During the
2015 New York Fashion Week, Desigual dominated the virtual runway, becoming the third-most
engaging fashion brand at the whole event, eclipsing heavyweights like Louis Vuitton, Chanel
and Burberry.
4
Desigual Use Social Data
to Become Fashion Forward
Desigual were one of the first companies to embrace live-streaming to their fans, using Periscope
to give their fans an exclusive front row seat to the show at NYFW, and their social media team
kept tabs on customer feedback to their new collection in real-time.
NYFW: Desigual vs. Global Fashion Industry
Evolution of Interactions
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LIKES SHARES COMMENTS

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SEPTEMBER 04 SEPTEMBER 08 SEPTEMBER 12 SEPTEMBER 16 SEPTEMBER 20 SEPTEMBER 24

Desigual used the fashion show as a way to gauge customer sentiment. They showcased more
than 80 different pieces on the runway, exposing their community to an array of different collections
that could potentially hit the shelves. To find out which new fashion pieces resonated most with
vs.
their social media community, Desigual analyzed how their community members responded to
22.6k 0.5k
their collection in real-time. Sep 15, 2015 Max Interactions on Sep 25, 2015

Thats how they were able to confidently select which of their pieces would become part of their 6.1k Average Interactions per Day 0.4k
final collection. Even more impressive was their ability to predict which pieces would become
Data Range: September 04, 2015 September 36, 2015
best-sellers six months before they were released. Note: Data taken from Socialbakers Suite
 What Desigual Did
Live-streamed their runway show on social media - a compelling new content format
and an efficient way to engage their audience.
Embraced new content formats which helped position their brand as cutting-edge.
In turn, they were able to stand out against the competition, becoming the most-engaging
fashion brand on social media.
Used data to power their decisions, and began their social media endeavours with
a goal in mind. Starting their journey with a vision allowed them to create an impactful
integrated social media campaign that yielded significant results.
What You Can Do
Your social media activities can easily contribute to your overall marketing goals.
Understanding social media data can enable you to make hard marketing decisions that
can ultimately influence sales. Dont shy away from using social media channels as a way
to evaluate your customers opinion on your product or service. Use this intel to plan
ahead to keep your customers satisfied and your sales high.
Dont be shy about embracing new content formats, and make sure your content mix is
diversified so you arent always posting the same type of content (photos and videos).
Variety will keep your audiences more engaged, plus it will help you avoid any severe
impact from any changes to how channels prioritize certain types of content.
The objectives that you define prior to the launch of a campaign will determine how you
measure success. What is it that you want to achieve with this campaign? Is it more website
traffic? Higher reach? Fan growth? Be realistic when creating your objectives and make
sure that they support the overall goal of your campaign. Whenever possible, always try
to connect your social media performance to your wider digital performance using Google
Analytics. This will help illustrate how your social media activities support your Google
Analytics and website goals.
Final Word
Everyone wants to create an impact on social media. But impact doesnt happen overnight.
By following these four pillars of social media impact and inspiration from four companies that
were able to it right, you can begin your journey to delivering real impact on your business
and on your community through social media. Dont forget that it will take true dedication, passion,
and strategy to see your goals through to their conclusion and to turn your vision into reality.
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