Social Media Marketing Strategies for

Bottom Line Impact

Alex Marks

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In association with

Social Media Marketing Strategies for Bottom Line Impact

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Social Media Marketing Strategies

for Bottom Line Impact
Alex Marks

Published by

In association with

Contents
Executive summary.............................................................................................................VII
About the author................................................................................................................IX
Acknowledgements.............................................................................................................XI
Chapter 1: What is social media?........................................................................................ 1
The multiple definitions of social media................................................................................... 1
Sharing and collaborating...................................................................................................... 1
Characteristics of social media............................................................................................... 2
Social media applications....................................................................................................... 3
Who uses social media?......................................................................................................... 3
The impact of social media.................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 2: The consumer in control.................................................................................... 7
The empowered consumer...................................................................................................... 7
The internet effect.................................................................................................................. 8
Consumers take control......................................................................................................... 9
Growing expectations to connect and engage.......................................................................... 9
Chapter 3: Culture Its impact on social media use.......................................................... 13
The cultural impacts of social media on your business............................................................ 13
Global social media activities............................................................................................... 13
Social media in Europe........................................................................................................ 14
Social media in Latin America............................................................................................... 14
Social media in Asia Pacific.................................................................................................. 14
Why do different cultures use social media differently?............................................................ 15
Culture in a business context................................................................................................ 16
Are social networks for a good cause?.................................................................................. 17
What are communities doing?.............................................................................................. 17
Chapter 4: Social media marketing best practice............................................................... 21
The pillars of social media marketing.................................................................................... 21
Listening is key to successful marketing.................................................................................. 22
Best practice case studies So who can we learn from?......................................................... 23
Tiger Beer........................................................................................................................... 23

III

Contents

JetBlue Airways.................................................................................................................... 24
Old Spice............................................................................................................................ 25
Kraft Foods.......................................................................................................................... 26
TM Lewin............................................................................................................................ 26
Chapter 5: Managing social media for marketing.............................................................. 29
Are marketing and PR responsible?....................................................................................... 29
Does social media fall under customer service?..................................................................... 31
Does it matter who is in charge?........................................................................................... 31
Developing the right team.................................................................................................... 32
Chapter 6: Data What does it tell us?............................................................................. 35
Identifying valuable data...................................................................................................... 35
Its not what you say, its how you say it................................................................................. 35
The marketing imperative..................................................................................................... 37
The reputation imperative..................................................................................................... 38
The customer service imperative............................................................................................ 38
The sales imperative............................................................................................................. 38
The product development imperative..................................................................................... 38
The workforce imperative..................................................................................................... 38
Internal sources must be interconnected................................................................................ 39
Use objective methodologies................................................................................................ 41
Produce outputs that are action-oriented............................................................................... 41
Chapter 7: The strategic imperative................................................................................... 43
Proving the importance of social media................................................................................. 43
Developing the strategic role................................................................................................ 44
The link between social media and financial performance....................................................... 44
Customer retention and acquisition....................................................................................... 44
Product development............................................................................................................ 45
Talent.................................................................................................................................. 45
Reputation........................................................................................................................... 45
Building the strategic roadmap............................................................................................. 46
Chapter 8: Measuring success........................................................................................... 49
The benefits of measuring both quantity and quality............................................................... 49
The downfall of treating all data as equal.............................................................................. 50
Viewing data sources in isolation.......................................................................................... 50
Steps to measuring success................................................................................................... 51
Set clear objectives.............................................................................................................. 51
Linking it back to business success........................................................................................ 51

IV

Social Media Marketing Strategies

Chapter 9: Disasters When it goes wrong and what to do about it.................................. 55

Getting it wrong.................................................................................................................. 55
Dominos employees YouTube themselves to court.................................................................. 55
Misappropriation of political campaigning............................................................................. 55
Nestl comes a little unstuck................................................................................................. 56
Mother knows best............................................................................................................... 57
How to manage a crisis........................................................................................................ 58
Planning for the future.......................................................................................................... 58
Create a social media policy................................................................................................ 58
Hire a social media manager............................................................................................... 59
Have an escalation plan....................................................................................................... 59
Chapter 10: Good governance.......................................................................................... 61
Data privacy........................................................................................................................ 61
Social media and the law..................................................................................................... 63
At work............................................................................................................................... 63
Employee engagement......................................................................................................... 64
Privacy guidelines................................................................................................................. 65
Chapter 11: The future What role will social media play?................................................67
Facebook will not continue to rule......................................................................................... 67
The portable address book................................................................................................... 68
Wearing different hats.......................................................................................................... 68
That is private...................................................................................................................... 68
Consumer behaviour............................................................................................................ 69
The future for business......................................................................................................... 70
New measurable advertising models..................................................................................... 71
Death of a salesman............................................................................................................ 71
Appendix 1: IAB privacy guidelines.................................................................................... 73
Index................................................................................................................................ 75

Executive summary
Social media is the latest marketing buzz
phrase. Everyone is talking about it and
many of us are using it both personally and
more than ever, professionally. But what does
it mean? How do you launch a social media
campaign that will benefit your business? Its
evident that while social media is climbling
up the agenda, many of us struggle to
get to grips with what seems a very fluid
phenomenon and to position social media
as a strategic marketing tool. Decision
makers want answers to the following
key questions:
Is it a passing phase or will it have
significant lasting cultural impact?
How do I stop people talking badly
about my brand, products and services?
How do I manage our reputation online?
What can I learn from all of this data I
am receiving?
How do I change the way our marketing
team operates?
Where should social media sit in
my business?
There are of course many, many more. And
in some quarters, the sheer pace of change
has prompted some to question the validity
of doing anything at all. For some, it is a
case of the emperors new clothes.
This report addresses these questions
and presents social media in a new strategic
light. We look at its roots, its manifestations
and when well-managed, the vital role it can
play in your organisation.

We investigate who is doing it well

and learn from those who have done it
badly. Guidance on how to identify
valuable data in order to support
departmental objectives and drive sales
is provided. Key steps to measuring the
success of your marketing campaigns
are presented, along with the role each
person within your organisation can play
in relation to social media.
This report also explains how the
relationship between consumers and
social media can impact your business
and influence your decision making. It
reveals key cultural concepts and insightful
statistics, which can support the competitive
advantage of your online marketing
campaign. Key steps are outlined and
guidelines provided on other important
topics and concepts including:
Consumer power And the role has
it played in the rise of social media;
Best practice Looking at strategic
examples from a number of territories
of best-practice marketing using
social media tools. We also examine
the failures and what we can learn
from them;
How to manage social media for
marketing Who should own the
responsibility for managing social
media on behalf of businesses? Should
it be PR teams, the social media agency,
or should it be kept in-house with
customer services?

VII

Executive summary

What does data tell us? Social media

generates a lot of information, which
on its own, has little value. We examine
both the sources for information and the
outputs they give; and why they are so
important for business;
The strategic imperative Is social
media merely a bolted-on weapon in a
marketing directors arsenal or should it
have a place at the strategic table?
Measuring success We examine best
practice and the pitfalls of measuring the
success of social media activity; and the
importance of not judging performance
in silos; and
Legal issues and governance We study
the legal implications around issues of
individual privacy, intellectual property
and consumer data.
Supporting the concepts, tools and strategy
guides in this report are case studies
featuring some of the worlds best known
brands. Learn about:

Dominos Pizza;
Nestl;
Kraft Foods;
TM Lewin;
Old Spice;
British Petroleum (BP);
JetBlue Airways; and
Tiger Beer.

If you are about serious social media

and social marketing and their impact on
business, you should be reading this report.
This means decision makers and those
involved in strategising, including:
Chief information officers;
Managing directors;
Marketing directors;

VIII

Customer service directors; and

Heads of social media.
While this report is aimed at the client-side
business, many other individuals should find
it adds value to their role, including:

Social media practitioners;

Media/marketing agency personnel;
Brand consultants; and
Management consultants.

About the author

Alex Marks is a marketing and media professional with over 15 years experience. He has worked
on both agency and client side across a broad range of clients and sectors, including retail,
telecommunications, broadcast and tourism.
He has worked internationally for eBay, helping to set up its advertising business. At Microsoft he
was responsible for the UK marketing of its advertising division, which included the successful launch
of Microsoft adCenter in 2006.
Prior to this Alex worked at digital media agency i-level, where he was marketing and new
business director. He has also worked in traditional media for companies such as Capital Radio,
Classic FM and Zenith Media.
Having worked for both client and agency in analogue and through the growth of digital, Alex
recognised that companies would benefit more from access to combined knowledge and experience,
rather than the separate discipline approach many currently employ. So with a number of similar
senior professionals, he launched business consultancy Fresh & Frank in 2010.
Alex is also a regular commentator, writer and conference speaker on digital marketing issues
and a blogger for the UK-based Marketing Society.

IX

Acknowledgements
It would have not been possible to write this publication about such uncharted territory without
the support of some trusted guides. I would like to thank Benn Achilleas of Neoco, Amanda Davie
of Reform and Jeremy Swinfen-Green of Amberlight Partners, for their professional perspectives and
insights. To Alfie and Samson for keeping me focused, thank you.
Certain material contained in this report is copyright of the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and
is reproduced with permission.

XI