Chapter 12 – The Groundswell Inside Your Company

Final Blog Post!

Source: https://eprociuk.wordpress.com/author/eprociuk/

This chapter was different from every other chapter that I have blogged about because I am usually talking about companies can use groundswell to connect with their customers; not this chapter, this chapter was about how companies can use groundswell to connect with their employees.

Who knows better on which products are selling, what customers like, what customers are looking for, products that are not selling, or products that need changes – Your employees know best. This is because they have that connection right to your customer that you may not have.

This chapter going through 3 cases and the groundswell applications that they use: community at Best Buy; wikis at Avenue A/Razorfish, Organic, and Intel; and idea exchange at Bell Canada. All these cases examined how companies can talk, listen, energize, support and embrace to their employees.

This can be a little scary giving this much power to your employees but they will appreciate that you trust them. Employees are able to connect with other employees from around the world that work for the same company. Also employees are able to connect with top executives that they actually may have never get the chance to meet. You are giving a voice to your employees and making them feel appreciated and heard. Managers need to get involved so that employees do feel like they can be heard and that their ideas are appreciated.

Employees that feel like they are involved in a company and are being listened to, they are way more motivated at work. So talk, listen, energize, support and embrace your employees they are the ones that sell your products and services.

Thanks for checking out my blog during my Social Media Marketing class. Hope you learned something! I for sure did.

References:

Li, C., Bernoff, J. (2008). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston. MA. Harvard Business Press. Pages 233 – 249.

Prociuk, E. (n.d.). [Photo]. The groundswell inside your company. Retrieved from https://eprociuk.wordpress.com/author/eprociuk/

Chapter 7 – Energizing the Groundswell

This chapter is all about energizing your customers. So what exactly is energizing? Energizing is like word of mouth but doing it on reviews and rates, communities, or ambassador programs for example.

Source: http://www.freshminds.net/2010/04/assessing-the-impact-of-word-of-mouth-marketing-a-mckinsey-report/

Most customers actually do word of mouth marketing. How many times have you told your friend about the awesome new product you bought and love it and cannot stop talking about it. Like the new mascara you bought at Sephora and how amazing it works. It is not even if you love the product, it can be that you hate the product and you complain to your friends how much money you spent on it and it does not even work. Word of mouth is one of the best and cheapest form of marketing. It succeeds so much because: It’s believable, it’s self-reinforcing, it’s self-spreading.

Companies should start by energizing their enthusiasts. Enthusiasts are customers you have passion about your product and are already engaging in some social media technology. Enthusiasts are usually the people higher on the ladder (like creators) they provide the information to the people lower on the ladder (like joiners and spectators). Like word of mouth enthusiasts tell their friends about a product and then their friends buy the product and will tell more people about it. Some basic techniques to connect with your brand enthusiasts:

“1. Tap into customer’s enthusiasm with ratings and reviews. – best for retail companies and others with direct customer contact.

2. Create a community to energize your customers – works best if your customers are truly passionate about your product and have affinity for each other.

3. Participate in and energize online communities of your branch enthusiasts.” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, pg. 134)

By energizing your customers, feedback of your product is given. This allows companies to see how their products are really working, if there needs to be any alternations and customers can come up with new innovative ideas for the company to use. Energizing is very powerful and risky, more than the other techniques (listening and talking). Check out my previous blogs to learn more about them.

The book gives five steps for applying energizing technique to your own organization:

” 1. Figure out if you want to energize the groundswell.

2. Check the social technographics profile of your customers.

3. Ask yourself, “‘what is my customers’s problem?'”

4. Pick a strategy that fits your customers’ social technographics profile and problems.

5. Don’t start unless you can stick around for the long haul.” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, pages 148 – 149)

Energizing your most enthusiastic customer can often lead to embracing them, they become a part of the company’s products and processes.

References:

Li, C., Bernoff, J. (2008). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston. MA. Harvard Business Press. Pages 129 – 151.

Stratmann, J. (2010). [Photo]. The impact of word-of-mouth marketing: a Mckinsey report. Retrieved from http://www.freshminds.net/2010/04/assessing-the-impact-of-word-of-mouth-marketing-a-mckinsey-report/

Chapter 10 – Tapping the Groundswell with Twitter

Source: http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=12120

The chapter was about how companies and individuals can use Twitter. With Twitter companies can:

• Listen to customer
• Talk to customers
• Energize customers
• Support customers
• Embrace customers

I have never used Twitter before so this will be first time me using it for my Social Media Marketing class. I hope it goes well. I do have friends that use it though. I believe it is a good way to be able to talk to companies. My friends and I went out for New Year’s Eve party, my friend decided to leave her vehicle in a Impark parking lot. She paid for a ticket but the car had to be gone by early in the morning, needless to say we did not make it in time and she got a parking ticket. My friend decided to tweet the ticket and said something like glad Impark wants people driving home while under the influence instead of being responsible. Impark responded to the tweet telling her to contact them so they could sort this out.

Twitter allows people to connect with each other. My friend and a group of her friends went to Las Vegas and Tweeted that she was going, she had casinos, bars and pool parties tweet her back telling her to come to their party and that they would give her and her friends a free drink or some kind of promo. Companies are able to connect with their customers directly, they are able to tell their customers certain promos or sales that may be going on or coming up.

Accounting companies and designations group (like CPA) can use Twitter to communicate with students seeking jobs or looking to get designated. They could post events that they are having. They can also post jobs that are available.

This chapter was interesting to see how Twitter works and how companies can benefit from having Twitter.

Follow me on Twitter.

References

Li, C., Bernoff, J. (2008). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston. MA. Harvard Business Press. Pages 195 – 212.

Shiffman, D. (2012). [Photo]. How to live – tweet a conference: A guide for conference organizers and twitter users. Retrieved from http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=12120

Chapter 8 – Helping the Groundswell Support Itself

Source: http://socialstrategy.ca/2014/07/13/in-review-groundswell-chapter-8/

This chapter is about groundswell supporting itself. Groundswell is a support system, it allows people to connect with each other and help each other. With support people are able to help other people, even complete strangers. I am more liking to get advice from other people than a company about their products. Companies at the end of the day want to make a profit and sell as many products as they can. I would rather take the opinion of someone that has used a product, gives their honest opinion of how their product works and can advice how to use the product.

I have spent hours on the phone, on hold waiting for the next operator to become available. You finally get to talk to someone and sometimes they cannot help you and they do not understand what you are trying to say as them. It is very frustrating. Now with the internet and the amount of forums and wikis, you do not have to wait on the phone for hours. Your answer can be a click away.

It is interesting to see how expensive it is for companies to run a call centre or a support centre. Even though this has been outsourced to oversea countries it is still expensive, especially compared to companies that can forms and wikis to answer questions. Table 8-1 from the Groundswell demonstrates the cost and benefits from a company using a community support form.

I would definitely rather look something up than spend my time on the phone waiting. I definitely use Yahoo! Answers to answer any questions that I have – like what ingredient can I use as a substitute for flour?

At work I use forms to help me. When I am using Quick Books (accounting software) and I forget how to do something. I search it and find the answer instantly, rather than spending time waiting for a representative and going through their standard procedures of Who is this? What is the name of the company? Can you confirm your email address or mailing address? It all takes time that I can be using do something else.

Wikis

• Great if your customers are ready to share in a common collection of information
• Harder to get going than a support form
• Ingredients for a successful wiki
  • Need People – with a common interest in contributing
  • Content – needs more than a discussion form
  • Patience and Policy

First a company should determine whether your form can succeed on a volume basis. Support communities require attention, with staff and resources dedicated to it. Wikis and Q&As are more difficult to get going. See if an existing community is already started for your customers – no point in doing something twice.

Groundswell gives some suggestions if a company decides to start building a support community:

• Start small, but plan for a larger presence.
• Reach out to your most active customer.
• Plan to drive traffic to your community.
• Build in a reputation system.
• Let your customers lead you.

References

Li, C., Bernoff, J. (2008). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston. MA. Harvard Business Press. Pages 153 – 177.

Vanessa. (2008) [Photo]. In Review: Groundswell Chapter 8. Retrieved from http://socialstrategy.ca/2014/07/13/in-review-groundswell-chapter-8/

Chapter 6 – Talking with the Groundswell

Shouting marketing techniques (such as TV advertising) do not have the same impact on the marketing funnel (see picture below) as they once did. Word-of-mouth has increased substantially with the use of social technologies. Companies are able to talk to their customers and listen to them.

Four most common and effective ways to talk with the groundswell are:

1. Post a viral video

Posting a video and letting people share it. To be effective these videos must allow people to interact. They should direct people to social network, a blog or a community to form relationships with others and the company.

2. Engage in social networks and user-generated content sites

Creating personality within social networking sites. Groundswell gives advice if companies should use social networking sites to talk to customers:

• Use the Social Technographics Profile to verify that your customers are in social networks.
• Move forward if people love your brand.
• See what’s out there already.
• Create a presence that encourages interaction.

3. Join the blogosphere

Empowering executives and employees to write blogs. The most important thing for blogging is the want to engage in dialogue with your customers. It is important when entering the blogosphere to remember people and objectives – from P.O.S.T .

Groundswell has 10 tips for beginning the dialogue:

• Start by listening
• Determine the goal for the blog
• Estimate the ROI
• Develop a plan
• Rehearse
• Develop an editorial press
• Design the blog and its connection to your site
• Develop a marketing plan so people can find the blog
• Remember, blogging is more than writing
• Be honest

4. Create a community

Powerful way to engage with your customers and deliver value to them. Four things you should do to access if creating community is the best thing for your company:

• Figure out whether your market really is a community or could be one. Use the Social Technographics Profile.
• Even if your customers are Joiners, they likely have already formed communities.
• Once you have figured out whether you can form  a community and what the central attraction will be, you need to ask yourself: What is the company getting out of this? How will talking benefit us?
• Do not continue unless you can support the community for a long time. Communities take constant support and maintenance.

Groundswell uses Ernst & Young (E&Y) (accounting firm) as an example of how to talk in social networks. I really liked this example since it is something different, not just the same “how companies can sell products by using groundswell technologies”. Ernst & Young is able to talk with potential employees. College students can ask questions and E&Y is able to respond – others are able to read and can spread awareness.

So which talking method is the best for your company? Viral videos are best used to combat against the awareness problem. Social networks can demolish word-of-mouth problems. Complexity problems are no match for blogs. Communities can take down accessibility problems.

Marketing departments has to shift their approach from shouting to talking. New skills will be required to talk, to listen and to respond. The conversation will evolve continuously.

References:

Li, C., Bernoff, J. (2008). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston. MA. Harvard Business Press. Pages 99 – 127.

Karasthoughts. (2011). [Photo]. Groundswell (GRND) – Chapter 6. Retrieved from https://karasthoughts.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/groundswell-grnd-chapter-6/

Chapter 4: Strategies for tapping the groundswell and P.O.S.T

There are five objectives that companies can pursue in groundswell. Companies should pick the one that best matches their objectives.

Listening – “Use the groundswell for research and to better understand your customers. This goal is best suited for companies that are seeking customer insights for use in marketing and development” (Li & Bernoff, 2008, pg. 68).

Talking – “Use the groundswell to spread message about your company. Choose this goal if you’re ready to extend you current digital marketing initiatives to a more interactive channel” (Li & Bernoff, 2008, pg. 68).

Energizing – “Find your most enthusiastic customers, and use the groundswell to supercharge the power of their word of mouth. THis works best for companies that know that they have brand enthusiasts to energize” (Li & Bernoff, 2008, pg. 68 – 69).

Supporting – “Set up groundswell tools to help your customers support each other. This is effective for companies with significant support costs and customers who have a natural affinity for each other” (Li & Bernoff, 2008, pg. 69).

Embracing – “ Integrate your customers into the way your business works, including using their help to design your products” (Li & Bernoff, 2008, pg. 69).

Source: http://footballmarketing.tv/2014/06/30/the-five-primary-objectives-that-football-brands-can-pursue-in-the-groundswell/

P.O.S.T is one method of implementing a groundswell strategy. It is a systematic framework which helps your assemble your strategy.

People – This step allows companies to assess how their customers will engage based on what they’re already doing. The Social Technographics Profiles shows which activities different demographics are engaging in in groundswell. I am going to use an example of accounting company trying to get business from other companies. As we can see from the Social Technographic Profile below this demographic is using groundswell as joiners and spectators.

Source: http://empowered.forrester.com/tool_consumer.html

Objective – This step ask companies what there objectives are. The main goal of an accounting firm is to gain more clients and brand awareness. The best way to pursue this goal would be using Talking objective. This would allow the company to spread their message to future clients. The best way to reach perspective clients may be using social media and forums.

Strategy – This step allows companies to access how they want their relationships to change with their customers. An accounting firm can use the talking objective for their clients carry messages to future clients. The accounting firm will gain brand awareness and grow their client base.

Technology – This step allows the company to pick which technology should be used. Since this demographic consists of mostly of joiners and users, it would be best to use social media and forum. Social media will allow the company to gain brand awareness through Facebook likes and Twitter tweets and re-tweets. Forums can be used for the company to talk to its customers.

By using P.O.S.T for an accounting firm, we were able to see that using the talking objective will be the best strategy for this company. This strategy will allow the company to increase its client base and brand awareness and interact better by using groundswell. Talking allows for a two way conservation with customer which will builds loyalty and brand awareness.

References:

Li, C., Bernoff, J. (2008). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston. MA. Harvard Business Press. Pages. 65 – 75.

Mereu, S. (2014). [Photo]. The five primary objectives that football brands can pursue in the ‘groundswell’. Football Marketing. Retrieved from http://footballmarketing.tv/2014/06/30/the-five-primary-objectives-that-football-brands-can-pursue-in-the-groundswell/

Chapter 5 – Listening to the Groundswell

nutshellfinance.wordpress.com

Chapter 5 tells us about how companies need to listen to their customers. Groundswell says that the brand doesn’t belong to the company, it belongs to the customers. The company creates the value for the brand but the customers create what the brand is, they say what it is.

Listening is referred to as market research. Companies pay to find out whats hot and whats not – such as which products are selling, what TV shows people are most watching. This is great for being able to map trends. Some downfalls of surveying and focus group are: they are expensive, you receive answers to the question you ask but some question might forget to be asked and the people participating may be the most thoughtful of your target market.

Customers are leaving their opinions for you to listen to, for example Yelp and TripAdvisor customers are rating your products and services. There are two problems arising from analyzing this activity: not everyone talks so you will only be hearing from some people and volume – there is so much information coming in.

There are two basis listening strategies for companies to use:

1. Set up your own private community
2. Begin brand monitoring

A private community is a continuous running, huge focus group. It allows companies to hear directly what your customers have to say. Brand monitoring is hiring a company to listen and report the results of what your customers are saying. Listening isn’t enough, companies need to act on what their customers are saying.

Groundswell gives six reasons why listening is important:

1. Find out what our brand stands for.
2. Understand how buzz is shifting.
3. Save research money; increase research responsiveness.
4. Find the source of influence in your market.
5. Manager PR crises.
6. Generate new product and marketing ideas.

By listening it will change your company. Groundswell tells the first things that are most likely to change:

1. Change the power structure of your organization.
2. Instant availability of information from customers can be addictive.
3. The no-more-being-stupid factor.

Listening is major part of groundswell but more importantly it what companies do with the information they gain from listening to their customers.