Title: “Turning Social Media into a Competitive Advantage” Author: Alain Portmann, Founding Partner & Head of Strategy, Web Liquid With the growing opportunities surrounding Social Media, how can brands transform this corner of the digital landscape into a competitive asset? Inside Alain covers a number of concepts including: * Social Proof: To resolve uncertainty of what to do and buy we look at what others are doing or have done. * Service Over Solicitation. Promoters and detractors are shaped on the basis of the value you provide. * Social Media as a Listening Exercise: It is about listening to the conversation and empower people to tell THEIR story. After all, every good conversation starts with good listening! * Engagement: Degree of engagement is more important than the size of fan/connection/follower base * And finally, the six components to derive a competitive advantage from Social Media: 1. The Earpiece: Monitor Word Of Mouth 2. The Proposition: Statement Of Purpose & Intent 3. The Rulebook: Governance & Resource 4. The Playbook: Tactics & Plan 5. The Scorecard 6. The Training Plan

1. Turning Social Media
into a competitive
advantage
Alain
Portmann
Founding
Partner,
Head
of
Strategy
Web
Liquid

2. 106 Bunhill Row
Room G001
45 people
6,858
LinkedIn connections
60
LinkedIn recommendations
0.87%
of our connections recommend us
82%/14%
recommendations individuals

3. Kudos to Sarah Zimmer!

4. SOCIAL PROOF: To resolve uncertainty of
what to do and buy we look at what others are
doing or have done.

5. SERVICE OVER SOLICITATION. Promoters
and detractors are shaped on the basis of
the value you provide.

6. IT IS A LISTENING EXERCISE: It is about
listening to the conversation and empower
people to tell THEIR story. After all, every
good conversation starts with good listing!

7. IT IS ABOUT ENGAGEMENT: Degree of
engagement is more important than the
size of fan/connection/follower base

8. Social media has changed the
traditional notion of competitive
advantages
Yet it highlights the need to
focus on fundamental marketing
imperatives
like defining your points of
differentiation to a greater degree.

9. Biggest barrier to turning Social Media
into a competitive advantage. Placing
tactics before strategy.

10. The proof? IBM Study. Gap between what
brands think consumers want versus what
consumers really want.

11. “Most
firms
have
“made
a
start”
with
Social
Media....the
impera7ve
now
is
to
reinforce
ini7a7ves
with
clarity
from
the
top-­‐
down
and
to
iden7fy
a
framework
and
bespoke
toolkit
that
is
aligned
with
Corporate
Objec7ves”

12. Six components to derive a competitive
advantage from Social Media

13. #
1
THE
EARPIECE:
MONITOR
WORD
OF
MOUTH
WHY?
• Competitive intelligence
• Shape strategy & tactics
• Address service issues
• Volume of conversation
• Source of conversation
• Topic definition of conversation
• Influencer analysis of conversation
• Sentiment of conversation

14. There are over 500 word of mouth
monitoring tools out there. Find the
right one for you.

16. Conversation insight. High demand for
minivans (group bookings) as opposed
to “two-seater convertibles”

17. Tiffany’s Key collection product placement
– use insight and conversation to shape
time of day targeted paid search

18. Monitoring word of mouth before
launch to understand needs of specific
segments.

19. Advertising got really good at speaking in
30 second chunks to a captive audience

20. Then quickly found most brands had
nothing to say on the 31st

21. #
2
THE
PROPOSITION:
STATEMENT
OF
PURPOSE
&
INTENT
WHY?
• Leverages your existing
competitive advantage
• Focuses resources
• Statement that guides all efforts
• Statement that shapes tone of voice
and content development
• Storytelling

23. + -
Build a statement of intent by understanding
your consumers and your internal assets.

24. Apply the “Avis human touch” to identify,
acknowledge and address the needs of our
customers.

25. Bring waste management services to the
main street by connecting with local
businesses.

26. #
3
THE
RULEBOOK:
GOVERNANCE
&
RESOURCE
WHY?
• Guidelines for engagement
• Achieve buy-in
• Nurture resource
• Critical Risk Assessment - development
of most likely online crisis scenarios
• Policy - Development of policies on the
use of SocMed by employees
• Competency & Resource – internal and
external resource requirements

27. “The
bigger
the
* business
problem,
the
more
trust
we
must
build.”
Consultants
are
empowered
to
become
“Heroes
of
Business
Intelligence”

28. #
4
THE
PLAYBOOK:
TACTICS
&
PLAN
WHY?
• Competitive intelligence
• Shape strategy & tactics
• Address service issues
• Content: what are you going to say?
• Platforms: what platforms are you going
to engage in.
• Acquisition: how will you grow and
engage your audience?

29. Style
Community
Video Photo
Sharing Sharing
Life-stream
SOCIAL MEDIA Business
Micro-blog HUB Networks
Q&A Product
Communities Reviews
Social
Networks
With your word of mouth monitoring in hand
leverage a “HUB & SPOKE” approach

30. Launched in 2007 with a four
person team, including
members from marketing,
customer service and revenue
Culminated in an award for the ‘Most
Innovative Product in Customer Service’ at
the UK National Customer Service Awards
Average conversion rate of a blog visitor
is 200% higher than a non-blog visitor
Average transaction value of a blog visitor
is 22% higher than a non blog visitor

31. Leveraging your community and network.
Ask them what they think! Empower them
to guide you.

33. Thank
you
for
your
Yme!
Alain Portmann
Founding Partner, Head of Strategy
Direct: +44 (0) 207 954 3751
Main: +44 (0) 207 253 4133
Mobile: +44 (0) 7940 966 304
Fax: +44 (0) 207 657 4747
eMail: alain@webliquidgroup.com
50 Buttesland Street
Hoffman Square
London, N1 6BY