Is social networks going to be the next big sales channel? ... Social media is revolutionizing the way businesses large and small are marketing themselves. This presentation provides some practical points to consider when leveraging social media as an extension of your sales channels.

1. Developing Social Media as a Sales Channel Nov 2010

2. Topics
• What is Social Media
• How to leverage Social Media as a Sales Channel
• Develop a Sales Channel with a Strong Framework
• Example (Travel Sector)
• Getting to grips with Measurement
• Recommendations
• Fast Facts- SinoTech Group
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3. What is social media?
Social media combines a wide range of online, word-of-mouth
forums including blogs, company sponsored discussion boards and
chat rooms, consumer-to-consumer e-mail, consumer product or
service ratings websites and forums, Internet discussion boards and
forums, and micro-blogs. (Wikipedia)
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4. Social Media Marketing
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5. Customer Perspective: Info Overload
What The Customer Sees What The Customer
Wants
Soci
al
netw
ork
Easy to find
What organizations need to do information
OTA
• Customers wants a product and not just a number of related component
• Product research has high transaction costs
• Information is available piece-meal & proliferation of social media content sources leads to confusion
• Company needs to help rather than confuse – provide clear paths from research to purchase.
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6. Industry Perspective: A Value Migration
Search, Websites
Reach
Social Media Commoditized
Content Commerce
• Reach, content or commerce is no longer sufficient on a stand-alone basis
• Value has been redefined as “owning” the customer
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7. Customer Perspective: Pain Points
Customer Costs Customer Benefits (Your value add) Attributes that drive value to the
customer
(pain points)
Availability
Anxiety
User base
Reliability
Effort Quality
Components
Time Transactability
… the size of your user base and what kind of value added components
you provide.
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8. We need to develop integrated social media solutions
Customer Perspective Industry Perspective
• ants products, not
W
• Content, commerce &
components
+
reach value poor
• ransaction costs
T
independently
• nformation proliferation
I
• Owning the customer
• lanning & commerce
P
relationship
facilitation are key
Enabling one-stop product discovery, research, sharing,
commenting and transaction is key.
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9. An example of putting It All Together
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10. Social Media Marketing
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11. Applications Framework
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12. Brand Framework
GENERATED
EARNED
CREATED OWNED
BOUGHT
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13. Messaging Framework
More Ways of
Communicating.
We now have multiple channels for
saying things. And many of these
tools allow other people to
comment, respond, and spread
your message. The challenge is
choosing the right channel for who
you want to reach and what you
want to say.
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14. Media to collaborate and share
Social Community
Blogs
Software
Wiki’s Web 2.0 RSS
Media
Netvibes.com
Audio API’s/Mashups
Video
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15. Model the Consumer Business Process
Social Participation By P2P Reliance In
Behaviour End Users / Buying Behavior
Use Social Media
Rich media/
as a Platform RIAs /
Improvements in
Reduction of
Information
Asymmetry
Usability
Technology
Trends
Seamless
Information Re-
composition
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16. Putting the Framework’s Together
C C
C
C C C
Brand Message Media Consumer
C
Feedback
C
C C
C
C
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17. Social Media Marketing
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18. Consider the Product Positioning
+ Specialist
Flights
Purchase
Car rentals
Tickets Customized tours
Impact of Information
Event tickets Standard tours
Commodity Boutique hotels
Purchase
Cruises
- Impact of Customer Opinions/Sentiment +
• Customer purchase patterns in different segments vary in their sensitivity to
– Peer opinions
– Hard facts
• Commodities are fact sensitive; experiences are opinion sensitive
• Sharing of opinions impacts experience oriented / less defined products far more
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19. Value Chain Impact Assessment
Online Agents /
Supplier Operator Customer
Offline Agents
• Reduction in need/ value of • Biggest
• Greater reach/ visibility • Comparability advice
Impact beneficiary
• Comparability
• Personalized marketing / offers to • Comprehensive, quick
• Product design based
customers on your database & effective
• Disintermediation on most popular
• Go online comparison &
• Context relevant ratings online
planning enabled
distribution / • Customer service – Leverage social media tools
Opportunities promotion becomes key – Position yourself as an expert
• Collaboration / group
• Bundling for price
buying made easier
opacity
• Service quality
exposed • Info overload
Risks • Service quality
exposed • DIYers can go direct to • Further disintermediation
local suppliers
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20. Value Chain Impact Assessment
Impact
• Direct channel to communicate with customers
• Customers & critics get an easy platform to discuss organizations. Form
cliques
• Additional medium beyond traditional PR & marketing
Opportunities Threats
• Participate in community • Corporate indifference to the
discussions new Web
• Showcase thought leadership • Negative blog swarms
• Bypass traditional PR for speed & • Being viewed as plastic /
customer intimacy unauthentic
• Build deep customer relationships
• Leverage word of mouth to
develop the brand
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21. Value Chain Impact Assessment
Success Failure
Campaigns
Crisis Management
Do’s Don’ts
• Define objectives • Be too “salesy” or pushy
• Understand your timeframes • Be un-authentic
• Identify your measurement criteria • Expect fast results
• Establish a plan
• Execute and contentiously review
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22. Adoption of Social Media by Tourism Companies
Budget Rent A Car Southwest Airlines Accor Hotels
• Campaign: “Up Your • Campaign: User • Campaign: “Invite a
Budget” submitted video friend”
• Tools used: Blogs, Internet adverts • Tools used: Micro
Videos • Tools used: Blogs, blogs, Blogs, BBS and
• Spend: < USD 500,000 Internet Videos, SNS
• Results Company Website • Duration: 5 weeks
– 1m unique visitors • Results
– 10m page views – 25k registered
emails
• Examples of companies using social media within travel industry – with
impressive results
• Adoption increasing as with emergence of platforms / standards
emerge & references
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23. Social Media Analytics
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24. SinoBuzz for Automated Sentiment Analysis
The sales process is impacted differently by online comments &
sentiment depending on the types of products and services are being
considered. However, it remains a critical metric for marketers
managing products, services the company brand.
Automatically monitor
the sentiment around
a product, service or
brand.
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25. Consumer Review Analysis
Consumer review sites hold a significant degree of trust for online
netizens. The nature and content of reviews, comments and posts have
an effect on the consumer to the extent they will make a sale or not
depending on the comments being found online.
Identify the opinions
and comments
posted on consumer
review sites
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26. Social Media Analytics
SinoBuzz™ is a social media analytics platform that monitoring
and manages online brand, measuring public awareness,
sentiment, influence, and tracing authoritative sources.
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26

27. Summary
• Social Media is already impacting all types of industry players
• Online players will need to figure out their strategy along:
– Re-assessing customer value proposition
– Sharing content and tools: data in and data out (‘co-opetition’)
• Bricks & Mortar players will need to harness social media
– To connect to customers, foster loyalty
– To understand (and even influence) demand
– …and fine tune offering
• There is no single formula. Be prepared to experiment and figure out
– Social media should be a core part of your marketing plan
• Measurement and Analytics are critical
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28. My parting thought
“Our research prompted us to develop this
presentation for companies working within the
travel and tourism eco-system.
The era of social media is upon us … your only
choices are: Am I a passive listener or am I
active engager. Either positions can be correct
but try to understand the differences and the
implications will be critical for your business.
Dr Mathew McDougall You can learn more about my views on social
CEO, SinoTech Group media marketing by visiting my blog: Digital
Marketing Inner Circle
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29. SinoTech Group - Fast Facts
• Heritage in software
development
• 95 employees
• Global reach
• Travel & Hospitality
Focused
• Offices in Beijing,
Shanghai & Hong Kong
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30. Thank you -
Dr Mathew McDougall | @sinotechian
sinotechgroup.com.cn | @sinotechgroup
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