2. Social Trends Report 2012
Table of Contents
Overview........................................................... 3
Key themes for 2012
Data-responsive brands will
rapidly gain ground ..................................... 4
The omnichannel appetite will
separate winners from losers ......................... 6
Humanizing consumers will
humanize marketing..................................... 8
Brands will become media........................... 11
Conclusion.......................................................12
3. Social Trends Report 2012
Top brands share top social
trends for 2012
Like any young ecosystem, the only constant in the social
landscape is change. Brands that seize on this constant
change have an unprecedented opportunity to evolve their
relationships with consumers. Here are four massive trends that
will hasten and guide this evolution.
Data-responsive brands will rapidly gain ground. The
companies that are quickest to detect and adapt to signals in
social data will be leaner, more profitable, and more beloved by
consumers than ever before.
The omnichannel appetite will separate winners from
losers. Consumers are transcending the distinctions between
channels, demanding a single, channel-agnostic experience. Brands
that seamlessly deliver information, utility, and convenience to the
omnichannel consumer will win their business and loyalty.
Humanizing consumers will humanize marketing.
Consumers are more than the sum of their social connections
and interests. The sentiment graph will reveal to companies
what’s missing — what consumers truly care about, and the
intensity of these feelings.
Brands will become media. Brands must become media
publishers that attract — not interrupt — consumers with
valuable content.
Social strategists and marketing thought leaders explored these
four trends at Social Summit 2012. Read on to learn how to get
ahead of what’s coming.
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4. Social Trends Report 2012
Data-responsive brands
will rapidly gain ground
Social data is a brand’s most
“You create an okay product,
valuable ally. It reveals what they buy it. They make it
consumers think, how they feel, and
who they identify with — all through better, tell you how to make
their own words and actions. And it better. Then you make it
when companies combine social
data with commerce, CRM, industry, better, and they buy it again.”
and Web data, the resulting
Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief, WIRED magazine
intelligence drives powerful change
— if you know what to do with it.
The uninterrupted feedback-
iteration loop
Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief of
WIRED magazine, touts open source
product development. His company
3D Robotics follows an iterative
feedback loop, with consumer input
driving product innovation. “You
create an okay product, they buy it.
They make it better, tell you how to
make it better. Then you make it better,
and they buy it again.”
“Every day, the 3M website functions
like a focus group,” says Raj Rao, 3M
Global Director for eTransformation.
Tomorrow’s most successful brands will The global manufacturer has a history
continuously co-innovate with customers, of co-innovation with consumers.
says WIRED magazine’s Chris Anderson.
Consumers participate directly in
research and development at 3M’s 30
collaboration centers. Now, 3M can
co-innovate with consumers virtually
“Interesting example from WalmartLabs www.getontheshelf.com.
American Idol retail style. 4000 products submitted with chance to
be carried at Walmart.” — Ryan Mathre
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5. Social Trends Report 2012
using social data. A new reusable tape And this expectation of improvement
product, for example, was inspired by keeps consumers talking. Williams
online conversations that revealed this reports on customer-driven
previously un-served need. improvements company-wide, from
development to merchandising,
Crowdsourced product decisions also
vendor relations to targeted marketing.
drive smarter retail. Ron Benson, Senior
Director of Engineering at WalmartLabs, Crowdfunding site Kickstarter lets
describes a recent promotion called developers sell their products while
“Get on the Shelf.” Walmart invited still in development — buyers purchase
entrepreneurs to submit their product the idea, and the developer uses
ideas online. Walmart’s customer this early revenue to fund creation.
community voted on the 4,000 ideas The developer then invites buyers’
submitted, and the top voted products feedback throughout the product’s
are now sold in stores and on creation. Buyers influence the
Walmart.com. Merchandising teams product’s evolution, giving them a
were thus ensured of demand before sense of ownership in the finished
ever stocking the products. version, and the product debuts with
an organic support community that
Consumers talk — and stay loyal even established brands couldn’t buy.
— when brands act
About 30% of products at outdoor
industry giant Cabela’s carry the
Cabela’s name. The retailer wondered:
if a Cabela’s-branded product gets Move at consumer speed
negative feedback, is it a comment
Keeping up with change means keeping up
on the product, or on the company
with consumers. Bazaarvoice Chief Strategy
itself? Scott Williams, Executive Vice
Officer Mike Svatek says to catch up and keep
President and Chief Marketing and
pace with consumers, companies must:
E-Commerce Officer, says the answer
lies in how the company uses feedback 1. Have a brand presence in every major
to constantly improve — and how they social network.
communicate these improvements to
2.Launch mobile experiences on each
customers. When consumers believe
key platform.
their opinions are truly heard and used
to deliver always-better experiences, 3. nderstand their consumers by collecting
U
their dissatisfaction with a certain and analyzing consumer data.
product needn’t cause dissatisfaction
with the brand.
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6. Social Trends Report 2012
This consumer-brand relationship of
feedback and improvement is reward
enough for most consumers, says
Starwood Hotels Associate Director of
Social Media and Search Marketing,
Abbey Reider. Some brands encourage
conversations by giving away products
or discounts, but Starwood finds that
the less “quid pro quo,” the relationship,
the more likely it will evolve organically
over time to something stronger.
The omnichannel appetite
will separate winners Acting on consumers’ feedback creates deeper brand
relationships than rewards or discounts, says Abbey Reider
from losers of Starwood Hotels.
Today’s consumers shop everywhere,
and in more than one place at a time. Encourage repeat visits with
They check specs on a smartphone from sticky sites
the aisle. They research products online,
The average consumer today checks
then kick the tires in a physical store. They
10.4 information sources before buying.
surf products from the couch on a tablet,
What if a brand could cut this search
then buy online at work the next day.
to just a few sources by becoming a
Consumers who research across online,
trusted and comprehensive resource?
offline, and mobile channels spend
It’s impossible to anticipate every
18-36% more than those who don’t.
unique consumer’s research needs.
This omnichannel shopping isn’t just Social lets brands build communities
the future — it’s already the new norm. that, as consumers keep contributing,
According to Hal Hawton, President of become more comprehensive and
HomeDepot.com, half the people who responsive with time. Consumer-
visit Home Depot stores visit the brand written feedback, QA, tweets, and
website first. To capture omnichannel other social content speak to unique
consumers, brands must deliver the right use cases, in the same language other
content, through the right channels, in consumers use in search.
the right places, at the right time.
And by mining this data for trends,
brands can improve product copy and
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7. Social Trends Report 2012
marketing to cover what consumers up soon after his review by thanking
really care about when researching and him, rewarding him with a badge
buying. When shoppers consistently showing how many people had
find the information they need on a read his feedback, and showing him
brand site, they’re more likely to return how many people had voted the
to the brand site over other sources. review helpful. The experience made
Sernovitz feel appreciated, and more
Gamification — using psychological
likely to book with the hotel again.
motivators common in games to
encourage and reward desired
behaviors — is another way to
encourage repeat visits. “You set “Go beyond the borders
goals around actions you want of your own brand sites to
consumers to take, reward them for
taking those actions, and push them engage across your retail
toward the next level,” explains Tony
Ventrice, Senior Game Designer at
channel properties.”
Badgeville. Visual cues like status bars, Bob Buhowski, Digital Marketing Manager,
and logical progressions like points in LG Electronics USA
a loyalty program, can guide visitors
toward desired actions like buying,
contributing feedback, subscribing,
and sharing with social networks. Destroy the walled garden,
invite others in
A key motivator in gamification,
and in building loyalty generally, No matter how comprehensive a brand
is feeding consumers’ egos. site, some consumers will inevitably
“Recognition is big,” says Ventrice. look elsewhere while researching
Giving consumers a platform and buying. “Go beyond the borders
to appear expert and influence of your own brand sites to engage
others feeds our human need across your retail channel properties,”
for recognition, and lets us feel says Bob Buhowski, Digital Marketing
helpful. Andy Sernovitz, CEO of Manager at LG Electronics USA.
WordOfMouth.org, recalls an Retailers and vendors can share
experience with a hotel that asked social data for mutual benefit. While
him for a review. The hotel followed manufacturer 3M sells mainly through
“Love hearing how much The Home Depot values the relationship
with manufacturing partners to get closer to the customer!”
— Bob Buhowski
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8. Social Trends Report 2012
channels, thousands of conversations And with mobile, the ZMOT can now
take place on 3M’s brand sites. 3M happen anywhere. 2011 marked the
syndicates these conversations to first year when people bought more
retailers — over 100,000 reviews to mobile devices than PCs. Soon, four
seven retailers at last count — to ensure billion people will be connected via
shoppers find the information they mobile — creating “hyperconnected
need in order to purchase, wherever consumers,” as Bazaarvoice’s Svatek
they’re buying. puts it. With a phone or tablet
handy, consumers can easily access
On BestBuy.com, LG syndicates review
everything they need to make a
content and answers shopper questions
product decision anywhere they are,
via badged brand reps. Retailers then
and immediately act on it. To influence
push this content to online properties,
these decisions, companies must
stores, and mobile applications.
make product and service information
Shoppers reward brands and channels
and consumer opinions convenient,
that make their decisions easy — LG’s
digestible, and available everywhere.
Buhowski cites a 64% conversion rate
for BestBuy.com visitors who read This is especially true for companies
answers from LG reps. like retailer JewelryTV, which have no
offline presence. The phone or tablet
Retailers can likewise share consumer
is the second screen beyond the TV
conversations with manufacturers. Best
or PC that connects consumers to
Buy syndicates reviews to the LG brand
the brand. Brian Wilhelm, Director of
site with the Best Buy logo. Visitors
Online Marketing for JewelryTV, says
researching on the brand site can
that 17% of the retailer’s business now
click through to the product page on
comes via mobile channels.
BestBuy.com to buy.
Follow the mobile consumer Humanizing consumers
or get left behind will humanize marketing
Oversaturation of impersonal,
Google defines the “Zero Moment
irrelevant marketing has made
of Truth,” or ZMOT, as the moment
consumers distrusting of and
when someone first decides, through
disengaged with traditional
online research, to buy something.
advertising. To capture their attention
Consumers today needn’t even be
and interest, marketers must
shopping to suddenly realize a new
finally understand what individual
need or discover a new product —
consumers truly care about, and
new products find consumers online
market to them accordingly.
via social sharing and curation.
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9. Social Trends Report 2012
Enter the sentiment graph, which
“Knowing how uses all of a consumer’s comments,
ratings, opinions, and conversations
you feel is core to shared online to discern how they feel
and what they care about — which
knowing you. It’s the speaks more directly to who they are,
difference between says Matt Marx, Bazaarvoice Product
Director. “Knowing how you feel is
knowing that you’re core to knowing you,” Marx explains.
generally interested “It’s the difference between knowing
that you’re generally interested in cars,
in cars, and knowing and knowing that you’re passionate
about powerful engines.” Suddenly,
that you’re passionate it’s possible to really know a consumer,
about powerful and speak to their individual needs.
engines.”
Matt Marx, Product Director,
Bazaarvoice
The sentiment graph lets brands
know consumers as individuals
The social graph defines a consumer
by his or her connections to others
on social networks, while the interest
graph approximates his or her interests
based on an analysis of data like the
content of their social updates and Deliver highly relevant advertising by combing sentiment,
social, and interest graphs, says Bazaarvoice’s Matt Marx.
profiles, clicks, pages visited, and time
on site. While both are useful, neither
provides a completely accurate portrait
of who a consumer is, what they look
for in brands, or how they feel.
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10. Social Trends Report 2012
Social, interest, and sentiment
graphs combine for crystal- “ ord of mouth cannot
W
clear context
be faked”
Based on a consumer’s social
connections, interests, and sentiment, Suzanne Fanning, President,
brands can deliver hyper-targeted, WOMMA
highly relevant advertising. Consider
a consumer who frequents travel sites
(interests), who has articulated a strong aged 18 to 34) trust the opinions of
preference for long battery life in his strangers online over those of friends
online technology reviews (sentiment), and family. Consumers don’t always
and whose nephew recently posted agree with the people they know —
about his new Android tablet on online, they can instead find information
Facebook (social). Combining these from experts or people more like them.
three graphs, an advertiser can target When brands serve these opinions, they
the consumer individually with ads must be authentic — or risk irreparably
for an Android tablet touting battery losing consumers’ trust.
life, and an aggregate rating of 4.7
As Suzanne Fanning, President of the
stars from reviewers who identified
Word of Mouth Marketing Association
themselves as frequent travelers.
(WOMMA), puts it, “Word of mouth
The unprecedented consumer cannot be faked. Well, it can, but
understanding possible through these you will be caught, and it will not
graphs can also power highly-relevant look good for you or your company.”
curated shopping. When a visitor Fanning says brands must embrace the
reaches a retailer’s site, for example, idea that happy, interested people will
the site can dynamically display say good things about companies and
products based on the visitor’s likes, their products — and these genuine
dislikes, and interests. sentiments are the basis for loyal
consumer-brand relationships.
Authenticity above all
Relevant opinions delivered based on
the sentiment graph lose all value when
consumers question their authenticity.
Over half of Millennials (consumers
“The ultimate marketing tool comes 2 life when u combine social +
interest + sentiment.” — Nicole Bernstein
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11. Social Trends Report 2012
Brands will become media
Brands no longer have a captive
“I’ll be interested if you’ll be
audience in traditional media channels. interesting.”
Companies today can’t just broadcast
Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief,
any message and expect everyone to
listen. Meanwhile, social allows anyone WIRED magazine
to create, publish, and share media.
In this democratized audience, the
content readers deem most valuable Kate products they’re taking, but
rises above the noise. also other things that are not
product-focused.”
Serve the audience to
command attention Knowing how to say it is just as
“I’ll be interested if you’ll be important as knowing what to say,
interesting,” says WIRED’s Anderson. says WIRED’s Anderson. He urges
Brands must become media brands to craft a distinct, memorable
companies, capturing attention voice like no other, and be consistent
by being helpful, interesting, or across every media channel, from
entertaining. Anderson says that print to broadcast to online. He cites
brands need to start acting more like Martha Stewart as one of the most
magazines, and create compelling successful brand media voices ever.
content that people want to interact The Martha Stewart brand literally
with and share. Stop marketing. Stop assumes a persona authentic to its
selling. Start educating, entertaining, namesake founder. Groupon, as
and informing in ways that captivate another example, has a voice that’s
the people you want to reach. cheeky, funny, and lighthearted. It turns
simple coupons into opportunities to
At Kate Spade New York, “We really see
entertain and delight with story, setting
ourselves as a media company,” agrees
the brand apart.
Johanna Murphy, VP eCommerce.
The brand engages fashion-conscious Participate, don’t dominate
women with style tips and media about
real life. It ran a Twitter series, written by “A brand is the sum of all conversations
real young women taking a road trip to happening around the brand,” says Kyle
the Coachella music festival. The ladies Lacy, Principal of Marketing Researching
tweeted pictures and recaps of their Education for ExactTarget. The way
encounters and, of course, the Kate to get people talking is the same way
Spade products they brought along. to get their attention: by creating
“They’re talking about packing — what content they enjoy and see value in,
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