Is your company investing in social media? If so, be careful.
There is a lot of talk about an oncoming social media crash. Is this possible? Yes. Just like we have been experiencing waves of sales rep cuts and decreases, marketing budget cuts and decreases, we are likely to start to see a similar divestment in social media. Why? The same reasons! It is not because it is ineffective or people will stop consuming it. No, it is because it is not being measured effectively in terms of how much financial impact it is having on the brand’s and company’s bottom line. Is your company measuring it already? Can you tie these measures to your bottom line growth? If so, stop reading. You are fine. If not, then there is some good news. It can be measured.
Objectives of Social Media Use
Okay, so before we look at measurement, what about objectives? I always like to start with objectives in mind. Although usually the end measurement for me is market share or sales or profit, i.e. financial, sometimes it may not be if that is not the critical objective. So, what objectives do companies have when using social media? From our analysis of this it appears there are 5 main uses – in no particular order:
1. Research
Many companies use social media to do customer research to understand and get in discussions with their customers. Starbucks has a web site - www.mystarbucksidea.com - which is to hear views from customers. As they say ‘You know better than anyone else what you want from Starbucks. So tell us. What's your Starbucks Idea? Revolutionary or simple – we want to hear it. Share your ideas, tell us what you think of other people's ideas and join the discussion. We're here, and we're ready to make ideas happen. Let's get started.’
2. Branding
Branding is a common use of social media. A popular way of doing this is with YouTube where companies aim to do something interesting or different in line with their brand in an effort to create a buzz that gets a lot of WOM marketing. I remember the video that got around when Viagra first appeared on the market. It was of a guy in a locker room in a towel doing push-ups – first with two hands, then with one hand and then with both hands behind his back. I don’t know if we can give Pfizer the credit for it but it was certainly an ad that got people talking and spread through the Internet like wildfire: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuO-c2PoWgg. However, that type of viral marketing video linking to a brand is a widespread use of branding using social media. There has been research on this type of branding by Nielsen and they found that a YouTube branding campaign was found to increase sales by 27% in 6 months.
3. Lead generation
Helping people online find information about your service and products is a core use of social media also; directing them to a website where they can download a white paper, listen to a podcast, watch a video, etc. to get them interested in your product or service.
4. e-Commerce
If you sell online (Pharmaceutical companies do not typically, but for the sake of completeness I will include this also here) then you need to get people to go to the site where you sell in order for them to buy. How? Dell is a great example. They do this using Twitter to tweet about special promotions and then track their prospects’ online behavior using click tracking of the link they posted in Twitter. They have found that using this one channel, i.e. Twitter, generates millions of dollars in revenue.
5. Customer Retention
We all know that despite the huge amount of the marketing budget being spent on physician acquisition, it actually is a far more impressive use of budget to focus more money on retention. Marketing wisdom tells us that it costs 3-5 times more to get a new client typically than to retain an old one. Many companies are using Twitter, Facebook and other social media channels to retain customers. SouthWest Airlines do it, Comcast do it. Do you? Twitter is actually widely used by physicians. In fact, what made me take a second look at Twitter as a real and viable medium was with the case of Oncology surgery that was ‘tweeted’ by surgeons as the groundbreaking new operation which took place in 2006. That real-time series of ‘tweets’ by surgeons gained a real-time viewing of many hundreds of thousands of doctors at the time of the operations and countless more since. Now it is more common for surgeons to do this when the surgery could be of wider medical interest (see "Surgeons send 'tweets' from operating room" and "Doctors use Twitter to update during surgery").
Measurement of Social Media
Well, there are many ways to measure social media. If you are selling online, then ‘tweeting’, and using a link like Dell did in the example above, the measurement of sales that came directly from the ‘tweet’ itself is simple, although it is not capturing how many other channels influenced that decision. However, essentially, the measurement is 3-way:
- Qualitative: This is looking at things such as an increase in awareness and things that are not as directly linking to numbers and activity, and usually have more of an emotional basis - for example, positive comments on something, etc.
- Quantitative: This is based on numbers, such as how many people viewed the campaign, how many people downloaded something, how long they viewed it or how many times they viewed it, how many times they forwarded it on or ‘re-tweeted’ it, or even how many clicked on a link and went through to buying something from it.
- Financial Metrics: Always my favorite… After all, Pharmaceutical companies are businesses and as such, have to make money. So, much of what we do in marketing is to support that ultimate goal and as such, should be measured. Financial metrics is looking at what you focused on or spent and what you got from it financially, either in terms of market share, sales or profit. These can be simple ROI or you could do what we do in our 94.8 approach, see how much market share that activity (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc) is supporting and, therefore, you can work out easily what that means in terms of bottom line gain and also how much market share gain or loss increasing or decreasing focus on that specific form of social media would be likely to bring you.
So, how do you tie it all together successfully for real results?
The companies and organizations that successfully blend social media tools towards a business or other objective are those who think in terms of fusion. Successfully building a brand, generating interest and new customers, or reaching another major goal, involves combining new tools with traditional marketing environments and welding online components into a whole that’s greater than its parts.
Marketers that work towards this can ultimately create exponential increases in brand recognition, leads, word-of-mouth and sales…leaps that could not come from one single social media or other tool on its own.
The trick is to understanding how to maximize the individual elements alone and determine how they can interact with others. How does Twitter work best and how could its strengths mesh well with email marketing? How does a blog integrate well with Facebook? How can all the disparate pieces fuse into a powerful movement forward? The key is to think at all times of what you are trying to achieve and what your customers want, while always measuring results and modifying efforts accordingly.
To illustrate how this can work, we first examine a shining example from the medical device world: IntraLase/AMO.
CASE STUDY: LASIK TAKES ON SOCIAL MEDIA
In a case study from Health Care, the IntraLase®/AMO brand – LASIK - created an e-Marketing campaign that worked with online communities and social media tools to build their brand.
The LASIK brand from IntraLase®/AMO is a procedure for surgically improving eyesight, eliminating the need for glasses or contact lenses. For several years, the LASIK market experienced great growth as a unique brand that provided a significant benefit and cost saving for patients.
However, in 2006, the LASIK market was flat. PricewaterhouseCoopers had just completed a study that found the public’s trust in the Medical Industry eroding. People didn’t clamor for the procedure any longer and many had forgotten about the brand. The company needed to change. They named their objective as increasing LASIK procedures. They next asked critical questions:
- Who is the right target audience?
- How do we effectively reach them?
- What will success look like?
The research phase focused initially on identifying the opportunity: Between the ages of 30 and 50 years of age, 63% of surveyed people stated a likelihood of having vision correction surgery (Generation X). However, among the younger generation - between the ages of 18 and 34 - 60% said they would definitely have the surgery in the future (Generation Y). With this surprising number of Generation Y prospects, the research turned to learning more about this target audience. Born between 1980 and 2001, Generation Y is nearly as large as the Baby Boomer Generation at 76 million people. The Millennial Generation (as they are also known) have more money at their age than either Generation X or the Baby Boomers. When it came to LASIK, they made up approximately 50% of the prospective/available LASIK candidates. They are optimal candidates due to their wealth, their trust in their parents (many of whom have had LASIK or other cosmetic surgery) and their higher level of education.
However, even though Generation Y candidates were ideal customers, and even though they expressed strong interest in LASIK, they were not opting to get the procedure done. Despite confidence in LASIK and the fact that they were not paying for the surgery themselves, a disconnect prevented the final step from happening.
THE STRATEGY
Further research on Generation Y revealed some key facts about their behaviors. Generation Y spent more time online than watching TV, and were three times more likely than Generation X to use social networking, twice as likely to visit blogs, and 50% more likely to send instant messages.
In their book, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa (2007) found in a survey of 7,705 college students in the U.S. that:
- 97% Own a computer
- 94% Own a cell phone
- 76% Use Instant Messaging
- 15% Of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week
- 34% Use Websites as their primary source of news
- 28% Author a blog and 44% read blogs
- 49% Download music using peer-to-peer file sharing
- 75% Of college students have a Facebook account
- 60% Own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod
This generation had never known a world without the Internet or cell phones. They had never had a cheque book, favoring debit cards and credit cards. They banked and conducted all major administrative tasks online. They were ‘digital natives’.
So, how to reach this highly sophisticated group of Internet fanatics? The new campaign would need to focus on Web 2.0 activities, leveraging ‘experience’ marketing tactics. It would need to use a spokesperson testimonial campaign to ensure PR coverage and site visibility. It would need to allow the Generation Y public to tell their own stories, and employ syndication marketing techniques, engaging consumers in the campaign.
RealityLASIK was born.
THE PLAN
The RealityLASIK campaign revolved around following reality star Kristin Cavallari as she had the LASIK procedure performed and recorded her experiences. Cavallari was chosen for her controversy and attractiveness, her popularity (she was one of the top 10 people search on EOnline that year), her ubiquitous place among blog discussions, and her significant ‘buzz’ in the online space.
The campaign leveraged Kristin Cavallari’s celebrity status and her affiliation with Generation Y to:
- Engage this generation in an interactive campaign
- Educate them on LASIK and the procedure benefits
- Help them overcome their fear (or lack of understanding) of LASIK to lead them to it
This plan passed the Generation Y ‘sniff test’ by featuring:
- Transparency: Non-branded messaging eliminated the natural suspicion Generation Y has for advertising.
- Authenticity: Cavallari actually had the procedure and filmed the whole process to give a real perspective.
- Community: Audience members could engage with these Webisodes within their own social networks, making for natural and fluid conversation.
- Personalization: Audience members had the opportunity to provide their own experiences.
- Empowerment/Flexibility: Content was available on the target audience’s own time & in their own formats.
- Comfort: The audience could experience Cavallari’s fears and comforts as she did.
- Relationships: Cavallari’s family and friends got involved.
To drive the target audience to the LASIK campaign, the company developed the following, with help from Ignite Health:
- A site homepage with Kristin’s life, her blog, and the ability for visitors to find a doctor & tell their own stories.
- Banner ads and sponsored content on Facebook.
- Badges syndicated across doctor Websites.
- Webisodes syndicated in a methodical manner, leveraging the power of pre-existing online video sites by syndicating the Webisodes to YouTube, iTunes, AOL Video, MetaCafe, Yahoo Video, Google Video, Daily Motion, and more. The first 5 episodes were rolled all at once, then the following 4 were released once a week.
Within local markets, the company provided AMO Laser Vision Correction customers (the physicians) with tabletop promotional pieces, tear sheets to announce the contest, patient educational inserts, redistribution of video content, banner ads, radio spots, and a unique URL to Reality LASIK for their site.
RESULTS
To measure campaign success, the company chose key performance indicators:
- Website Traffic
- Visitors
- Engagement (time, pages/visit)
- Episode views
- Registration
- Doctor searches
- Contest submissions
- Online Buzz
- User-generated content (links)
- Video Syndication
- Doctor adoption/implementation
- Product Market Share Increase
- Sales/revenue increase
In terms of the first half of these indicators, response to the campaign between May 2007 & April 2008 was staggering:
- Number of visitors: Over 127,000
- Number of video views on site: Over 180,000
- Visitors averaged more than 1 video view per visit
- Number of syndicated video views: Over 140,000
- Number of doctor searches: Over 13,900
- Average time on the site per visitor: 7.2 minutes
- Number of registrants (Highly Interested People):
- 1,490+ on Reality LASIK
- 2,000+ on Facebook
- Number of PR placements: Over 50
- Number of PR impressions: Over 40 million
- Number of blog links: Over 60
- Number of contest submissions: Over 100
In addition to these numbers, Intralase/AMO experienced some hard business figure boosts:
- An 11.48% increase in procedures per laser in May, June and July 2007 compared to the same period in 2006.
- In comparison, Laser Vision Correction market went up 3% during Q2 2007 compared to Q2 2006.
- A 1.2% increase in market share during Q2 2007 compared to Q1 2007.
ANALYSIS
Intralase/AMO found success through a campaign that may have initially been out of their normal marketing comfort zone, one in which they found ways to more effectively reach their true target audience. The effort they put in at the beginning translated to big rewards in the end. Through their holistic planning process, they had to consider some tough questions:
- How do the individual components provide lift to the others?
- How could they co-leverage momentum between mediums and assets?
- What KPIs should be used and what should be the benchmarks towards those goals?
- How could they build in ways to measure and gain insight during the campaign?
- How could they be proactive when venturing into unfamiliar territories?
Intralase/AMO ensured their campaign was comprehensive, using the right principles and geared towards success.
CONCLUSION
With these examples of a complete, successful campaign, marketers should feel encouraged that even in a Health Care environment, success can be found with social media; however, it requires careful planning and a strong tie to metrics to prove the results.
For more information, please contact Dr Andree Bates at Eularis: http://www.eularis.com.