Measuring media spend…the million dollar question with a multitude of answers.

Buying Sandals. A thrilling subject of course – but on recent experience, a valuable insight into behavioral media targeting. It also highlighted the still impossible task of defining exactly what media spend drives a purchase online or in a shop.

Media agencies and media owners now draw their handbags at dawn to put their best case forward on who should have the biggest media spend from the clients budget. As a social media agency, we know that more than most.

And measurement is still vital – after all, measuring and proving the effectiveness of a campaign will affect how your next set of spending is distributed.

The journey

Back to the sandals. It started out with a very basic need: summer shoes. Being a tall lass with size 9 feet my choices are limited, so I had already omitted the decision to buy shoes online after previous disastrous experiences. Oiling ones calves to get into riding boots is not a good look. They remain in my cupboard.

Office, a shoe shop based in Brighton, is generally packed at lunch time and I will avoid Saturday shopping at all costs. So a couple of weeks ago, I prepared myself by looking online at their shoes, prompted by the first touch point email.

Ooooh! 50% off, click through, have a look around. Yes these are the ones that I want. Something for every occasion and a size 9. Hooray.

Since first visiting that page on the Office site I experienced a few PPC ads on various sites including The Guardian. All good, I am impressed with their PPC efforts and I love it when media works well.  But I have been to the site already, so I don’t click through.

Pay day arrives, I see an update from Office on Facebook telling me that there is now 60% off shoes. This is even better. Armed with the knowledge of what I want this should be a quick and easy process.

Kerching. The purchase was made and the shoes are on my feet.

So what made me do this?

Did I already know what I wanted and would have bought them anyway or was this due to advertising/social media?

The answer is a blend of it all, which leaves the million dollar question answered but highlights the fact that a tipping point to make a purchase comes from all directions. In an ideal world, the chap in the shop that took my money would have asked me “How did you hear about us and what made you buy those shoes?” which would have warranted a lengthy response from me. “Well, I saw your email, I know that you do size 9, then I saw a Facebook update and an advert on The Guardian…. Does that help?”

What is important is that Office were with me every step of the way, I had both concise offers directed at me on Facebook and email as well as unavoidable PPC advertising on mainstream news sites that I visit every day. The opportunity to see, I would guestimate at 15 times per day.

How this can work:

If I had bought my sandals online, Analytics would have tracked my journey to the check out, insight may have shown that I was on Facebook then clicked to Office to buy shoes. But as online browsing habits are frequently erratic (I generally have at least 12 tabs on the go at the same time) there is no certainty that it happened this way. But, it’s a good indicator.

Where it failed:

I purchased my sandals in the shop: for the few days following this I have still been shown adverts for said sandals repeatedly on sites from PPC.  I have them now; I don’t need any more thank you! So what was at first a great example of some Paid Search is now frustrating and a waste of their money.

This is not the Paid Search managers fault- how are they to know I have already bought them? Do I need to take a picture and update that I have them? Would that be picked up? In an ideal world perhaps but as we know you can not manipulate the masses to behave how you want them to.

What we can learn from this:

All departments need to work together, set KPI’s that are relevant to each other and share benchmark data at the start of a campaign. This needs to be a process that constantly evolves (and is shared) to get better with not only each campaign but each DAY of a campaign to make the marketing budgets really work for the client.

(This is where PPC and Social Media work brilliantly together- daily analysis and changes reflecting behaviour.)

Only when the bigger picture is considered will we be able to better understand the overall paths taken to make a purchase and get closer to answering the question: “What half of my marketing budget works?”.

Saatchi & Saatchi has chosen Qube Media as their social media partner for the new Wall’s brand campaign starting in July.

Qube Media is a strategic social media agency expert in understanding audiences in social networks and building engaged communities around brands on the web.

The new campaign for Wall’s  – Bring it on Britain – places social media at its heart with a Facebook application and community fan page where users can apply for a bursary to help achieve their dreams. Winners are voted for by fans.

Qube will provide research, engagement and measurement services. Firstly, to understand the consumer and marketplace online  – identifying, mapping and monitoring the target audience in social networks. Then secondly, to build and manage an active online community around the new campaign.

Qube MD Andrew Seel said: “Many FMCG brands struggle to build sustainable relationships with their customers on the web. Using social media for the Wall’s campaign is a bold move which will allow consumers to engage directly with the brand in new and exciting ways.”

Qube is one of the original social media agencies in the UK. As a strategic agency, we have helped our clients understand and engage in this space for over 7 years. We work with major brands and organisations including Virgin Atlantic, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Sony BMG to deliver significant business return.

For further information on Qube Media contact: Andrew Seel

Tel: 01273 689 672. Email: andrew@qubemedia.net

www.saatchi.co.uk

www.wallsbringiton.co.uk

There is a lot of anti-political feeling going about at the moment. I guess this is not surprising considering what’s been going on with politicians over the last year or so, what with the expenses scandal and lobbygate.

Politicians in general are held in low regard – with trust at a very low ebb. This is certainly one reason for the new found appetite for Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems. A desire for a break from ‘politics as usual’.

It could be this desire which led Labour pollster Lord Gould to say recently: ‘I believe in the high ground in politics now.’ This is needed even more so, he said, ‘because of the ‘anti-political mood’, which can only be defeated with ‘hope’’.

Can social media help restore hope in this election?

The nature of social media offers many opportunities to help defeat the anti-political mood. It’s an opportunity for politicians to be authentic, transparent and rebuild trust directly with the voters. But where to start?

Many big brands have been testing the water in social media for a while. Here are 6 things politicians just starting out can learn from brands on how to successfully use social media to build (or rebuild trust).

1. Move your conversations to where the voters are now

With social media usage growing at an exponential rate coupled with the continued decline of traditional media the place to communicate with potential voters is changing.

Major brands are increasingly moving their conversations to where their customers are in social networks and online communities. For example Marks and Spencers are starting and joining conversations on Facebook, Mumsnet, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and many other places.

But don’t always expect voters to come to you or your group – you need to be active in the communities where they are active and give them a clear benefit to coming to you.

2. Be confident enough to discuss your policies directly with people

Social media is a unique way to get in touch with a large number of people directly and more importantly it is a way for them to talk directly to you. Make sure you use it to have a conversation not a broadcast

When you choose to engage with a social media tool, for example Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn make sure you respond in a timely manner. It’s a fast moving medium – there’s no point in responding days later or even worse, not at all.

Brands like Zappos use their Zappos’ Twitter account to allow customers to contact the CEO Tony Hsieh directly. Their Twitter strategy has been extremely successful with over 1.5m people following Tony. Many have suggested that being able to communicate with the company at this level has increased their trust and belief in the brand.

3. Listen and be helpful

Social media is a great opportunity to be helpful. Everybody values people who help them. But you need to make sure it is genuine and you follow through.

Listen to conversations happening in relevant online communities, forums and blogs and look for opportunities where you can add value to the conversation. If you can’t add value then don’t comment. The worst thing to do is to start ‘selling’ your policies.

Airline JetBlue listen on Twitter for mentions of their brand. As the following case study demonstrates they look to respond and be helpful immediately – wherever it is appropriate for them to join in.

Blogger Dave Raffaele tweeted @jetblue that there was noone at the check-in desk when he arrived at Denver Airport.

They quickly responded and contacted the General Manager at the Airport to sort out the situation – resulting in one happy customer.

4. Get people involved in the campaign and policy development

Using social media for a while you quickly find that people really want to engage and participate. If people feel part of something they are much more likely to trust and believe in it. There is some great software available now which can allow you to build an ideas community where voters can contribute, comment and vote on ideas. UserVoice is one good example.

Starbucks use social media to engage their audience and invite their ideas. Not just as a gimmick but as an integral part of their business.

They created a special website separate from their main corporate site, My Starbucks Idea which works in a similar way to a real-life suggestion box, only it’s much better.

They invite users to ‘help shape the future of Starbucks – with their ideas’. Basically users are able to add suggestions on ways to improve Starbucks.

5. Feed back to voters how they have helped

When you invite people to help you, they are making a commitment to you to get involved and help. You must make a commitment in return: to value them. If you say you will consider their ideas, make sure you do and make sure you feed back what you have done and why. Do this on a regular basis. A blog is a good way to do this.

With My Starbucks Idea, Starbucks’ aim is to implement the top suggestions where possible or use them to inspire new ideas.

They’ve set up a team of ‘Idea Partners’ who review the ideas. They keep things transparent by feeding what they’re doing with the ideas back to the community through the Ideas in Action blog.

6. Admit it when you get things wrong

If you make a mistake or do something which is generally perceived as wrong or unfair people can quickly come together in social media to share it or start a campaign.

In May 2009 The Guardian reported that Marks and Spencer said it would stop charging more for larger bras after more than 14,000 consumers joined a Facebook group calling for an end to its differential pricing.

In an interview with e-consultancy Business Development Manager Sienne Veit said they addressed the negative publicity by admitting they had got it wrong. They set out to make amends by reducing the cost of all bras by 25% for two weeks.

When a similar thing happened with HSBC they acknowledged the role of this new-style cyber campaign on Facebook. ‘We are a service-oriented organisation and we have to listen to our customers – that is a priority for us.’

Qube recently ran a benchmarking survey into Social Media use, attitudes and budget in the travel industry.

With nearly 100 key players in the industry taking part from travel organisations large and small, Qube has gathered key insights into how this sector views and engages with the challenges and benefits of Social Media.

Social Media Benchmarking

81% of marketeers and directors in the travel industry say they use Social Media due to pressure from customers. And despite the fact almost two thirds of respondents felt Social Media was important for the future of their business, nearly 50% still use non-expert staff to deliver Social Media marketing.

Platforms

Bebo and MySpace, perhaps unsurprisingly, were the least popular social networks for marketing activity within the travel industry, while Twitter is by far the most popular tool in use for this sector.

Setting Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

Whilst there are many ways to measure Social Media activity and quantify ROI, difficulty in measuring direct impact of sales was far and away the greatest reason cited for not engaging with Social Media marketing.

Interesting, a large proportion of respondents don’t actually set any Key Performance Indicators for any of their current digital marketing activity.

Round table event

Qube will be releasing and discussing the full benchmarking report at the Social Media for the travel industry round table we’re holding on the 17^th February.

This is a chance for people in the travel industry to discuss the findings of the report and talk to each other about the particular challenges travel companies face in this ever-evolving digital era.

If you work in the industry and would like to attend, you can find more details here.

We’ve written a new White Paper in our Social Media in Action series.

Download the Online Thought Leadership leads to Sales White Paper (pdf).

Read more information about the Social Media White Paper in the Social Media Reports section of our website.

The basic principal of social media marketing is to engage people.If charities engage more people, more money will be donated.

But fund raising is only part of the picture for charties – they also have a cause (eg stopping cruelty to children, protecting animals, supporting victims of disease, providing supplies for those in need.)

So whilst raising funds is fundamental, there are other considerations like:

• service delivery
• membership engagement
• providing space for peer to peer support
• recruiting volunteers
• raising awareness
• behaviour change
• lobbying governments and so on.

This is where social media excels over other types of marketing. Used properly, it can reach millions of people and more importantly, engage them.

The great thing about charities and not for profits is that they have what it takes to engage people by their very nature and people want to be involved with them.

A recent Social Media for Social Causes study published on Mashable indicates that major donors aged 30+ want to be involved with their charities conversation about the following:

• organizational impact
• success stories
• learning more about the organizations they are participating with
• want information on causes they care about
• want information on financial accountability

The study also showed that donors want to interact with organization experts and with other donors.

This post is co-authored by Qui Diaz, Beth Kanter and Geoff Livingston, authors of the Community Philanthropy 2.0 survey and they state that:

“ What we found was a tremendous opportunity for nonprofits to participate as trusted providers of credible information and ultimately cultivate the next generation of major donors through the social web”

Pretty powerful stuff and quite compelling?

OK so there’s the theory and the research but what about non profits actually using social media successfully? Here are some examples I found from around the web, but please feel free to add to the list and spread the word.

Let’s start big with the seemingly over used example of Barak Obama’s presidency campaign using social media to gain votes and raise funds (I say seemingly ‘cause it was so successful I don’t understand why the whole world hasn’t jumped right on the band wagon) Check it out:

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/12/04/felesky-rahaf.html

Charity : Water has successfully raised $10 million (most of that last year alone) from 50,000 individual donors. This case study outlined by Mayank Dhingra explains how they use social media for relationship building, maintaining transparency, experimenting with new things and stakeholder involvement. Great stuff

http://mayank.name/2009/07/26/social-media-case-study-charity-water/

And here Qui Diaz lists a myriad of ideas and ways to donate time and money to charities. Really good for ideas and getting a feel for how the not for profit sector can benefit from using social media.

http://mashable.com/2008/12/17/digital-charities/

My Starbucks Idea

Starbucks fortunes have been a up and down a bit over the last few years. To tackle this they decided to jump into the arena of crowdsourcing and build a community of customers to help them improve Starbucks.

They created a special website separate from their main corporate site, My Starbucks Idea which works in a similar way to a real-life suggestion box, only it’s much better.

They invite users to ‘help shape the future of Starbucks – with their ideas’. Basically users are able to add suggestions on ways to improve Starbucks.

They are able to read all the latest ideas and vote for their favourite. The most popular ideas rise to the top. There is also the opportunity to comment on and discuss any of the ideas.

Starbucks’ aim is to implement the top suggestions where possible or use them to inspire new ideas.

They’ve set up a team of ‘Idea Partners’ who review the ideas. They keep things transparent by feeding what they’re doing with the ideas back to the community through the Ideas in Action blog.

Has it worked?

To date they have had nearly 77,000 ideas submitted since March 2008.

Ideas that have launched include:

• Treat receipt
• Free Wi-Fi for Apple iPhone users at Starbucks
• Reintroducing Yukon Blend coffee
• Reusable bags

The spin off marketing benefits through increased exposure of Starbucks online has been vast.

Starbucks have successfully shown that by engaging with your customers online you can not only improve your product or service and quickly resolve any problem areas, but you can increase positive awareness of your brand across the web and encourage your customers to become your advocates.

Take a look at our Social Media for Research services to find out more about how you can improve your business by engaging with your customers online.