Twitter, Customer Service, and Good Brand Management

If monitoring conversations and knowing what you're listening for is the first ingredient in good online best practices, knowing when and how to respond is much more than good etiquette. It's become an integral aspect of brand management and can mean the difference between a flop - or worse, a crisis - and a deposit in your company's reputation bank.

It's easy to dismiss Twitter's usefulness as a tool.

That is until you figure out that on Twitter you can find mentions of your brand and you can actually connect with customers directly and provide a first line of response. Chances are, that in 140 characters, you won't be able to do much more. But don't underestimate the importance of that public gesture.

How to use Twitter for customer service

Many companies started integrating customer service on Twitter. This list I created is purely for customer service, but there is another important aspect of customer support, which is why in many companies there is a community evangelist role carved out.

There are also individuals who opted into community builder roles - some in official capacity for an organization, some because that's who they are. Go ahead and promote your many customer support people on Twitter by creating a list.

Ben Parr at Mashable wrote a handy post about using Twitter for customer service. As he says, it's ideal because:

• You can respond to a customer question or complaint immediately after seeing it without needing to have all the facts - take the problem solving part off line. Monitoring and responding is lightening fast, and right now it will cast you in a good light, especially if your normal customer service channels are in need of repair.

• You can be proactive and let your customers know where to find you - I started a list linked above, let me know if you'd like me to add your company's team to it. This will ease some anxiety over which number to call or being on hold. Provided you don't take two days to get back to them as I described here.

• You provide the added bonus of good service/product stewardship, which in turns creates a nice halo for your company and brands. Let's face it, Twitter is the most social of social networks. People have the opportunity to humanize the brand experience over time by being helpful and personal. I do wonder if companies are developing Twitter scripts? 

How do you track tweets?

There are many tools you can use to track customer conversations on Twitter. For free, you could:

• Search for key terms or your company name with Twitter Search
• Build a Yahoo! Pipe (watch the how to video here) - here's an example ofhow Salesforce.com uses the tool
• Get email Twitter alerts with TweetBeep
• Use TweetScan to search for key words combined with a user
• Test drive monitoring up to three key words in real time with Monitter
• Distinguish positive from negative tweets with Twitrrater
• Look up who's following you in TwitterKarma
• Try Twittervision to see the global nature of this tool
• Look up daily top influencers on Twitterholic - expect to see more tools on influence
• Find and filter content by influence with PostRank
• Find out how many times a term was mentioned with TweetVolume
• Set up Google Alerts for the terms you want to monitor - you can route them to your email, or your RSS reader
• Use Social Mention for alerts on social media sites
• Track and rank the URLs people are talking about on with Twitturl
• Use Hashtags to learn what's happening right now
• Find a list of regular chats on Twitter

As it's the case with tools, your objectives will determine which ones are most useful to you.

Online monitoring is broader than Twitter. WebWorkerDaily pulled together some advice on how to make a monitoring dashboard to track online conversations. As Dawn explains, the real magic is in the content you're monitoring - your strategy and goals should come first.

For a fee, and for more than just monitoring in many instances, you can utilize:

• Radian6 - which allows you to set up a dashboard to monitor mentions across sites and tools and shows you brand sentiment, along with location, and integrating with WebTrends and SalesForce.com
• RapLeaf - helps you understand your customers better, simplify online media planning, enhance customer databases, and manage fraud risk
• BrandsEye - for monitoring online reputation and tracking negative sentiment
• ScoutLabs - web-based application that tracks social media and provides you with data on sentiment, trend spotting, buzz trend, share of voice, email alerts, customer rants and raves, as well as a platform to coordinate your response, assign tasks, add comments, and share product and marketing ideas
• Cymfony - collects all forms of content, organizes and categorizes it, and provides a powerful but easy-to-use interface with data visualization and discovery features that allow you to gain valuable insights from selected discussion most relevant to your brand
• BuzzLogic - technology platform identifies and organizes theconversation universe, combining both conversation-topic and audience to help brands reach more than 44 million users who are passionate on everything from the latest tech craze and cloud computing to parenthood and politics
• Spiral16 - for monitoring, collecting, and measuring the social media conversations, semantic analysis, conversation sentiment, and visualizing data in a 3D mapping so you can better understand the hubs of influencers (based on linkages) and how a message is potentially being spread

Customer service = brand management in social media

More and more companies are discovering the power of being first line responders on Twitter for customer issues. Microsoft just announced that it is joining Twitter with their own support channel. There are many examples of great brand management through customer service. Matt has aggregated a few.

And if you think that one customer with two followers may not be all that important, think again. Analysts and journalists are increasingly participating actively and may pick up on a random conversation - all of a sudden, you could have what we've come to call the Streisand Effect.

So don't jump to rash conclusion. Instead, jump on Twitter and join the customer conversation. Even if your customers are not there yet, chances are that those who talk about your company and brand on Twitter will come up in search - as in search engine search [hat tip Louis Gray].

Plus, you could start from a less than ideal position and turn things around to the point that your company develops a well though-out Twitter strategy, complete with customer segmented offers like Dell did.

[image by Neuro Productions Twitter Browser]

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Related posts:

You're on Twitter, now What?

Twitter: Macro Insights from Micro Interactions

Business Uses for Twitter

Premium design references

Waffer Tosh: Beach

Check out the site: http://www.tosh.com.co
Advertising Agency: Netbangers, Bogota, Colombia
Strategy: Netbangers
General Director: Daniel Lacorazza
Creative Director: Camilo Ramirez
Project Manager: David Pinilla
Creative: Juan Guerra
Script-copy writer: Juanita Uribe
Designer: Sandra Ramirez, Andres Rojas
Animation: Mario Polo
Developers: Luis Sanchez, Leonardo Moreno
Audio-Music: Juan Lacorazza
Published: October 2009

'Viral Loop' by Adam L. Penenberg - The Power Of Pass-It-On

At the Adtech London conference I presented my model of 'the Destination and the Conversation' and spoke about how everything now works together.

Traditionally it was (primarily) about pushing people to a Destination (a website, a microsite etc) through broadcasting a message along the lines of 'go here now!' However, the prolification of social platforms on the web has now added a second element to marketing, 'the Conversation.' The Conversation is where people discuss, share and interact in online social spaces - from blogs to Facebook to YouTube etc.

The Destination and The Conversation from my presentation to Adtech
(click for larger / higher res image)

Brands are now able to directly participate in and leverage this Conversation. This delivers traffic to the Destination, but in a more subtle and potentially engaging way than traditional broadcast messaging.

The real value though comes from a kind of built in, self-fulfilling loop. The more people who go to the Destination, the more prominently it features in the Conversation and thus the more people go to the Destination and so on (all the time improving Search Engine visibility and further enhancing 'discoverability.')

I go into more depth on how these mechanics work on a previous post about The Destination and The Conversation here.

This idea of a continuous loop is also a key component of a new book by Adam L Penenberg - 'Viral Loop: The Power of Pass-it-on.'



Viral Loop says 'the potential of pass-it-on lay unrealised until forward-thinking Web companies got hold of it and created their own, mightily efficient, money-spinning model known as Viral Loop - the ability to grow a company exponentially because the customers themselves spread it.'

Viral Loop is an interesting read, featuring a multitude of examples and first hand accounts as well as occassional theories on virality measures. The text covers examples of early viral loop businesses such as Ponzi schemes and Tupperware, before arriving at the current day with discussions of social networks and the like.

In some ways Viral Loop also acts as a history of Web 2.0, analysing some of the online success stories from recent years. Penenberg goes into depth on sites like Hot Or Not, looks at the origins of Hotmail (and how the Hotmail mesage footer spread the service), looks at Ebay and Paypal, how Birthday Alarm evolved into Bebo, browser wars and Marc Andreesen (charting his progress from Mosaic designer to Ning founder) before moving on to more recent developments such as Friendster, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

The book is also peppered with examples of how different people have harnessed the Viral Loop to gain attention for their products and creations. For example how independent film makers harnessed the Loop to gain attention for films like 'Four Eyed Monsters' and 'Open Water' or highlighting activity such as the Mentos / Diet Coke YouTube experiments - all set against the context of the Loop.

Furthermore, in its promotional campaign Viral Loop tries to practice what it preaches. The book has beenserialised in Wired UK, has seen guest posts penned for sites like Techcrunch and Viral Loop has a trailer on YouTube here:

Popout
Viral Loop is also represented through specially created social applications. The Social Networking Application 'How Much Are You Worth to Facebook and MySpace?' can be accessed at viralloop.com/social and a Viral Loop Predictions App for iPhone can be downloaded through iTunes or from viralloop.com/prediction - with everything highlighted by the author on his @Penenberg Twitter account.

I recommend Viral Loop to anyone working in or around online / social marketing. The book provides a wealth of examples showing how the Loop has been used, as well as outlining some frameworks for planning / analysing viral distribution (viral co-efficients etc.)

Related posts

My presentation to Adtech London - 'The Destination and The Conversation'

GEMAS effie MENA Awards 2009 shortlist

Non-Food FMCG Sensodyne Pronamel (GSK): Mumpowerment Sunsilk (Unilever): Sunsilk Day Clorox: Green Works Pond's (Unilever): The launch of Pond's in GCC Nivea (Beiersdorf): Beauty is Nivea Pronamel for Children (GSK): Consumer Testimonials Carefree (Johnson & Johnson): Carefree ME launch Corega (GSK): Consumer Testimonials Pantene (P&G): Credentialing Marketing Campaign Clorox: Clorox Health & Wellness Campaign Development Parachute (Marico): Effective Differentiation Band Aid (Johnson & Johnson): Cover the ones you love Food & Beverages FMCG Doritos (SSFL): Guess the Mystery Flavour Coca-Cola: African Cup of Nations Kraft Cheddar Cheese (Kraft Foods): Winning the battle of the sexes Oasis (NFPC Oasis): Water for Africa Special K (Kellogg's): Drop of Jeans Size Galaxy (Mars Inc): Fall in Love Again Special K (Kellogg's): Red Dress Competition Galaxy (Mars Inc): New Shape Maxwell House Trio (Kraft Foods): Maxwell Trio Time Office Party Masafi: Fruitherapy Best New Product Launch Gillette Vector Plus (P&G): Airforce Academy Pond's (Unilever): The launch of Pond's in GCC Illume energy efficient bulbs (Ecobility): Make the Switch Zee Aflam: Zee Aflam launch Persil (Henkel): creating a new laundry category Doritos (SSFL): Guess the mystery flavour Sensodyne (GSK): Mumpowerment Le Mall (Acres Devt Holding): Le Mall launch Emirates NBD: 0% Installment Plan Best Use of CSR Oasis (NFPC Oasis): Water for Africa Masafi: Corporate Recycling Initiative P&G: Create Heroes Project Launch GM: Buckle up Child Seat Safety Illume energy efficient bulbs (Ecobility): Make the Switch MAF Properties: Make a Difference this Ramadan Banking/Finance RAK Bank: RAKMAN Mashreq Bank: Mashreq Corporate Insurance Federation of Egypt: Awareness campaign Noor Islamic Bank: launch campaign Mashreq Bank: Get the Message Mashreq Bank: Etisalat Mashreq Credit Card Best Youth Marketing Campaign Aveo (GM): Totally Street MBC: Movies in Motion Mars Ice Cream (Mars Inc): Funk up Your Price Doritos (SSFL): Guess the Mystery Flavour Clean N Clear (Johnson & Johnson): Touch 10 KitKat (Nestle): The Kit Kat Chunky Boys Microsoft Gulf: Imagine Cup Automotive  Alhamrani United Co.: Alhamrani After Sales ACDelco (GM): The YES Campaign Ford Fiesta (Ford Motor Co): Ford Fiesta Launch Cadillac (GM): Cadillac CTS Aveo (GM):  Totally Street Volkswagen: Integrated Campaign for Launch Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Bahrain City Centre (MAF Properties): A Groundbreaking Mall Experience WOMAD Abu Dhabi (ADACH): Bringing the people of Abu Dhabi together Emirates T3 (Emirates Airline): A Destination in Itself Etihad: Etihad Marries India to the world Al Qasba (Al Qasba Devt Authority): Welcome Back Visitors Media/Internet/Content Provider The Economist: Join the Global Conversation - UAE Noor Islamic Bank: Launch Campaign Zee Aflam: Zee Aflam channel launch Telecommunications Saudi Telecom Co: New Day, New Dawn Real Estate ETA Star Property Developers: Developer of the Year Bahrain City Centre (MAF Properties): A Groundbreaking Mall Experience Electronics/Computers HP: HP Dr. Printer

Cannes Lions speaks out…finally

Statement From Cannes Lions On 'Scam' Entries

14 October 2009

Following detailed consultation and discussion with industry leaders, the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival wishes to make clear its policy on entries into its Festivals which breach the rules.

There are many definitions of “scam”, and the issue is rarely black and white. As such, we want to develop a policy that is not only workable but also enforceable.

The role of Cannes Lions and its associated Festivals (Eurobest, Dubai Lynx and Spikes Asia) is to set the benchmark for creativity in communications, to celebrate creativity and to reward the industry for outstanding creative work.

Our role is not to come between the client and the agency; it is not to have a negative material effect on agency business; and it is not to penalise individuals from an agency who have not had any association with the work in question. 

Our key rules in this regard are simple: “Entries cannot be made without the prior permission of the advertiser/owner of the rights of the advertisement. All entries must have been made within the context of a normal paying contract with a client. That client must have paid for all, or the majority of, the media costs.”

It is our policy that when a piece of work comes into question, we request clarification or further information according to the complaint raised. If it is not forthcoming or not adequate, we withdraw the award. 

In future we will continue to withdraw awards that do not meet our entry criteria and announce that we have done so. 

Our entry criteria include: 

- Submitting full client details (including name, position and full contact details)
- A senior officer (CD, CEO or Chairman) from the entrant company must authorise the entry 

Our checks include: 

- That the client is legitimate and that the product corresponds with their portfolio
- Judges are offered the opportunity to raise queries with the organisers and information is gathered accordingly throughout the judging (media schedules, client authorisation, etc.) 

We believe that banning agencies from entering on a wholesale basis is unfair on blameless individuals. There are many people who work in agencies who may not be involved with an erroneous entry and therefore should not be penalised. Our policy will be to ban the individuals named on the credit list if a scam is discovered. 

The length and nature of the ban will be decided based on the seriousness of the case involved. We take the view that not all issues are the same and each case should be dealt with on its own merits. 

In summary, the key issues which will guide us through this process are: 

1) Was the work approved and paid for by the client and was it run using media space paid for by the client? 
2) If an entry fails to meet this or other entry criteria, we will withdraw the award and make an appropriate announcement. 
3) If we deem it is required, we will ban the individuals involved from entering our awards for a specific period of time which will be decided at that time. 

- Ends -

For further information, please contact:
Amanda Benfell, PR & Press Manager 
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
Greater London House, Hampstead Road, London NW1 7EJ, United Kingdom
Tel: +44-20-7728 4040; Fax: +44-20-7728 4044; 
E-mail: amandab@canneslions.com

Axe| Gravity

Cellphones banking

Cellphone overtakes PC for banking

JOHANNESBURG:- The number of people banking from their cellphones has exceeded that of people banking from their PCs in South Africa, with more than a quarter of bank customers turning to their cellphones for services ranging from informational transaction types such as balance enquiries to financial transaction types which include account payments.

This was one of the key findings from the consumer phase of the Mobility 2009 research project, released today by leading market research organisation World Wide Worx. The study was backed by First National Bank (FNB), leaders in cellphone banking in Africa, and Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind the BlackBerry solution.

“It is encouraging to see that not only in FNB, but across the country, cellphone banking is now part of people’s lives,” says Len Pienaar, CEO, FNB mCommerce.

The Mobility 2009 study is being conducted in four phases, with the first three looking at the use of mobile technologies by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Consumers and Corporations, and the final phase exploring the Mobile Internet. In the second phase, announced at a press conference today, it was revealed that, while 16% of banking customers in South Africa use the internet for banking, 28% use their cellphones. A total of 34% of banking customers use one or both of these channels. Outside of the branch and ATMs, only 6% relying exclusively on the internet, while 18% rely only on cellphone banking.

“The fact that services like cellphone banking are taking off so strongly shows that consumers no longer see their cellphones only as voice and text messaging devices, but use them stay in touch with everything that matters in their business and personal lives,” says Deon Liebenberg,Regional Director for Sub Sahara Africa at RIM. “With a device like a BlackBerry smartphone, you have immediate access to financial information, your accounts and banking services while you are on the go, wherever you are.”

The study revealed that the main services driving cellphone banking were balance enquiries and notifications of transactions, with three quarters of cellphone bankers using these features. Just under half view statements on their cellphones, 35% transfer between accounts, and 28% pay accounts on their cellphones. In contrast, only 8% add beneficiaries via the cellphone, indicating both security concerns and set-up issues.

“Our research shows that South Africans are becoming comfortable with cellphone banking, but precisely half of general banking customers are still nervous of it, citing trust as their major concern,” says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx. “However, this concern must be seen in the light of 34% also saying the issue is not knowing how to use the service.”

“Although we have made great inroads, two-thirds of banked people still don’t use electronic channels, other than an ATM,” says Pienaar.

At the same time, two thirds of cellphone banking users were satisfied with the security of the channel. This suggests that, once customers start using cellphone banking, they grow increasingly confident in both security and usability aspects.

“We have seen this rapid adoption driven by our USSD menu service, although I believe that WAP will start to play a more important role in future,” says Pienaar.

Liebenberg adds: “The success of cellphone banking shows that there is a strong demand in South Africa for powerful and easy to use mobile data services and applications that help people to save time and stay in control of their lives at all times. With mobile penetration at more than 114% in South Africa, we can expect to see the adoption of mobile banking and other personal services and applications ramp up quickly.”

The study also shows purchasing via the cellphone beginning to take off, with 24% of cellphone banking customers purchasing prepaid electricity and 21% making general purchases like movie tickets and flowers. Purchase of airtime still leads the way here, accounting for 61% of cellphone banking users.

Mobility 2009 included research among 1,000 consumers in metropolitan areas, 1,000 SMEs and 240 large enterprises in South Africa. - 3 November 2009

In a nutshell:

Services driving cellphone banking:

• Balance enquiry: 74%
• Notifications: 73%
• Buying airtime: 61%
• Statement/mini-statement: 48%
• Notification of account limit: 47%
• Transfer funds between accounts: 35%
• Pay accounts: 28%
• Buy pre-paid electricity: 24%
• Make a purchase: 21%