Acme.com Social
Media Strategy
Benefits and possible actions
by John Haydon
Connecting Customers, Prospects and Advocates
Thursday, December 17, 2009
What’s in here?
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Increasing inbound leads and live referrals :-)
Increasing customer retention
The Acme.com Social Map
How Acme.com can create a successful blog
Not everyone will comment on the blog - here’s why
How Acme.com can use Twitter
How Acme.com can create a successful Forum
Crowd-sourcing product development
Questions for discussion
Connecting Customers, Prospects and Advocates
Thursday, December 17, 2009
More inbound leads
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Account Managers and Community Managers listen and respond to the community with Twitter, LinkedIn, the
Forum and Company Blog. In return, evangelists naturally use these tools to spread the word to their
friends. Why? Because they’ve just had a great experience with Acme.com! Zappos, Comcast and Dell
are great examples of this. In short, success depends on a team effort involving many departments at
Acme.com.
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Some of these evangelists create content or contribute to content on the web (Blogs, Youtube videos, Flickr
pics, LinkedIn groups). Providing as many platforms for these actions will increase the impact of these
actions. For example, customers can be given the opportunity in the Acme.com forum to show off how
smart they are by writing educational content. Why would they do this? Because it advances their position in
their universe and also satisfies a need to get their ego stroked.
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Evangelists need to feel valued once they contribute. Discounts are great, but a sincere gesture of
acknowledgement and appreciation is better.
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A large part of the community (both prospects and customers) are busy HR folks who seek valuable
content. An abundance of “how-to” articles in the blog and forum will satisfy these folks, and ultimately have
them sharing this content. Why? Because they want to look smart.
Connecting Customers, Prospects and Advocates
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Increasing customer retention
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It goes without saying that Michael Provenzano’s work with the AMs has been stellar!
With AMs monitoring the Forum and Twitter, customer complaints can be dealt with
early and often.
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The addition of the Forum would be seen as yet another reason for folks to continue
their subscription with Acme.com.
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Access to other HR professionals in the Acme.com community would also be a value add
for current customers. Professional networking opportunities would be facilitated
through the Forum.
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Customers who are evangelists within the Forum would be consistently selling the value
of being a Acme.com client.
Connecting Customers, Prospects and Advocates
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Acme.com Social Map
Consumer Customers
Business Customers
Twitter
Forum
Social Games
Company Blog
(Facebook connect?)
Twitter
Youtube
LinkedIn Q&A
LinkedIn Discussions
YouTube
Business customers and prospects that have a great
experience on Twitter, LinkedIn spread the good
word. The key is to give them a great experience
with:
1. A fast response
2. Valuable and timely answers
3. No sales pitch
Connecting Customers,
Prospects and
and Advocates
Advocates
Customer, Prospects
Thursday, December 17, 2009
How Acme.com can create a successful blog
“I can’t afford to miss a single blog post” - subscriber
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Publish content that is extremely useful to the readers. Big thoughts about where HR is headed is useless. Most of the
readers will want to glean information that they can apply immediately.
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SCREs (and others) should post to the blog, but not if it feels like homework. Encourage SCREs to creatively include blog
posting as an integral part of their job. For example, a client question on market pricing that Joe responds to might be
repurposed into a blog post.
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All posts should be written to the reader in a human voice, almost as if it’s a personal letter. For example, “When you rank
your jobs in preparation for your salary structure...” is better than “Ranking jobs is the next step in building a salary
structure”.
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A strategy should be developed for external linking. Acme.com partners that publish blogs will feel heard and valued if we
link to their blog posts.
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Posts should be interlinked where appropriate. For example, a post on market pricing executives that mentions job matching
should be linked to a post about job matching. The more interlinked the blog is, the more valuable it will be for the reader.
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Visitors should be able to subscribe by email or RSS easily - and not be put on any other email lists. Social media is 100% opt-in.
Give visitors an easy way to connect to Acme.com’s Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn Groups.
Get to know other bloggers in the HR sphere. Have a plan to partner with these folks.
Connecting Customers, Prospects and Advocates
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Not everyone will comment on the blog - here’s why:
As Acme.com becomes active in social
media, it will become clear that some
people actively contribute to the forum,
comment on the blog and even publish
their own blogs.
A comprehensive strategy should include
how to engage with these folks.
However, most of our customers will
simply read our blog. How can we create
ways to hear what they’re thinking?
Polls are one way to engage this 33%.
Connecting Customers,
Prospects and
and Advocates
Advocates
Customer, Prospects
Thursday, December 17, 2009
How Acme.com can use Twitter
“Acme.com responded to my question quickly - without any sales pitch.” - Follower
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Twitter culture mandates conversation. If all people see on Twitter is the Company Blog RSS, people will conclude that
Acme.com has no interest in being part of the community. The simple fact of Acme.com actively engaging with folks on
Twitter says that we’re young, we’re smart and we’re human.
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Twitter should be used to answer questions folks have on HR issues and salaries. If an HR professional tweets “Does anyone
know how much a software programer in Dallas should be paid”, answering back: “As of July 1st software programers make
$87,650 per year in Dallas” adds immediate value for that person. This exchange, seen by thousands of people, says that
Acme.com is responsive, helpful and interested in contributing to the community.
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Twitter exchanges can be posted in Salesforce and followed up on when appropriate.
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Twitter can be used as a powerful customer service tool. Comcast, Dell, JetBlue and Zappos are examples.
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Business apps like CoTweet can be used to enable several Acme.com employees to manage one corporate Twitter account.
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Acme.com executives sincerely interested in using Twitter would communicate transparency - a trait valued in today’s
market. Warning: Faking an interest in transparency will eventually be revealed - people can sniff out a fake.
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Twitter should be monitored and posted to as much as possible. This will drive more traffic to the blog and increase SEO.
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Multiple Acme.com Twitter accounts can be set up, each with it’s own purpose: @Acme, @AcmeCustServ, @AcmeDotCom
- and each one can be used by multiple Acme.com employees.
Connecting Customers, Prospects and Advocates
Thursday, December 17, 2009
How Acme.com can create a successful Forum
“The forum enables me to get twice as much from my Acme.com investment.” - member
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The forum must be easy to join, navigate, and participate in - especially since many of our customers may not be tech-savvy.
Having the layout mirror our enterprise apps might be a good idea. It should also be visually attractive and inviting.
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SCREs, Product Managers, Account Managers and Community Managers should play an active role in the forum.
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Implement ways to measure individual user trends. Regularly survey members about what they want in the forum.
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Implement ways to measure conversations that take place outside the forum.
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Be prepared for forum members to misuse the forum - and have a plan on how to deal.
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Valuable content, how-to articles and video tutorials (I can help make these) should be posted to the forum a few times a
week. This will encourage customers to return, comment and contribute to the community.Value, value value! Customers
who have an amazing experience in the forum will certainly spread the good word. Keep the sales pitches to a bare minimum.
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A group of select customers should be invited to participate in the forum - before it’s officially launched. The launch should
only happen when there’s a healthy amount of activity in the forum. This will increase the likelihood of adoption when it does
go live. When was the last time you ate at an empty restaurant?
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Early adopters should be engaged with often. These folks will be core members who will create a community that lasts. How
can we reward these folks?
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The primary value of the forum is education and professional connections.
Connecting Customers, Prospects and Advocates
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Crowd-source product development
A key benefit of the Forum is to
capture customer input to the
Acme.com roadmap. There are
three ways to do this:
1. Conduct surveys
2. Post details on future product
enhancements and allow
customers to comment on
product development ideas
3. Monitor Forum for ideas engage, early and often with those
suggesting feedback
Connecting Customers, Prospects and Advocates
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Questions for discussion
What are the specific goals with the blog and forum?
What product would be best to start a forum around?
How comfortable is Acme.com with transparency?
How comfortable is Acme.com with making mistakes?
Is Acme.com willing to put the needs of the community first?
Does Acme.com currently know how to identify their cultists?
Connecting Customers, Prospects and Advocates
Thursday, December 17, 2009