Monetize Social Media

1. The Secret to
MONETIZING
SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy
a publication of

2. Social media’s promise for marketers has been in building 1:1 relationships with
customers — relationships that can be leveraged to keep current customers happy and
engaged, while bringing new ones on board. Contents
According to market research conducted by The Incyte Group, however, Facebook,
1 SOCIAL MEDIA: THE MORE
Twitter, and other social media platforms are not necessarily the places where consumers THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE
go to build relationship with companies. When given a choice, they would rather join an THEY STAY THE SAME.............................. 2
Internet Community that is directly managed by the brand and exists on the company 2 CONTENT AND CONTEXT ARE KING:
website—something we like to call a “customer community.” WHAT CONSUMERS EXPECT FROM
CUSTOMER COMMUNITIES ................... 4
So why use these social networks at all?
3 EVANGELISTS PREACHIN’
THE FAITH: WHY YOU WANT
Consumers revealed in The Incyte Group study that while they like to explore relationships BRAND ADVOCATES.................................. 6
with brands through social networks, social media is merely a door to entering into that
4 WHAT IN HADES IS
deeper relationship with a brand or business. AN INTERNET COMMUNITY,
IF NOT A SOCIAL NETWORK? ............... 8
Despite the significant investments that companies have made to build a presence on
social platforms, there have been few actionable breakthroughs that prove impact on 5 HOW TO MAKE A CUSTOMER
COMMUNITY PART OF
revenue — until now. YOUR SOCIAL STRATEGY........................ 9
Whether you’re a marketing, product or customer service executive, or some other 6 INVESTIGATE TO ENLIGHTEN:
professional who needs to step up their social media game, the consumer research WHY GET SATISFACTION
COMMISSIONED THE
conducted by Incyte indicates that you need a customer community to build and maintain INCYTE GROUP STUDY......................... 10
your brand in social media.
THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 1

3. 1 THE MORE THEYTHE MORE THINGS CHANGE,
SOCIAL MEDIA:
STAY THE SAME
“How quickly things change” is an adage that has never been more true. From MySpace,
to Facebook, to Pinterest, what was sizzling yesterday could be lukewarm tomorrow.
Here’s what’s happening now.
Of almost 6,000 respondents to the Incyte Group research survey, the results focused on
responses from 1,897 qualified consumers, who actively use the Internet and represent
adults from all age, socio-economic, and geographic groups in the U.S.
Which social networks came out on top?
Nearly 83 percent of the representative sample frequented Facebook. Fifty-two percent
used YouTube. Almost 34 percent leveraged LinkedIn. Twitter and Google+ closed out the
Top 5.
In June 2012, All Things Digital described Pinterest as “On pace to become the most
significant driver of social traffic to e-commerce sites by the end of the year.” And the
Incyte research backed that up. Pinterest proved to be 2012’s rising star, coming in at 16.1
percent, and ranking above some social media stalwarts.
While these are the most popular social networks, it’s important to remember that the
purpose of social networks is to enable consumers to interact with each other. However,
The Incyte Group’s study went even deep than that to uncover how people want to
interact with brands. The results provided us with meaningful insight into the best ways to
drive revenue using social media.
THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 2

4. In a nutshell, here’s what they said:
Consumers prefer to interact with companies through an Internet
Community sponsored or run by the company, and they expect that
Internet Community to be apart of the company’s website—not just
in social networks. Without this customer-centered community, your
social media strategy is incomplete.
THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 3

5. CONTENT AND CONTEXT ARE KING: WHAT CONSUMERS EXPECT FROM
2 CUSTOMER COMMUNITIES
When asked, consumers said they were particularly interested in an Internet Community
when evaluating a product or service that they wanted to buy. In that context, the top four
things customer community users want are the following:
1 A way to ask questions and get answers from other consumers.
2 To see that the company answers questions (when the community doesn’t).
3 To review testimonials or praise posted by other consumers.
4 To see product reviews and usage tips and tricks posted by other consumers.
Where do consumers want to engage in an online community?
Incyte’s research showed that company websites are still the No. 1 place consumers will Company website is
go when researching products or services. While 58 percent of consumers will join an still the No. 1 place
Internet community through Facebook, it was way down the list as a tool consumers use
consumers go when
to research products.
researching products
What consumers said they would do to learn more about a new product or service.
or services.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Look at its website 81.1%
Go to a store 25.7%
Look at its Facebook page 19.9%
Research it on mobile phone 3.1%
THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 4

6. So again, mainstream social media channels are but a door to your brand: Customers
want to interact with your company in a community dedicated to their relationship with
your brand.
Here’s the good news: Making customer conversations an integral part of your Website
also generates valuable word of mouth marketing. The Incyte Group Study also showed
that.
“Forty-two percent of consumers The Incyte Group surveyed said they would freely
advocate for a product or service they care about. An additional 40.5 percent would
advocate with an incentive.”So that’s 82.6 percent of customers willing to take the time
to promote your brand online (and sometimes offline, as well). Here’s how to make that
magic happen.
What would characterize consumers willingness to become an advocate for a
product or service if there was an “Internet Community”? 82.6 percent of
customers willing to
promote a brand online
42.1% 40.5% Freely Advocate
Advocate w/Incentive
Would Not Advocate
17.4%
THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 5

7. EVANGELISTS PREACHIN’ THE FAITH:
3 WHY YOU WANT BRAND ADVOCATES
Gone are the zoot suits, snakeskin boots and makeshift tents. Community gives
you a bigger tent for your brand evangelism. The Incyte research showed that in the
community, relevant customer-generated content and information has double the impact
that company-generated content does. Kablam! Free advertising.
Here’s How Consumers Assess the Quality of Content
When Incyte Group respondents were asked what was most important to them in
determining the quality of content about a product or service, nearly 50 percent wanted
the opinion of other community members, while only 10 percent preferred company-
vetted content. The reputation of a community member was important to 34.7 percent of Relevant customer-
customers, when assessing the quality of content. The message here: generated content
When knowledgeable customers participate in the online voice of your brand, current and information has
customers and prospects listen. double the impact that
And today’s evangelists include everyone from “Mommy Bloggers” in the ‘burbs, to company-generated
“brogrammer” geeks in flip-flops, to college co-eds caffeinated on Red Bull. content does.
Here are some Customer community Member Programs to get customers to give a shout
out to your product and put some high quality leads in your pipeline.
1 Advocate Programs: Incyte research showed that more than 80% of consumers were willing to advocate
for products and brands they care about. More than half of those said they’d do it freely and without
an incentive. Managed communities are the perfect platform to identify and activate advocates who
would share content on social networks; contribute or post content on product pages of the website; and
attract new customers.
THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 6

8. 2 Referral and Lead Programs: Companies often create referral programs to generate new leads and
upsells. A customer community is a natural place for these. About 82 percent of Incyte research
respondents said they would provide sales leads and referrals after making a purchase at an online
community. Again, nearly half of those would do so without an incentive.
When you mix brand advocates with high quality content at a customer community,
sprinkle in the voice of your company’s creative team, what you have is recipe for
generating revenue through social media.
In summary, here are the 6 highlights of the Incyte consumer research:
6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Help
You Monetize Your Social Strategy
82.6 percent of customers are willing to promote your brand online—they
1 only have to be asked.
A company website is still the No. 1 place consumers go to when
2 researching products or services.
Consumers prefer to interact with companies through an Internet
3 community sponsored or run by the company; and they expect to find that
customer community on the company’s website.
Social media is a door into your customer community—58 percent
4 of consumers have joined an internet community based on a friend’s
Facebook post.
Relevant customer-generated content and information has double the
5 impact that company-generated content does. Free advertising.
Nearly 50 percent of consumers prefer the opinion of other community
6 members, while about 10 percent prefer company-vetted content.
THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 7

9. WHAT IN HADES IS AN INTERNET COMMUNITY,
4 IF NOT A SOCIAL NETWORK?
We’re glad you asked.
An Internet or customer community refers to one that is actively managed or sponsored
by a company or brand. It’s a place where customers can interact with one another, as
well as with representatives from the company.
Like a social network, a customer community allows customers to read, post, share, and
respond to content by and for one another. A customer community also permits them
to read, post, share and respond to information supplied by the sponsoring company or
organization.
An important objective of a customer community is to bring resolution and outcome to
what customers are saying, such as:
• Resolve customer support issues
• Provide a forum to react to ideas
• Answer pre-sales questions
THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 8

10. HOW TO MAKE A CUSTOMER COMMUNITY
5 PART OF YOUR SOCIAL STRATEGY
Get Satisfaction communities give companies and their customers the opportunity to
build stronger 1:1 relationships, online. With Get Satisfaction, you can engage with your
customers:
• On your Website
• On Facebook
• Via Search queries
• On mobile devices
With Get Satisfaction you can embed relevant customer generated conversations on
literally every page of your website, where they read or watch content about your brand or
business.
Your company’s customer community members and brand advocates will do a lot
of the work for you – at little to no cost. To ensure that your community’s members
participate readily and often, Get Satisfaction’s platform addresses the following needs
for companies of all sizes:
• Customer Support
• Marketing
• E-commerce
• Product Management
We regularly release new features, provide educational webcasts, and engage with our
own customers, both online and off. Check back in a few weeks for our next ebook, which
will highlight the demographic and market findings from The Incyte Group research.
THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 9

11. INVESTIGATE TO ENLIGHTEN: WHY GET SATISFACTION
6 COMMISSIONED THE INCYTE GROUP STUDY
While no one needed to convince us that a customer community helps build social
brands on the Web, we wanted to find out more about what consumers want from their
experience with communities. The goal: To better serve the business needs of both small
and enterprise companies using Get Satisfaction. After all, these are our customers.
The Incyte Group asked hundreds of questions to everyday consumers as well as experts
(CMOs and other business leaders, as well as academics). From this research, Get
Satisfaction learned even more about how to create the types of communities that will
Have questions?
accomplish the most important business goal of all: To drive revenue.
Feel free to email
sales@getsatisfaction.com
or, you can call
877-339-3997
and talk to a
real human.
http://youtu.be/CtnrQ1Gucl4
THE SECRET TO MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 6 Consumer Buying Behaviors that Will Change Your Social Strategy 10