A Noble Idea Part 2: The Quest to Connect, Barnes and Noble in Social Media

After weeks of build-up, anticipation and a dizzying marketing campaign, my social media monitoring client of choice Barnes & Noble is almost ready to release the newest addition to the Nook family; Nook HD+ and Nook HD. *Point of correction- my previous blog stated these products were set to be released November 1st; however they will not be in customers’ hands until November 8th. With less than a week before the new product (hitting shelves just in time for the holiday season) debuts, one would expect a social media blitz, especially considering the many other tablets and e-readers on the market today.

However, looking at the data taken from Social Mention, it would appear B&N has changed very little, if anything in their social media outreach.

 

 

As you can see looking at the comparison, the likelihood B&N is being discussed in social media (or Strength), actually decreased a significant amount between October 21st and the 30th from 32% to 2%. Yet it bounced back up to 32% strength by November 1st. Sentiment briefly increased to 9 positive comments for every 1 negative comment on October 24th, but that number tumbled to 4:1 by November 1st. The passion of the brand looked to be on the rise, jumping from my last post 36% up to 51% and 53% on October 30th. But only 2 days later the passion had fallen back to 35%. Reach, range of influence, after dropping to 34%, clawed its way slowly back to 59%. The neutrality of the numbers ranging from October 21st to November 1st would suggest not much of a change in B&N’s customer interaction.

Also to be noted, Google Trends shows a bit of a drop in interest as well. The spike up to a 100 value on October 23rd seems to be completely random as there were no new products or pre-orders announced that day. After the spike on the 23rd the trend takes a dip, falling below 80 and staying within the same range for the next week.
Though data sources such as Social Mention and Google Trends paint a grim picture for B&N as they approach the busiest shopping season of the year that does not spell certain doom for the company. Their number of Facebook & Twitter fans has steadily increased each day since my last post. Facebook has increased to 1,478,821 (up 6226 in 2 weeks) and Twitter gained 765 new followers, bringing their total to 62,419 as of November 3rd.


October 30th, 2012

November 3rd, 2012

 

The social media monitoring site Socialbakers.com shows the slow-but-steady increase of fans in graph form. Twitter data, including twitter account usage can be seen in the bar graph from Twittalyzer. The site categorizes B&N as “Reporter” status, meaning they post fairly frequently, but not to elicit a specific response from readers.

 

Before taking a more specific look at the posts B&N is using to capture their audience on two of the most widely used social media platforms, we must first understand the demographics the company is reaching. Using Alexa.com, we are able to see some extremes in B&N with regards to their target audience. The information gathered for these demographics relates to the popularity of BN.com to the general internet population. According to Alexa.com, the B&N website over-represents females, individuals that are 65 years of age or older, have either some college or a college degree and are browsing from home. Men are severely under-represented as are those with either no college or a graduate degree. What surprised me was to see that the 18-24 demographic was under-represented, since B&N has an extensive section of the store catering to readers in that range.



Customer participation
B&N continues to use Facebook more effectively than Twitter, asking for responses to questions, rather than just announcing a promotion or sale.

 

To promote a particular book, B&N will ask their customers a question relating to the theme of the book. The example above for the book “Proof of Heaven,” B&N received 114 comments to their question about a belief in an afterlife and it received 254 likes. Sometimes posts with no promotional value receive more of a response, such as the one above with 837 comments and 429 likes, asking which book world customers would most like to live in. This post is an example of B&N’s audience engagement which Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff explain the importance of in their book Groundswell.
Another example of audience engagement which received an extremely large response for was the posts B&N made in regards to Hurricane Sandy. Connecting to customers in a specific region of the country showed the company was not too large to care for its customers in the Northeast.

Unfortunately, even though B&N gained new Twitter followers since my first post, many who leave comments are unsatisfied customers. This means most posts to Twitter end up being a form response about emailing customer service with their complaint. Above are some examples of what many B&N posts look like.
However, they seem to have improved their response times for negative tweets, often getting back to the customer that same day soon after posting. There are also those who do leave positive comments, however, the majority of the B&N page is taken up by those who vent their anger with the company in 140 characters or less.



Suggestions: Based on this data…
Barnes & Noble is a massive company, which can be a roadblock when it comes to personalized customer engagement, which is why using a quick, accessible tool like social media is so effective, but only if used correctly. Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff lay out the path to follow a successful use of social media in Groundswell. If B&N were to take these objectives and apply them to their social media outlets, their communication would be more effective; expanding their reach, increasing their customers’ passion and strengthening their brand.

Listening: It has already been shown that B&N customers have no qualms about voicing their opinions in public social media forums. The company needs to listen to what it is the customers are asking about, across the board, not just on Twitter and take steps to alleviate some of the issues customers have. Perhaps there are common questions that are always asked which could be part of a “FAQ Weekly Blog” which could be advertised through the website, Facebook and Twitter. B&N also needs to listen to their customers who are happy with a particular service or product they currently provide so that they can continue with the established practice or product.

Talking: B&N does a far better job of trying to connect with customers of Facebook than Twitter and their blog Unabashedly Bookish is severely under-used. Their posts to Facebook and Twitter need to be linked so that whatever is posted to one also posts to the other. They also occasionally have issues responding to negative Twitter comments. Within such a large company, there should be one person designated to online communication.

Energizing: As previously stated, B&N has a robust but under-used blog Unabashedly Bookish with a group of built-in enthusiasts. B&N needs to more heavily promote the blog and make it easier to find on the homepage. Perhaps the company could “deputize” a customer who is active in the blog to contribute a review which would be featured as a customer’s pick on the homepage and offer them a discount on their next purchase or a free book download on Nook. This would not only energize those who are active to continue to contribute, but strengthen the use and sale of their new Nooks.

Supporting Itself: Though B&N has many boards discussing their family of Nooks, these boards are somewhat buried on the website, but full of great content! B&N should make the Nook boards more accessible on the homepage. They also do a great job of keeping all Nook tutorials together.

Embracing: B&N is currently focusing on their 2 Facebook and 2 Twitter pages, however I feel they have an opportunity to branch out to new forms to inspire and energize people. Since customers are such a large component of B&N, it makes sense to listen and respond to what they say. B&N has played it safe by not venturing out in social media, but their reach could be improved and increased by exploring options such as a Google+ account or host podcasts interviews with authors which customers can download on iTunes.

B&N has done a great job of creating a base for themselves in social media. However it appears that their outlets are becoming stale, attracting less and less new customers each day. It’s time for B&N to begin thinking outside the box and use the foundation they have already created to their advantage. Elbert Hubbard said, “I do not read a book: I hold a conversation with the author” (Quotationary, pg. 68). B&N must be willing to hold conversations with their customers- it is the key to their success.

A Noble Idea: Barnes & Noble in Social Media, Part 1

Since childhood my toy store of choice has always been Barnes & Noble.  The New York Times has called B&N “by far, the largest bookstore chain in the United States,” (article) and they are looking to expand their reach overseas in the near future.  As you have probably guessed from my previous blog posts, books and reading are a great passion of mine.  Though B&N originated in 1873, it did not open as a full-fledged bookstore under the name Barnes & Noble until 1917 in New York City (Wikipedia).  Since then, the store has grown in size and offerings.  A traditional B&N will include sections for DVDs, CDs, stationary/journals, novelty gifts, magazines and a café (Starbucks) in addition to books.  However, it is B&N’s newest item which generates the most buzz and the most profit:  the Nook, a tablet which offers “incredible reading and entertainment,” boasts the website.  Customers can choose from the NookHD+, HD, Tablet, Color, Simple Touch w/ Glowlight, Simple Touch, and 1^st Edition.

 

 

For the past three weeks I have used Social Mention, GoogleTrends, Twittalyzer, Facebook, Twitter and UnabashedlyBookish (BN Community blog) to follow the online exploits of the bookstore giant and its famous Nook.  Though the Nook has a separate Facebook and Twitter page, for the purpose of this blog, I will be focusing on Barnes & Noble’s company accounts.  The purpose of my research is to see how being such a large chain affects the company’s ability to focus on creating relationships with and connecting to their customers.

Web presence

Barnes & Noble has done a fairly decent job representing themselves online, creating as previously mentioned, a Facebook page for both the company and one just for the Nook. They have followed the same model on Twitter, trying to connect to their customers in 140 characters or less.

  

 

Since branding is such an important part of marketing, especially in large companies such as this, I expected the pages to have a common theme.  Instead each is treated as a separate entity, with their Twitter account containing no graphics at all.

 

In addition to their traditional social media sites, B&N uses their website to drive sales, inform customers of new items and announce special promotions.  As they are currently gearing up for the release of the Nook HD and HD+ on November 1^st, a graphic of the items has been on the homepage for at least the last month.  Also part of the website, UnabashedlyBookish promises new content each day, giving customers the opportunity to engage in literary conversation with B&N staff and other customers.  Spanning the six different B&N blogs, the company maintains, there have been over 23,650 posts as of October 21^st.

 

Data Doesn’t Lie

If we look at the company using the online tool Social Mention over the course of three weeks, we see steady increases in areas such as strength, going from 6%, jumping up to 23% and finally 32%.  The reach also saw a major gain, starting off at only 18% and then skyrocketing to 51% before a final buoy set it at 62%.  However, sentiment and passion did not enjoy the same good fortune, each declining.  Passion in B&N fell from 55% on October 9^th down to 35% on October 15^th.  One week later on the 21^st, passion had only rebounded by 1%, leaving it at 36%.  With regards to sentiment, B&N saw a high on October 15^th with a 6 to 1 positive sentiment and then a drop to only a 3 to 1 ratio by the next week.

To see more linear representations of the company’s sales over time, I used Google Trends to look at the company over a 30-day and 90-day time span.  (This interest was confined to United States consumers.)  Though both graphs show a relatively high level of interest, the numbers seemed to have reached their peak in mid-September and have been on a decline since then, with only brief peaks.  A few contributing factors may have been the upcoming announcement of the new Nook products on September 24^th and pre-order sales for J.K. Rowling’s book “ACasual Vacancy,” released September 27^th.

Looking at the Facebook page data for the company, there has been a small increase from week to week in the amount of likes they have received, growing from 1,468,873 likes on October 9^th to 1,472,595 on October 18^th.  The largest and more surprising increase came in the number of people talking about B&N, jumping 6,726 people in just one week.  While not looking at the Nook Facebook page specifically, it is important to note that while gaining 1650 likes, the page has dropped 5,373 people talking about the Nook.

 

But what do all these numbers translate to?  Barnes & Noble hopes it will translate to more customers engaging with them on the site so they cannot only energize current customers, but cultivate new areas of growth for the company.  A number of posts ask their followers to tell them what they are reading, or leave a question for an upcoming author interview.  One post on October 5^th asking B&N followers what they plan to read that weekend received almost 1300 comments with 547 likes.  A more recent post asked customers to tell what DC comic book character they were being for Halloween, generating a number of comments and almost 300 likes.

Unfortunately B&N has not connected to its followers on Twitter as closely as it has on Facebook.  With 61,746 followers, the company spends most of its time on Twitter answering customers.  A trend seems to be that while positive tweets are generally responded to quickly, angry tweets about poor customer service or missing merchandise have to sometimes wait 2-3 days.

 

Looking at date from Twitalyzer for the company for the most recent week of October 15^th-21^st, B&N is categorized as a casual user.  To make more effective use of connecting quickly with customers, the company I believe would benefit greatly from linking their Facebook and Twitter accounts so the same posts go to both feeds.  This will also give a sense of continuity to both pages and could improve their analytics from Twitter.

 

In the coming weeks I plan to look more closely at how or if their response to customers improves in both of their main social media sites.  Since their new product is set to launch on November 1^st, it will be interesting to see if the company decides to do any type of social media blitz surrounding the release and how they respond to consumer issues directly following the release.  Being such a large company can present a challenge when it comes to meeting customer’s needs.  If Barnes & Noble can create and sustain a stronger online customer service response model, it will prove they are ready to handle the groundswell and begin using it more to their advantage.