Live the Experience

Final Social Media project from bcrompton

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.

What About Me? An Employee's Lament...

Have you ever gone to a work party not because you wanted to, but because your boss “strongly suggested” it, as a show of support for the company?  Your enthusiasm comes off as fake and it doesn’t give you any reason to participate on your own in the future.  Perhaps if you had decided on your own to attend the work event, the support for your company would be genuine and it would be an incentive to attend future events.

The inefficacy of a top-down model when trying to manage a groundswell movement within a company is an issue Li & Bernoff tackle in Chapter 11 of Groundswell.  Most of what we have read and talked about so far has been how a company can use the groundswell to actively engage with their customer and use it as a marketing tool.  But what the authors seek to do in this chapter is to impress upon their readers the importance of using the groundswell to also energize employees.

Many companies around the world are starting to adopt the idea of creating an internal social network for their employees to help with communication.  “Some of these applications came from management and others began as skunk-works projects, but what they have in common is this: they tap the power of the groundswell of ideas among the people who know best how your business runs, your employees” (Groundswell, pg. 216).  However, for these internal social networking opportunities to take root and flourish, they must evolve organically.  “You can’t force them [employees] to adopt groundswell thinking, any more than you can convince reluctant managers to deploy social technologies with your customers” (Groundswell, pg. 230-231).

To illustrate the concept of an internal social networking site at work in a large company, consider Nokia, a worldwide mobile phone producer.  According to simply-communicate.com Nokia has three main uses of social media to connect with all employees in a less “top-down model”: BlogHub, VideoHub and Infopedia.  On the site Conversations by Nokia they offer a timeline of their internal social media efforts.

In a 2011 interview for Conversations by Nokia, Tiina Jaatinen, Senior Communications Specialist, Social Media, spoke about the importance of all Nokia’s employees having a place to have a voice and quickly share with everyone else.  This is why BlogHub became of vital importance to the company.  With over 1400 active blogs and 100,000+ comments, Nokia is assured its employees, who each have an internal blog, they have a constantly evolving stream of work and ideas (Conversations by Nokia).  This is what Li & Bernoff where presenting with the case study looking at Blue Shirt Nation, the internal site for Best Buy employees.

The authors end their book urging their audience to remember social media is ever-changing and constantly evolving.  But if companies do not focus on forming relationships with their customers, they will never be able to reap the benefits social media can provide, both inside and out.



Elementary

     Even if you’ve never seen the new T.V. phenomenon Sherlock, chances are you have at least heard of it.  Sherlock is the newest show in a long line of British television exports to gain recent fame in the U.S.  However, since the show was not written for, or with an American audience in mind, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) knew if they were going to energize customers about a show which is already massively popular across the pond, they would need to engage with potential viewers by establishing an online presence.  To do this, they used a variety of online formats, including blogs, audio/visual files and forums.

Benedict Cumberbatch as "Sherlock"

     The Groundswell (authored by Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff) discusses using emerging technology in new and innovative ways to form a relationship through your outreach.  The BBC’s objective: to energize viewers about a beloved Victorian English classic character brought into modern day.

           

     Groundswell says energizing current customers will not only help to ensure they remain loyal, but will translate to “word-of-mouth” marketing.  Word of mouth has been called the most honest form of marketing because of its believability (pg. 130-131).  To reach out to an entirely new generation of television viewers, the BBC took to the Internet.   But they went further than maintaining a traditional Facebook or Twitter page; they created an entire blog site that one of the main characters in the show uses, as if he were a real person.

     Dr. John Watson’s Blog chronicles the many adventures he and the main character, Sherlock Holmes, have together, complete with blog entries and comments from other characters in the show.  Not only was the character of John Watson’s blog given real life, but other major characters such as Sherlock Holmes and Molly Hooper.   Yet the BBC knew it was not enough to create websites for fictional characters for viewers to scroll through, they had to create a place for fans to converse and ask questions about these people.

     For this they went back to one of the most basic forms of social media- the forum.  Forums allow users to log in online as a member and then “post any question or comment or they can respond to questions and comments posted by others.” (Groundswell, pg. 26)  Though many companies use forum boards to help solve problems, the BBC Sherlock Fan Forum has become an online community for those who are new to the show, or who have been avid fans since the first episode.  Below are examples of some of the conversations between members.

http://sherlock.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=1114

http://sherlock.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=102

http://sherlock.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=1148

 

All of their social media efforts seem to have paid off; the Guardian.uk reports “The first episode in the 2^nd season drew 3.2m viewers, more than double the average of PBS's primetime rating.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/may/18/sherlock-reichenbach-fall-live-chat) Only time will tell if these new tactics will effect long-time viewer loyalty.  But what do you think; would these new uses of available social media entice and energize you to become a Sherlock fan?

 



In the hands of the consumer

“Easier said than done.” We’ve all heard it a million times.  And whether we are talking about mustering up the courage to ask your crush to the prom, or helping your company make the leap to listening to and acting on your customer’s wishes and requests, the phrase still rings true.



Taken from WOMMA website: http://womma.org/main/

Chapters 7-10 of Groundswell center on engaging with customers online and how to use this digital communication to let them have a say in your product.

One of the most important ideas to come out of this particular section is the word-of-mouth energizing tactic.  Li & Bernoff quote the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA)  when defining the term as, “the most honest form of marketing, building upon people’s natural desire to share their experiences with family, friends and colleagues” (pg. 131).  Perhaps this is why when North American online consumers were asked what review source they trust the most before making a purchase, 83% trust the opinion of a friend or acquaintance who has used the product/service (Figure 7-1, pg. 132).

Anyone familiar with Amazon.com knows they devote a portion of each product display to the customer review section where they solicit those who have purchased the product to let others know what they thought.  They do this through comments and a star rating system of 1-5; one star being poor, and five stars being the best.

Taken from Amazon.com

Take, for example, Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD- the most telling analysis is the 888+ individuals who state exactly how they feel about the product.  Amazon, as it does with all its products has posted all reviews, positive and negative, because they realize as Li & Bernoff also point out, the negative reviews are helpful in lending credibility/believability to all the positive reviews.  This also allows Amazon to hear much quicker where the issues with their product lie (pg. 138, 140). 

A quick scroll through the customer reviews section (where readers can also vote on if the review was useful or not) will illustrate exactly what Li & Bernoff meant when they discussed the value of energizing consumers.  In a continuing effort to help the groundswell community support itself through tactics such as forums, wikis and Q&A blogs, (as discussed in Chapter 8), Amazon has created a Kindle Help Forum page which currently has over 1000 discussions posted.

By the time we reach Chapters 9 & 10 of Groundswell, the question of product innovation is addressed.  While the idea of product development may cause sweat to form on the brow of many company executives, Li & Bernoff offer a simple groundswell solution: Make customers part of your process.

Kindle Forum taken from Amazon.com

“Your customers are chomping at the bit to tell you what to do.  …Whether you’re ready or not, they are now part of your process” (Groundswell, pg.182). Giving customers a voice in your company leads to faster innovation and limitless creativity.

So what do you think; is this tactic easier said than done?

Geek Chic

I bet if someone asked you to describe what caused you to make your first foray into social media, your answer would have something to do with the entertainment value it provides.  Facebook provides you with a vast amount of games, Twitter allows you to follow celebrities every waking move and YouTube is a constantly evolving sea of video content ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous.  Now before you balk at this and condemn the notion as “not I,” look at the idea from this angle- there are some people whose livelihoods depend on your entertainment consumption; people, for example, like Chris Hardwick.

Chris Hardwick, ladies and gentleman, is the creator of The Nerdist Podcast, “a weekly interview show ‘about what it really means to be a nerd’” (Wikipedia, The Nerdist Podcast) according to Chris Hardwick and his comedian friends Jonah Ray and Matt Mira who frequently accompany him.


Now we know from what Li & Bernoff have told us way back in Chapter 2 of Groundswell that podcasts are far from the most popular way to consume social media.  Though blogging and reading blogs may be one of the most popular groundswell activities, blogging’s cousin called podcasting, sits at the other end of the user-generated content spectrum.  Podcasts reach around 11% of the online population in America, compared with bloggings 25% (pg. 19-20).  So if they haven’t caught on yet, why is The Nerdist so popular?  Let’s take a look at this podcasts humble begins in social media and how it has grown into what its website calls “a many headed beast.”

In its first incarnation, The Nerdist Podcast interviews recorded were used to generate conversations among a community and encourage listeners to comment, whether good or bad.  But being a tech-geek and frequent contributor to G4tv, Chris Hardwick, the podcast’s creator, knew the importance of multiple social media platforms when trying to recruit followers to his posts.

This was how a simple podcast created by friends erupted into a full-blown website covering all mediums of nerdist culture.  In addition to the typical Facebook, Twitter and Google+ accounts, The Nerdist also has an RSS feed, a YouTube Channel and a constantly updated calendar announcing when Chris Hardwick and his contributors will be performing at local theatres.

 

Followers of The Nerdist even caught the attention of cable network BBC America who produced a few of Hardwick’s podcasts as 1-hour television specials.  This is a preview of one of those specials:

 

What makes The Nerdist unique though is not all the social media outlets working in tandem; it’s the online community that was created.  It illustrates the Groundswell theory of community building, with content of the website and podcasts determined by what listener want.  A man with a desire to talk about all things nerdy used the groundswell to his advantage and was able to reach an entire community.  So how about you; are you ready to join the Nerdist Revolution?

The Court of Public Opinion

I think Brian Haven said it best when he said, “Face it: marketers no longer dictate the path people take, nor do they lead the dialogue” (Groundswell, 102).  Chapters 5 & 6 stressed the power of the consumer in the groundswell and the absolute necessity of a company to listen.  Gone are the days when a company or business would decide what their brand was to be, and the consumer had no real way of disputing this decision.  Now, anyone with a blog, a Facebook page or even just as simple as email, can take their opinion and spread it faster than ever before using simple groundswell tactics.  This is where the ability to listen and act upon what you have heard becomes vital.

photo taken from: http://adage.com/article/digital/week-s-top-trending-brands-tv-s-role-buzz/237114/

This is an election year and nowhere is listening more important than in a political campaign.  Within the last few years, we have seen campaigns use the Internet not only to disseminate information about a candidate, but to monitor public perception.  President Barack Obama’s campaign has used groundswell ideas to energize supporters and connect with those who may still be undecided.  No matter your political affiliation, President Obama’s campaign can be seen as a prime example of how to use the groundswell to your advantage without letting your brand become hijacked.
 

 

 



During election season, the American public is inundated with advertisements everywhere in every possible medium.  In chapter 6 we are introduced to the marketing funnel (Groundswell, 101), a way to understand the progression of a customer from awareness of a product through advertisement until they become a buyer.
 

Marketing funnel as pictured in Figure 6-1, Groundswell, pg. 101
 

 



Groundswell goes on to explain that advertisements, or “shouting”, only works to give people an awareness of your product.  Conversation, not advertisements, work on people once they have moved to the middle of the funnel (102) and this is where social media is able to play a large part in a campaign.

 

Looking once again at President Obama’s website for his re-election campaign, he has used what Li & Bernoff have listed as the most common forms of groundswell communication (103):

 

·       There are video posts, both from his campaign organizers and his supporters, such as the one below

 

·       10+ social network site opportunities, including sites such as Facebook, Google+ and Twitter

·    The Obama 2012 Blog features pictures from recent events, donation updates and video messages

·    Supporters can join groups depending upon the issues important to them (such as environmentalists or women’s issues) and be surrounded by a community of people with like-minded ideals.

 

The campaign has also devoted a portion of the webpage to “2012 Stories” where supporters are encouraged to send in pictures, videos and stories about issues important to them and how the participate in the campaign efforts.  With the online social media initiatives, and constant solicitation for opinions from the American public, President Obama’s campaign has taken what could prove to be a very tricky medium to navigate and done so with ease.