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Topics
• What is Social Media
• How to leverage Social Media as a Sales Channel
• Develop a Sales Channel with a Strong Framework
• Example (Travel Sector)
• Getting to grips with Measurement
• Recommendations
• Fast Facts- SinoTech Group
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What is social media?
Social media combines a wide range of online, word-of-mouth
forums including blogs, company sponsored discussion boards and
chat rooms, consumer-to-consumer e-mail, consumer product or
service ratings websites and forums, Internet discussion boards and
forums, and micro-blogs. (Wikipedia)
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Easy to find
information
What The Customer
Wants
Soci
al
netw
ork
What The Customer Sees
OTA
What organizations need to do
• Customers wants a product and not just a number of related component
• Product research has high transaction costs
• Information is available piece-meal & proliferation of social media content sources leads to confusion
• Company needs to help rather than confuse – provide clear paths from research to purchase.
Customer Perspective: Info Overload
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Customer Perspective: Pain Points
Customer Benefits (Your value add)Customer Costs
(pain points)
Availability
Reliability
Time
Anxiety
Effort Quality
Transactability
… the size of your user base and what kind of value added components
you provide.
Attributes that drive value to the
customer
User base
Components
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We need to develop integrated social media solutions
Enabling one-stop product discovery, research, sharing,
commenting and transaction is key.
• Wants products, not
components
• Transaction costs
• Information proliferation
• Planning & commerce
facilitation are key
Customer Perspective Industry Perspective
• Content, commerce &
reach value poor
independently
• Owning the customer
relationship
+
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Messaging Framework
MoreWaysof
Communicating.
We now have multiple channels for
saying things. And many of these
tools allow other people to
comment, respond, and spread
your message. The challenge is
choosing the right channel for who
you want to reach and what you
want to say.
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Model the Consumer Business Process
Technology
Trends
Participation By
End Users /
Seamless
Information Re-
composition
Rich media/
RIAs /
Improvements in
Usability
P2P Reliance In
Buying Behavior
Reduction of
Information
Asymmetry
Social
Behaviour
Use Social Media
as a Platform
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Consider the Product Positioning
• Customer purchase patterns in different segments vary in their sensitivity to
– Peer opinions
– Hard facts
• Commodities are fact sensitive; experiences are opinion sensitive
• Sharing of opinions impacts experience oriented / less defined products far more
Customized tours
ImpactofInformation
Impact of Customer Opinions/Sentiment-
+
+
Standard tours
Flights
Tickets
Boutique hotels
Event tickets
Cruises
Car rentals
Commodity
Purchase
Specialist
Purchase
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Value Chain Impact Assessment
Supplier Operator
Online Agents /
Offline Agents
Customer
Impact
Opportunities
Risks
• Greater reach/ visibility
• Disintermediation
• Context relevant
distribution /
promotion
• Service quality
exposed
• Comparability
• Product design based
on most popular
ratings online
• Customer service
becomes key
• Bundling for price
opacity
• Service quality
exposed
• DIYers can go direct to
local suppliers
• Reduction in need/ value of
advice
• Comparability
• Personalized marketing / offers to
customers on your database
• Go online
– Leverage social media tools
– Position yourself as an expert
• Further disintermediation
• Biggest
beneficiary
• Info overload
• Comprehensive, quick
& effective
comparison &
planning enabled
• Collaboration / group
buying made easier
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Value Chain Impact Assessment
• Direct channel to communicate with customers
• Customers & critics get an easy platform to discuss organizations. Form
cliques
• Additional medium beyond traditional PR & marketing
• Participate in community
discussions
• Showcase thought leadership
• Bypass traditional PR for speed &
customer intimacy
• Build deep customer relationships
• Leverage word of mouth to
develop the brand
• Corporate indifference to the
new Web
• Negative blog swarms
• Being viewed as plastic /
unauthentic
Impact
Opportunities Threats
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Value Chain Impact Assessment
• Define objectives
• Understand your timeframes
• Identify your measurement criteria
• Establish a plan
• Execute and contentiously review
Do’s
• Be too “salesy” or pushy
• Be un-authentic
• Expect fast results
Don’ts
Campaigns
Crisis Management
Success Failure
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Adoption of Social Media by Tourism Companies
• Campaign: “Up Your
Budget”
• Tools used: Blogs, Internet
Videos
• Spend: < USD 500,000
• Results
– 1m unique visitors
– 10m page views
Budget Rent A Car
• Campaign: User
submitted video
adverts
• Tools used: Blogs,
Internet Videos,
Company Website
Southwest Airlines Accor Hotels
• Campaign: “Invite a
friend”
• Tools used: Micro
blogs, Blogs, BBS and
SNS
• Duration: 5 weeks
• Results
– 25k registered
emails
• Examples of companies using social media within travel industry – with
impressive results
• Adoption increasing as with emergence of platforms / standards
emerge & references
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SinoBuzz for Automated Sentiment Analysis
Automatically monitor
the sentiment around
a product, service or
brand.
The sales process is impacted differently by online comments &
sentiment depending on the types of products and services are being
considered. However, it remains a critical metric for marketers
managing products, services the company brand.
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Consumer Review Analysis
Identify the opinions
and comments
posted on consumer
review sites
Consumer review sites hold a significant degree of trust for online
netizens. The nature and content of reviews, comments and posts have
an effect on the consumer to the extent they will make a sale or not
depending on the comments being found online.
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Social Media Analytics
SinoBuzz™ is a social media analytics platform that monitoring
and manages online brand, measuring public awareness,
sentiment, influence, and tracing authoritative sources.
26
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Summary
• Social Media is already impacting all types of industry players
• Online players will need to figure out their strategy along:
– Re-assessing customer value proposition
– Sharing content and tools: data in and data out (‘co-opetition’)
• Bricks & Mortar players will need to harness social media
– To connect to customers, foster loyalty
– To understand (and even influence) demand
– …and fine tune offering
• There is no single formula. Be prepared to experiment and figure out
– Social media should be a core part of your marketing plan
• Measurement and Analytics are critical
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My parting thought
“Our research prompted us to develop this
presentation for companies working within the
travel and tourism eco-system.
The era of social media is upon us … your only
choices are: Am I a passive listener or am I
active engager. Either positions can be correct
but try to understand the differences and the
implications will be critical for your business.
You can learn more about my views on social
media marketing by visiting my blog: Digital
Marketing Inner Circle
Dr Mathew McDougall
CEO, SinoTech Group
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SinoTech Group - Fast Facts
• Heritage in software
development
• 95 employees
• Global reach
• Travel & Hospitality
Focused
• Offices in Beijing,
Shanghai & Hong Kong
30. Thank you - 谢谢
Dr Mathew McDougall | @sinotechian
sinotechgroup.com.cn | @sinotechgroup
sinotechgroup.com.cn
