Campaigns to acquire new customers have not taken off

Social media marketing has been around for several years, and as marketers begin to converge on best practices and use the channel in more uniform ways, it is emerging that their top goals are brand awareness and cultivating customer loyalty. Conversely, customer acquisition through social media is less important.

A July 2010 survey of US marketers by the Direct Marketing Assocation and COLLOQUY found that brand awareness was the most popular objective of social media efforts, followed by customer growth and loyalty.

A July eROI study similarly showed brand awareness was the top goal of US marketers using social media, and business-to-business (B2B) marketers reported the same to BtoB magazine and Business.com. In April, search marketers surveyed by MarketingSherpa cited increasing brand awareness and improving brand reputation as the two objectives for which social media marketing was most effective.

The DMA and COLLOQUY also looked at average marketer spending in various areas of social media marketing and how it changed over time. While marketers started out in 2008 spending similar amounts on branding, customer loyalty and customer acquisition, by 2009 customer acquisition budgets had failed to grow as quickly as the others. Customer acquisition budgets more than doubled twice between 2008 and 2010, but they still lagged behind the even more dramatic growth of spending in other areas.

The report noted that customer acquisition is a more important goal for smaller companies, which often use social media as an inexpensive marketing channel. Those companies are devoting budget to gaining new customers through social media, but by definition their budgets are small. They are overshadowed by large companies who have chosen social media primarily as a venue for cultivating customer loyalty and spend more heavily in that area.

For as long as I have been working with companies to help them improve their social media efforts, I have heard them explain how worried they are about what their customers are saying online.  ”How do we make it go away?” or “How do we get this off the 1st page of Google results?” are questions I have heard all too often.

One area where this really comes into play is the issue of adding product reviews to your e-commerce site.  Many companies do NOT want to do this, because they fear that letting customers post reviews on their site will hurt sales.

I was discussing this on Twitter last week, and Ian at Bazaarvoice started chatting with me.  If you haven’t heard of them, Bazaarvoice works with companies to add functionality to their e-commerce sites, including Ratings and Reviews.  Ian sent me a ton of useful information and data about companies that using ratings and reviews on their sites, and I wanted to share some of the key points with you.

First, Bazaarvoice has found that 80% of the people that review products with its US clients give those products a 4 or 5 star rating (out of 5 stars).  For its clients in the UK, that figure jumps up to 88%.

Second, there’s the case study of how QuickBooks added the functionality of reviews to its Pro Advisors (Quick Book experts that help customers use the software).  Quick Books found that Pro Advisors with reviews had their profiles clicked on 555% more than those with no reviews.  Quick Book also found that volume trumped rating, as some Pro Advisors with more reviews got more clicks than Pro Advisors with higher overall ratings, but far fewer reviews.

Another key advantage to reviews that Ian shared with me is that reviews are great sources of customer feedback.  If you see that several customers are complaining about a particular aspect of your product and/or service, then obviously that’s alerting you to a pain point for your customers that you need to address.

One final tip from Ian: product reviews lower the number of returns (and the associated restocking fees/costs) cause customers have a better idea of exactly what they are getting before they order it.  Makes complete sense, eh?

But at the end of the day, the key lesson here is to be proactive in monitoring online mentions (even if its reviews on your site), and responding to them when appropriate.  We talked recently about examples of ‘social media backlashes‘ that brands have endured.  In each instance, the problem grew over time, due to the company not monitoring the situation.  The company not responding in a timely fashion was the main culprit behind the problem for them.

Most customers that complain online do NOT want to ‘hurt’ your company.  They just want you to listen to them, and help them with their problem.  If you’ll do that, you’ll often flip a detractor into an evangelist.  Hopefully these stats will help debunk the myth that any negative mention/review online hurts your company.  In reality, it’s often an opportunity.

I was preparing a post on this very topic. I hate being scooped,  but since mine wasn't going to be penned by a contributor to one of the best marketing copywriting sites on the web, I decided that I'd post this one and get back to work. :-)

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This one will probably get me into trouble.

I’ve worked as a graphic designer for over two decades and I’m not supposed to say this stuff. After all, it’s my job to make miracles. To wave my magic design wand and make a business look stronger, smarter, and more powerful than it really is.

Before I start dodging rotten tomatoes, though, I’m going to go ahead and say it out loud.

It’s a smart business move to have a well-designed website.

But good design — even great design — won’t solve all your business problems. Not even close.

Design is not a magic pill

If you don’t have a basic marketing plan in place, design can’t cover that up.

The first question I ask people when we talk about a new project is, “Who are you trying to reach?” It’s shocking how many businesses have put hours of thought into their design without ever considering the most basic of all marketing questions: “Who am I selling to?”

If you’re not clear on who you want to appeal to, the most gorgeous website design in the world won’t help you make sales.

Figure out who you want to reach first, and focus on design after you’ve made that decision. You’ll find your design works a lot better when every color choice and pretty picture is especially made to appeal to the people you want to draw to your business.

Design is not your message

Before you add design into your marketing mix, you have to know what you want to say.

This should be easy for you. After all, you’re reading Copyblogger to learn more about the vital elements of quality content. That’s why it’s strange that there are people out there who think they can rely on their design alone to communicate their message.

Think about it this way: you have a beautiful website. It may stop people in their tracks long enough to want to learn more. That’s great, but if they read on only to discover that you have unfocused or boring content, you will lose them.

Good design may get customers in your door, but great content keeps them from walking right back out again.

When you implement both good design and solid, valuable content, you’ll double the power of either of these elements alone. Don’t rely on design alone to communicate your message.

Design is not about you

Don’t make design decisions based on personal likes or dislikes. Make them based on what appeals to your target market, and the colors and forms that will best communicate your message.

If your target market thinks yellow is an appealing, fresh, happy color that endears them to your services, then it doesn’t matter that yellow is your least favorite color.

When you let your site or materials reflect only your personal tastes, you’re risking your design not resonating at all with the people you want to bring to your business.

Check your ego at the door and think about who you want to sell to.

What are their problems? What colors, shapes and content will appeal to them?

Let those answers inform your decisions far more than what you personally like to look at.

Design won’t work miracles

Don’t expect miracles from your graphic design. It’s definitely a valuable part of creating your business’s image, but it’s not a substitute for a sound marketing strategy.

A great design is a wonderful package for what you have to offer. And packages matter — a lot. But there always has to be something good inside the package.

Do your homework first and start thinking about your design only once you are clear about who you want to reach and what you want to say. This information should influence every design decision you make.

And by considering those two elements first, it’s practically guaranteed that the pretty colors, typefaces, and pictures you choose will reach out and touch the market you’re aiming for.

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Thoughts? Comments? Drop me a line at jason@ideavise.com or jot down a quick comment below.

Thanks for reading.

—Jason @ Ideavise