One reason some enterprise companies give for not entering fully into Social Media Marketing is the lack of case studies, clues to see who’s done it before and how it worked. That excuse is wearing thin because these days it’s a matter of doing your research. In most cases the legwork is done for you. All you – as a marketing manager – need do is figure out if and how it applies, call in the right people to talk with and see what might apply to your business problems
In Social Media Monitoring – How Companies are Listening I mentioned two companies who are doing this – Symantec and Windows Live.
How Plantronics drives word of mouth
I actually own a Plantronics headset and frankly think they’re amazing. So it was very interesting (and co-incidental) to come across them as a case study in Aberdeen Group’s recent report on Social Media Marketing – Why it Pays to Drive Word of Mouth. While I didn’t know about their Social Media Marketing and monitoring campaigns until I read the Aberdeen Research, because I find their headsets so impressive I’d personally recommend them in a flash.
According to the Aberdeen Group report, Plantronics became an early adopter of social media marketing two years ago, leveraging viral videos, referral engines and brand advocates to drive word of mouth. While many companies were saying Social Media Marketing “wasn’t for them” Platronics forged ahead.
The results? An infrastructure that lets them capture insights from customer conversations on a daily basis.
Diana LeClair, Marketing Manager at Plantronics puts it succinctly:
“ People just naturally become evangelists for our products. As a marketer, I want to understand what’s being said about the product and to learn about people’s reactions, both positive and negative, in a real-world way.”
Emphasis mine. Marketers, take note.
Elements of a Plantronics campaign
For a recent campaign, Plantronics targeted enterprise users for a particular product. Their campaign objectives included:
- Understanding how customers reacted to various product features
- Understanding how they reacted to the installation process
- Understanding their purchasing intentions
- Understanding how word of mouth marketing can increase sales volume
Note how important it is to have identified goals. Knowing WHAT you want to achieve is critical for measuring how successful you’re going to be, as well as what kind of campaign you’ll need to use and what tools are most likely to work.
Plantronics identified customer advocates through a survey. Once selected they were given access to online tools to help facilitate their conversations about the product. They were then asked to report on the specifics of the conversations on a regular basis. Importantly, as the case study notes, they were not compensated for participating. So is it passion for the product that motivates advocates?
Says LeClair:
“Honesty is a critical component of any word of mouth marketing campaign… people have to reveal their affiliation, if there is one, when they talk about a product. They have to identify themselves as working on behalf of a brand.”
So, how has it all worked? So far, very successfully according to the case study. They’ve found recommendations from a friend are far more credible and effective than any traditional marketing message. Proving again, as if it were needed, the power and validity of Word of Mouth.
And what else? From LeClair:
“It’s great to be a fly on the wall listening to conversations about our products and seeing how people are being touched by those conversations.”
You can read this and other case studies in the Aberdeen Group report: The ROI of Social Media Marketing: Why it Pays to Drive Word of Mouth. I have no affiliation to Plantronics. But their headsets are great.
Edit: I visited the Plantronics Testimonial section, called “What customers are saying.” The customer feedback had me wanting to get my hands on a new headset.
Thoughts?
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