The untapped power of social data: The new social customer & how they impact your current marketing strategy

The future (very near future) of loyalty is social and mobile…this was the headline of a conference Truth attended earlier this month, hosted by Marketing Mix.

In fact, global players in loyalty have already adopted mobile as a core offering in loyalty…Walgreens is a great example of how a brand amplified their member base through its innovative mobile app offering. Mobile platforms allow for real time points earning & redemption which is one of the key benefits a customer rates a loyalty programme by…real time rewards.
However, it goes beyond mobile… 

Has it ever occurred to you that the information your customer provides to their social networks may be of some value…more valuable than the “like” or “following” to your brand?
Amanda Cromhout, CEO of Truth, highlighted this in her presentation at the conference. It’s no longer enough to look in isolation at age, gender, intention to purchase and basket size. We now need to look one layer deeper.... social data! Social data includes information such as relationship status, brand/competitor likes, interests & circle of influence.

Overlay demographic data, psychographic data, transactional data AND social data to create the bigger picture of your new customer…the social customer.

Use the new insights derived from the combination of data listed above to market to them about what is relevant, making their entire experience with your brand far more meaningful across all touch points of their life.

This is particularly significant to the loyalty industry. The loyalty game itself is evolving. The basics of loyalty was to “swipe, collect & earn” whether it be via a loyalty card swipe, coupon collection or mobile application. We're now in a new era of share and earn….using social media platforms to reward customers for their social media behaviour & engagement relating to a brand.

 MJ Khan, head of social at Quirk delved into the new persona of the social customer and how they impact our strategies as marketers. The social customer is someone who has taught us to improve online reputation management strategies and use social CRM as an opportunity to improve this.

The social customer can offer your brand more than you know:

1) One of the most powerful attributes is the power of brand advocacy. When your brand doesn’t  have the time to respond to on social media, your community of social customers jumps in & responds for you

2) We tend to forget that social media is about people not technology. The premise of social media is not new to humans because connecting to others is not new. So let your customer connect with you and other customers about things that interest them…brands need to move beyond using social media as a selling tool and use it as an engagement tool

3) Engagement is not a strategy…engagement should be used as a tool

4) Yes we like to listen, yes we like to learn...but can these new social customers' input change business output? Leverage what you can learn from the social customer through your new engagement tool

Ignore your brand's social customer insights at your peril!

                                                                         By Ros Siddle, Marketing & Loyalty Research Manager, Truth