1.

Everyone is online
o Its a reality, mobile marketing + statistics
o Proliferation of digital devices
Why are people online?
2. Easy to measure success/ROI
o Figures are solid
o Pay to click, click through rates, do not need to pay extra, money is worth it.
3. SEO, SEM
o SEO appear at top
Limitaiton.
However, despite growth of online advertising.
People trust search engines more.
Australian/US online advertising industry. Statistics
o How many people are using it?
o How much is it worth
o Compare with old print media.
CRM/Information Management + Online Advertising (Through strategically placed banner ads +
Emails + Social Media)
o Acquiring new customers.
o Retain existing customers.
o Generate revenue and profit drives traffic + increase size of the purchase cart.
Resolving customer service issues
o Amazon, broken guitar
How you can use service recovery paradox
Two ways either insult them or say it is good.
Group Blog
o Brand community
Instagram
Online advertising offers companies the ability to get innovative and creative in their marketing
campaigns.
o Interactive increase customer involvement.
o Makes it more meaningful.
o McDonalds example
Talk about how online advertising is getting bigger, traditional is slowly dying
o Initial rise of online advertising was through the innovative banner ad
Achieved marketing objectives of increased awareness, click Throug, easy to
measure ROI.
However, as internet developed and consuemrs become more savvy/internet
conscious, they have grown cynical. Effectiveness of banner ad has greatly
depreciated (provide statistics).
o Tall about how now the rise of interactive, diagloue creating, creative forms of online
adveritisng via blogs, games, articles, forums, social media creates an interneconected
web.
E.g. Blackmilk
Increase brand awareness, etc.
o Q. is the banner ad dead?
No actually better implementation makes it better.
Integration idea online and ofline chip company.
o Awareness
Ads with just the logo and name (Gibson, Fender, ESP, LTD).

Interest
Ads with a specific product/model/make of the guitar.
Evaluation
Ads that answer any of the consumers lingering questions.
What are the specific features of the product? Is there life-time warranty?
Decision Cart-page, havent yet converted.
Particular promotion/discount for the product. Just nudge them forward.
Purchase
Products similar to what they have bought
Cross and up sell http://www.petergrandstaff.com/marketing/adwordsremarketing
o Amazon can set up its remarketing ads with a tracking code that delivers the same ad to
anyone who visits their website, or they can specifically target people who have viewed
multiple individual pages on their website.
o http://rocketmedia.com/blog/ad-remarketing-can-you-afford-to-ignore-it-any-longer
Post-Purchase Message
o Remarketing ad to display a thank you message.
o An offer of an incentive/free gift/discount if the purchaser refers Amazon to someone
else.
http://www.petergrandstaff.com/marketing/adwords-remarketing

Take the large retailer Nordstrom. For nearly 100 years, Nordstroms
purpose has been to provide a fabulous customer experience by empowering
customers and the employees who serve them
o https://hbr.org/2015/01/why-nordstroms-digital-strategy-works-and-yours-probablydoesnt
Using social media to interact with customers brings a degree of transparency not possible with
other, more traditional methods of customer service (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).
Australian businesses received 700,000 queries via Facebook, Twitter and other social networks
in September 2013 alone (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).
Schenkel, head of Telstra Digital, states that one difference that is unique with social media is
that people can observe us and how we deal with customer issues and how we treat them
(Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).
o If we get an inquiry on Facebook and resolve their issue, then thousands of people watch
us do so, and that is a unique opportunity that is not possible in a store or in a contact
centre.
Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index social media is the fastest growing customer
service channel along with mobile applications.
Consumers want to speak to companies on what channel, what time and the way they want to way
they want to.
o When you try to steer any consumer and to do it your way not their way, you lose your
customer base (Tim Gentry, Avaya Australia cited in Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).
Forbes 7 Advantages of using Social Media as a Customer Service Portal.
Growth of social media as a platform with which to deal with customer service complaints has
been drive by what PWC describes as a growing cultural shift towards which has been fed by
globalisation and the proliferation of the internet.
listen-to-my-complaints-right-this-second Culture

This stance is not without empirical backing, with PWC stating that amongst consumers,
there is a growing cultural shift towards impatience which has been fed by globalisation
and the proliferation of the internet. Consumer attitudes are dominated by the thought
process of listen-to-my-complaints-right-this-second. An online response not within 48
hours from any global organisation just doesnt cut it anymore. Amazons customers want
and expect instant responses.
Customers who use social media channels expect a speedy acknowledgment and
resolution of their problems (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).
Response team must be prepared, if not itll cost you. If you respond with
a sense of urgency, then cash money.
Customers driving the demand for online customer service: It doesnt matter
what the company thinks is an important customer service channel, it matters
what the consumer thinks is important.
Therefore businesses must invest in this new form of customer service as
it will have an impact on their online advertising i.e. whether they present
a good image, or bad.
When people are upset, or when they need answers to their questions, they want a
response right away. They dont want to wait 24 hours for their email to be read,
sorted and responded to. They dont want to wait on hold by some customer
service operator in Bangladesh putting on a dodgy American accent for 30
minutes whilst elevator music drives them insane.
o Social media offers the solution to this by providing immediacy (Forbes). As soon as you
post on FB, a notification immediately pops up.
Give customers a more personal brand experience
o Customers tend to favour dealing with other people rather than the corporation. However,
managing customer service through social media gives the best f both worlds. People will
immediately recognise and call out to your brand, but it will be a person reaching out in
response.
They wont be subject to bombardments by irksome, generic, automatically
generated emails.
There wont be any tone-based phone menus + elevator music.
o On social media, it just a question followed by an answer.
o Also allows you to think carefully about your response and perent in a more casual,
conversational tone.
Transparency
o For the customer, transparency is all about vindication. When customers are upset, they
want to rave, rant and be heard, and posting on social media provides the perfect platform
with which to do so.
o For companies, transparency offers the opportunity to show themselves off, flex their
muscles and let customers see how well a situation is handled. If a company can resolve a
customers concerns quickly, expeditiously, nicely, effectively, conclusively and nicely,
youll instantly leave all of your followers with a good feeling confidence that your
customer service is top-notch.
o Customer Service Paradox a form of advertising + customer retention + customer
loyalty + bolster customer confidence + increased satisfaction Customers who
experience a service failure, but subsequently receive excellent service recovery beyond
what they expected, may ultimately be even more satisfied than they were before the
failure (Lovelock, Patterson, Wirtz, Services textbook).
Creates a huge swing from a negative brand moment to a positive one
(Baxter, CS printout).
Encourage More brand mentions
o

More interactions on social media equates to more opportunities to point back to your
brand. Increase customer dialogue as the company gets mentioned in posts, making the
brand visible to all their contacts.
Get brand visibility.
Aids SEO rankings.
Where relevant, can also post links to the companys site for more information.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/customer-service-on-social-media/

Customers hate the funnel. When customers reach out to you, they want to be responded to in the
same medium. Otherwise, they feel like they are being sent through a mechanical series of hoops,
which leaves them with an alienated, impersonal feeling. Many major companies make the
mistake of ushering people through one dedicated communication channel, usually a phone
number or an email address, and isolating customers who reach out in any other method.
For example, if a customer reaches out on Facebook, they want to be responded to on Facebook.
They dont want to see a formulaic welcome message with instructions to call an 800 number.
Eliminate the funnel by having dynamic customer interactions on every platform.

EMarketing Presentation
Week 9: 4 May 2015
eMarketer (16 Dec 2013) estimates USA online advertising spending will reach $46.2 billion in
2013, pushing it ahead of total spending on print newspapers and magazines. Double-digit
growth is expected through 2014, when US online ad spending will reach $52.8 billion. In 2016,
eMarketers expects advertisers to spend $62 billion online.
Discuss and analyse the reasons behind this growth, looking at the effectiveness of digital media
category in delivering key business and marketing objectives, such as generating revenue and
profit, acquiring new customers, retaining existing customers, and providing customers service
and support. Use examples.

1. Everyone is online
o Its a reality, mobile marketing + statistics
o Proliferation of digital devices
Why are people online?
2. Easy to measure success/ROI
o Figures are solid
o Pay to click, click through rates, do not need to pay extra, money is worth it.
3. SEO, SEM
o SEO appear at top
Limitaiton.
However, despite growth of online advertising.
People trust search engines more.
Australian/US online advertising industry. Statistics

o How many people are using it?

o How much is it worth
o Compare with old print media.
CRM/Information Management + Online Advertising (Through strategically placed banner ads +
Emails + Social Media)
o Acquiring new customers.
o Retain existing customers.
o Generate revenue and profit drives traffic + increase size of the purchase cart.
Resolving customer service issues
o Amazon, broken guitar
How you can use service recovery paradox
Two ways either insult them or say it is good.
Group Blog
o Brand community
Instagram
Online advertising offers companies the ability to get innovative and creative in their marketing
campaigns.
o Interactive increase customer involvement.
o Makes it more meaningful.
o McDonalds example
Talk about how online advertising is getting bigger, traditional is slowly dying
o Initial rise of online advertising was through the innovative banner ad
Achieved marketing objectives of increased awareness, click Throug, easy to
measure ROI.
However, as internet developed and consuemrs become more savvy/internet
conscious, they have grown cynical. Effectiveness of banner ad has greatly
depreciated (provide statistics).
o Tall about how now the rise of interactive, diagloue creating, creative forms of online
adveritisng via blogs, games, articles, forums, social media creates an interneconected
web.
E.g. Blackmilk
Increase brand awareness, etc.
o Q. is the banner ad dead?
No actually better implementation makes it better.
Integration idea online and ofline chip company.

Advertising industry in General

According to PWCs annual Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook report, one in four
marketing departments are now spending b/w 20-30% of their cash building and maintaining
their own channels (Steve Jones, cited I).
o Print advertising is forecast to fall from $1.9b in 2013 - $1.3b in 2018, an average annual
decline of 7.2%. On the other hand, advertising through media companies digital
platforms will rise from $418m - $627m, a growth of 8.4%.
Mobile
o IAB (I Mobile and Video advertising) Mobile advertising grew 118% from 2013-2014
to each $762 million.
Signifies advertisers are seeing digital categories as being a comparable
investment to their traditional counterparts (Alice, CEO of IAB Australia).

Two business principles of Amazon are CRM and information management. Discuss
these principles and connect your discussion to social media use in an international
context.

http://blog.rejoiner.com/2012/03/remarketing-vs-retargeting-whats-the-difference/
Another major catalyst that has led to the exponential growth of online advertising lies in the
eMarketing strategy of Retargeting. In saying this, Im going to analyse one particular company that
stands as a testament to this particular strategy, and that company is non-other than the digitalpowerhouse Amazon. Data, targeting and customer service are Amazons primary competitive
differentiators. And one of the key ways way in which Amazon implements these three elements is
through Retargeting.
So what is retargeting? Well its essentially an online advertising platform that allows Amazon to
deliver targeted ads to a consumer who has been on their website even after they have left and gone to
another website (http://rocketmedia.com/blog/ad-remarketing-can-you-afford-to-ignore-it-anylonger). It allows them to track the online journey of their consumers through the use of various
online tools and techniques (cookies and strategically placed ads). This helps them in segmenting the
market and targeting them through the appropriate online advertising channels with respects to the
unique, individualistic ways in which they perceive and process information.
To put things in perspective, lets create a hypothetical scenario. So you go on Amazons website
wanting to buy something(ask audience) come on guys throw something at me, what do you want?
(Click)...ASK CHRISTINE A gguiguitar, just what I was thinking about. You browse and scroll
around for this guitar by entering brands on the search bar, reading product reviews, looking at
related items youve viewed, buying guides and along your online adventure you even create an
online account, check out their social media pages and sign up for their newsletter. But after all that
effortyou remember that youre just a penniless university student (youre feeling epically stingy)
so you exit the page and continue downloading the nextGame of Thrones Episode. So thats
annoying for Amazon right, because youve pretty much just bailed on them, giving them nothing in
return?
However, Amazons success is founded on its ability to manage and gather exorbitant amounts of
information. In embracing Retargeting, Amazon has ensured that your online interactions with them
dont go unnoticed. Not only have they monitored every tiny action youve made on their site, but
theyve also put a cookie in your computer to track your online journey and browsing behaviour on
any other websites you have since visited. Theyll also be able to gather information regarding your
gender, age, location, occupation, website interactions and purchase history. So that the next time you
go on their website, or any of their other affiliate websites, whether it be on your laptop (during a
really boring emarketing presentation,), tablet or mobile (whilst youre taking a dump, and yes I know
everyone uses their mobile in the toilet), theyll be ready to bombard and assault you with a tsunamis
worth of banner and pop-up ads, emails, recommendations, upcoming sales and newsletters prompting
you to buy the guitar. Theyll even use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
and Pininterest to make sure they reach you (to do their dirty work).
(Click) As you can see from this guitar example, Amazons use of retargeting as an online advertising
strategy is smart and innovative its website is designed as a sophisticated online communication tool
that automates the process of creating value for the customer by recognising their interests.
Unsurprisingly, retargeting ultimately enables Amazon to deliver key business and marketing
objectives.
One of these objectives includes increasing brand exposure and awareness.

 As I alluded to earlier, retargeting is an interactive, digital direct marketing tool that facilitates a
stream of dialogue between prospective customers and the Amazon brand. As a customer opts to
either purchase or not purchase a product, Amazons knowledge about the customer increases and
in turn, so does their ability to provide targeted online advertising for an individual customer,
which allows them to stay engaged and aware of the Amazon brand whether it be on a conscious
or subconscious level http://blog.rejoiner.com/2012/03/remarketing-vs-retargeting-whats-thedifference/. The importance of this increase in brand exposure is evidenced in a 2012 Emaketer
study, which found that nearly 3 out of 5 online US buyers would notice an online ad for products
they searched for on previous sites. www.emarketer.com/article/online-buyers-notice-retargetedads/1010122. Another fact is that although the average click-through rate for normal, untargeted
ads is a mere 0.07%, retargeted ads have a10-fold increased click-through rate at 0.7%
www.emarketer.com/article/online-buyers-notice-retargeted-ads/1010122.
In saying this, increasing brand awareness naturally leads to higher conversion rates. This not
only increases Amazons profitability of a purchase per visit significantly
http://seewhy.com/amazon-thinking/, but also the total size of a consumers checkout cart. Visitors
who are retargeted with display ads are 70% more likely to convert on Amazons website
www.emarketer.com/article/online-buyers-notice-retargeted-ads/1010122. Moreover, the
percentage of users who return and complete the check-out process after being exposed to
retargeted ads increases by 26%.
Before I go on about another benefit that Retargeting provides Amazon, I want to draw your
attention to this [Point at Model]. Can anyone tell me what this is?
o Yes thats right, its the consumer decision making model, which you would have
encountered in Consumer Behaviour. The reason Ive got this up is because Retargeting
empowers Amazon with the ability and flexibility to create a vast array of tailor-made ads
for individual consumers along any stage of their consumer decision making process.
http://programmaticadvertising.org/2014/10/21/why-retargeting-is-still-important-today/.
o To put this in perspective, lets go back to our guitar example. Say youre a consumer in
the Awareness stage, Amazon would likely post ads with the logo and names of various
guitar brands (such as Gibson, Fender or Gretsch). In contrast, if you were to be at the
purchase stage, Amazon could attempt to cross and up sell guitar related products (such as
leads, amps or strings) to further entice repeat purchases
http://www.petergrandstaff.com/marketing/adwords-remarketing.
o Awareness
Ads with just the logo and name (Gibson, Fender, ESP, LTD).
Interest
Ads with a specific product/model/make of the guitar.
Evaluation
Ads that answer any of the consumers lingering questions.
What are the specific features of the product? Is there life-time warranty?
Decision Cart-page, havent yet converted.
Particular promotion/discount for the product. Just nudge them forward.
Purchase
Products similar to what they have bought
Cross and up sell http://www.petergrandstaff.com/marketing/adwordsremarketing
o Amazon can set up its remarketing ads with a tracking code that delivers the same ad to
anyone who visits their website, or they can specifically target people who have viewed
multiple individual pages on their website.
o http://rocketmedia.com/blog/ad-remarketing-can-you-afford-to-ignore-it-any-longer
Post-Purchase Message
o Remarketing ad to display a thank you message.

An offer of an incentive/free gift/discount if the purchaser refers Amazon to someone

else.
http://www.petergrandstaff.com/marketing/adwords-remarketing
o

Another reason behind the growth of online advertising lies in the fact that it offers the prospect of
using social media as a platform for customer service.
To put things in perspective, Ill go back to my guitar example. So youve finally scraped together
every little penny in your piggybank (Click) to buy the God of all guitars, the Gibson Les Paul
Standard. Youve been waiting for this moment for years and using Amazons patented one-click
payment technology, youve finally sealed the deal. Now all youve got to do is wait for its arrival.
And that day finally arrives, as the guitar shows up at your front door. Your palms begin to sweat and
your heart hammers in anticipation as you carefully pry open the lidand then.(Click) this greets
you A sad, sorry excuse for a guitar.
Lets face it youre angry, scrap that, youre feeling down right murderous and you pledge that heads
will roll by the time youve had your way.(Click) So who do you blame? Amazon. And how do vent
your anger? Social media.
So in your anger induced rage, you hastily login to Facebook and you (Click) post this scathing tirade
on the Amazon page:

Furious at Amazon, ordered a guitar and it turns out smashed. So far youve done nothing to
help! (and etc) F**k you Amazon.

And now you wait for Amazons reply. And to your pleasant surprising, within the hour, they post
this:

We are deeply sorry for what has happened to your guitar. We will refund your order
immediately and give you a 20% discount off your next purchase.

Crisis averted.
So as you can see, Amazons use of social media as a platform for customer service comprises a vital
component of its online advertising strategy, which in turn, allows to it fulfil key marketing
objectives.
That being said, the growth of social media as a platform for customer service can largely be
attributed to what PWC describes as a growing cultural shift towards impatience which has been fed
by globalisation and the proliferation of the internet. In 2013 alone, Australian businesses received
700,000 queries via social media (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).
However, rather than cower in fear of this brave new world, Amazon has chosen to integrate social
media into its online advertising strategy. More specifically, Amazon has realised that social media
gives customers a more personal and intimate brand experience. They understand that when their
customers are upset or need answers to their questions, they want the company to listen-to-mycomplaints-right-this-second. This is substantiated by Forbes, who states that customers dont want
to be funnelled down one dedicated communication channel that either forces them to wait for days
on end for a generic email; nor do they want to be placed on hold by some phone operator in India
putting on a dodgy American accent for 30 minutes whilst a never-ending loop of elevator music
drives them insane. This arduous series of mechanical hoops only serves to leave a companys
customer base bitter, marginalised and disenfranchised (Forbes).
In light of this, Amazons elimination of the funnel through dynamic customer interactions on social
media, helps facilitate its online advertising strategy. Social media is beneficial as it simply involves a
question a notification followed by a clear, succinct answer. It allows Amazon to think carefully

about their responses and present it in a more casual, personable tone. This in turn heightens the
customers sense of trust, belongingness and self-worth. Where relevant, Amazon can also answer
customer queries by posting links back to the companys website for more information, which in turn
drives traffic to its website and increases the brands visibility (Forbes).
Another benefit from using social media as a platform for customer redress stems from the fact that it
is transparent. For the customer, transparency is all about vindication. When customers are upset,
they want to rave, rant and vent their frustrations to all the world, and what better platform to do so
then social media? It comes as no surprise then that social media is generally regarded as a doubleedged sword. As Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says, if you make customers unhappy in the physical
world, they might each tell 6 friends. But if you make customers unhappy in the digital world, they
can each tell 6,000 (http://www.desk.com/blog/jeff-bezos-lessons/). Despite this, Amazon views
transparency as an opportunity to show themselves off, flex their muscles and give their customers a
masterclass on how they treat their customers and deal with their issues. By resolving a customers
concern quickly, expeditiously, conclusively and with a sense of urgency, Amazon is able to achieve
their marketing objectives which include inspiring customer retention and loyalty, whilst also
bolstering their confidence, increasing satisfaction and generating positive word-of-mouth as
customers become evangelists.

Consumers want to speak to companies on what channel, what time and the way they want to way
they want to.
o When you try to steer any consumer and to do it your way not their way, you lose your
customer base (Tim Gentry, Avaya Australia cited in Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).
Transparency/

If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell six
friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell
6,000.

As one of the original ecommerce pioneers, there can be little argument that Bezos
firmly understands the authority of todays customer. Todays customer is listening to
peers, researching heavily online and posting complaints on social media changing
everything business owners thought they knew about customer relationships.

Put in the work and research so that you fully understand your customer base and
never take them for granted. Respected brands have fallen high from their perches
due to poorly mishandled situations in dealing with an unhappy customer. Make sure
to have a clear and concise plan with how you deal with bad reviews or complaints
from customers (its going to happen). Above all else, no matter how frustrated you
may be with a customer who takes a complaint to the Internet, never fail to respond
and always say thank you. http://www.desk.com/blog/jeff-bezos-lessons/

Receive customer feedback without costly surveys or focus groups Likes, comments, and other social
feedback level the playing field for your brand when gathering the insights. Previously, these insights would have
required expensive surveys or focus groups. With social media you can know immediately if a campaign is well
received or requires fine-tuning http://www.globalresponse.com/2013/09/9-benefits-of-

social-media-customer-service/
Transparency

For the customer, transparency is all about vindication. When customers are upset, they
want to rave, rant and be heard, and posting on social media provides the perfect platform
with which to do so.
o For companies, transparency offers the opportunity to show themselves off, flex their
muscles and let customers see how well a situation is handled. If a company can resolve a
customers concerns quickly, expeditiously, nicely, effectively, conclusively and nicely, it
will instantly leave all of your followers with a good feeling confidence that your
customer service is top-notch.
o Customer Service Paradox a form of advertising + customer retention + customer
loyalty + bolster customer confidence + increased satisfaction Customers who
experience a service failure, but subsequently receive excellent service recovery beyond
what they expected, may ultimately be even more satisfied than they were before the
failure (Lovelock, Patterson, Wirtz, Services textbook).
Creates a huge swing from a negative brand moment to a positive one
(Baxter, CS printout).
Using social media to interact with customers brings a degree of transparency not possible with
other, more traditional methods of customer service (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).
Schenkel, head of Telstra Digital, states that one difference that is unique with social media is
that people can observe us and how we deal with customer issues and how we treat them
(Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).
o If we get an inquiry on Facebook and resolve their issue, then thousands of people watch
us do so, and that is a unique opportunity that is not possible in a store or in a contact
centre.
o
o

listen-to-my-complaints-right-this-second Culture
o This stance is not without empirical backing, with PWC stating that amongst consumers,
there is a growing cultural shift towards impatience which has been fed by globalisation
and the proliferation of the internet. Consumer attitudes are dominated by the thought
process of listen-to-my-complaints-right-this-second. An online response not within 48
hours from any global organisation just doesnt cut it anymore. Amazons customers want
and expect instant responses.
Customers who use social media channels expect a speedy acknowledgment and
resolution of their problems (Fitzsimmons, Smith 2013, 1c).
Response team must be prepared, if not itll cost you. If you respond with
a sense of urgency, then cash money.
Customers driving the demand for online customer service: It doesnt matter
what the company thinks is an important customer service channel, it matters
what the consumer thinks is important.
Therefore businesses must invest in this new form of customer service as
it will have an impact on their online advertising i.e. whether they present
a good image, or bad.
When people are upset, or when they need answers to their questions, they want a
response right away. They dont want to wait 24 hours for their email to be read,
sorted and responded to. They dont want to wait on hold by some customer
service operator in Bangladesh putting on a dodgy American accent for 30
minutes whilst elevator music drives them insane.

Social media offers the solution to this by providing immediacy (Forbes). As soon as you
post on FB, a notification immediately pops up.
Give customers a more personal brand experience
o Customers tend to favour dealing with other people rather than the corporation. However,
managing customer service through social media gives the best f both worlds. People will
immediately recognise and call out to your brand, but it will be a person reaching out in
response.
They wont be subject to bombardments by irksome, generic, automatically
generated emails.
There wont be any tone-based phone menus + elevator music.
o On social media, it just a question followed by an answer.
o Also allows you to think carefully about your response and present in a more casual,
conversational tone.
Transparency
o For the customer, transparency is all about vindication. When customers are upset, they
want to rave, rant and be heard, and posting on social media provides the perfect platform
with which to do so.
o For companies, transparency offers the opportunity to show themselves off, flex their
muscles and let customers see how well a situation is handled. If a company can resolve a
customers concerns quickly, expeditiously, nicely, effectively, conclusively and nicely,
youll instantly leave all of your followers with a good feeling confidence that your
customer service is top-notch.
o Customer Service Paradox a form of advertising + customer retention + customer
loyalty + bolster customer confidence + increased satisfaction Customers who
experience a service failure, but subsequently receive excellent service recovery beyond
what they expected, may ultimately be even more satisfied than they were before the
failure (Lovelock, Patterson, Wirtz, Services textbook).
Creates a huge swing from a negative brand moment to a positive one
(Baxter, CS printout).
Encourage More brand mentions
o More interactions on social media equates to more opportunities to point back to your
brand. Increase customer dialogue as the company gets mentioned in posts, making the
brand visible to all their contacts.
Get brand visibility.
Aids SEO rankings.
o Where relevant, can also post links to the companys site for more information.
o

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/customer-service-on-social-media/

Pininterest
MarketLine Article

Retailers are increasingly using social media to enhance their brands and to drive traffic and sales.
Mobile shopping is growing fast on Pininterest B/w Jan 2013 and Jan 2014, mobile transactions
through Pininterest went up by 77.2%, mobile revenue grew by 224.1% and average order values
went up by 79.3%.
o Number of new visitors that were sent to retailers by Pininterest increased by 46.2%
in 2013.

Social media helps retailers increase exposure and traffic

o Social Media Examiner (2013, cited p. 6 MarketLine) found that 89% of retailers reported
increased exposure for their business through social media use, compared to 85% in 2012.
Additionally, 75% reported increased traffic as a major benefit, compared to 69% the
previous year. 57% of marketers taking the survey reported that sales had not been
improved by social media.
Size As of March 2014, Pininterest had 58.2 million unique users, making it the 4 th largest social
network behind Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.
o However, what distinguishes Pininterest from the rest of the pack is its female-heavy
demographic which has made the platform exceptionally attractive to female-fashion
oriented businesses.
71.4% of users are female, as of December 2013.
When 70% of the users are female then 70% of the content is going to be
female-oriented (Morrissey, 2014, 2p).
Look at graph.
Pininterest facilitates the marketing of products by retailers
o Pininterests success in generating more tangible business value, compared to many other
social networks, lies in the fact that it is much more than a social network. Pininterest has
driven a shift in the way people discover products and the things they care about.
o Pininterest is driven by visual information, which humands can process more rapidly than
text. Users are able to both take in and segment information rapidly through the visual
web. Piininterest enables customers to more quickly discover product, collect them and
subsequently purchase them.
o Product Pins Ability o track price changes for shoppers favourite products, and then
alerting them if the products price dropped.
$ = 25, $$ = 25-51, $$$ = 50-200, $$$$>200
Pininterest can help generate sales for retailers.
o Pininterest is an image-based social media website which acts as a virtual inspiration
pin board to which users can Pin various information recipes, pictures, articles,
products to various Boards. As the information Pinned by users may be on a wide
range of topics, the use of boards enables users to categorise their pins more easily.
Pininterest saves all Pins, allows a user to follow friend and Re-Pin things they have
already Pinned, as well as browsing a live feed of pins from strangers.
o Reverse Showrooming Pininterest has been credited with reverse-showrooming.
Show-rooming is defiend as a shopper visitng a traditional brick and mortar store
to look at merchandise, but then shopping around online to find a lower price and
purchasing it.
However, businesses are beginning to see the tangible benefits that Pininterest
provides as a medium for online advertising. More specifically, Pininterest has
largely been credited with reverse showrooming. In doing so, shoppers now use
the internet (whether it be on smartphones, tablets or laptops) to compare prices,
products, reviews, product availability/locations, and search for promotions and
coupons from there they go in store to purchase the product, thus driving retail
traffic/sales.
Vision Critical (2013, cited MarketLine p. 15) 21% of Pininterest users
had bought an intem in a bricks and mortar store after Pinning, RePinning, or liking the item on Pininterest.
Pininterested Pins are 100 times more viral than Tweets.
Pinners spend an average of $2000 per order, compared with $92 for FB
and $58 for Twitter.
Nordstrom and Pins

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Nordstrom has 4.4 million followers on Pininterest, making it one of the largest
followings of any Fortune 500 company.
Nordstrom has realised the importance that online advertising, stemming from Pininterest,
has in driving its retail sales. Nordstrom recognises thefact that cosumers dont often like
beig told what to buy by companies. In light of this, Nordstrom uses Pininterest to dictate
the merchandise it chooses to stock and sell via crowd-sources in-store Pininterest
merchandising whereby Top-Pinned items are marked and displayed with Pininterest
signage. This innovative, integration b/w online and retail marketing represents a move
away from this is what we think are the hot buys towards this is what consumers think
are the hot buys.
Whats hot right now? Chinos you want to buy browse on Pininterest, see a god
pair, like it, repin it etc, price location tells you, go to store, get it.
Nordstrom strive to provide a multi-channel shopping experience by integrating all
aspects of its online store (Nordstrom.com) with its physical store + physical store +
Pininteret.
Galipeau stated each month, customers engage with our Pins hundreds of thousands of
times, generating millions of impressions and significant site traffic and demand.
Our customers are on Pininterest, so we want to be there too. Pininterest is the
worlds biggest wish list and so it also fits well with our goal of having our
merchandise show up in our customers wish list (Bryan Galipeau social media
manager at Nordstrom cite in Lutz 2p).
Currently has 64 boards with various themes including seasons:
Winter Fashion, Pick Pink, Holiday Cheer, Nordstrom@fashion week, designers
(Rebecca Minkoff Spring 2014), sales (Nordstrom Half Yearly Sales) and Fashion
Cats.
Future Growth
2013 Nordstrom Annual Report social media is a dynamic area of the business
that requires us to move faster and try new things. Though weve made good
headway, were still in the early innings with ecommerce and will continue to
invest aggressively in its growth.