CHAPTER 5

TWEETS, LIKES, COMMENTS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Understanding the Value of Peer-to-Peer Influence in Social Sales

As a salesperson or marketer, you are most likely accustomed to using customer references and testimonials. What could be better than an existing customer offering a glowing recommendation of your business to a prospect? The only thing better than a recommendation is when a prospect has a corporate mandate that your product must be used! In which case, no level of external influence is going to make a difference in the buying process. While these types of top-level purchasing mandates do occur (this happens with tech products, in particular), they are rare; this brings us back to what is far more likely to influence the buying decision: customer recommendations.

In the past, you have typically been able to control or manage the recommendation process by helping shape the quotes used in a testimonial, determining where and when to use them, and by deciding which customer references to send to which prospects. In modern peer-to-peer influence, the power is shifting to your customers, competitors, and critics. Using social media, these groups now impact your brand's image through the power of public sharing—offering endorsements or rejections of your product, and deciding where (and how) those recommendations are used. Even more important is that both friends and strangers are actively listening—and responding, accordingly.

ONLINE REVIEWS: WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING ON STEROIDS

When explaining peer-to-peer influence, it's helpful to discuss it in terms of good old-fashioned WOM, or word of mouth. There has always been value in word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM), but the Internet has given it the power to spread and influence at an exponential rate. I have worked in the food industry for many years, and WOMM was considered a critical factor in the success or failure of a restaurant. My boss used to constantly remind everyone of the damage one person could do if she had a bad experience. In what I started referring to as the “WOM multiplier effect,” it seems that if one person received a bad meal or poor customer service, you could count on her telling at least ten of her friends. And, each of those friends would tell ten more of their friends, and so on.

On the other hand, a positive experience was expected to net about half (or less) of that WOM multiplier effect. That shouldn't come as a surprise. Bad news has always spread faster than good news. The same holds true online and in social media. Think about the last time you saw a tweet used to thank a business for doing something well versus airing a complaint.

I don't think any businessperson has ever doubted the power of WOM. As e-commerce (online shopping) grew, several industry leaders found a way to capitalize on the WOM multiplier effect, understanding that consumers have opinions and are willing to share them so freely. I can't say with certainty that Amazon.com is the absolute first online retailer to allow customer reviews of a product to be posted on their website; but they are definitely recognized as an early adopter and a current leader in this effort. In some ways, Amazon.com is the best example of WOM on steroids.

Not only do they provide the means for buyers to rate and review products, but they encourage it. If you buy something from Amazon.com, they send you e-mail reminders to post a review of the product. As you probably have seen for yourself, they also actively promote and display customer reviews to shoppers. I think it's safe to say that Amazon.com (arguably the world's leading online retailer) has not only seen industry data supporting the persuasiveness of online product reviews, but has experienced it firsthand. Amazon knows how frequently a recommendation from a customer can convert another shopper into a buyer.

Online product reviews have spread well beyond Amazon to nearly every industry and genre, from travel sites to medical equipment sites, from large luxury retailers to small mom-and-pop businesses. As a consumer, there is so much emphasis placed on the value of customer reviews that websites often let you sort reviews by the best, or the worst, and by the most or least helpful. That's right, you are now asked to review the reviewer—to rate the value of the customer recommendation! And the power of online reviews and peer influence continues to grow thanks in large part to social media.

For starters, consider that globally nearly one in every five minutes spent online is spent on social networking sites, according to a state of social networking report by comScore.¹ In their opinion, this makes social networking “the most popular content category in engagement, worldwide.” Then, in research from Nielsen, 59 percent of survey respondents in the United States indicated they were “much more” or “somewhat more” likely to buy a new product after learning about it online.² In that same survey, 30 percent of people said they were “much more” or “somewhat more” likely to buy a product after learning about it through social media. As Rob Wengel, senior vice president at Nielsen Innovation Analytics stated about that report³:

Social media can also be an effective soundboard to hear about potential issues or to identify future innovation opportunities. As reliance on social media continues to broaden for CPG (consumer) products, it is especially impactful when used in combination with TV to enhance recall, facilitate one-on-one consumer engagement and dialogue, and listen to what consumers are saying.

The Nielsen research found that the Internet impacts purchasing decisions 81 percent of the time which it comes to electronics and 77 percent of time with appliances. Purchasing decisions for books, music, cars, clothing, personal hygiene products, and even food and beverages are also greatly influenced by online research. While purchasing decisions of consumer or B2C products are often thought of as being most susceptible to online reviews and peer-to-peer influence in social media, B2B products are also proving to experience similar influence. A study in late 2012, commissioned by LinkedIn from Forrester Research, confirmed that social networks are a “critical source” when it comes to buyers of IT (Internet Technology) related products.⁴ The report broke down the typical IT buying process into five parts (awareness, scope, plan, select, and implement) and discovered nearly half of the IT decision makers were influenced by information shared on social networks, and this occurred in each of the five stages of the buying process.

When it comes to peer-to-peer influence across social networks, there is something even more fascinating than the what, why, or where. It's not the realization that peer-to-peer influence is occurring, or why it all got started, or in which product categories you see the most dramatic influence. It's the matter of who it is that buyers are listening to that is particularly interesting. It turns out that social shoppers are persuaded not only by their friends and family, but by perfect strangers, too! This certainly helps clarify why online reviews are so popular; buyers trust them, regardless of who writes the reviews—more than they trust your advertising.

How much do they trust and whom do they trust most? According to recent research from Nielsen, the online consumer review comes in as the second most trusted resource for any type of information about your brand or even brand messaging.⁵ A whopping 70 percent of buyers, worldwide, said they fully trusted online reviews. This is a full 15 percent bump in just a few years. Perhaps less surprising is that your buyers also trust their personal network. The same research indicated that 92 percent of consumers put their trust into “recommendations from friends and family,” above any type of advertising or paid brand endorsement. If you happen to sell to a younger audience, you may want to know that a survey from Bazaar-Voice discovered that those buyers 18 to 34 years of age, also referred to as “Millennials,” said they trusted the online opinions of strangers more than friends or family.⁶

The ultimate question becomes how can you, as a salesperson, take advantage of the online product review? Is there anything you can or should do? After all, if your existing customers are already out there leaving a trail of virtual comment cards, there's really nothing more you need to do than sit back and watch the good reviews come rolling in, right? Then again, if the feedback is a bit slow, or nonexistent, you may be tempted to help the process along by writing your own review (under an anonymous or fictional name) or prompt your own friends, coworkers, and family members to add their signatures to a few reviews, on your company's behalf. Neither one of these is a good idea—mainly because it is simply wrong and misleading to do so. But popular sites that deal with lots of product reviews, such as Amazon and Yelp, are starting to identify and crack down on reviews that don't seem legitimate, or that appear forced (for example, restaurants that encourage patrons to complete an online review from their mobile device while still at the business location). Even the search engine powerhouse Google is getting into the game and trying to make sure phony online reviews don't mislead organic search results.

So, what can you do to use online reviews in a positive way to support the social selling process?

• Ask your best customers to participate: While you don't want friends and family submitting reviews, there's nothing wrong with encouraging happy, satisfied customers to provide a positive online testimonial. You can reach out by phone, online, or in-person; it really doesn't matter. However, it is always helpful to follow up any conversation with an email, thanking them for agreeing to provide the review and offering brief instructions on where and how to submit the review.

  By the way, if you have multiple places where online reviews reside (your website's product pages, Amazon.com or another reseller website, in LinkedIn product pages, etc.), only ask your customer to complete the review in one place. Not only does that keep from overwhelming them, but it is more effective if one customer isn't submitting multiple reviews.

• Include links on thank-you pages and emails: Sometimes it is preferable to reach out to specific customers personally, similar to asking for a sales reference or a marketing testimonial. You can also automate the process. The same way that Amazon sends emails following a purchase, you can ask for customers to complete reviews by adding it to an online product “thank-you” page (or order confirmation page). You can also add it to a shipping invoice or set up an automated email that goes out a certain number of days after purchase or installation.

  Of course, when automating the process of asking for an online review, you risk encouraging unhappy customers to document their experience too. In my opinion, this is perfectly okay. It's better to know that a customer is not satisfied and have the chance to correct it (even if you find out along with thousands of other online shoppers).

• Respond to negative reviews quickly: Should you end up finding an online review from an unhappy customer, it's best to respond to it—and fast! While you may want to avoid getting into a public back-and-forth exchange for all to see, you do want to have at least an initial response that is open because it lets prospective buyers know that you are paying attention to customer concerns, and that you have attempted to resolve the issue. It's also been my experience that when you do successfully resolve the problem, most customers go back online to acknowledge it and publicly thank you.

  In Chapter 2 I talked about the importance of sales, marketing, and customer support working together to help the social selling process. Negative online reviews are great examples of why that is important. However, as a salesperson or a marketer, you don't have to wait for your company's customer service to get involved. You can leave an initial response to a negative review with instructions for contacting support, or with a note letting the customer know you are taking the action to get customer support involved.

• Thank customers publicly for positive reviews: If you spot a positive review, particularly one that is especially descriptive, take a moment to thank the customer for his business and for taking time to share his experience with your company. If it makes sense, a positive online customer review can also be the perfect place to suggest other products or services your customer might appreciate, or to ask him to connect with your company on other social networks so he can stay informed with the latest news and product updates.
• Actively search for reviews: Although you may know the official places where you are likely to receive customer reviews, online customer feedback can appear in lots of different locations, from your company Facebook page to an obscure ratings website. In addition to paying regular visits to all the sites you know, collect customer reviews. I suggest using a search engine like Google or Bing to see what search results are returned when you search your company name. There are other tools that can help you monitor this, and I share those with you in Chapter 6.
• Regularly check legitimacy of reviews: As you read online customer reviews, keep your eyes open for feedback that seems odd or untruthful. Unfortunately, fake negative reviews do happen. Indicators that a review is not legitimate can include: references to products or services that you don't even offer (it happens!); an excessive number of misspellings or poor grammar; and mentions of your products being used or purchased in geographic areas that you don't sell into (perhaps outside your region or country). With many review sites, you may have the option not only to reply to the review, but to flag it as inappropriate or as spam, or to contact the review website and ask them to remove the view upon verification of it being false.
• Use good reviews in your sales and marketing process: As you spot positive reviews, take note of where they are and refer prospective customers to them as examples of satisfied customers. You might also contact the customer and ask permission to use parts of the review in other sales and marketing material, or to serve as a source for a more formal or in-depth customer case study.
• Monitor competitors’ online reviews for helpful information: One of the wonderful things about online customer reviews is that you can see what others have to say about your competition (of course, they can do the same with you!). From a social selling perspective, this is a terrific way to get a glimpse into your competitor's world. You can see what customers think of your competition and of their products and services; how they use them; and if there are problems—either with the product or with the support.

  There are times when it may be appropriate for you to respond to a negative review, sympathizing with the customer's problem and suggesting that if she ever need help in the future or care to try another product, you are available to assist. While this can be a wonderful social selling opportunity, it's always advisable to use it sparingly.

In the end, whatever information consumers glean from online reviews, good or bad, it ultimately influences buyers’ final decision-making processes. It's possible that your social prospects are actively seeking the opinions of their online peers, specifically asking what others think about your products. If buyers really like you, they just might share the love on social networking sites and give you two big, virtual thumbs up.

LIKES, FAVORITES, FOLLOWERS, AND OTHER POSITIVE SOCIAL INDICATORS

In social media, there are lots of different ways for customers, fans, and prospects to show they care about you and to interact with you. Compared to the online customer review, many of the other positive social indicators are a bit more subtle, but they are equally useful in the social selling arena.

Today, many companies use growth indicators, such as the increase in the number of their social media fan base or followers, as a way to measure both social success and return on investment (ROI). The thinking is that if you are increasing your Facebook fans by 20 percent every week, then you must be doing something right and it must be paying off (literally and figuratively). Many brands have these types of “earned media goals” associated with social media campaigns. The most popular measurements of success are the number of Facebook Likes, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, number of retweets on Twitter, and number of comments received. These types of figures are also simple and seemingly clear-cut metrics that can be used to justify social spend, whether it's the budget dollars allotted for social media ads or the investment of employees’ time spent on social networks.

However, if you have lots of followers but they aren't responding to you or engaging with you, then it doesn't do you much good, especially when it comes to trying to sell into these social channels. The lack of social engagement, regardless of number of fans or followers, would be similar to having a customer walk into your retail store and then walk out without buying anything from you or without even telling other friends about their visit to your store. You could have 300 people come through your store and, essentially, do nothing. Obviously, it doesn't help you with revenue goals. There's always a chance they will remember you at some point in the future and come back to make a purchase—but there's no guarantee.

With social selling, when customers or prospective customers interact with you in some way, it's like receiving a vote of confidence for your brand; and it's a potential opportunity to move a prospect, and their friends, closer to a buying decision. As with the old-school version of word-of-mouth marketing, when you get at least one fan or customer to interact with your brand using one of the social indicators, that positive interaction can spread to their network of friends and followers. The more interactions, the more your brand or product is likely to be seen by their friends. And, the more likely you are to convert their friends into your prospects. This is the social media version of the WOM multiplier effect, but it's based on using various social signals to engage with you.

If you have spent any time on social networking sites, then you are probably familiar with the social signals or indicators that a customer uses to interact with you. Here is a brief list of the most often tracked networks, along with their associated social signals:

• Facebook: Social signals include the number of fans and number of times a post or picture receives a Like, or a comment, or is shared with others.
• Twitter: Social signals include the number of followers, the number of retweets (when your tweet is shared), and the number of times your tweet is marked as a Favorite (similar to a Facebook Like).
• LinkedIn (personal profile): Social signals for your personal profile include the number of connections, recommendations, and endorsements you receive.
• LinkedIn (brand profile page): Social signals for your company's brand page include the number of people who follow your page; the number of recommendations your products or services receive; the number of times that updates on your company profile page are Liked, commented on, or shared; and the number of people who belong to any LinkedIn groups you manage that are related to your brand or products.
• Google +: Social indicators include when someone gives your comment or update a +1 (the equivalent of a Like or Favorite), and the number of people who have added you into their circles (or groups).
• YouTube: Social indicators include the number of times an online video has been viewed, Liked, commented on, or shared.
• Pinterest: Social indicators include the number of times one of your company or product images have been “pinned,” which is a method of virtually attaching an image to a section of someone's Pinterest account, also called a “board.” Think of Pinterest as a place that showcases virtual corkboards, where images and documents from around the Internet can be “pinned” to those boards. The act of pinning or repinning is a way of sharing in this social network, In addition, someone may also Like an image that you have shared. (More, much more, on Pinterest in Chapter 14.)
• Communities/Blogs: Social indicators for various communities, groups, or blogs that your company manages, sponsors, or participates in usually include the total number of followers or group members, the number and frequency of comments and questions received, or the number of Likes or shares your posts receive.

You may be wondering if there is anything you can do to encourage people to use these social signals. There are definitely a few ways you can help improve engagement—including everything from the type of content you use (which I discuss in the next chapter) to how often you post information to your social media channels. One of the best things you can do is make it easy for customers and prospects to share. This can be as simple as enabling social sharing buttons on your website, blog, or community. Make sure the social icons for Twitter, Facebook, Google +, and others are readily seen and actually work so that people can share information from you at the click of an icon!

Another surefire way to help increase engagement is to ask people to leave comments to your blog post, to “follow” you or Like you, or to retweet one of your tweets. Asking your target audience to participate is pretty powerful, and you may be pleasantly surprised to discover how often it works! To find more details and tailored tips to help increase the activity and response rates you receive, check out Chapters 11 through 14; each chapter covers a specific social media platform or group of social networks.

BLOGS, FORUMS (GROUPS), AND COMMUNITIES MATTER, TOO

You may have noticed that I have mentioned blogs, groups, and communities several times in this chapter. For the purpose of social selling, know that I include these as part of the larger, online social hemisphere and consider them to be an important component of the social selling process. Typically, however, analysts and researchers treat these categories as being separate or different from social networking sites, so you may you see them broken out separately in some social media research. Much like online customer reviews, blogs and industry- or product-specific groups and communities can be very influential. A 2013 report from Technorati Media finds that consumers do turn to blogs when making a purchasing decision.⁷ Further, the survey indicated that blogs are the “third-most influential” digital or online resource, and they were the “fifth-most trusted” resource on the Internet. YouTube, Facebook, and Google + were also included among the most influential social media sites that buyers turned to for information as part of their purchasing decisions.

One interesting point is that 54 percent of those surveyed believe that the smaller a community is, the greater its influence on the buying process. It's reasonable to assume this happens because consumers are able to form closer relationships in groups and communities that are smaller. So as you begin to identify blogs and communities to get involved in, don't overlook those with a smaller membership base because they could turn out to be a better source of influencers and prospects.

Even though there are lots of different social networks and online communities where you can play, it's highly improbable that you can be active in all of them and do it well. A better plan is to determine where your customers and prospects are most likely hanging out and participating, and then invest your time and energy in those social networks.

Likewise, it's helpful to identify industry influencers and develop relationships with them. Influencers are the bloggers, community leaders, industry analysts, and very active influential customers who have a large (or active) audience and are respected for the information they share and the recommendations they offer. If you are a marketer, these are ideal people to help share your success stories. As a salesperson, your interaction with influencers can be important for several reasons, including that they may:

• Tag you as an expert in your field and use you as a resource for articles and blog posts.
• Promote and share to their audience any information that you post to social networks.
• Publicly recommend you and your products to their followers.

To make it easier to reach out to your key influencers, keep track of them using a list that also includes notes about their specific areas of interest, expertise, or other pertinent details. This list is also a handy way to keep a record of when you last engaged with them and what information was shared or topics discussed. In the next chapter, I will show you how to use different types of content to aid the social selling process and target the content toward both influencers and prospective customers.

Oh, there is one other thing to consider before moving on. While I talk a great deal about your company, and the products or services offered, you—as a representative of that brand—are greatly intertwined with your company's image. There will be plenty of times when you, as a salesperson, benefit from the strength of that brand. By participating on your company's social networks, you not only help the company but you also help build your own social influence. For example, it may be that your company's Facebook page has thousands of fans, while you personally may have only a few hundred (or less). You can and should still engage and comment on the company Facebook page, even though you don't already have a large following. Posting meaningful comments and responding to others helps you build credibility and make more social connections. You don't have to broadcast the fact that you are a salesperson or marketer for the company every time you comment on a post; instead, your profile description should reference that you represent the brand or work in that particular industry. The suggestion for engaging and commenting on your company's Facebook page also holds true for LinkedIn, Google +, and the many communities and groups. When it comes to Twitter, however, you are more likely to be able to build a strong presence with lots of followers of your own.

As I shared with you in Chapter 3, there are rules to follow to improve your positive connections—for both you and your company. It is to be expected that consumers want to connect with brands online, but they will build relationships with the actual people (salespersons, marketers, and others) who represent the company. Remember that both you (as a salesperson) and your brand need to stay active online in order to maximize the benefit of peer-to-peer influence as it relates to the social selling process.

Now that you know the importance of interacting with fans and followers on social media, let's look at some of the best ways to keep the conversation going.

Spoiler alert! The secret to starting and holding online conversations ultimately comes down to content. In the next chapter, you'll discover the different types of content you can use to engage prospective customers and how to match your content to the buying stage of your social prospect.