ISG Provider Lens™ Social Business Collaboration – Services & Solutions - U.S. 2019 - Social Media Management – Consulting and Integration
Digital Dexterity Not Tools Define Social Business Collaboration
Social business collaboration is defined by user behavior and growing affinity toward digital technology and not technology itself. The word “social” is derived from the Latin word “socii” meaning “allies.” Social collaboration technologies help users identify, work with and work for others with similar traits and behaviors. This human-like behavior drives changes in the enterprise social business technologies for external marketing and customer support services.
External Social Media Communication and Marketing
The number of users on social media platforms has become stagnant in the U.S. Brands value American users because they have more disposable income than those in emerging markets. As the user base is no longer expanding in the U.S., brands need to figure out other ways of growing their businesses online. They need to focus on their social media management and customer support services and rely heavily on changing end-user/customer experiences with social channels. Users are becoming familiar and are getting comfortable with different ways to access and use social media on different devices and platforms in the digital world. Based on their social media usage, it is possible to distinguish between a digitally dexterous expert social media user and an average user. With the emerging possibilities with social media channels over different platforms, users’ expectations and experiences have also evolved. Key trends in this space are mentioned below and summarized in Figure 2:
Brands are falling short of customer expectations: Social business collaboration in the external customer-facing environment is evolving rapidly as brands are unable to meet customer expectations. Customers have become inconsistent with their product choices because of the number of options available to them. Brands understand that digital transformation is key to driving customer experience, and that customer experience is crucial for competing in the age of the customer. Brands are trying to match their competitors and benchmark their efforts rather than focus on what customers are expecting. Companies are complacent, bringing only incremental improvements to their customer experience, while customer expectation is growing at a rapid pace. The gap between the ambitions and capabilities of a brand needs to be bridged.
Trust, control and privacy on social media: Last year, almost every consumer has called into question the privacy, accuracy and ethics of every social channel. Users have grown distrustful of media and influencers, and the age of social skepticism has dawned in the market. To keep pace with these changes, smart brands are focusing less on maximizing reach and more on generating transparent, quality engagement. Rather than relying on celebrity influencers, brands are leveraging their own internal experts and employee advocates. Customers want to have real and authentic conversations with brands. Hence, brands should focus on earning trust and provide real value for continued engagement.
- Sharing stories online: Nearly a billion users across WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat have already turned to the stories feature to share content on social media. Stories are ephemeral and often disappear after a day, so there is more room for experimentation. They feel real, immediate and personal. Those that are less polished feel more realistic and perform better than heavily edited posts. The absence of a strong application programming interface (API) for Instagram stories makes scheduling, measuring engagement and ROI very problematic.
- Paid Social Media: Rising costs and short-lived attention for paid social media posts limit ROI for brands and reduce overall margins. Impressions, views and other reach metrics rarely indicate campaign effectiveness because the background noise on social media has increased enormously. Social ads with a high level of engagement rise above this background noise. Paid social teams are recognizing the importance of combining ad spending with an equivalent investment of time and creativity for the right target audience. The end goal should be customer engagement and user discussion. This should be achieved by sharing creative social ads that are personalized and entertaining.
- Social Commerce: The adoption of social commerce in Asia has been rapid, as the new generation of consumers is opting to buy directly from social channels. However, the U.S. has been slow to adopt social commerce. There is a generation gap in the U.S. between consumers with a high purchasing power and avid social media users. In Asia, this gap is more pronounced than the intersection of these user segments in the U.S. Not only should U.S. brands use social media as a platform for advertising, they should also focus on using social interactions to promote content generated by users. Shoppable posts on Instagram, Facebook Marketplace and Buyable Pins on Pinterest are some examples of social commerce destinations. Finding ways to make shopping live, interactive and seamless on mobile and desktop devices is key to boost sales on social platforms. Brands need to replace written product descriptions into videos, share live demos and encourage video testimonials from customers. Peer engagement, trust and creative visuals on social media will change the ecommerce landscape in the coming years. Social commerce is not expected to be a separate entity from commerce in the future, and the top brands will integrate brand building, social media, and social commerce into seamless experiences that meet consumer expectations.
- Social Messaging: Messaging has become the single most preferred channel for customer service. Customers feel more confident when they get a chance to directly communicate with a brand. Smart brands are using messaging apps for more high-value conversations. Customer service is an opportunity to build empathy, so brands are using bots to build rapport with their customers. The rise in messaging volume elevates the need for a unified inbox for brands, which will serve as a cross-channel platform for
catching, routing and responding to all messaging queries. Most of the leading social media management solution providers can help brands with a unified social inbox and handle their customer service process.