The Engaged Consumer

For what it’s worth, the original title of this post was originally “Are You Smarter than a Drug Dealer?” It came out of a conversation I was having with our CEO about the fact that the business model we encourage our clients to adopt – namely, “give before you get” – in many ways is no different than that of a drug dealer’s. Well, except that in our case, we are asking our clients to give value away for free to get their customers “hooked,” vs. causing a lifetime of pain and addiction. But you get the point.

 

Up until the writing of this post, I toyed with keeping the original title but realized that as much as it may have piqued people’s interest, it ultimately sent the wrong message. So instead, I went with the title of my latest stump speech, “Give Before You Get.” As I mentioned above, it’s something that we talk about incessantly with our customers and prospective customers. Having worked at a large corporate for nearly 10 years (Fidelity Investments), I understand how counterintuitive this feels for many companies. But what I can tell you is that it works!

 

A recent Seth Godin blog post that my colleague, Doni Wilson, seems to encapsulate the essence of “Give Before You Get.” Amazingly, this is such a short post, I’m going to quote the entire thing here with attribution and a link back to Seth’s The Panhandler’s Secret. Hope Seth doesn’t mind:

When there were old-school parking meters in New York, quarters were precious.

One day, I’m walking down the street and a guy comes up to me and says, “Do you have a dollar for four quarters?” He held out his hand with four quarters in it.

When there were old-school parking meters in New York, quarters were precious.

One day, I’m walking down the street and a guy comes up to me and says, “Do you have a dollar for four quarters?” He held out his hand with four quarters in it.

Curious, I engaged with him. I took out a dollar bill and took the four quarters.

Then he turned to me and said, “can you spare a quarter?”

What a fascinating interaction.

First, he engaged me. A fair trade, one that perhaps even benefited me, not him.

Now, we have a relationship. Now, he knows I have a quarter (in my hand, even). So his next request is much more difficult to turn down. If he had just walked up to me and said, “can you spare a quarter,” he would have been invisible.

Too often, we close the sale before we even open it.

Interact first, sell second.

Not only have I seen this approach benefit me time and time again in the form of leads, awareness, job candidates and free research but it’s also had a tangible ROI for a number of our clients. One client in particular, Sony, cited some amazing results in a recent case study they did with our friends over at MarketingProfs.

• Engaging more consumers, growing member registration, and increasing return visits to the site: Year over year, in 2008 Backstage 101 experienced a 388% increase in the number of user engagements, 34% growth in member registration, a 31% increase in unique visits, and 179% more repeat visits.
• Retaining high-value global segments: Return visits accounted for 20% of all traffic in the first half of 2008, compared with 10% for the first half of 2007. And 15% of users who registered on the site prior to 2008 remain active. Currently, 90% of users match Sony’s target user profile, and 53% are considered “innovation enthusiasts.” In addition, 79% of users say they plan to purchase a consumer electronics product within six months.
• Increasing consumer loyalty and advocacy: The program has a 90% usersatisfaction rating, and 78% of users report that they are more likely to purchase a Sony product as a result of Backstage 101. Sony’s NPS (Net Promoter Score) for 2008 came in at 44%, with 59% of users classified as “promoters” who are likely to recommend Sony electronics to a family member, friend, or coworker.
• Providing increased value to the Sony Electronics business: The number of users claiming to have purchased a Sony Electronics product grew to 36% for the first half of 2008 (prior to the launch of Digital Darkroom and Frontline Community), compared with 20% for the first half of 2007, and Center reports that sales on the Sony Web site “continue to increase month over month.” In addition, survey completion is up 12% this year, providing Sony with valuable additional consumer insight. And retail syndication along with the addition of Backstage 101 to the company’s CyberScholar site are allowing Sony to better support its retail relationships. 

For the full version of the case study, you can grab it on MarketingProf’s site or download it from Powered.

So what are you waiting for? Start giving and then maybe your customers will be willing to share a “quarter” back with you. Or maybe more!

Filed under: Content Marketing, Engagement Marketing, Measurement, Social Marketing