We discuss all forms of social media content-- and how to start and leverage conversations in your overall search/social content strategy.

1. Social Content and the
Consumer Decision Journey
Patrick Berzai director of account management
One Winthrop Square FL5, Boston MA 02110
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

2. “The single biggest problem in communication
is the illusion that it has taken place.”
--George Bernard Shaw
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

3. Agenda
Social for Business
How Social Content Affects the Online Buying
Journey
Resourcing
Resources
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

4. Social For Business
One Winthrop Square FL5, Boston MA 02110
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

5. Business Challenge
What makes
buy
617 . 206 . 3040
?
www.brafton.com

6. Social Content
While a priority can be given to drive traffic to
your main web property, buying decisions are
made over a long time.
The priority is still delivering:
1. The right message
2. To the right viewer
3. At the right time
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

7. Business Goals for Social Media
Goals for Social Media are to:
1. Foster ‘many to many’ conversations in a
community
2. Brand authority and personality—people view
brands on social as ‘people’
3. Drive traffic to intended web properties
4. Highlight the processes and successes of
people who have been associated with your
brand
5. Co-opt what people are talking about to
insinuate your brand into their lives
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

8. A Reframe
Clients may think it is frivolous to have a
“Facebook Page”or their “Twitter feed.”
It is important to stress that this is a brands’
“web property” or “web asset.”
Just as they need to control the content on their
main web property, they need to control the
conversations on their social properties.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

9. Social Properties and Signals in SERPs
From a branded search of “Brafton”
I am connected to
this author
through Google+
so his result
shows up in the
“News” in my
SERPs
Brafton
Twitter page
ranks
Brafton
LinkedIn
page ranks
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com
Google+ followers
show up in a
branded search for
Brafton

10. Social Media and the
Consumer Decision Journey
One Winthrop Square FL5, Boston MA 02110
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

11. Traditional Three Step Model
It used to be that people would have a need for a product or service (the
‘stimulus’) and then check out the product on a shelf and then buy the product.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

12. BRAND EVALUATION/LOYALTY:
OLD
The Purchase Funnel
Prior to search,
marketers assumed
that consumers
started with a large
number of potential
brands in mind and
methodically
winnowed their
choices until they
would decide which
one to buy.
617 . 206 . 3040
After purchase,
their relationship
with the brand
typically focused
on the use of the
product or service
itself.
www.brafton.com

13. People Look to their Connections for Help
What is the percentage of US online adults
credit communication with people they know
personally for helping them discover new
brands, products, or services.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

14. Ninety-four percent of those respondents actually
purchased or tried a new brand or product after hearing
about it through the grapevine.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

15. THE (NEW) B2B PURCHASE
FUNNEL
60%
of a typical B2B
purchasing decision
(research, ranking,
pricing, reviews,
etc) is done before
having a
conversation with
the supplier.
Source: http://hbr.org/2012/07/the-end-of-solution-sales/
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

16. THE (NEW) B2C PURCHASE
FUNNEL
70%
of a typical B2C
purchasing decision
is done before
contacting a
salesperson of
visiting a store
Source: Forbes
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

17. What Was Once a Message…
Brand
The void…
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

18. …is NOW a Conversation
The best brand experiences are
the ones that foster not only a
brand to customer experience,
but a brand to customer to
client interaction, or ‘many to
many’experience.
Now brands can talk and listen to
their potential and loyal customers,
finding out valuable information like
what interests them, how they like
to talk (about their brand) and how
they buy and user their pordcuts.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com
It is best not to think of social
media as either B2B or B2C
but of “P2P”—People to
People.

19. New Paradigm
One Winthrop Square FL5, Boston MA 02110
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

20. New Mental Model
Now, in the time between the ‘stimulus’ and the ‘first moment of truth’ is the
‘Zero Moment of Truth’ whereby people are researching products online,
comparing prices, reviews, videos, tutorials, etc.
And there is a lasting opportunity to for brands to remain in the front of
brands AFTER purchase now (Second Moment of Truth)
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

21. ZMOT AND DECISIONS
Savvy consumers are increasingly turning to online social interactions to check
out ratings and reviews for opinions on products and services and searching
what a brand’s Facebook Pages or Twitter account has for deals and insights
as to what’s new.
Consumers are also also using sites like YouTube and Vimeo to research howto videos or demos on how products are used.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

22. The Purchase Funnel Re-imagined
The Loyalty Loop
New research shows that
rather than systematically
narrowing their choices,
consumers add and
subtract brands from a
group under consideration
during an extended
evaluation phase.
After purchase, they often enter into
an open ended relationship with the
brand, sharing their experience with
it online, making the relationship
closer resulting in repeat purchases.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

23. Using the Loyalty Loop For Customer Acquisition
One way that new
customer acquisition can
be improved by present
client loyalty is in their
social reputation on their
social profiles.
Studies show that
prospects look at social
properties to get reviews
and discover how that
brand is building a
community, dealing with
angry clients, and what
sort of interaction is
occurring on social
properties
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

24. ANOTHER LOOK…
Social media
In 2012 44% of conusmers across industries visited a the social media site for
a brand prior to purchase. 44% “Liked,” or followed a brand prior to purchase.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

25. The Role of Social Media along CDJ
This abstract
shows how social
properties can
affect decisions
and what sort of
social behaviors
brands would use
at key times along
the journey.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

26. Social Media and SEO
One Winthrop Square FL5, Boston MA 02110
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

27. 617 . 206 . 3040
http://www.brafton.com

28. 617 . 206 . 3040
http://www.brafton.com

29. SEO as a Search Behavior
SEO traditionally has meant how to rank a website
highest on Google.
Over time, “Number 1 ranking” has changed on
Google, as have the reasons for ranking.
Some search behavior, such as online reputation
searches, users will go up to eight pages deep to
investigate your brand.
The goal is to control the content on the sites that
users see that influence their decision about your
brand.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

30. WHAT YOU WANT TO
SAY
WHAT INTERESTS THEM
RELEVANCE
617 . 206 . 3040
http://www.brafton.com

31. 80% believe shared content is more
important for SEO than ever before
Source: BrightEdge
617 . 206 . 3040
http://www.brafton.com

32. Social Properties and Signals in SERPs
From a branded search of “Brafton”
I am connected to
this author
through Google+
so his result
shows up in the
“News” in my
SERPs
Brafton
Twitter page
ranks
Brafton
LinkedIn
page ranks
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com
Google+ followers
show up in a
branded search for
Brafton

33. Google+
Google+ is not a
social network per
se, but a search
network.
Google is constantly
trying to make
SERPs more
relevant to intent,
and part of that
assumption is that
those in your
‘circles’ or your
friends are better
indicators of quality
content tailored to
the user.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

34. Social Content Sourcing
One Winthrop Square FL5, Boston MA 02110
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

35. Updated
often
You can
search
by most
recent or
most
popular
You may change
the parameters of
the search to not
only search the
web, but
conversations
and people
associated with
your keyword
search
One Winthrop Square FL5, Boston MA 02110
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

36. Use of Forums for Sourcing
Seed a
forum
with a
question
or a poll.
Useful
data for
an article
or blog
Check the
moderator—what
authority do they have
in the industry
Latest updates to
see what people
are recently talking
about
Look at the
most
popular
discussions.
How many
comments
did a
discussion
get?
This forum is actually
not too popular
.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

37. Drilldown
Top influencers. Find their
comments and co-opt their
knowledge of the industry
Other insights
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

38. Other Insights
There are further demographics in the insights to the
group to find global trends in the field.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

39. Continuing the Conversation
There is an opportunity for brands to
spy on conversations.
One way for a web site to participate
or even lead the conversation in their
field is to listen in to a conversation
and then show it to an internal
executive or SME and then turn their
response into a blog topic or article.
This is a way to co-opt the
discussion or debate into the brand
narrative.
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

40. Resources
One Winthrop Square FL5, Boston MA 02110
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com

41. Resources



Zero Moment of Truth: http://www.zeromomentoftruth.com/
David Edelman: @davidedelman
McKinsey & Co: www.mckinsey.com
 Demystifying Social Media:
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/demystifying_social_media
 Social Media and the Consumer Decision Journey
http://cmsoforum.mckinsey.com/article/taking-social-media-along-the-consumer-decisionjourney

Jeff Bullas @jeffbullas
617 . 206 . 3040
www.brafton.com