Changing how marketing works
Published Monday February 9th, 2009
Technology One Fredericton company is revolutionizing the way leading firms do business
FREDERICTON - Pepsi-Cola Canada Ltd., Dell Inc. and the American Automobile Association have all caught on to Radian6, the Fredericton firm that, like it or not, is changing the world of marketing.
Radian6's social media monitoring technology is blurring the lines between the traditional silos of customer service, communications, marketing and advertising.
Companies are responding to the revolution by creating new positions like vice-president of communities and conversations dedicated to building relationships with customers and responding to their needs on a one-on-one basis online.
The competition in social media monitoring software is stiff, with hundreds of new companies trying to ride the marketing revolution wave. Still, Radian 6 has been a standout: winning deals with leading corporations since its start-up in 2006.
The recipe for the firm's success is simple: They practice what they preach.
"Our success has literally grown through listening and engaging in social media and using our own technology to flush out the best practices of community management and content marketing," says David Alston, Radian6's vice-president of marketing and community.
"I might have spent $2,000 total in the last year on traditional marketing," he adds.
Radian6's offices are located inside a three-story Victorian-era house on the capital's north side. The sprawling, open-concept space has deep-red walls and large desks littered with laptops and flat-screens. The company currently has nearly 50 employees and recently hired its own director of community, Chicago-based technology and public relations whiz Amber Naslund.
"My job is about monitoring, listening and engaging with Radian6's customers," she explains. "Community roles like mine are still relatively new in the business world and they don't fit into one of the traditional categories of marketing or communications."
Naslund uses Radian6's own platform to monitor what is being said about the company.
"Social media gives you a magnifying glass to pinpoint problems. It's a snapshot of what people are saying about you," she says.
Businesses can use Radian6 not only as a vehicle to listen to customers but also to engage in corporate social responsibility.
For example, if a passenger had trouble with Air Canada over the holidays and posted something about it on a blog, the airline can see what is being said through Radian6 and respond to the problem.
"Imagine how you'd feel if Air Canada showed up and said 'We're really sorry we disappointed you and here's what we're trying to do to correct that problem and here's my name and my phone number and I'd like you to reach out to me so we can fix this,'" Naslund says. "It completely changes your entire perspective of the company."
The approach is not about mass communications, she says, but rather about building relationships with customers.
"It's more human-based," she explains.
Another new role popping up in businesses is content marketing and Warren Sukernek just joined Radian6 to do just that. He flew into Fredericton from Seattle this week for face-to-face meetings.
"Traditional marketing is more about pushing a message out," he says. "Content marketing is more focused on pull and on demand - so when the customer is interested in learning more then our content is there for them to meet their needs."
If someone on a social media site asks about the gas mileage for a Ford Focus, for example, Radian6 could detect the message up for the auto company and display it on its platform. Ford could then respond directly to the question or provide a link to an article - independent or prepared by the company - that review's the Focus.
"It's about providing timely and accurate information to potential consumers, instead of bombarding them with ads when they aren't paying attention," he says, but adds that it's important to be transparent and to clearly explain your position when representing a company.
The shift towards content marketing is in part due to the costs of traditional advertising but also the difficulty tracking the performance and results compared to online techniques.
"We know exactly how many people go to a website or click on an item, search a term on Google or download content," Sukernek says. "That capability to measure and monitor activity helps drive the migration from big expensive advertising vehicles where we may have charged a cost per impression basis to these newer approaches that are cost per engagement."
Although engaging with consumers' online and using content marketing may be cheaper than traditional customer service and advertising techniques, Alston says building customer relationships requires a dedication of resources.
"It doesn't have the same costs of creating campaigns and buying media but it does require an investment of people-resources and their time to listen and engage," Alston says.
But when it comes to increasing the bottom line, using social media to monitor and engage with customers delivers more "eyeball" results than traditional advertising, he says.
For about $600 a month Radian6 will track every mention of a company name or related keywords. The information is gathered in real-time and collected into one stream called the river of news, which is displayed on Radian6's web platform using visual aids like charts and graphics.
"Everything from Twitter to YouTube, Flickr and Facebook - wherever people converse online in public spaces we can track," he says. "It's like a huge global focus group."
Alston says the computer giant Dell uses Radian6 in many ways, including monitoring public response to new products.
"Let's say Dell launches the Mini 9," he says. "They can look at online traffic and how many mentions were made of the Dell Mini 9 before and after the launch and analyze all the different posts."
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We are definitely proud to be working with a number of great clients like PepsiCo, AAA and Dell and to be able to serve them from home here in Fredericton and Saint John.