Acquisition Should Be Easy (For Consumers)
:: By Kevin Dugan, Director, Social Marketing
Within the last 24 hours, Pearl Jam broke news on Twitter that you can download a live version of their song “Just Breathe.” In exchange you must tweet about the song from their landing page -- encouraging others to do the same.
Twitter is a great way to spread the word about this band and its new material. And it brings to mind some key points about using social media to acquire customer data for marketing efforts. As social media continues to morph, we’re seeing some ways to make acquisition easier for everyone involved.
Make It a Seamless Experience
Pearl Jam’s landing page is one of a growing number of sites using OAuth to make participating in a promotion simple and easy. In this case, OAuth temporarily accesses a consumer’s Twitter ID to give them access to an iTunes download code. The whole experience takes a few seconds and eliminates the need for consumers to fill in multiple fields or jump between multiple sites.
OAuth is NOT the same as opting-in to be added to a customer list. But by making this initial interaction as simple as possible, it does provide context for a brand to serve up opt-in instructions. In fact, Pearl Jam includes an email field on its song fulfillment page (not shown) that enters you into their database and a drawing for a limited-edition, white vinyl album. Facebook also makes it easier to interact with brands from within their platform. Facebook now offers the ability to add opt-in email fields to fan pages. Both approaches to Twitter and Facebook make it almost effortless for the consumer to participate.
Give Them Value. Instantly
Pearl Jam’s promotion is by no means unique in giving the consumer instant gratification. By giving consumers instant access to a coupon, for example, brands can continue to build context with them. The coupon can also serve as a sample of the types of information you might exchange in the future.
Keep the Conversation Going
As the band delivers the iTunes download code, they offer fans a chance to win another prize. This makes it clear the band’s communication with them will not be a one-hit wonder. And by planning ahead, brands can also make sure this is not the case with their promotional efforts. By making initial consumer engagement an ongoing conversation, brands can fully leverage the cost of acquisition.
Focus on Target Audience, Success Metrics
This is more than an example of a band building social buzz overnight. Pearl Jam clearly considered that Twitter’s audience skews older. As a fan of Pearl Jam I can confirm that their audience also skews in this direction. By picking a platform where their target audience is already engaged, they increase their odds of success.
How will they measure success? There are a number of ways this can be done. From the number of Tweets sent via their page to the number of downloads, there is a lot of quantitative data to monitor. But sales of Pearl Jam songs available on iTunes is the real measure of success. If they see a spike in song sales from this promotion I'm betting the band will perform an encore of this social experiment. And it’s a great example of how social media can make acquisition an easier task for all involved.
Pearl Jam band image uploaded by Pearl Jam Official
More about Kevin:
Twitter: @prblog
LinkedIn: Kevin Dugan
