Creating Products They Want: Consumer Driven Innovation via Social Media Monitoring

Creating Products They Want:

Consumer Driven Innovation via

Social Media Monitoring

Download the full whitepaper here:

http://socialmedia.alterian.com/learn-more/roi/Product-development-whitepaper

An Excerpt from the Let’s Talk! Social Media ROI Series








Brief Overview:

Whether a product is in its conceptual phase or near

refinement, it is important to consider the wealth of

insight available in social networks.

A social media monitoring tool can gather the

conversations and tap into the collective intellect of

consumers at large. It provides brands with the

opportunity to learn directly from their customers,

target markets, that of competitors and the industry as

a whole.










The ROI of Using a Social Media Monitoring Tool

This white paper will provide an overview of the following

ways that a social media monitoring tool directly impacts

the return on investment in product development:

• Reduce traditional market research costs

• Shorten the product development cycle

• Post-production feedback

• Identify influencers & advocates

• Discover new markets










Reduced Traditional Market Research Costs:

The social web creates the perfect incubation area

for new product ideas. In contrast to traditional

market research methods, the organic nature of

social media conversations provides unique value.

Consumers openly share information about brands,

comparing them and making suggestions in real

time. They contribute to the conversation at large

with no reservations or filters in place. Most

importantly, they participate because they want to.










The ROI of Using a Social Media Monitoring Tool

A social media monitoring tool allows one to segment the

data and identify demographic trends around a brand.



The following Theme Clouds

show the words that women

used in regard to McDonald’ s

McCafe products. The larger

the word, the more frequently

they were used in the

conversations about the brand.

The following words offer

excellent opportunities to

gather product development

ideas: iced, free, mocha,

love, chocolate, breakfast, tea,

and vanilla.








Shorten the Product Development Cycle:

Consumers are more likely to provide feedback, and it is the

perfect opportunity for the product team not only to listen,

but also to participate. This will reduce the time needed to

research new product ideas, vet feature lists (provide the

opportunity to vote) and test the pre-release version (beta).

Many companies find that when they engage their

customers, not only do they lower production costs, but they

build brand loyalty and generate excitement about the

product.










Shorten the Product Development Cycle:

A brand can create a private or public community and use a

social monitoring tool to identify main themes and sentiment.

Many social media monitoring tools allow the ability to add

custom RSS feeds. This allows you to analyze the content of

the conversations. Specific topics of concern to the user

community can be identified. It also offers the ability to see

patterns in feedback on sentiment about the products.










Post-Production Feedback:

In addition, post-production feedback can help work out any bugs.

Another benefit of post-production feedback is that real-time feedback

enables companies to make changes in the supply chain. Brands no

longer need to wait months to see the fruits of market research.



Consumers shopping online are

more likely to purchase a product

when it is recommended by a

friend; this is especially true if the

friend helped in the product

development phase.








Post-Production Feedback:

The following chart

shows the tone of the

results. The negative

ones offer the obvious

place to dig into. It’ s

also important to not

overlook the positive

ones. They will provide

many clues as to what

is effective along with

hints as to what

additional features

consumers desire.










Identify Influencers & Advocates

The ability to find influencers and engage with them and their

communities takes product development to the next level. As you

work with them to understand their needs, you build customer

loyalty in addition to developing a better product.

Relationships with influencers and online communities are based on

trust. People buy products when they learn from others’ positive

experiences. By following influencers and their communities,

companies can expand their reach as they learn the sentiment

towards a product, as well as the demographics and geography of

those who use it.










Identify influencers & advocates: A Case Study










Discover New Markets:

Are you interested in new markets? Social media monitoring

reveals potential markets by identifying demographics and

online communities with a need for your products. It is

important to set up broad searches for industry keywords.

Don’t limit the language to specific brands, but include

products and features. A social media monitoring tool can

also help you identify unexpected uses of your products.










Conclusion:

Social Media Marketing provides key data that

enables a company to refine a product and expand

its reach at the same time. Listening to your market

and online communities helps guide market

research and customer engagement in the

process, and it builds brand loyalty for post

production. Beyond developing existing products

and markets, using a social media monitoring tool

leads to identifying new markets.










Creating Products They Want: Consumer Driven Innovation via Social Media Monitoring

Business

Transcript of Creating Products They Want: Consumer Driven Innovation via Social Media Monitoring