Do Canadians have big mouths?

Since (at least) 2008, Social Media has become more and more of a priority at work. Senior Management is bought in, resources are becoming more and more available, and our CMO recently released some news about what we're doing.

“The rapid growth of technology and social media is forever changing the ways people communicate and this provided the perfect landscape to launch AIR MILES Community,” says Neil Everett, Chief Marketing Officer, AIR MILES Reward Program. “It gives us direct insight into the opinions of our Collectors on the program, plus allows them to share information and exchange stories, photos and tips not only with us, but with each-other as well. This information has already proved invaluable insights and will help us grow and enhance the rewards program based on our Collector feedback.”

Three things that the company has launched in the last 9 months in the social media space, and what I believe to be a good start, but by no means the end of our injection into the conversation, are as follows:

1. Community- The AIR MILES Community, launched in April 2009, is a forum for Collectors to share memories and tips, learn about news, opportunities for Bonus Reward Miles, and tricks to earning, as well as ask questions of AIR MILES moderators and other Collectors. With over 15,000 members of the Community in less than three months, the user base of extremely avid Collectors is growing to a useful size. Promotions like the recent AIR MILES Mile-ionaire Giveaway, with a grand prize of 1,000,000 Reward Miles, encourage a fire-hose of participation in the conversation. It's also providing some insights as far as what people 'aspire' to earn with their Air Miles Reward Miles: Even though recent polls and research reveals that 86% of Canadians want to redeem for Travel it's as easy as reading the posts, comments and replies on the community to determine the same data.
   

1. Facebook Fan Page- Still in the early stages of development, the AIR MILES Community Fan Page on Facebook.com is a place to aggregate and distribute the Collector conversation in a venue where Canadians are already participating heavily. As the worlds most popular social network, Facebook simply cannot be ignored. With the outbound messaging capabilities afforded a Fan page, and the highly targeted segments, Fan Updates from Facebook are all of the sudden a significant part of the marketing mix. Cost: $0.
   


2. Twitter- Our Twitter page is exploding with growth, gaining followers every day. Part of the strategy developed for Twitter is to keep it as a marketing communications channel, as opposed to a Customer Service/Complaints channel. That's not to say that we won't attempt to direct Collectors to help, and solve issues for all readers, but the channel is more valuable to a broad audience when it's about finding Bonus Reward Miles, learning about promotions, hearing about a new Sponsor launching in the coalition and so on. I would not follow ComCastCares on Twitter for that reason. They are apologizing far more than they are creating value for their followers. Some customer-centric companies are doing an amazing job of creating value for their followers, and they now benefit from the ability to distribute their message to upwards of 500,000 followers in the blink of an eye. Cost: $0.
   

As we start to be able to monetize these channels more and more, via Sponsor offers, unique tracking codes embedded in links, promotions exclusively for Twitter followers or Facebook Fans, and other means-- the ROI shows its beautiful head, and measurement and KPIs start to make more sense. Because we're so early in the game (especially for channels like Twitter) measurement is tough. What is "Doing Well" and what is "Needs Improvement"? Compared to our competition (whether that's Aeroplan, Shoppers Optimum, Esso Extra, etc) we're the champs. They aren't even on the map; But I don't think "Being the Winner" will fly for next year's KPIs...