Tips, and tricks to connect with your customers

This blog has been introduced in true Reddit fashion. TL;DR stands for “Too Long; Didn’t Read” and is conventionally followed by a short and sweet summary of whatever bit of writing was deemed too long to read. This blog might be a bit more on the lengthy side but I assure you, it’s 100% worth the read.

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The True Value of Social: Dogecoin Has the Last Laugh Without influencers… influencing, the world would be a completely different place. A simple tweet from someone influential has the potential to skyrocket the value of a product. One such instance of this happening is when space, car and space-car tycoon, Elon Musk, tweeted about the relatively new cryptocurrency, Dogecoin. His social media posts about the cryptocurrency that was initially just a joke generated a whopping 239k mentions.

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In their article on cryptocurrency, Brandwatch states that mentions of Dogecoin on social media have increased 1,239% in 2020, compared to 2019 with “328k mentions of ‘buy’ and another 176k mentions of ‘hold’ as Dogecoin holders asked their peers to hold off on cashing in.” Dogecoin has risen through the ranks to be on par with other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, with the steady increase in Dogecoin conversation almost meeting that of Bitcoin.

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In January this year, we saw yet another display of the power of social media when Reddit group, SatoshiStreetBets pushed to get Dogecoin higher so that people make more money. This is not the first of its kind in the world of Reddit. Groups like WallStreetBets have pushed cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin before. In their article, Brandwatch states “Influencers and online communities have huge power over what people invest in” which couldn’t be more true in the case of Dogecoin. A simple post on Reddit could dictate the fate of this unpredictable cryptocurrency.

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Reddit: The Data Goldmine With 430 million average monthly users, 50,000 words posted a minute, 2.5 billion upvotes each month and 1.2 billion comments per year, Reddit is an often overlooked, rich source of data. Why do we look over it? Everyone’s anonymous, so what good would that data do? Well, being anonymous encourages members to tell the absolute truth. So if you want an honest, in-depth perception of your brand, Reddit is the place to look.

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Wait a second, what is Reddit? Reddit is a forum-based website where people ask questions, post links and comment on and rate posts. The big difference between Reddit and similar sites is that it has a downvote system. A post will be downvoted for several reasons. For example, a post might not be relevant to the subreddit in question. In true Reddit style, it will not be downvoted if a user simply does not agree with what has been said. A Redditor would rather contribute to the conversation in the comment section if they disagree.

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There is a tremendous amount of jargon that comes with being a Redditor, a few examples being: karma, AMA (or “Ask Me Anything”) and Reddit Gold. This may sound foreign right now but lucky for us, Brandwatch has compiled a mammoth Reddit guide that teaches us all about it.

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How to find the right Reddit data In Brandwatch’s latest webinar, Reddit’s Senior Brand Specialist, Ash Dunn, refers to Reddit as the home of “authentic human connection.” This is a place where people go to confide, complain or compliment and these can all be used to your business’s advantage. Here’s how:

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1. Get to know how Reddit works Knowing a little about the etiquette, terminology and methodology behind this massive website will help you to know what to look for. Here’s where Brandwatch’s guide comes in handy once again.
2. Get to know your Reddit audience Since the option to be anonymous is there, most people will take it - especially if they’re divulging particularly controversial information. In this case, you would need to pay attention to the context of the post or conversation (such as the subreddit) by understanding how your audience speaks. By using their terminology in your search, you’ll be able to find the most relevant data.
3. Dig a little deeper You’re not going to get results the same way you normally would with other social media. Profiling users is an art when it comes to Reddit especially. Brandwatch’s Adam Brons-Smith explains in the Reddit webinar that you need to “dig a little deeper.” In his example, he takes a look at the subreddit /r/Golf. After analysing how this specific audience is speaking, he goes on to check their skill levels and uses Brandwatch Categories to see which golfing brand is associated with which skill level.

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To Reddit or Not to Reddit? As we’ve seen, social media is incredibly powerful. Not only can it dictate the fate of cryptocurrencies but, if certain cards are dealt, also that of entire brands. Having a stronghold on all social platforms where your audience might be talking about you - including the allusive ones like Reddit - will allow you to put your best foot forward and develop a killer brand strategy.

I'm sure you've noticed by now that each #KnowItAll (that's what we call each other internally) has their own personalised icon. And yes, we do feel like superstars because of it.

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It has been a YOUKNOW tradition for over 6 years to award our staff with custom illustrations of themselves on their 6-month "workaversaries" to show them how awesome they are and to immortalise them in official YOUKNOW history. But how did it all begin? And who is the mastermind (or master-hand) behind these illustrations?

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About 6 years ago, our CEO Kelvin Jonck found himself scrolling through Superbalist (CityMob at the time) and came across this tangerine-coloured poster of 'The Dude' from 'The Big Lebowski'. A longtime lover of all things pop culture (as is evident in our office décor), Kelvin bought himself a print and hung it up proudly in his home.

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He loved it so much in fact that he began to use a picture of the print as his icon on social media. 'The Dude' has long hair and a beard as did Kelvin at the time. "People always thought it was me," he said, "So this got me thinking, who's the artist?" After a bit of research, Kelvin discovered that his name is Bruno Morphet.

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Bruno Morphet is a DJ and owner of a design company in Cape Town called Plan B Design. After reaching out to Bruno, Kelvin discovered that 'The Dude' was just one of many pieces that Bruno had created inspired by pop culture characters. Another one of Bruno's eye-catching pieces is of 'Dr. Gonzo' from 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' - also in his signature brightly coloured, simple, and flat style. With our office aesthetic, it made sense to have Bruno create icons like these for each of the YOUKNOW staff.

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Since then, a "hall of fame" has grown on one of the office walls, displaying icons of all the past and present #KnowItAlls that have contributed to the growth of the company. "Not only do these icons add to the gratitude for people who put passion and time into the company but they also give employees a bit of identity within the YOUKNOW world," says Kelvin.

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These icons truly bring us together as a unified force to be reckoned with, which is especially important in times like these where we don't often go into the office.One feels a sense of comradery and belonging - even whilst sitting at home on Zoom calls. They've also contributed to the evolution of the YOUKNOW culture and emphasised one of our key values of putting our people first.

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Together with the talented illustrator Bruno Morphet, life has been given both to our online presence and our passion for being part of the YOUKNOW team.

If 2020 were a rom-com, it would involve two attractive, young people meeting by chance online, going on romantic dates and getaways online (don’t ask us about the logistics), having an online feud only to get back “together” and eventually get married (probably online too) and live digitally ever after. I’m sure you don’t need to guess where you’d watch a rom-com like this: online too, right?

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Wrong.

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People are still watching and paying for broadcast TV. In GWI’s latest Entertainment report, they tell us why. We’ve compiled all the highlights of this report, so tune in to find out more.

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More and more people have been watching online TV yet interestingly, broadcast TV still owns the market. One would think with the world moving progressively digital and our faces essentially merging with our cell phone screens, that we’d lean more towards streaming. However, GWI has the facts to back up that this is not true: “According to Broadband TV News, Africa will have 47 million pay-TV subscribers by 2025, up from 30 million at the end of 2019.”

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“Since 2019, time spent watching online TV has increased by 8%, whereas broadcast TV has stayed flat” says GWI, indicating that although broadcast TV remains a giant in its market, its audience is not growing like its counterpart, online TV. GWI also goes into a generational analysis, explaining that the “portion of boomers using streaming services each day has grown by 10% since last year, whereas among Gen Z it remains unchanged.” At the end of the day, as much as apps like Netflix have become a household name, “consumers have restored old habits” and returned to broadcast TV.

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The major difference between online and broadcast TV is that with broadcast TV, viewers simply let the network do the choosing for them when it comes to what’s playing. This and the fact that broadcast TV offers live content like sports events. Online TV is not far behind though. Netflix is “the latest to recognise the benefits of offering live content” introducing a new live channel called Direct, which is currently being trialed in France.

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According to GWI, there has been a “+27% increase in U.S. internet users watching streaming services via mobile.” Mobile devices are also used for “second-screening,” which is when a mobile device is used while watching TV, especially to access supplementary content or applications. This challenges streaming services to make the watching experience more active and engaging. One way they’ve already accomplished this is through the introduction of co-watching add-ons like Netflix’s Teleparty where viewers can watch and chat simultaneously.

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Price/value for money is at the top of the list when it comes to purchase influencers, followed closely by the variety of content available. According to GWI, “free trials often don’t offer enough incentive to subscribe” which means that service providers will need to come up with more creative ways to acquire and retain new customers.

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GWI Report Online TV vs Tv

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As with any company, it is fundamental that streaming services stay aware of their audiences. Not all streaming service providers have the same audience; “a service’s users can skew one way where genres are concerned.”

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Online or broadcast TV?

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If you’re concerned about your escalating binge-watching habit, perhaps broadcast TV would suit you best (although, beware of repeats). That said unlike broadcast TV, online TV is evolving and may soon have adopted all the best features of broadcast TV. If a streaming service provider were here to add their two cents, they’d probably end with “watch this space.”

GWI has recently released a localised, South African report containing insights for one of the top drivers of the world’s economy: Food Shoppers. Food Shoppers are defined by GWI as “Cooking enthusiasts who are the main food shopper in their household.”

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No matter your industry, your audience is bound to include Food Shoppers; cooking is a passion point for many people, regardless of lifestyle. Especially since the start of COVID-19, 7 in 10 South Africans are now interested in cooking - which is a rather large portion of the population to put it lightly. With many maintaining the intention to further explore cooking as an interest once the pandemic is (finally) over, this audience is sure to be one to keep on your watch list.

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Where Are South Africans Shopping?

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The ultimate battle of the brands took place on the pages of this GWI report. Huge names such as Pick n Pay, Woolworths and Checkers went head to head to see who fared best in the world of grocery shopping. Unsurprisingly, Pick n Pay came out on top as the supermarket of choice.

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Who Are South African Food Shoppers?

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“Food shoppers are more likely than average to be female, family-oriented and full-time workers” which makes them “time-poor consumers.” They’re price conscious and manage their money well since they have families to support. Efficiency and ease-of-use are therefore of paramount importance when it comes to their shopping experience.

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What Media Do Food Shoppers Consume The Most?

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Food Shoppers have a heavy online presence, mainly on mobile and social media - which they are more likely to use for research purposes or engagement when wanting to find out more about a brand. They will adopt the tech that will make their day-to-day lives easier since they have so little time as is.

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The Social Platforms That South African Food Shoppers Use The Most:

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With its in-depth reviews and tutorials, YouTube is the go-to platform for Food Shoppers. Facebook follows close behind by a mere 3%, emphasising that word-of-mouth (or in this case, posts) has a huge influence on the products Food Shoppers decide to purchase.

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Interest in online shopping has skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic. Although online grocery shopping is still to see the same incline, there is still an “upwards trend” says GWI. Perhaps this will be dependent on whether more grocery stores adapt to the more convenient door-to-door delivery as an alternative to in-store pickup.

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How Do South African Food Shoppers Discover Brands?

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The top mode of discovery is emails and mailshots from brands, which is great since this is one of the more cost-effective marketing tools. Ensuring to create personalised mailers, include great imagery and an appropriate call to action could be the key to your marketing success. According to GWI, consumer review sites also play a significant role in brand discovery, which shows that Food Shoppers are heavily influenced by the opinions of others.

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Your key takeaway order is on its way!

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Overall, there has been a steady increase in appetite for online shopping. As we’re currently stuck at home and constantly on our devices, we’re exposed to more and more online brand media as opposed to traditional media and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

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To learn more about this audience, take a look at GWI’s report: Exploring Food Shoppers in South Africa.

We often don’t think twice when accepting terms and conditions without even reading them - wanting only to get to the convenience that that app we’ve just downloaded can offer us. The same goes for privacy policies. In our fast-paced digital lives, most of us rush to click “accept” with a tinge of annoyance when a message pops up about cookies. Some of us are more patient, but that optimism is quickly drained when confronted with line upon pesky line of policy.

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What are cookies anyway? In this case, they are sadly not the delicious baked confectionery I know we’re all thinking about. In terms of online privacy, cookies (specifically, HTTP cookies) are text files with small pieces of data that are used to identify you and your computer. Ultimately, cookies are used to enhance your browsing experience by knowing which information to serve specifically to you. There are pros and cons when it comes to allowing cookies. A pro; an easy and personalised browsing experience. A con, they are vulnerable to cybercriminals.

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In GWI’s latest Connecting The Dots report, they speak about our relationship with online privacy as “digital citizens” and how that relationship has and still is evolving in an article called Data For Good. Good news: it’s not all negative. GWI covers the advantages that come with sharing your personal data along with key insights into how people feel about personal data sharing. Still, a relationship is maintained by two sides, and industries that work with consumers’ sensitive information should use it in a way that benefits both parties. Let’s take a look at how the world feels about this.

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The World On Online Privacy

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Ads are what make the virtual world go-'round but rising concerns around data privacy may just threaten them. In early 2020, Google announced its plan to block 3rd-party cookies (also known as trackers or tracking cookies - created by parties other than the website the user is visiting) from Chrome by 2022. This does not mean the end of tracking though, as it just forces companies like Facebook for example to work around it and instead use 1st-party cookies to do the job.

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Interestingly, since the pandemic started there has been an overall decline in concern around data privacy. This could be because individuals are more concerned about how trackers can help the situation. Several apps have been developed that use tracking technology to assist in COVID-19 contact tracing through the use of your phone’s Bluetooth. Many countries have created national apps with this purpose; the South African version being the app called Covid Alert SA.

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GWI calls this a “mindset shift” and notes that “declining privacy concerns are most evident in countries that suffered through the pandemic early on” - these being predominantly China and Europe. Sweden’s decline in concern about the internet eroding personal privacy is most notable at -12% since Q4 2019, followed by Switzerland at -9%. This could be due to these countries being “accustomed to stronger protection of their data.”

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It seems that consumers deem it more “worth it” to share their data if there is a personal benefit to them - although this benefit has to be free to be worth it. According to GWI, “41% of global consumers prefer to exchange their personal data for free services rather than pay for those services to safeguard their data.”

The World Of Digital Citizens

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Now that we’re online more often than not, online privacy has become more important than ever. As we become more informed, we get to know how to be better and better “digital citizens.” Whether the pandemic comes to an end or not, the issue of less online privacy will remain. Whether that should be deemed as an issue or something we can benefit from depends on how we move forward; the right steps involve mindful browsing for consumers and mindful use of digital add-ons such as cookies for businesses.

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Interested in online privacy? Check out our episode of The Unfair Advantage Sessions, YOUKNOW’s Kelvin Jonk speaks to Brandwatch founder and CEO, Giles Palmer about his views on the topic.

To claim that 2020 was a tough year for marketers is an understatement of note, to say the least. This year was hallmarked by significant trials and tribulations, a flux of trends and new behaviours that made it difficult for anybody to pinpoint exactly what was going on.

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On the flip side, this was also the year where the spirit of Ubuntu took global centre stage - as world leaders, organisations plus ordinary people came together and helped make the world a better place collectively. One thing is for sure, most people became ‘woke’ and started asking some really important questions. Therefore, if 2020 was the year of important questions, I will stick my neck out and claim that 2021 will be the year of ‘important answers’.

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The socio-professional dynamics inspired us at Digital Fanta to also play our part and continue making the marketing world a better place with data. To further this agenda, we fine-combed the industry, in search of the right partner who could help our network access useful insights and shed light during these dark times.

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Hence, we were overjoyed when our path serendipitously led us to YOUKNOW (an exciting company that is deeply entrenched in world-leading consumer insights platforms, such as GWI, Brandwatch and Audiense). Moreover, the tech capabilities of their research platforms are ideal for the insights needs of marketers wishing to leapfrog their competition in 2021.

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Together, we are proud to announce our partnership and commitment to giving marketers the ‘unfair advantage’ by sharing useful consumer insights by global research experts that are relevant to our dynamic local markets. It is key for us at Digital Fanta to enhance our network of thousands of marketing professionals across the continent, and kit them up for the rebuild that awaits all in 2021 and beyond. To kickstart this exciting venture, we will be distributing weekly doses of data as part of our #DigitalFantaNowYouKnow series that is aimed at keeping our network in the know.

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To make sure that you don’t miss out, please subscribe to our mailer and download your free copy of our debut GWI Insight: Exploring Food Shoppers in South Africa report.

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For more info and a free consultation on how data can help your business breakthrough, please send an email to nowyouknow@digitalfanta.co.za

YOUKNOW Digital, the official reseller of technology solutions for leading brands and agencies in Africa announces collaboration with Mscsports to drive additional value in their business using the GWI platform and audience insights.

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Survey data continues to play an increasingly important role in how agencies strategise for current clients and pitch for new business, it allows them to back ideas with data and helps them to stay at the forefront of their industry.

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“At Mscsports we obsess about creating measurable impact for brands and rights holders by creating fame, growing & engaging audiences and ultimately generating revenue from their sponsorship investments. We call this Impact Marketing. The starting point for any of our Impact Marketing strategies is the collection and analysis of audience, category and brand data, which is used to arrive at unique and informed insights for our clients.

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Our partnership with GWI provides us with access to reliable data and insights into attitudes, interests and perceptions of local and international audiences, relevant to any brand, competitor or segment within our industry and beyond. Where research and data collection could take weeks or months to complete, we now have instant access to an up-to-date global database within seconds. This allows us to spend more time on the creative elements of the strategic process, as well as adjust our strategies in real-time to continuously deliver maximum impact and performance.

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As sponsorship budgets are increasingly placed under pressure, accessing audiences by understanding them, connecting with them and ultimately engaging authentically is the most direct route to delivering growth in performance, measurable ROI and impact. We are excited to have GWI on board as a partner to help us deliver this for all of our clients.” says Grant McEwan, head of strategic communication at MscSports.

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GWI has provided leading audience insights to global agencies and brands. While their technology is leading with its data solutions, GWI maintains the agility, energy and spirit of a startup. GWI has introduced several innovations to the world of market research, from its ease-of-use, a lightning-fast platform to our globally consistent, but locally relevant data.

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The Unified Core Survey is completed by over 800,000 respondents in over 46 markets globally by digitally active people, this gives you access to immediate insights to over 2 Billion connected consumers.

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“We are very excited to be working with Mscsports. We love GWI and have worked closely with the Mscsports team to get to this point. We truly believe that they will benefit from the GWI insights and platform, by helping compete at the highest levels by providing their clients and strategy teams with this world-class insights platform” says Ryan Brunyee, GWI product lead at YOUKNOW.

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YOUKNOW, whose clients include Standard Bank, MTN, Multichoice and Wesbank has been in the Marketing Technology industry since 2013 and is known for its support and local implementation of global marketing technologies such as Brandwatch, Khoros, Hootsuite, GWI & Audiense.

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For more information about YOUKNOW Digital, visit our website at www.youknow.co.za

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About YOUKNOW Digital

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YOUKNOW is dedicated to helping brands utilise the right technology to enhance their Media Strategy, Consumer Insights, and Social Customer Care. We offer the best global intelligence technology solutions for curious companies with local, African expertise. Our products include Brandwatch, Hootsuite, Khoros, GWI & Audiense.

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About Idea Mscsports

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At Mscsports we deliver on our brand promise of creating IMPACT by consistently following our results-driven process of research, strategy, implementation, and measurement. We believe in using the power of sport and entertainment sponsorships to deliver impact – and for more than 20 years we have consistently done so for sponsors, rights holders, and athletes through our brands, rights, and talent teams.

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Media contact: Lebogang Kunene Marketing Manager, YOUKNOW Digital lebo@youknow.co.za

The success of any business lies in the ability to improve experience at every step of the customer journey. Measuring customer satisfaction helps brands to identify if they are aligned with the ongoing efforts of the organisation to continue delivering value to customers. This also provides valuable insights about the quality of their customer care.

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Metrics such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) , Customer Effort Score (CES), and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) are the most commonly used Customer Success Measures . Each has a calculation method that gives a numerical value that can be used as a benchmark and leading indicator when making improvements to customer service operations or when reconsidering your brand’s customer journey.

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What’s The Difference Between NPS, CES, And CSAT?

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CSAT, NPS, and CES scores are all used to quantify how happy the customer is with the service received. Each metric has its own use and limitations. Businesses can use these metrics jointly to identify where to improve their customer care, including interactions, productivity, and technology.

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CSAT

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CSAT surveys are ideally sent when you want to see how happy customers are with an action your business took, or certain aspects of your products and/or services. CSAT survey scales range from poor to excellent, 1 – 5, or even angry face to happy face.

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The CSAT score is an average based on the results of the survey. Generally, expressed in a percentage from 0% to 100% NPS

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Net promoter scores (NPS) is a growth indicator. It calculates how satisfied consumers are with your products/services and how loyal they are to your brand. To measure NPS, customers are asked how likely they are to recommend a company or product to a family member, friend, or colleague on a scale of 1 – 10.

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Customers are scored into three categories, based on their responses:

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Promoters — Customers who responded with a score of 9 or 10. These are your most loyal and enthusiastic customers. Passives — Customers who responded with a score of 7 or 8. These customers are satisfied with your business, but not as likely to recommend it as promoters. Detractors — Customers who responded with a score of 0-6. These customers are unsatisfied and may discourage friends and colleagues from engaging with your business.

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To calculate NPS, you’ll need to calculate the percentage of respondents who are promoters and the percentage who are detractors. To get your final score, subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. You will end up with a number between 0 and 100. The higher your number, the better your NPS score.

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CES

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Customer effort scores (CES) measure how easy it is to engage and interact with your brand. While this doesn’t measure satisfaction directly, it can be an excellent indicator of customers’ experiences when they’re looking for information, making purchases, asking questions, or looking for support. To measure CES, customers are typically asked to rank their experience with a business from one (very easy) to five (very difficult).

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CES surveys are most commonly used:

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• After a customer touchpoint that has led to a purchase
• Immediately after a customer service interaction
• To track the overall customer experience with your product or brand.

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To calculate CES, divide the sum of all scores by the number of respondents. The lower the score, the better.

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How To Improve NPS, CES, And CSAT Scores

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We have established that it’s important to track these scores, but once you know what your brand’s customer satisfaction scores are, how can you improve them?

Here are four ways to get started.

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1. Speed Up Customer Service Interactions

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A recent Khoros survey revealed that around 50% of respondents said that they had interacted with brands on social media. From those customers who do interact with brands on social media, 65% expect brands to respond to their message and around 30% said they would stop giving a brand their business if the brand did not meet the customer’s time frame expectations for a response. Speeding up customer service interactions can help improve customer satisfaction and make customers willing to spend more.

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The best way to achieve this is to modernize your contact center. More modern contact center's deflect calls to digital channels and automate repetitive and predictable tasks with chatbots, which streamlines workflows and resolves customer needs more quickly.

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An online community is also a great resource for any enterprise looking to reduce customer resolution time. Instead of relying on a phone or chat agent to help with an issue, online communities give customers the resources they need to solve their own problems. Online communities can scale organically as a business grows, as they often rely on user-generated content (UGC) to resolve issues and answer questions. HP, for example, reduced first response time by 37% and resolution time by 41% with a Khoros-powered community.

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2. Boost Customer Service Interactions

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Sometimes a customer’s problem can’t be resolved with a single interaction. Should an interaction need to span sessions or transfer between agents or chatbots, make sure that the customer’s conversation transcript and interaction history transfers with it.

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If agents aren’t able to refer back to conversation history and notes, customers have to repeat themselves. This causes frustration and ultimately lowers customer satisfaction. In Salesforce's State of the Connect Customer report, 68% of customers say that it is “absolutely critical” for customer service agents to know their service history so they don’t have to spend time explaining it to them.

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3. Be Where Customers Need You

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Be easily accessible. Offer people the ability to contact you through web chat, SMS, social, messaging, review sites, and peer-to-peer communities. This will allow customers to reach you on the digital channel of their choice, saving them time of seeking you out (and we already know that saving customers’ time is a good thing).

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4. Increase The Number Of Customers Who Participate In Customer Satisfaction Surveys

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Customer satisfaction surveys can give you a better understanding of how your customers feel, but if the total number of survey respondents isn’t large enough to represent your customer base as a whole, you might not be getting the most accurate data. The more consumers who participate in customer satisfaction surveys, the better your data will be.

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You can improve your survey’s response rate through personalisation. According to research by Linkdex, 79% of customers expect brands to get to know them on a deeper level and provide tailored offers and experiences, including customer communication experiences. To personalise your survey notifications you can A/B test email subject lines and body content, include the customers name, send the survey in the customer’s preferred language, and more.

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See how Khoros helped increase Midco’s CSAT survey completion rate by 460% in our case study.

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AI-Powered Digital Customer Service, Made Better By Khoros Care

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Modernise your contact center with Khoros Care. Let AI and automation streamline your workflows so you can listen, filter, categorise, and route incoming conversations to the best possible bot, human agent, or self-service resource to resolve the customer’s inquiry (which has been proven to boost customer satisfaction).

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Want to learn more about our digital customer care solutions? Request a demo today.

Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year. It usually kickstarts the festive-season-spending with consumers making large purchases and retailers making large profits in one day.

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Things took a different turn this year with the pandemic. In-store sales took a hard knock as customers preferred staying home and shopping online rather than physically visiting the stores. Others could not participate due to economic reasons as retrenchments affected a lot of people this year.

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The regular queuing outside brick-and-mortar stores from midnight to early morning hours was much less in 2020 compared to previous years. Even though retailers assured customers that they were going to follow all COVID-19 rules and regulations according to lockdown restrictions, shoppers still did not budge. This uncertainty led to lower in-store sales even though retailers had month-long Black Friday deals.

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Looking at online conversations using Brandwatch Consumer Research, the volume of conversation was not as much this year compared to last year. In 2019, the conversation had more mentions than 2020 even though it only gained momentum on the day of the event and dropped dismally the day after, for both events.

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2020 has put a lot of things into perspective and forced retailers to stumble under pressure and publicly address issues that they had never put too much focus on. Retailers will have to take steps to bridge the gap between online and offline consumers by finding new ways of communicating with them in a way that will resonate with both of them to avoid future shortcomings.

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The key takeaway from Black Friday 2020 is that South African customers were financially stretched this year due to the pandemic that led to a change in their spending behaviour. This led to the economic reality that hit home and forced consumers to think twice before spending their money.

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Download the Black Friday 2020 Highlights Report Here

South Africa entered a state of national disaster of the 15th of March 2020 and a week later a national lockdown was imposed.

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This meant that South Africans day to day lives would forever be changed. The beginning of an era if we may. Schools were shut, store were closed and travel was banned. South Africans were limited to their homes and only allowed to go to the shops under strict restrictions and with a limited selection of products to purchase from.

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The in store shopper experience and overall consumer experience as we knew it doesn't exist anymore. What does this mean for the South Africa consumer focused brands and businesses that rely on the face to face customer interactions to make sales? Essentially it puts your businesses online channel and digital readiness under the spotlight.

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This period has seen data connection become the new oxygen. Using Brandwatch's new consumer insights platform we listened in on online conversations amongst South Africans.

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The COVID-19 South African Insights report highlights what people have been missing the most during lockdown. In the report we take a look at what people have been missing the most as well as which activities people have been keeping themselves busy with. The data also looks at which fast food chains consumers are missing the most.

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What this data provides is insights into what your share of voice is a brand. Digging deeper into the data we can also determine what it is that consumers are missing from each brand. Through these insights we get to understand each brands strengths and weaknesses. Which menu items people enjoyed the most as well as which aspects of your brand people aren't missing.

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As a brand or business looking to the future post lockdown it is essential to know where the gaps are within your entity and to include the correction thereof. The South African economy has taken a big knock and consumers will have an even less disposable income. Brands will have to really show up for their consumers.

Sometimes it feels that all we're talking about these days is data, analytics and insights. Even though we're in the industry, it does feel like it's a conversation that has spilled over into the zeitgeist. I believe there's another article required to express my personal views on where the surveillance economy is headed, but I'll leave that for another day.

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With the pressure that marketers have these days to rightly base their decisions on actionable insights, we felt it valuable to have a discussion about that.

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Data isn't "data". I guess, in a way, it is but I feel like there should be some more distinctions made. Not all types of data can answer all types of questions. For a marketer to make the best of what they have available, or for them to choose the correct technology, strategies and new hires - it's important start by taking a step back and realising that "throwing data at the problem" isn't really enough. It's not efficient. Many a million has been wasted on big data projects and technology and projects by trying to solve a broad data problem.

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This is an opinion piece, so it's definitely not definitive, but when I think about data, or when a client speaks to me about their data needs, I like to match it against some of the questions below. The answers to these questions all tend to lead to different strategies and solutions, with varying costs, resources and implementation timeframes.

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Questions to ask: 1. Firstly, do I know what my question is? 2. Do the answers to my questions need to be "in-the-moment" and dynamic? 3. Am I interested in user behaviour, consumer preferences or opinion? 4. Could there be a major difference in data originating from different personas? 5. Is this data meant for internal strategic decisions, or for targeting and marketing purposes?

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Below are my thoughts on classifying the types of data mentioned in question 3.

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User Behaviour

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Behaviour is an analytics discussion. In the social media analytics world it's often referred to as "volumetric's", specifically relating to things like engagement, fan page growth and virility.

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In other spheres it could relate to understanding:

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• Website traffic
• Journey mapping and journey orchestration
• Conversion and click-through-rates
• General SEO metrics, like time-on-page, bounce rates and the like

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The point about utilising User Behaviour is that it's not about the individual. Tracking an individual's movements and behaviours in a way that identifies them is actually not ethically acceptable anymore. So it's all about the collective, and it's definitely about the trends.

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Consumer Preferences

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Consumer preferences can be two-fold:

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1. A user deliberately chooses a preference on a platform, or channel, which alters their user experience. This could be something as simple as whether they want to receive your communication with them via text message or email, or which customer service channel they prefer to use with an organisation.
2. A group of consumers have, and hopefully state, a preference to interact with - and associate themselves with - a type of organisation that appeals to their preferences. In this case think about large swathes of consumers moving towards eco-conscious travel options, or electric cars, or vegetarian diets. These are the kinds of consumer preferences that one can easily track and monitor over time.

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Opinion

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Opinions tend to be the fuzzier of the 3 types of data listed in this article. It's the qualitative option. But it's still quantifiable, if you utilise the right kinds of tools and methodologies to understand them.

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Opinions can change in a single news cycle. While preferences tend to be a little more long-term, opinions can be swayed almost instantaneously. We're in a highly emotive time in our history, and the ability to share and amplify opinions in a second has led - not only - to polarisation in politics, but also the ability for opinions of your brand to swing in a day.

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The most recent example that comes to mind is that of Clicks.

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At the beginning of September 2020 they're listed as the "Most Loved" brand by Kantar's Brandz Top 30 report, and a few days later they're the most hated brand on the internet with the Economic Freedom Front allegedly burning down stores in reaction to a social media backlash, involving TRESemmé.

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Source: https://www.kantar.com/campaigns/brandz/south-africa/

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Opinion can be mostly measured in 2 ways these days:

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1. Analysing public discourse on social media, forums, television debates and radio talk shows.
2. Targeted surveys asking pointed questions

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*Understanding opinions on a topic that is vital to your business is a day-to-day affair. Receiving a brand health report at the end of the week is too late. Set up the correct kinds of alerts and ensure that the right people are mandated to keep abreast of this to ensure your company can roll with the punches.

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Now For My Opinion

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Once you've asked the right kinds of questions, and worked out the best way to get the answers - create a culture of leveraging those answers. Does your Exco sit on a daily/weekly basis to make strategic decisions based off of the data available? Do the reports that get build and paid for actually get read and digested? It's rare, but a directive from the top, and a habit of interrogating the data is vital to any organisation's agility these days. Go out and prosper. Hope this helps.

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*I say this often, but crisis monitoring should NOT BE OUTSOURCED. You should definitely have the best PR agency on hand to handle it, but don't take your eye off the game and hope that someone else will let you know when to pay attention.

Pretoria, South Africa, 3 December 2020 - YOUKNOW Digital today announced its collaboration with Idea Hive, an agency that creates and executes pioneering Brand Storytelling Solutions. The two companies, brought together by Brandwatch, the world’s leading social intelligence company, will work together to deliver powerful AI-driven insights across every part of Idea Hive’s business.

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“Data is the foundation of every digital transformation, that’s why we’ve never been more committed to delivering powerful analytics to all our clients. We are thrilled to work with such a forward-thinking company, and we are confident that will exceed their expectations,” said Kelvin Jonck, MD at YOUKNOW.

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Idea Hive is an agency that creates and executes pioneering Brand Storytelling Solutions to illuminate brand power. It applies a strategic framework that extracts and aligns all the key components of any brand story.

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"We've been telling brand's stories successfully for years. Idea Hive believes that digital and/or social media analytics and insights are key to assisting brands to make more informed decisions on what they should be doing to best add value to their clients. An in-depth analysis will tell it is going to rain, but it won’t carry the umbrella for you, hence, we are extremely excited to partner with Brandwatch to ensure that in the future, we deduce data to gain rich actionable insights, which will ultimately benefit our core business of brand storytelling to achieve enhanced outcomes for our clients," said Yaw Dwomoh, CEO at Idea Hive.

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Brandwatch is the only social-listening platform with the most data and the smartest artificial intelligence. It gives marketers access to deep-listening capabilities across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and online news, backed by robust artificial intelligence and real-time alerts.

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“With Brandwatch being the world’s leading social intelligence company that builds intelligent software solutions, we will be able to accelerate our mission and help Idea Hive and Africa as a whole more than ever see and understand data,” Tsebanang Tsimba, Head of Customer Success at YOUKNOW.

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YOUKNOW, whose clients include NCBA, the Kenyan Tourism Board, MTN, Multichoice and Standard Bank has been in the Marketing Technology industry since 2013 and is known for its support and local implementation of global marketing technologies such as Brandwatch, Khoros (formerly known as Lithium & Spredfast), Hootsuite, GlobalWebIndex & Audiense.

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About YOUKNOW Digital YOUKNOW is dedicated to helping brands utilise the right technology to enhance its Media Strategy, Consumer Insights, and Social Customer Care. We offer the best global intelligence technology solutions for curious companies with local, African expertise. Brandwatch, Khoros, Hootsuite, GlobalWebIndex & Audiense.

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About Idea Hive At Idea Hive we create and execute pioneering Brand Storytelling Solutions to illuminate your brand’s power. We apply a strategic framework that extracts and aligns all the key components of your brand’s story. We craft and execute heartfelt and character-driven Brand Storytelling campaigns that position brands and organisations to achieve their full market potential.