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New Media Life Cycle Analysis
™
September 21, 2009 TIPPINGPOINT LABS
1.
1. Channel Overview2. Resource Analysis3. Forecast Analysis4. Key Forces5. Content Potential6. Medium Overview7. Phase Analysis8. Recommendations9. Appendix
GetSatisfaction.com
Analysts: Andrew M. Davis, Brad Schwarzenbach
Inside This Report
Each week, the analysts at Tippingpoint Labs releasea New Media Life Cycle™ report designed to helpmarketing professionals understand the new media landscape. These reports use empirical data and a soundmethodology to help ad agencies, PR firms, marketing consultants, interactive agencies, and chief marketing o
ffi
cers make educated and informed new
-
media decisions.Each report looks at the quality of the content on a channel, the state of the medium, and the key forcesshaping the channel, and presents an analysis of the lifecycle and the audiences participating on the platform,a forecast for the channel’s future, and sound contentrecommendations for participating by adding value.
■
According to their website, Get Satisfaction “provides customer communities forproducts and organizations.” However, I think they’re selling themselves short. If you are a customer looking for product or service support in the future, Get Satis
-
faction might be your first stop! With a single sign
-
on you have access to supportfrom over 20,000 brands, like Zappos and Nike. Will Get Satisfaction change the way corporations o
ff
er support and build communities? It just might.
■
New Media Life Cycle Analysis
™
September 21, 2009 TIPPINGPOINT LABS
2.
In a support world where old conventions like FAQs, forums, andprinted or even PDF manuals still rule the day, Get Satisfaction is a refreshing new player looking to change the way consumers findanswers to their everyday issues.
Support from the consumer’s perspective
What’s great about Get Satisfaction’s approach to providing supportto customers around the world is that it’s a customer
-
centric model. Anything good for the consumer is good for the brands participating,so let’s look at some of the main issues a customer faces with a few of the traditional support approaches.
Multiple Register / Logins
If consumers want support for a product, more often than notthey are asked to register or sign up to ask a question on a forum orsometimes in order to download a manual. If they’re desperate enough
(
and can’t find the answer in the pathetic FAQ section
)
, they have to gothrough the registration process and remember
(
or store
)
one more login.Solution: Get Satisfaction addresses this issue by allowing users tosign up once and access more than 20,000 support communities.
Customer Interaction Options
Most support sites are focused on very specific interactions: solving customer issues. However, some customers
(
more than you’d imagine
)
want to share an idea or even give accolades to the support or productdevelopment team. Finding the right place to add this kind of content isalmost impossible on most corporate support sites.Solution: Get Satisfaction classifies the content in their supportcommunities, allowing users to “ask a question, report a problem,share an idea,” or even “give praise.”
User Experience Issues
Every company’s support site is di
ff
erent. Some categorize support by product, some ask you to interact ontheir forum, some provide you with complicated “support
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trees” designed to help you “find your solutionfaster.” The problem here, is that a consumer must learn a new interface every time they’re looking forsupport.Solution: Get Satisfaction provides you with a consistent user experience across brands.
■
Channel Overview
Get Satisfaction Makes Finding Support Easy
Nike+ Integrates GetSatisfaction
In September of 2009, Nike,one of the most reputableconsumer brands in the US,decided to integrate GetSatisfaction into theircustomer support program.Nike+
(
a utility designed totrack your running progress
)
invites users to participate onGet Satisfaction, where fiveNike employees respond toeach question or problem. Although it’s only been a few weeks, it looks as thoughNike has been overwhelmedby the response. With over3,500 topics already postedand hundreds of great ideasseeing popular support, Nikehas certainly witnessed thepower of Get Satisfaction.
■
Analysts: Andrew M. Davis, Brad Schwarzenbach
New Media Life Cycle Analysis
™
September 21, 2009 TIPPINGPOINT LABS
3.
Online customer support, if handled well, is one of the best ways to reduce support costs. On the otherhand, choosing the wrong platforms, building over
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complicated user experiences, and not integrating your online support into your o
ffl
ine supportprocesses can actually increase your support costsand frustrate customers even further.For years, the evolution of online support hasfocused around the introduction of new kinds of interaction tools or formats to help facilitate thesupport interaction.Live chat, toll
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free phone numbers, FAQs, andcustomer forums have long been the mainstay forcorporate support strategies. However
(
as the chartabove shows
)
, consumer demand for forums andFAQs has slowly declined.It should be noted that Live Chat seems to beexperiencing a slight increase in interest since 2008,possibly spurred on by the increased attention toreal
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time communication channels like Facebookand Twitter.
Third
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party support integrators
There are hundreds
(
possibly thousands
)
of third
-
party support applications, integrators and even SaaS vendors on the market today. However, none of them
(
to our knowledge
)
o
ff
er a customer
-
centric approachlike that of Get Satisfaction.Most of these integrators
(
including UserVoice.com
)
ignore at least one of the three things that makesGet Satisfaction unique in their space: single sign
-
on,multiple customer interaction options, along with a consistent user experience for support across brands.
Evolution of support in its infancy
As support platforms evolve, we expect to see new players encroach on Get Satisfaction’s model, withnew feature and function integration. But with a few big brands filling the sails, Get Satisfaction is making waves already.
Platform Analsis
Support is Long Overdue for an Overhaul
0255075100
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Support ForumSupport ChatSupport FAQ
The chart above shows the evolution of three of the most popular support mediums: forums, FAQs, and chat.
Source: Google Insights
Support Platform’s Evolution
(
Search Share
)
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