Twitter made history this week (again) as they “hosted” a town hall meeting… for the President of the United States. People across the country were able to submit questions using their twitter accounts and the hashtag #AskObama. While the 140 character limit still applied to us lowly citizens, somehow Twitter was able to bend the rules for President Obama’s responses. Quite amazing to see the White House and the leader of the free world fully embracing the power of social media. This isn’t the President’s first foray into the digitally connected world however – he hosted a live town hall meeting using Facebook this past April. 
From an astronaut “checking in” on the moon using Foursquare last year to the President tweeting back responses about the economy to his constituents, the power of social media continues to cross new thresholds. With a presidential endorsement, it goes without saying those companies embracing Facebook and Twitter for connecting with customers are in the right place.
Companies want to sell more, and they’re always looking for ways to do it more efficiently.
Leveraging new data in new ways is the Web’s answer to optimization, and it has informed a new marketing math: data = dollars.
The most common way companies are leveraging data to optimize marketing and increase sales is though uncovering consumer preferences, traffic patterns, social media conversations, check-ins and other behaviors to specifically target – and hopefully convert – users with a high likelihood of buying.
Finding the right audience at the right time, and tailoring the right message and the right budget, is now made possible and (relatively) simple by a slew of “ad tech” solutions. They’re smart, they make sense, and they’re good for businesses and consumers. It’s no surprise, then, that there are more ad tech and social media analytics companies in New York than hole-in-the-wall sushi joints.
When it comes to leveraging data for improving a company’s marketing efforts, STELLAService is different. I mean really different. So different that I don’t think anyone really knows what category to put us in.
Instead of tracking consumer behavior patterns to help companies optimize marketing efforts and increase sales, STELLAService tracks business behavior patterns (specifically around customer service) to create credible marketing messages for top-performing companies, which helps those companies increase conversion, sales and long-term brand loyalty.
STELLAService independently and objectively collects customer service performance data to identify companies (starting with online retailers) that obsess over the customer experience. We want online shoppers to know which companies to expect great service from. We truly believe in the need for transparency around service quality throughout the Web, and companies that deliver great customer service believe in that mission too.
Through our comprehensive benchmark data, we are able to highlight the top-performing companies through the display of our STELLAService seal (examples of sites displaying the seal include Zappos.com, Diapers.com and 1800Contacts.com, to name a few). STELLAService helps these and other great businesses – large and small – close the loop on their customer service stories, validating each company’s claim and commitment to providing a world-class customer experience.
Simply put, the new “marketing math” is about leveraging all types of data – both consumer and business data – in new ways to bolster marketing and conversion rates. STELLAService is showing that customer service performance data can be a critical element in the new marketing equation, as it finally allows a company to back-up its message around the most important thing to consumers on the Web – the customer experience.
Editor’s Note: STELLAService Co-Founder and CEO Jordy Leiser will be a featured presenter at “MESA Presents: The New Marketing Math [Data = Dollars]” on Thursday, May 19 in NYC.
This post originally appeared at MESA Global.
