August 31st, 2008 by Sam Decker Chief Marketing Officer
Bryan Eisenberg (Bazaarvoice advisor) just released his latest book, Always Be Testing, The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer. The book is only 25% on Google Optimizer and 75% how to test, what you should test, and insights into customer buying behavior. In other words, regardless of what optimizer solution you have, this book will be useful. In fact, if you or your employees are responsible for web site performance and results, this book should sit on their desk and will be referenced often. Bryan covers topics such as readability, use of color and images, terminology, statistical significance, headlines, calls to action, persuasive copywriting, navigation, up-sell, cross-sell, trust and credibility, security and privacy, and several case studies.
And on page 240 he dedicates four pages to “Using Reviews”. In that section, Bryan highlights the following useful questions to ask about reviews on your site:
- Do you offer credible, quality reviews?
- Are they fresh? Specific?
- Are there sufficient numbers of reviews?
- How do the negative reviews compare to the positive reviews?
- Are you encouraging reviews that transcend the “nice,” “worked fin,” and “great product” responses that really don’t contribute to elaborating on your product descriptions?
- Do you offer multiple or appropriate ways for customers to provide review information?
- Do you screen your reviews or have a procedure for removing blatantly inappropriate reviews?
- Do you manipulate your reviews to skew feedback in a way that could backfire on you?
- Do you make the effort to communicate intelligent reviews to product manufacturers so they might work to improve their product?
If you’re interested in how Bazaarvoice answers some of these questions with our solution, check out our Ratings and Reviews page and Service page.
August 30th, 2008 by Brett Hurt Founder and CEO
In our Software as a Service (SaaS), or Application Service Provider (ASP), business model, nothing is more important to me than stressing the “S” (for “Service”). And our services are quite complex. While our entire company is very focused on client services, the front-line is covered by a wide range of teams on a global basis. These teams are: Engineering Operations, Content Operations, Implementation, Support, Community Management, Analytics, and Consulting. Engineering Operations rolls up under Engineering, obviously. And that team has done an incredible job of having virtually impeccable up-time since we launched our initial solution, Ratings & Reviews, in beta three years ago. Today, this isn’t easy with six (soon to be seven) solutions (three core solutions coupled with three amplifiers) live in twenty international languages. Our clients often tell us that we are the best vendor they work with in this area, and we are very proud of that. The other six teams roll up under Client Services.
It takes a very talented and experienced person to manage a global team of such complexity to the level that our clients, our executive team, and I expect. But we found her. I am incredibly proud to announce that Heather Brunner has joined us as our Senior Vice President of Worldwide Client Services. Her first day was Monday, and we put out the press release on Wednesday. Her ability to rapidly ramp has impressed our entire team, and I have already had several important client-facing meetings with her during week one.
I have known Heather for many years, first working with her when she was a Regional Vice President for Concero while I was the CEO of Coremetrics. I was impressed with her back then, and Concero did a great job for Coremetrics during a very important, foundational period. But Heather has grown her career so much since then. Most recently, she served as the CEO of Nuvo, a wholly owned subsidary of Trilogy. Prior to Nuvo, Heather was the COO of B-Side. In past jobs, she has served as a the VP of Client Services at Coremetrics, the VP of Client Delivery and Operations at Trilogy, a Practice Director at Oracle, and a Senior Manager at Accenture (where I also began my career).
(more…)
August 25th, 2008 by Sam Decker Chief Marketing Officer
This is the eighth in our series of key takeaways from some of the presentations and panel discussions offered at the Social Commerce Summit in May 2008.
Dan Noonan, Senior Counsel at Dell Inc. spoke on identifying and addressing issues with UGC.
UGC proponents should encourage concerned parties to learn about appropriate uses for UGC. One approach: create analogies between traditional parts of the business and those to engage UGC. For example, customer care associates hold candid conversations with customers all the time. The legal team does not pre-screen this content.
Once a dialog opens, foster a budding program with a proactive legal approach that manages concerns regarding copyright issues, defamation, and rights to submissions.
- Do not encourage comparative claims — disclose that submissions cannot engage third-parties.
- React quickly — take questionable material down and respond to cease-and-desist orders.
- Do not always seek ownership.
- Consider pre-publication screening or moderation.
- Clearly state that content cannot contain copyrighted materials, third-party likenesses, trademarks, etc.
August 20th, 2008 by Brett Hurt Founder and CEO
Two years ago, I saw this video on YouTube and it really made an impact on me. First, it is absolutely hilarious. Second, I can actually relate. I built one of the first Internet games, Renegade Outpost (it is still running), and launched it in 1990. By 1992, I was told that it was the most popular game on the Internet, but there was no Nielsen at that time to validate that claim. It doesn’t really matter – we had 5,000 players worldwide. The point is that people got lost in the game; they really cared about it. Think of it as an early “grandparent”, text version of World of Warcraft (my game was based on TELNET, pre-HTML, and it was based on real-time interaction). It took 2 to 3 months of 40-plus-hour-per-week gameplay to master.
Warning: the video has profanity.
Did Leroy Jenkins’ ridiculous battle cry and bravado drive awareness for World of Warcraft? You bet. It is much more compelling than an advertisement. This is word of mouth in action – as captured directly through the players real-time let down due to their cowboy friend, Leroy. You can hear the anguish and passion in their voice. They’ve spent a lot of time building their characters, and Leroy blew it up for them.
There are now well over 15 million views of Leroy Jenkins videos on YouTube. That’s reach. And look at all of the mash-ups. Many are not that interesting (that is why I sorted by view for you in that link), but people actually care enough to make them.
(more…)
August 20th, 2008 by Sam Decker Chief Marketing Officer
When I envisioned our Ask & Answer product it was based largely on my experience at Dell whe
re the vast majority of customers would call the phone number at the top of the page with a “quick question” that couldn’t be answered on the web site. So one of the financial objectives of this product was to lower these costs, as well as drive sales.
As our Ask & Answer product gains traction with our clients, we are seeing these results. Or rather, THEY are seeing these results.
As Canada’s most-shopped retailer, Canadian Tire has more than 1,000 stores and a team of customer service representatives who respond to phone calls and emails from customers who have questions about products, returns, and order status, among others.
They implemented Ask & Answer and enabled customers and team members to answer customer-submitted questions, and in just six months, they saw some great customer support cost savings.
In short, Ask & Answer reduced product-related support calls by letting those answers to be published on the site for everyone to see. Products that had at least one answer received 28% fewer product-related service contacts – almost 4,400 fewer contacts! P
It’s important to note this also resulted in a more positive experience for Canadian Tire customers. They didn’t have to make a call or send an email and wait for an answer – they were able to find answers right on the product pages of the website, asked by other customers just like them. So while reducing support costs, Canadian Tire also improved the experience! Read the full case study – and more about Canadian Tire – here.
August 17th, 2008 by Sam Decker Chief Marketing Officer
After the incredible success of our first-ever, sold-out Bazaarvoice Social Commerce Summit in Austin last May, we are excited to announce the launch of our first-annual event in London on 4 November. Social Commerce Summit London will be hosted at The Magic Circle Headquarters, followed by a post-conference party at world-famous ABSOLUT ICEBAR LONDON.
The action-packed agenda includes presentations by Emma Jenkins, Head of Interactive Marketing at Procter & Gamble UK, Ian Jindal, Editor in Chief of Internet Retailing, and Jessica Greenwood, Deputy Editor of Contagious Magazine. Also catch sessions on increasing community participation, measuring the impact of social commerce, and the Bazaarvoice product roadmap hosted by our very own Bazaarvoice executive team. View the full agenda.
With a day full of magic, educational sessions, research findings, industry networking, and ice-cold fun at ABSOLUT ICEBAR, Bazaarvoice Social Commerce Summit London is sure to be the only event to mix Social with Results. So get your parkas and magic wands ready – we’re Revealing the Secrets of Social Commerce…in London!
Here is a 1.5 minute video showing some highlights from our U.S. Social Commerce Summit (with a Texas-theme).
August 12th, 2008 by Sam Decker Chief Marketing Officer
Coincidentally, on the same day, I found out our brand is featured in two YouTube videos. This is a bit of corporate self indulgence to share this, but I also wanted to share an interesting video from Josh Bernoff of Forrester.
The first place we found our logo featured today is an interview and acoustic set with the #1 band in Austin, The Band of Heathens. Here the lead singer is wearing our Bazaarvoice “University” t-shirt.
Next, our friend Josh Bernoff (who spoke at our Social Commerce Summit) pokes fun at social technology providers with Blendtec. He does a “Will it Blend?” segment mixing the tchotchkies from several providers, including our flavored toothpicks which we handed out at our BBQ night during the Social Commerce Summit.
Funny stuff Josh. Now you may want to blend that tie!
