Company: Rogers Entry submitted by: Gina Mulic (ginamulic) Manager, Social Media Support Community: Rogers Community Forums (communityforums.rogers.com) Lithy category: Best Social Marketing Program ________________________________________________   Tech Essentials: Ask an Expert - connecting Rogers product teams with customers in an open conversation about their most challenging technology questions. Our new consumer website, Tech Essentials, was designed to provide Canadians with a deeper understanding of how today’s technology works.   To increase awareness for the site, corporate communications looked to the Rogers Community Forums for support. Over the last year the forums have become a platform for our product teams to engage directly with customers. In 2012, we covered mobile payment security and new product launches by hosting expert events.   Why use the Rogers Community Forums as a platform? We know that over 90% of registered users are Rogers customers based on SSO ID sign-in Events such as this give us a chance to present our point of view in an open and transparent way The event creates link love for programs like Tech Essentials and promotes SEO. The “Tech Essentials: Ask an Expert” forum series will run throughout 2013, providing our forum users with insider access to our product teams. Our first event covered roaming, a topic that can generate confusion and frustration for customers. We held an open Q&A over a two-hour period and generated a dozen questions and three Accepted Solutions. We received great feedback from customers as we clarified some misconceptions they had.   Marketing integration – the event was promoted through these owned channels: On our corporate blog Redboard On our online consumer magazine Connected Rogers Using direct channels, we invited 90,000 customers via email to the event Via Twitter - @RogersHelps, @RogersBuzz and using the #techessentials hashtag We also asked employees to invite family, friends and customers with an intranet story How does an event like this improve the customer experience? Product owners get to hear directly from customers. It generates immediate feedback that can be used to improve product offers.   How does an event like this drive revenue? The event was hosted just a few days before March Break, one of the most popular travel times for Canadians. By targeting customers we believe likely to roam, and providing instructions for roaming without worry, we expect more customers will purchase travel packs.   How does an event like this build advocacy? The Rogers Community Forums are peer-to-peer. By posting validated answers, we’re empowering members of the community to answer future questions. We’re looking forward to hosting future events, coordinating with the Tech Essentials Monthly Spotlight, some possible topics include data usage and how parents can keep their kids safe online.