Customer Lifetime Social Value (CLSV)

Elie  Ofek; Barak  Libai; Eitan  Muller

Background Note | HBS Case Collection | January 2018

Customer Lifetime Social Value (CLSV)

by Elie Ofek, Barak Libai and Eitan Muller

Abstract

One of the hallmarks of the digital revolution is the rise of the socially connected consumer. Concomitantly, the ability of companies to affect and measure the social interactions among customers has grown tremendously. Consequently, in assessing the full value of each customer to the firm it is no longer sufficient to only consider a customer’s worth in terms of the discounted cash flows he or she provides through direct payments, it is also critical to incorporate the indirect value generated through the customer’s social influence. In this note we develop a framework for measuring and quantifying the social value that a customer generates. We derive a simple expression for Customer Social Value (CSV) and show how to combine it with the commonly used expression for Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). The combined entity is termed Customer Lifetime Social Value (CLSV). The note uses concrete examples to illustrate the main ideas and explores a host of issues related to how customers create value for the firm through their social interactions, such as the duration of social influence, reduction in acquisition costs, segmentation implications, relevance for influencer marketing programs, and connection to firm-level valuation.

Keywords: customer lifetime value; Customer Management; social contagion; word of mouth; Customer Engagement; Customer Value and Value Chain; Measurement and Metrics; Customer Relationship Management;

Language: English

Format: Print

24 pages

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Citation:

Ofek, Elie, Barak Libai, and Eitan Muller. "Customer Lifetime Social Value (CLSV)." Harvard Business School Background Note 518-077, January 2018.

The digital revolution has allowed companies to amass considerable amounts of data on their customers. Using this information to generate actionable insights is fast becoming a critical skill that firms must master if they wish to effectively compete and win in today’s data-driven marketplace. This note explains the value of examining customer metrics, such as retention rate, revenues, and social influence (k-factor), on an ongoing basis by conducting a cohort analysis. Such an analysis segments customers using one or more criteria, and tracks the behavior and performance of each of these segments over time. Using several instructive examples, the presentation highlights the benefits of running a cohort analysis for deriving a deep understanding of customer trends. Moreover, the examples expose the pitfalls that arise from not accounting for segment characteristics (such as when a customer joined, from what media vehicle they were acquired, how heavily they use the product, etc.) and not paying attention to the evolution of customer metrics over time. The implications of conducting a cohort analysis for firm strategy and for determining customer lifetime value (CLV) are discussed.

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Customer Lifetime Social Value (CLSV)

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