It’s so easy to get caught up in the number of “likes”a Facebook page has or doesn’t have… Businesses should ask themselves is the number of “likes” they have really all there is? Is it even possible to over value the worth of a “like”? We all know that utilizing Social Media for business and brands is more than just Twitter and Facebook. It’s about having a good social media strategy, listening to the online conversation, engaging in and setting objectives with measurable results… and having a next step.
Last week the marketing world learned of a Facebook marketing strategy that had gone seriously wrong. For simply “liking” their Facebook page, the company had promised a free gift that was worth about $17.95. For some reason the company forgot the basic marketing premise of never disappointing their customer base. Just a simple disclaimer: “while supplies last” or “for the first 100 people” is what it would have taken to make this promotion a success. Three days later this company realized their blunder, achieving their forecast number of “likes”. They compounded their lack of accurate forecast by waiting about 3 weeks before they initiated dialogue to customers that had liked the page but wouldn’t get the freebie; far too long a response time. The damage was done… twice they had not delivered on their marketing promise to their potential customer.
It’s a known tactic that offering consumers free stuff engages response and trial… and in today’s world, the word gets out fast on contest-aggregating websites! A lack of understanding of the media and how the audience engages is sure way of failing. Success of any marketing initiative, social media, print, TV or radio…still remains in the planning, execution and details.
A marketing plan is fundamental and the social media plan needs to be folded into that. Freebies, giveaways, free stuff…. it’s great to see how many people are listening to you, and dive in! Yes! But at what cost? What price? Premiums, giveaways….they’re investments in building a relationship to further promote customer engagement and customer’s experience towards your brand.
What is your USP? Who is your target market? What is your budget? Setting objectives is mandatory for long term vision. Set sharp, clearly defined goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound (trackable)… just as you would in traditional marketing.
Five years ago social media was 3% of our total media spend. Today it’s more than 20% and growing fast. ~ Muhtar Kent (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Coca-Cola Company)
Kudos to Coca-Cola‘s ability to integrate the new while keeping their heritage and brand positioning. Here are just a couple of examples of how Coca-Cola is harnessing social media to it’s advantage The Coca-Cola campaign titled “The happiness machine” was a video short, never intended to be aired on traditional broadcast media. It was created over a year ago utilizing the virility of social networks such as YouTube to convey its message of communal caring and assistance for one another. The strength and appeal of the videos are on the impromptu reaction to the people being filmed and by judging by the number of views of the videos, resonates with their consumer base. Coca-Cola again reinforces it’s basic positioning: It’s the real thing! Consumers want to be engaged by the brands they choose and Coca-Cola has demonstrated that real reactions rather then staged, appeal to the social media audience.
This video has been viewed 4,069,045 times since January of last year and has been liked 13,368 likes on YouTube.
Another example is the campaign that was followed by the “The Coca-Cola Happiness Truck” video which resulted in an international overall good feeling.
This video has been viewed 1,136,192 times since February this year and has been liked 3,159 likes on YouTube.
Get bent. Yes! When you are creating the next big thing, it is important to be open to change. Creative environments are all about give and take, and if you can’t roll and mold, your creative will fall flat. Like we say at 3H, brand is living and your process is what creates it. If your vision is rigid, your focus will be narrow and finished creative output will reflect that. Flexibility in advertising is a must.
Feedback is important for resonance. You need your marketing plan to reflect your audience as intimately as possible. If a focus group comes back with results that are completely different to what you had hoped, it may be costly to redirect the ship but the rewards in the end – understanding your market – will pay back in the long run.
Experiential marketing is all about two things: 1) involvement and 2) engagement. This can be a great transition phase for a brand campaign that has run its course. Brand is a living thing, propelled by a living market, and getting the audience involved in your brand campaign is a sure-fire way of holding their attention. Create a deeper dialogue with your consumers.
(Click to see video) Image provided courtesy of the Edmonton Journal, under the creative commons license.
In 2009, James Ready beer ran a consumer-oriented campaign by asking its drinkers “How can James Ready Help You”? The company ended up paying for a wedding in Windsor Ontario, complete with a James Ready beer bottle cake and a stocked bar. Not only did the entire event serve as one large advertisement for the company, it gave James Ready humanity and a good name – advertisements subtly infiltrating the thank you speeches and photographs.
The best way to reach out is to engage. This can be done by any company large or small, independent of product, industry, or service, and the dialogue between crowd and client is getting more and more personal and invested.
Brand is bigger than you realize. Brand is what consumers first see of a product/service… it’s the initial hook…but the follow through is even more important as it is how the brand becomes part of lifestyle.
Image courtesy of kudumomo@Flickr under a creative commons license
Your brand extends to your employees, clients, right down to your outfit. Your shoes are Nikes, your computer is an Apple, and your car is a Honda. You live in brand, and sometimes you don’t even know it – but the lifestyle these companies sell has worked, and that’s why you identify with them. Living in brand is also a way of building recognition. The iconic Nike swoosh, Apple’s…well apple, and Honda’s big H. My company is recognized by purple and mustard yellow. Purple is my brand, and I believe in brand – that’s why I wear purple every day.
This all-inclusive approach stays within marketing rules of simplicity, be direct and convey a single message. This strategy is a great “value-added” approach. But it’s all about the follow through. I wear purple and I get recognized, but if my service and “product” delivery is below par it won’t matter what colour I’m wearing. Luckily, my clients not only recognize purple, they recognize great service, solid work and expertise… and and this association sticks. Purple perfection!
