Social Marketing – thoughts, rants & observations
Well, it’s been a while since my last post so it’s about time that I shared some thoughts around what I’ve been mulling over.
It will certainly not come as a surprise to the people who know me, that I am passionate about behavioural economics. I’m driven by a self-fulfilling crusade to develop a deeper level of behavioural insight and the underlying psychology that influences the decisions people make.
So, the other day I was watching a video stream on Exploring the Science of Creativity from Cannes Lions by Jonah Lehrer, author of The Decisive Moment: How the brain makes up its mind (check it out, it’s very good) and Matthew Wilcox, Executive Director from the Institute of Decision Making. They talk about the science of creativity and how moments of inspiration come when you’re not focused on trying to “find that creative idea”.
Then, almost to illustrate Lehrer’s point, I started thinking about companies/brands that overlook some quite fundamental issues when marketing within the social landscape.
What I am about to say here isn’t particularly new and has been said before to varying degrees. However, marketing departments seem remarkably complacent in their attitude toward social marketing and therefore I don’t think it does any harm to keep this debate alive. People that know me will vouch that I am not averse to voicing my thoughts…..opinions even!
My observation is that all too often, marketers approach social media with the same attitude and mindset as they take with regards to traditional marketing through broadcast media.
The fundamental mistake is that social media is more personal and de-centralised in nature. Whilst there are varying degrees of personal interaction and investment, it is important to understand that a fundamentally different approach is needed.
Companies that have been able to integrate behavioural insight into a cohesive social marketing strategy are reaping the benefits.
I’ve listed some general points of (ahem) advice to any marketers in the process of defining a social media strategy:
- Don’t try the direct sell. People tend to interact with each other in a social space out of a need to feel valued, wanted and part of something. Running Twitter feeds or Facebook posts that just pour out an endless stream of the latest product offers are more likely to meet resistance (and almost certainly a potential backlash from your audience) rather than fostering a deeper sense of loyalty and uptake. The Starbucks “My Starbucks Idea” campaign is a case in point….The great thing about their campaign isn’t just that they acquired (and continue to acquire) a huge amount of business ideas for free, but that they’re also generating brand awareness and customer engagement as a by-product. This means it’s something that happens as a result of other seemingly unrelated sales-focused activity.
- Communicate more information about things of interest and what is going on within your company on a day to day basis. Open up and let people see who YOU are….this will have the effect of “humanising” your company/brand, and as a result your audience will feel naturally more inclined to buy your products if they identify or relate to you on a more “intimate” and personal level. Tone of voice and pitch are absolutely key here – seek out people within your organisation that are passionate about your brand, work, products and services and leverage their enthusiasm to communicate on your behalf……as ambassadors!
- Carry out a risk assessment. One of the things that I have observed is how ill-prepared organisations are for negative comments being posted about them in social media environments. The decentralised nature of social media lends itself to open and frank dialogue and it is therefore essential that a strategy is in place for dealing with instances of “negative” feedback. It is important to remember that any negative comment or post by one of your customers provides your brand with an opportunity to engage with them in a positive way!
- Use social media to address your customers concerns directly and provide a more personalised and effective level of customer service and engagement. Social media provides an ideal opportunity to offer a more fluid and personal degree of customer care. The more your customers feel that you “care” about THEM individually, the better they will feel towards you and, as a result your company gains more of what I call “social value”. This positive experience will likely have a far greater psychological impact within the customer’s decision-making process than anything that you as a brand can say about how wonderful your product is or how much of a discount is on offer.
- Keep it real and speak your customers’ language. The point is not that you are Nike, Starbucks, Adidas or Next etc, but that you are someONE from that brand. Keeping this front of mind when developing a social marketing strategy is important and ensures a more congruent message.
The fundamental principles involved in developing any effective social media strategy are not too dissimilar from the inherent principles involved in any good design. It’s about developing a “feel” and a deep understanding of your audience. This insight, together with a sense for the issues or questions your audience may have will allow you to communicate in a way that resonates and creates a positive experience. Furthermore, customers who have had a positive experience in their interaction with your brand are more likely to tell others, post a status update or tweet about it.
To summarise, it is important that brands understand the REAL value of social media. They know the context in which more targeted, personal and subtle forms of communication are possible. It is important that they understand a key guiding principle, which is that people WILL buy your products if they FEEL good about your brand. Social media by its nature provides a fantastic opportunity to open up and let your customers experience the essence and the personality of your organisation.
