Editorial Articles

Social media has changed the way we communicate beyond recognition. It seems like everyone is embracing it with open arms – the largest demographic on Facebook is now 35-54 year olds – 29%. However, it seems the only crowd to have some degree of ambivalence toward it is big business – and often for valid reasons. As many brands have learned the hard way, ignorance is no longer an option and not showing up isn’t going to help. But more and more companies are realising that social media isn’t about keeping pace with trends – it offers a highly effective way of engaging consumers and leveraging brand loyalty.

A lot of businesses avoid engaging with fans on social media out of fear. “What if someone says something bad?” and “we can’t control it” are the most common worries. Another complaint is that there’s no provable ROI. Most of these concerns come from businesses who are accustomed to using ‘push’ marketing tactics, such as direct mail, paid search or natural search optimisation.

What they fail to realise is that social media doesn’t work in the same way. It’s about talking to audiences ¬– interacting, not broadcasting. People dominate social networks, brands are in the minority. This represents as much of an opportunity as a challenge to marketers. Any marketer will understand the need to leverage brand identity and the value of communicating messages to a target audience. All that social media does is level this playing field, giving consumers the ability to connect with their favourite brands, and marketers a more direct and highly relevant engagement tool.

Consider WineLibrary.TV. The owner, Gary Vaynerchuk, posts weekly wine review videos. Not only does this engage consumers with his products and services, but it also draws attention to his YouTube channel, his main website, Facebook page and Twitter account; allowing him to leverage his expertise across numerous online platforms in a way that entertains and offers advice. Yet unlike a billboard ad or TV commercials, the trade off is that he’s open to more scrutiny. But considering he has over 850,000 Twitter followers, there can be no doubt he’s regularly engaging a sizeable audience.

Despite the sheer magnitude of social media’s scope, many brands still prefer to stay safe and purchase advertising they can easily track. Take paid search for example: A brand can check profitability on a range of metrics: keywords, search engines and even the time of day. They can see which keywords were first responsible for getting a customer to a site and which keywords led to the final sale.

However, it isn’t possible to apply the same model to social media. Many people believe this is a cop out, as the common belief is that because social media is conducted online, it must logically follow that measurement is possible simply by going into an analytics packages and reviewing how many clicks from Twitter lead to a sale. What this approach won’t divulge are the wider benefits that social media brings to the table – the number of products bought in-store, how many customer services queries were answered; the nature of business intelligence acquired; the scope of increased brand exposure and affinity.

It’s no wonder big brands are struggling to come to terms with a form of media which is so radically different to everything that has come before it. Faced with a channel that covers everything from PR to customer service, any business would be wise to consider its value. That’s why successful implementation hinges on strategic planning. It’s unwise to simply launch profiles on social networking platforms. It’s only when social media’s used incorrectly that problems occur.

Leveraged in the right way, social media can be a huge asset to businesses, helping them to cultivate much stronger customer relationships, build brand advocates, and learn what consumers like and dislike – all without paying for advertising. The sacrifice, if there must be one, is that it calls upon businesses to become more transparent, and confident enough to open discourse with its consumers.

That said, brands pursuing these channels must decide what their objectives are, how they intend to use social media, and how this activity should be tracked. That way there can be no uncertainty as to its value.

Jon Buchan
Head of Social Media, I Spy