Social Media Marketing: Quality Over Quantity
Brand managers need to view social media as a tool for the forging of long lasting, profitable customer relationships and for the development of building strong brands.
The emphasis of using social media for these tasks must not be regarded as online advertising. The aim of mere advertising online through PPC, banner ads etc., is to create awareness, recall and knowledge of the brand and its offerings. Social media on the other hand, is about the retention of attention for relationships to occur via consistent and regular engagement and interaction with branded content. It is not a matter of the sheer volume of those who saw the content, moreover it is how the content has created a potential for future interaction with the brand through this medium. So in terms of social media marketing and its aim, it really can be said that there should be more of an inclination towards quality as opposed to quantity when it comes to the numbers of users seeing the content.
This social media relationship with consumers is unlikely to happen overnight. Like any strong relationship it requires time, dedication, persistence and constant care and atten
tion to the individual's needs and demands. For brands to have successful short term tactics for long term relationship building, there is a demand for creative content to grab attention. Content needs to be fresh, yet constant in order to gain attention and retain it at the same time.
That is not to say that masses of content should be made at one time or in one day, as this may inflict negative responses from consumers and cause an overload of information. Not enough content, on the other hand, could leave the consumer disinterested and looking to engage with other brands. Thus managers need to tread a careful path when it comes to their social media tactics. I think Coca-Cola find a perfect combination in their social media approach. New content is personal, grabs your attention and is regular enough yet not always in your face.
Alongside creative content is the need to engage with the user and start conversations. There is a vital requirement to not be too forceful on these platforms. Consumers will be turned off if they view the content to be too sales driven or having obvious commercial intent. Social Network Sites (SNS) such as Facebook, are first and foremost for a community of social connections. Users want to be able to interact, contribute, and provide their own experiences and own personal opinion on things. In this way, brands need to make sure that their content is 'social'. In other ways it can create talking points and discussions and not appear as originating from a corporate entity but as a human being. Whether this is getting people to recount their brand experiences or merely taking a poll, content needs to be interactive in a two-way user to brand bond. One way in doing this is having users interact through their own brand related content. For example, sports brands could get users to post videos of them using a new product in action. This will create not only a personal relationship, engagement with the brand and a brand advocate, but it will also create an overall brand community on the social media page.
One last comment again comes down to the quality vs. quantity paradigm. Rather than deciding to have the brand on all social media platforms in a 'blanket' approach, managers need to strategically decide on the best ones which will allow for an optimal message acceptance and allow for quality consumer relationships to be built. Managers need to consider each of the platform's distinctive features and match them to the needs of the brand, and its image. For instance, Instagram is a fast growing platform and many brands have rushed into the application to begin a brand presence. But it is not for everyone, and the unique characteristics of the platform must be considered. Instagram centres around image, and recently video content, dissemination . Fashion and clothing brands for instance, can utilise the platform to show new products to gain general attention, whilst create brand relationships and engagement be asking users to post photos of themselves in the brand's clothes. Again by targeting social media marketing campaigns on specific platforms which suit the brand and their message, the tool can be used effectively to grab attention and create quality online user relationships which will then hopefully turn into profitable offline consumer relationships.
By Harry Sparkes
The emphasis of using social media for these tasks must not be regarded as online advertising. The aim of mere advertising online through PPC, banner ads etc., is to create awareness, recall and knowledge of the brand and its offerings. Social media on the other hand, is about the retention of attention for relationships to occur via consistent and regular engagement and interaction with branded content. It is not a matter of the sheer volume of those who saw the content, moreover it is how the content has created a potential for future interaction with the brand through this medium. So in terms of social media marketing and its aim, it really can be said that there should be more of an inclination towards quality as opposed to quantity when it comes to the numbers of users seeing the content.This social media relationship with consumers is unlikely to happen overnight. Like any strong relationship it requires time, dedication, persistence and constant care and atten
tion to the individual's needs and demands. For brands to have successful short term tactics for long term relationship building, there is a demand for creative content to grab attention. Content needs to be fresh, yet constant in order to gain attention and retain it at the same time.
That is not to say that masses of content should be made at one time or in one day, as this may inflict negative responses from consumers and cause an overload of information. Not enough content, on the other hand, could leave the consumer disinterested and looking to engage with other brands. Thus managers need to tread a careful path when it comes to their social media tactics. I think Coca-Cola find a perfect combination in their social media approach. New content is personal, grabs your attention and is regular enough yet not always in your face.
Alongside creative content is the need to engage with the user and start conversations. There is a vital requirement to not be too forceful on these platforms. Consumers will be turned off if they view the content to be too sales driven or having obvious commercial intent. Social Network Sites (SNS) such as Facebook, are first and foremost for a community of social connections. Users want to be able to interact, contribute, and provide their own experiences and own personal opinion on things. In this way, brands need to make sure that their content is 'social'. In other ways it can create talking points and discussions and not appear as originating from a corporate entity but as a human being. Whether this is getting people to recount their brand experiences or merely taking a poll, content needs to be interactive in a two-way user to brand bond. One way in doing this is having users interact through their own brand related content. For example, sports brands could get users to post videos of them using a new product in action. This will create not only a personal relationship, engagement with the brand and a brand advocate, but it will also create an overall brand community on the social media page.
One last comment again comes down to the quality vs. quantity paradigm. Rather than deciding to have the brand on all social media platforms in a 'blanket' approach, managers need to strategically decide on the best ones which will allow for an optimal message acceptance and allow for quality consumer relationships to be built. Managers need to consider each of the platform's distinctive features and match them to the needs of the brand, and its image. For instance, Instagram is a fast growing platform and many brands have rushed into the application to begin a brand presence. But it is not for everyone, and the unique characteristics of the platform must be considered. Instagram centres around image, and recently video content, dissemination . Fashion and clothing brands for instance, can utilise the platform to show new products to gain general attention, whilst create brand relationships and engagement be asking users to post photos of themselves in the brand's clothes. Again by targeting social media marketing campaigns on specific platforms which suit the brand and their message, the tool can be used effectively to grab attention and create quality online user relationships which will then hopefully turn into profitable offline consumer relationships.
By Harry Sparkes
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ReplyDeleteJasa Social Media Management Indonesia
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