Success in Social Media Marketing

“Conventional marketing wisdom long held that a dissatisfied customer tells ten people. But…in the new age of social media, he or she has the tools to tell 10 million” Paul Guillin, author of The New Influencers (HBR, 2014)

Many businesses and organisations are still baffled on how to use Social Media platforms to effectively market their products and/or services. Companies are spending precious working hours on the new trend of Social Media. There is in a sense a ‘Herd Mentality’, whereby companies are simply following suit and assuming they need the top 4 (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube). Whilst these can be used effectively, it much depends on what type of business you are running as to what kind of social media platforms you should be using. However, the lines are blurred and therefore most companies simply opt for all and manage them in the same way. Social Media Marketing is fundamentally different from traditional marketing techniques. Businesses need to consider goals, objectives and metrics.

Social Media is now an integral part of online consumer’s habits, but many efforts to engage with these consumers via online platforms have been futile. The Harvard Business Review found that only 12% of businesses feel they are using social media effectively (HBR, 2014).

This ‘social stagnation’ may be due to a number of things:

-      -    Social Media is not necessarily an ideal marketing channel for every business

-      -    Lack of a clear social media strategy: including listening and content strategies

-      -    Lack of attention to social media channels: creating them, but not maintaining or using them

The Harvard Business Review also revealed that 75% of companies did not know where their most valuable customers were talking about them, 31% do not currently measure the effectiveness of social media, only 23% are using analytic tools and only a fraction (7%) are able to incorporate social media into marketing activities (HBR, 2014).

Ric Dragon, an expert in online marketing identifies 7 Ways to make you successful in social media marketing, coining the term ‘Social Marketology’ (Forbes, 2014). I have shortened and adapted his 7 points in order to convey a way to develop a digital marketing strategy. The objective of strategy is to achieve a competitive advantage, which will result in superior performance. As most companies have insufficient knowledge of how to use social media marketing effectively, gaining this knowledge can greatly increase a company’s competitive edge, and therefore their brand awareness and market share. 

Focus on desired outcomes first: Social media objectives: increased brand awareness, lead generation, service and support and reputation management.

Incorporate brand personality and voice: Culture > humanized brand voice: listening carefully to the tone, vision, and expertise of that voice.

Identify the smallest segments possible of your constituents:  Social media allows you to be hyper-granular and drill down to micro-segments, to dramatically improve engagement levels and conversion ratios.

Identify the communities for these micro-segments: today a community is characterized by what they value, more than proximity to one another > should create own online community > blog and social media engagement > communities then = advocates.

Identify the influencers of these communities: Social media brings all the aspects of important influencers these days, including peer pressure, authority and credibility. Feedback from social media operates in real time; you don’t have to wait months for results. You spend the months influencing the influencers.

Create an action plan with metrics:  listening plan, channel plan, SEO plan, and a content creation plan, with activities and metrics.

Iteratively execute and measure results. Measuring is all about ROI = customer acquisition cost, revenue growth or profit etc. Iterate and expect to pivot, based on results, because you can’t get it all right the first time.

To really have success in your market you must apply the above to your own business or organisation and try different techniques. However, there is no trial and error. As a rule of thumb first ask yourself whether you will be marketing B2B, B2C or both? This will give you a standpoint to start using the appropriate channels, although arguable, Facebook is usually considered as the ideal portal for B2C and LinkedIn the Ideal platform for B2B as it links professionals and companies together. But this may not always be the case.

Ultimately, it’s probably best to have a multiple platforms of online channels to communicate and engage with your customers as all their needs and their choices in types of social media will differ and you will only be reducing your potential market size by not partaking in particular social media channels. Having said that, this probably only applies to the top four platforms (mentioned above), some social media sites such as Pinterest and Instagram are probably way more relevant to B2C marketers in certain industries i.e. Fashion and Retail.

References:

Forbes. (2014). 7 Steps to Productive Business Use of Social Media. Available: http://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2013/08/17/7-steps-to-productive-business-use-of-social-media/. Last accessed 01/06/2014.

HBR - Harvard Business Review. (2014). the New Conversation: taking Social Media from talk to action. Available: http://hbr.org/hbrg-main/resources/pdfs/comm/sas/16203-hbr-sas-report-r3.pdf. Last accessed 02/06/2014

Brighton – Digital Marketing Hub?

Brighton has slowly developed itself into a most cosmopolitan and tolerant community. The expansion of the student population has brought a highly skilled workforce for local businesses. Its proximity to London and small city seaside town vibe is attracting many hi-tech start-ups.  

One Brighton firm has attracted much attention throughout the news, DC storm who have just signed a deal the Japanese equivalent of Amazon and the 3^rd biggest online retailer in the world. DC Storm have spent the last decade developing a software which tracks consumer spending habits online and now has plans to undertake a global expansion (BBC, 2014)

However, the market is becoming saturated, with many competing firms in the market. Although brighton is becoming a hub for digital marketing, a search for ‘Brighton Digital Marketing’ brings up many different companies all offering similar services without much differentiation. So how do they compete? And how to companies choose which company to go for? Companies are now even opting to just employ their own in house Digital Marketing Executive who will simply run all the facets required, further decreasing the need for these Digital Marketing Specialist Companies. Also many decision makers are convinced they know enough about social media and emails to conduct the digital marketing themselves and save costs, but these attempts are often pointless and do little for the business other than slightly increasing online presence.

To the Student Population, Brighton University offers many courses which are perfect for these employers. Digital Marketers are looking for young, knowledgeable characters with outstanding writing skills. With courses such as Digital Media, Digital Development and Digital Design as well as business and marketing graduates specialising with module options such as Digital Marketing and E-Commerce, making the city a breeding ground for the ideal entry level workers for these Digital companies.

Brighton is even holding a Digital Marketing Festival which is back due to popular demand, with keynotes and workshops. It has been described as a “well organised event facilitating local marketing specialists to network, gather new ideas and explore new strategies to benefit their companies”. It even includes guest speakers from the Body Shop and is hosted by Brighton based email marketing specialists Pure 360 as well as other Marketing specialists from other well-known brands. (BDMF, 2014)

 

References:

BBC. (2014). Brighton 'set to become digital marketing hub?'. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-27639419. Last accessed 02/06/2014

BDMF. (2014). Brighton Digital Marketing Festival. Available: http://www.brightondigitalmarketing.com/. Last accessed 02/06/2014

Digital Marketing in Developing Nations

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Cross Cultural Marketing - High and Low Context Cultures

Globalisation has led to a “shift towards a more integrated and interdependent world economy” (Hill, 2012). As companies expand from National to Multinational and even into Global Corporations, we must have a further understanding of how to market products ‘in context’ to personalise messages to different countries and regions. All size businesses are looking to expand overseas as it provides benefits such as “Spreading risk across different regions” (Haberberg and Rieple, 2008) and opportunity to benefit from economies of scale due to the increase in users which equates to larger financial benefits. Many businesses are simply partaking in ‘Herd Mentality’ following similar businesses who have had success in overseas markets. This may cause issues due to company’s insufficient knowledge of the market and trading in an unfamiliar environment. 

Phrases or words in one language usually have a precise or implied meaning, the understanding of this meaning may only be grasped by someone from that culture. Messages may also be passed on through “gestures, gesticulations or attitudes”, which can cause problems for companies attempting to expand into unknown markets.

There are two types of context cultures: High and Low Context. Learning Economies suggest that knowledge is the crucial resource and learning is the most important process. It is therefore essential that companies with a current or future global strategy incorporate education about different types of context cultures in order to engage in business overseas.

Low Context Cultures: (Germanic/Scandinavian/North American)

“The Swiss have a reputation for speaking literally with explicit messages and low context” (Usunier, 2009). Information expressed explicitly, to be taken literally without any hidden meaning.

High Context Cultures: (Asia, Latin America and Middle East)

Information is transmitted in the physical context or internalized in the person, very little is transmitted through explicit coded messages. According to Hall (1976) “In HC culture the meaning signalled via an individual’s actions or in the dialogue during interpersonal communication is implicit.”

The internet allows Marketers to customise information to target each differing culture. In a non-verbal culture the use of viral video marketing can be very effective as it can cancel out the use of language to convey the message, to convey personal attributes to each culture, i.e. the use of the colour blue in English culture signifies sadness, whereas in Japan it represents hope and wisdom. Companies can build a bond with countries by understanding and using their symbolism in their advertising.

Companies should consider Usunier’s Contextual Continuum of differing cultures and study the market they are currently in or planning to enter, to see what adaptations they may need to apply to their products and marketing strategy in order to achieve success in the market.

References:

Haberberg, A & Rieple, A (2008) Strategic Management: Theory and Application. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 515

Hill, Charles W.L (2007): International Business. Competing in the Global Marketplace International, 6th Ed., New York: McGraw-Hill. 

Usunier, J & Lee, J (2009). Marketing Across Cultures . 5th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Ltd. 

Usunier, J.C. (2005) International Marketing, Harlow, Pearson Education