Social media as of late has become more of a beast that businesses are trying to tame, rather than a powerful tool to be used to enhance their business. With this changing social media landscape, what was once presumed to be a fad and expected to meet the same fate as the dot com bubble burst, ceased to occur. Social media has impacted the revenues of the traditional marketing, along with the ways of the advertising world. This can be seen by the emergence of the ads in YouTube and the growth of targeted Google & Facebook ads.
While social media has impacted the world around it in a large way with its own landscape, there are so many dynamic changes happening that being on top of it has been a challenge that has been faced by the businesses and professionals alike. Sometimes it is the platform deciding to change its way of functioning. For example, Facebook has been known to change its layouts and ad policies almost without any prior intimation which tends to impact the planning and other times a relatively new platform, or an app becomes a fad or an obsession while one that was a rage a day ago becomes oblivious. A classic example of this is Facebook taking over Orkut which overshadowed MySpace.
The social media ecosystem requires the social media managers to essentially be more creative in their approach than technical. Information needs to be shared rather than merely collected. This makes it essential to be aware of certain approaches while planning a social strategy:
Content Focused Approach
The focus has drastically shifted from profile creation to a more content focused one. Engaging content drives the individual to share it within their network which in turn translates into the traction for the brand. Aim should to be to educate and entertain those who visit the page.
German business software company SAP, one of the largest software companies in the world, is an ideal example of using content for engagement. Its SAP Community Network, has more than 2 million members, has been functioning since 2003. There are over 5,000 members, including customers, partners and outside developers, who blog on the network, creating a huge database of feedback for the company. Seven hundred other members moderate tech-focused conversation threads, covering topics from scripting languages to sustainability. A constant flow of webinars and e-learning materials keeps everyone in the community up to date. Not only is the network a valuable resource for the companies, clients and thousands of employees, it’s created an extended culture.
Experiment With The New, Stay Loyal To The Old
Social networking platforms are cropping up fairly frequently. So its natural to have the knee-jerking reaction of wanting a presence in all of them to capitalize the trend to the maximum. While the intention of the approach is right, it is impossible to sustain the entire gamete of activities on all the platforms. Keeping the focus on a few and integrating the rest on a single platform is a good way to begin. Each of the new entrants can piggy back on the existing established players. Facebook is an excellent platform to integrate the other social media activities.
Space Is A Commodity To Be Used Wisely
Every bit of internet is a marketplace. Make it a place not just to share ideas but to exchange them. This enables possibility to capitalize the space.
Capitalize Existing Social Media Assets
Instead of chasing the volume of new followers its important to leverage on the community on your owned properties. The key is engagement. The volume will automatically follow. One of the interesting example of this is one of Hollywood’s biggest film studio-20th Century Fox. Fox not only manages its own core page but also has region specific page (for eg. Fox Indonesia/Fox Star Studios India) which are active with the ongoing activities of the studio. The studio also creates movie-specific pages as per the release schedule. All these pages are promoted actively and audience is kept engaged even after the movie is released. When a new release is around the corner every single page is activated which then reaches a wide target audience.
Most social platforms are making their free memberships restrictive and hence to reach the right audiences the advertisers will have to be more open to pay. But the use of the advance tools will be effective in getting an edge over the competition.
Social Sells
Social Media is no longer just a passive marketing tool. Through the emergence of Ecommerce social media can play a powerful ally to the sale of products and services
It is becoming increasingly essential to think as collaborators rather than individuals in the social media ecosystem. Like individuals businesses too need to be leveraging on each other connects. This can either be done with brand partnerships or sharing interesting content of other relevant brands. Thinking individual gain is quite passé as a thought in the increasingly social world.
Clear Ideologies
It’s extremely essential for the brands to be true to their identity and remain so to stand apart from the clutter
While traditional media is sure to dominate the advertising world for quite a while social media is being taken more seriously. Businesses are more open to adapt the changing scenario. With minimal but focused efforts the social media platforms will emerge as a powerful ally rather than just another activity a company has to indulge in to align itself with its potential target audience.
Social media and social networking seems fairly new compared to the other traditional modes of communication. What is the first social media interaction do you remember? Writing on walls, tweeting, posting, poking, pinging, shouting, sharing and blogging have found their way in to the English dictionary with a whole new meaning. Poking or shouting in real life may be annoying but this form of social media behaviour is totally acceptable online. Social statuses are determined on the basis of the likes and comments on posts and what was once considered as stalking when someone took more than acceptable interest in someone’s personal life now seems to be a way to measure closeness.
Quick History of social Media by Red pepper
But is this ‘social phenomenon’ really so recent? Let’s look at some instances:
Writing on virtual wall derived from the actual wall writing popularly known as graffiti.
Community meetings held every evening in the early 16th century to discuss the various topics was perhaps the beginning of the discussion forums.
The ancient ‘Super Nodes’ were the traveling nomads who carried information across land
Bulletin Board system started the beginning of what is now modern social media way back in 1978
Blogging has its roots in the ancient practice of writing and sharing the thoughts and ideas by the noted scholars and influencers.
The list goes on. Over a period of time after digitization and the online revolution social media and social networking just became bigger and faster. But the core social media behaviour that it is built on somehow remained the same through the ages.
The Need To Be Heard
One of the primary reasons for the popularity of social media is the need to share. People like to talk more than listen and social media provides a platform for the views to be heard. While that is a powerful tool to have it also means there is a rise in unsolicited opinions. That apart as a social media manager if you manage to give your audience something to talk about a large part of the engagement war is won.
Following Collective Social Behaviour
It is very rare that people act as individuals. Most behaviour is social. While social media managers tend to target the individual, the social backdrop of the individual tends to get ignored. The individual is a part of a larger social system and taking that into consideration should help predicting an individual behaviour.
Seeking Information With Convenience
Individuals want to be well informed but they want the information quite effortlessly. The more easily available and simple the communication, the better chances of it to spread.
Entertainment Factor
Adaptability of any new activity as a behaviour is also based on the entertainment that it constantly provides. The excitement of the new is bound to die down someday but the more entertaining a social engagement platform the better.
Belongingness
Every individual needs to feel unique at the same time feel like belonging to a like-minded group. Make your audience as they belong to your group and they will never leave
Social media sets out to influence behaviours which may be partly true but it is mostly the other way around. It is the understanding of these behaviours that can help get a grip on the seemingly fluid and rapidly changing world of social media and its platforms.
Instagram has risen in popularity and importance as a social platform in a fairly short time. Its no wonder the brands would want to be present where their possible target audiences are. The tricky part is building a presence on a platform that involves visual storytelling. Some brands have been quite successful in building a base at the same time being quite innovative on the page
What’s Your Instagram Strategy?
The top sites with a large number of followers are from the Sports and Fashion industry. There are some generic practices constant through all the brands.
Hashtags
One of them is the use of hashtags with every image Some brands practice the use of multiple hashtags usually one is the generic brand and another is related to the ongoing campaign.
Seasonal Events
Another practice that the more successful brands follow is linking the generic ongoing themes like important days or festivals to the brand. The most recent was Father’s Day posts.
While Instagram is just a content upload site, some brands have gone beyond aiming at just maximum number of followers and being a brand portfolio and have become a platform to engage and listen to its audience and effectively tell its stories. They also talk about their events that don’t usually get the mainstream coverage. They take their audiences backstage and include them in the experiences in totality using contests and trivia.
The way brand partnerships are carried forward in Instagram are also innovative which helps co-promote partner brands. For example during the release of Disney’s Maleficent, MAC promoted its Maleficent collection.
User Engagement
While other social media portals showcase the more serious side of the brand, Instagram helps to show more fun and peppy side of the brand. This also makes it possible for the brand to involve its followers to share their personal experiences visually in a way capitalizing on the word of mouth and make it more realistic.
Take a look at these the best brands on Instagram that has developed a strategy that works for this social platform:
Intel
Intel account is full of interesting brand activities such as products, ideas, trivia and history. It stays true to its tagline ‘Look Inside’ and engages its base effectively. Although it is more of a technology than a consumer brand it effectively gives an otherwise inanimate product more human appeal.
Virgin Airlines
Airplanes are usually nothing more than a means to an end but Virgin Atlantic’s Instagram account makes the flights more like parties than solely dull modes of transport. The aircraft images look more like dance floors of a club and interactive images of the actual travellers. It promotes the airline as a part of a luxurious life choice.
Starbucks
Starbucks boasts of a huge fan base and primarily lets the content be controlled by its fans. Most content is fan submitted images. It takes the interactivity on a whole new level. The company highlights in-store experiences at locations from around the world and shows how new coffee flavours are chosen and tested at Starbucks headquarters.
Nike
Nike posts about several sporting events thus subtly making a point of its own presence in across a wide variety of sports. It is also highly inspirational in line with its tagline ‘Just Do It’. Its posts are bright, clear, engaging and interesting. Over and over, Nike shows that they listen by posting things their fans might be interested in.
GoPro
GoPro Instagram account consists mainly of a wide array of dramatic and cool photos and videos. They translate the excitement into the simplest of the moments. Like Starbucks, the account hosts the images by its users.
Like every other social media platform, Instagram also needs the brand to listen to its fanbase and adapt its campaign accordingly to truly achieve great success. It also need to blend in with the themes of the other social media platforms to achieve the impact it desires.
Trends in Social Media seem to be evolving almost daily if not multiple times a day. Getting a grip on every single available platform is most certainly impossible but even keeping tabs on the top most preferred Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Blogs, Instagram & Pinterest is a huge challenge. To add to it all there are some dark horses that gain overnight popularity, the recent example being Whatsapp bought over by Facebook.
While the platform itself is a tricky place, the content optimization on the platforms is another game all together. We have content and videos that go viral overnight and transcend all logic while a lot of others go unnoticed. So how does a brand make the content stand out? How to keep the audience engaged beyond the first look and like?
Audiences Remember Stories
The answer to these seemingly elusive questions is storytelling. While it seems fairly simple it by no means is easy. More people are using social media on an increasing array of devices making the audience more distracted and the newsfeed cluttered. Hence the content you create should not only be original but also interesting enough to be shared. People remember the stories not the statistics and the corporate speak. Both the platform and the screen play an important role and need to be taken into consideration before the planning any activity. Stories help transform a marketing plan into an unforgettable experience by building connections. Once that is achieved the rest is like the Domino Effect most likely to snowball into virility. In the words of Seth Godin, “Marketing is no longer about stuff you make. Its about stories that you tell.”
Stories fuel the brand perception and embody a brands character and storytelling will help the customers and associates relate better to the brand. As brands continue to focus on stories and experiences, not just ads and messaging, they will continue to create opportunities for customers and fans to engage with them intuitively. Unlike the past where the focus was mass marketing social media provides one on one engagement and the only way to create a presence on social media is creating compelling content.
Link Your Content Back To Your Brand
But imagine churning out thousands of original stories over the year. It is highly improbable to maintain content clarity with that high a creative expectation. But social networks now enable the brand to get the most compelling stories and visual content from the brand enthusiasts who then embody the role of brand ambassadors or influencers. Your strongest storytelling piece should also then be given a boost. Another way to achieve organic results is transforming the trending conversation to brand relevant information that gets consumer engagement within hours instead of days.
Case Study: Maybelline India
One of the brands that used this strategy of inviting users and fans to share their stories is Maybelline India. On February 25 2014 they ran a contest on Twitter to promote 30 shades of Pink, where they encouraged users to tweet about why they love the color ‘Pink’ with the hashtag #ILovePinkBecause and the winners would stand a chance to win some of their merchandise. #ILovePinkBecause was trending on Twitter for an entire day. The fact that it was also timed with the release of the film ‘Gulab Gang’ gave it that extra boost and active participation from a large number of influencers.
Social networks have evolved from being mare distribution platforms to more narrative platforms. Social media is a tool that leverages social networks to reach its core target audience. People start following a brand because they like the product but continue to follow because they enjoy the conversation. It is the collaborative story telling that makes or breaks a brand’s presence in social media. Most people like being told stories and most certainly love telling them. Time to stand up, stand out and let your stories be heard.
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