the secret to successful branded social media

Opening the door to the public The secret to successful branded social media marketing

Social Marketing

© The Wong Number, January 2012 http://www.linkedin.com/in/wongnumbe

You know it’s time Social shakes up marketing

Modern marketing focuses on what the customer is saying about brands

BRAND

To generate consumer recommendations

integrate Social Media into marketing & promote it with advertising & PR

ADVERTISING broadcast

Traditional marketing broadcasts brand messages

to consumers via advertising and promotions

Where does Social Media Marketing fit?

CUSTOMER

90% of consumers trust word of mouth

recommendations over advertising

Australians use social media more than any other developed country

62% of online Australians are interacting with companies via social networking sites

Before you begin a Social Media program understand this:

• Social media is in the hands of the public not the brand

• To be involved the ongoing cost is a commitment to a high amount of man hours

• And the financial cost is in developing customer-centric online facilities

• If you don’t take the right approach, the cost will be in crisis management

Social Media is not a broadcast media silo It is for the people, by the people. A democracy

It is the opposite of all current marketing

Brands need to embrace the same mindset as their customers Individuals need to think like brands and not over share

There is no shame in eavesdropping – listen to your target audience first Understand how they communicate and what they share Be aware of their lifestyle and prejudices

Listen to what they are saying about brands

Be like them Chat with them Share little secrets with them Do as they ask

Hear and respond to enquiries in real time Use customer feedback to deliver a superior product and services Be nice to everyone And keep them in the loop about their suggestions and criticisms

It’s like dating

What do you share in common?

How can you have fun together?

How can you impress their friends and their family?

How can you make them happy?

How can you be a part of their world

and make it better?

So how do you do that?

Commission a cultural audit of your brand See how the public interact with your brand Examine the target market’s psychographic brand relationship

Look at the relationships your customers have with each other Create a picture of your community and then be the embodiment of it Go where your audience already converges online See where this intersects with your existing sales, marketing and PR campaigns

When you live and breathe the customer perspective you will know what to do to make them happy

That’s the secret to social media

When the customer is happy, you build brand equity When the customer is happy they tell their friends and networks And then they tell others while continuing to support your brand

That’s the pay off

Give your audience the tools to make encountering your brand a pleasure Facilitate the ability for others to share your content People don’t want your advertising messages, they want conversation They hate it when you tell them what to do or buy, but they do like advice Most like to share their opinion - they enjoy having input And they love to swap stories

When they’re unhappy they’ll tell you. And then you’ll have the power to make it better for them

Don’t get hamstrung by sales figures or ROI. That comes later Use strategic thought - don’t leave it to a junior or intern Don’t fret about follower counts, reach comes virally as well as offline So concentrate on your key community Your online advocates will appear and begin the process of word of mouth

Remember

The public don’t have to include you in their networks. They choose to, or not

Give them good reasons to be loyal and to be open to you

Reassure them that you will be there for the long haul

Most of all, be polite and respectful, no matter how vexing

And lastly, always say ‘Thank you’

Thank you

Created by Jane Wong, Social Media Planner

© The Wong Number, January 2012 http://www.linkedin.com/in/wongnumber

As an advertising and marketing specialist for over twenty years, Jane’s experience of social networking began before the dot com crash. Her interests in social anthropology and psychology have honed her understanding of online consumer behaviours, and helped to shape dynamic Social Media strategies.

And thank you to Cuba Gallery Photography