The Social Media Leap

Dr. Karen Nelson-FieldEhrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing ScienceUniversity of South Australia

Gavin KloseFusion

Hello

The Social Media Leap

We will take you through our research of over 240 organisations and 1000 articles and papers. Our findings include current practice and recommendations for best practice in terms of integrating social media into marketing strategies.

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> porn

(Socialnomics 2009, Icon Dock 2010)

We all know of the exponential growth of social media. We recommend watching the Socialnomics video: Is Social Media a Fad? Social Media is now more popular than online porn.

>(Hitwise 2010)

In fact in the UK more people visited Facebook than Google in March 2010. There were 500 million Facebook users July 2010 and by comparison, TV took 13 years to reach mere 50 millionand by 2015 it is predicted that 1/3 of the world will be social media users.

We also know that how we consume media has changed, but so has how we socialise (and even how we read books!).

As Andrew Green put it: “Prime Time” is now “My Time”.Funnily enough we are now far more social, but online.

Not only has the way we receive media changed but so has our behaviour. We are no longer simply receivers. We are now publishers, broadcasters, commentators, voters, ambassadors. Our networks are vast, crave connection and interaction.

So this is great for consumers - but what about marketers?While social media brings opportunity, it renders challenge.Where do marketers begin? How do we manage this “out of control” platform?

There is great risk of misconceptions fuelled by sheer volume of industry one-offs, think pieces, case studies. Thousands sprout ‘how to lists’, ‘best practice’, ‘success steps’. But are we drowning in information and is the information credible or based on evidence or academic rigour?

clicksviews likes rates comments shares postsvisits

There is also much debate about the appropriateness of offline metrics used in online context (but we wonʼt be covering measurement today).

I’m a big fan

I’m not buying it

And the elephant in the room: Engagement. What does it mean? Is it with the brand or with the platform? Is engagement important for marketing? This will be covered more by Jennifer Taylor in her paper tomorrow, A Long Engagement.

The Social Media Leap

Do marketers have a choice NOT to be a part of this revolution?Should they take $$ from tried and tested marketing efforts and follow the leaders and take a leap of faith with no real guarantee of return?Well, hopefully todayʼs paper will help.

1000+240

We have documented ʻcurrentʼ practice with quantitive research of over 240 organisations. We have also documented ʻbestʼ practice from a comprehensive review of over 1000 articles for industry insight filtered through the empirical generalisations and building blocks of tried and tested marketing knowledge.

From quantitative survey >240 organisations

The Social Media Leap: Current Practice

Some quick findings from our industry survey to marketing practitioners.

79% not a fad and will be a key component50% highly reactive (self reported) Only 9% properly plannedOnly 39%include into overall mktg plan 69% source information from the Internet 41% use their own judgementVery few look to credible research

Current Social Media implementation:

Industry believes social media is not a fad but few are properly planning or getting credible information for it.

They aren’t because senior managers... don't understand it, don't value it, don't have a firm grasp on what it can do

Current Social Media implementation:

Those who are not implementing it often arenʼt because their senior managers donʼt get it.

Only 30%use metrics because they alignBig disconnect between SM and trad metrics30%use profitability for trad marketing 14%use profitability for social media

Interesting.... 21% use attitudinal shift for social media

Current Social Media measures:

There is a disconnect between offline and online measurement. Interestingly, while people talk about how attitude change is a big part of social media (because it is supposed to be different fromtraditional media) only 21% use it as a measure anyway (because it is difficult and expensive to do so).

58%mktg effort increased in 2010Many sayHR is absorbed (no new roles)Most will spend more next year.....1/5 claim 5-10% budget in 20101/3 claim 5-10% budget in 2011**particularly small organisations

Future Social Media implementation:

Most are increasing their marketing time spent, yet most are absorbing the role into existing HR. Most are planning to spend more dollars next year - the biggest shift mainly from small organisations moving their social media.

Biggest barriers to entry... lack of knowledge lack of time lack of organisational culture lack of technology

Future Social Media implementation:

Future ImplementationMany

Fusion find this to be the case in industry, we here these barriers a lot from clients.

Top ‘to do’s... research staff training additional budget organisational culture change

Future Social Media implementation:

Future ImplementationMany

So from the previous slide it is not surprising that these are on their “to do” lists

Organisations are largely ill prepared (small at greatest risk)Most plan to spend more/invest more timeYet.... largely unplanned treated as stand alone lack of understanding about measures/effect look to unfounded sources for help/way forward

In summary of our current practice findings.

The Social Media Leap:

Illustration Chuck Jones

So from over 1000 industry insights (filtered by what we know empirically) we compiled some industry best practices.

1. Strive for reach2. Don’t be too narrow3. Use brand cues4. Look for recency5. Be social6. Plan with multi-hats7. Listen(and spy)8. Ready your troops9. Start slowly

The Social Media Leap: Best Practice

1-4 are not new to media planning - but new in context of social media whereas 5-9 are a shift in thinking.

1. Strive for reach

Empirically we know people dont “love” their brands, instead they buy from a repertoire of brands. We know that light buyers make up the majority of a brands users and brands grow from getting more light buyers to buy. So quite simply advertisers should strive for reach.If you have limited social media resources best to focus on biggest platforms (with the biggest reach) and do them well. Go fishing where the fish are.

I’m 18-25 years old...

2. Don’t be too narrow

We know that niche targeting strategy restricts the ability to gain more buyers, not to mention that demographics are long noted to have a weak association with actual purchase behaviour.

I like takeaway

2. Don’t be too narrow

So best to target category buyers through sophisticated mass targeting. Luckily social media tends to attract communities of like minded people (regardless of their demographic).

3. Use brand cues

We know that memory is long noted as important in terms of being considered at the purchase occasion and that advertising is less a persuasive force and acts more as a reminder. We also know that distinctive assets, such as symbols, colour, shape, jingles, can act as a mental triggers at time of purchase. So look for opportunities to strengthen your brands assets in the social media space.

4. Look for recency

We know advertising has its greatest effect the closer it is to the buying occasion. Online brands benefit most from recency where advertising in the form of recommendations (peer/social interaction) are really close to the point of purchase (eg Amazon).

4. Look for recency

However as online mobile and permission-based “checking in” rapidly becomes more popular - so does opportunity to place permission based reminders, promotions or activities close to point of purchase. This new kind of immediacy is often called ʻhyperlocalityʼ. Watch this space.

Content

5. Be social

They say that content is ʻkingʼ...

Content

5. Be social

Well, in the social media space, content is ʻkingʼ if people are in the picture. Some ways this is achieved is by: allowing people to personalise/customise your content; providing channels for people to create their own branded content; and encouraging people to comment or rate content about your brand. Social media has proven to be an easy and cost effective (eg posting a video straight from your smart phone) creative platform - so be creative and experiment to involve people in your messages or experiences. Today, people are more likely to share content that has people (or even better, themselves) - so putting people in the picture increases share-ability(which Fusion call the Sharefactor) which is good for reach.WE THEN SHOWED A VIDEO WITH SOME CASE STUDIES:http://www.vimeo.com/15972545

6. Plan with multi-hats

BUYFIND

Traditionally, marketers started with a great ad to lead people to a brand. But now there is a bigger picture to consider.

GOOD

BAD

6. Plan with multi-hats

BUYFIND

Word of mouth is the most trusted form of advertising and with the exponential ability to share good and bad experiences with others, social media has created what has been called a “world wide word of mouth”.

GOOD

BAD

6. Plan with multi-hats

GenerationParticipationObservation

BUYFIND USE

Rather than just looking at creating and placing great ads, start by looking to create great experiences (not just ads) that people will like and then make it easy for them to spread them to friends.1. Generation: create great experiences and integrate then into marketing strategy. 2. Participation: get involved (not just set and forget; nor plan and publish). People like communicating with people.3. Observe: what people like and what they don’t. Turning a bad experience into a good one can generate positive word of mouth.

bla bla blayour

brand

7. Listen(and spy)

bla bla blayour

competitors

Social media provides you with great opportunity to hear what people are saying about you and your category = market research. Not only do people like being heard (by your brand!), you can gain insights to improve product or create more relevant ones. Brands like Starbucks use social media to do this proactively and publicly. As social media is public, it also enables you to spy on your competitors and their customers (which could be your customers) - and be able to do this in real time.

8. Ready your troops

Hoot!

Used effectively, social media is not just for the marketing or PR department. Social media also benefits and effects other areas, eg HR (recruitment/retention) and Customer Service (feedback/complaints). To ready your organisation you will need: the right internal culture; enough time and resources; guidelines (eg to handle negative word of mouth); and support from executive management.Adam Brown from Coca Cola has a vision for an “Assignment Editor” model where the social media feeds are distributed to the many specialist areas of the organisation who are all Social Media Certified.Fusion know of clients who have taken down social media platforms set up by the IT department because they knew they did not have the resources, guidelines or expertise to use them effectively.

9. Start slowly

As in the previous slide, it is wise to start slow as the risks with social media (eg negative word of mouth) can become very public very quickly. Whilst not trendy to do so, it is OK to be skeptical and start slow. Allocate new resources and budgets incrementally and allow for training and technology. Take care not to throw out current marketing practices if they are working and instead start with integrating social media pilots into your marketing plans. In social media you can afford to “Try - Measure - Try Something Else”. If you are unsure about the space, partner with agencies that “get” social media thinking and behaviour to inject or spark the right sort of creativity.

The Social Media Leap

So in conclusion...Whilst some might get lucky diving in...

The Social Media Leap

...many marketers feel like they are taking a leap of faith...

Your Social Media Next Steps

1.Strive for reach 2. Don’t be too narrow 3.Use brand cues 4.Look for recency 5.Be social 6.Plan with multi-hats 7.Listen(and spy) 8.Ready your troops 9.Start slowly

...hopefully with our research and findings, you can feel a bit more positive about taking the next steps.Remember social media is exciting (but largely untested) but hopefully our paper will provide a guide to lower risk transition,

Future research: The Sharefactor

Engagement/likeabilityQuantify iceberg effectShareable contentUnderstanding fansBrand recall

Some future areas of research about the “Sharefactor” for the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science (University of South Australia) and Fusion...

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Thankyou.

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