groupisd.com
30
No doubt about it, social media is an incredibly powerful
marketing tool these days when it comes to profiling a brand
and extending its reach. And for some companies – especially
those whose target customer is in the teen and twenties age
range – it’s essential to be ‘social.’ A recent survey of American
teens by researchers Ipsos OTX, for instance, revealed that
63 per cent received their information about brands through
social networks such as Facebook and YouTube. That means
they’re not reading printed material such as newspapers and
magazines and they don’t care much for terrestrial TV. And
even more revealing for brands - 41 per cent of those polled
said they’d used their Smartphone to buy goods.
Meanwhile, here in the Middle East, a study published two
years ago by business services firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu,
predicted digital advertising in Arab nations would grow 35
per cent a year until it was generating around $580 million
by 2015.
Tie-in with customer persona
If a brand’s market is Millennials then in order for customers
to hear about promotions or new products social media
channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are a must.
Traditional marketing channels are no longer relevant.
But it’s not just a case of the brand being seen on the right
channels, the language too has to be spot on. In other words
in order to keep coming back to the page customers want
interesting content and in a tone they find genuine and
non-corporate (ie one they’ll understand). The focus of a
social media strategy should be, first and foremost, about
communicating and building loyalty; not selling.
Actually most age groups can be found online these days, not
just Millennials: very few under 50-year-olds don’t use social
media to some extent. Just as in face to face communication
a brand’s tone and content on social media should vary
depending on their audience. Both content and voice (or
tone) on social media have to reflect the brand and appeal to
its target customer persona.
The following are examples of two international brands that
use parts of their social media strategy to appeal to particular
customer personas:
• In a recent YouTube video and having extended its
branding to focus on business owners, Apple demonstrates
how the iPad can make them work more efficiently. The
video refers to investment portfolios and stock options
while the tone is akin to that of a friendly business
conversation. They promote the video on the social media
channel LinkedIn – the B2B channel – where business
types are more likely to be found.
• Emirates Airlines is amongst the 50 best brands in the
world and has re-focused its marketing from a travel
brand to a global lifestyle brand with the launch of its
Hello Tomorrow platform in November last year. With a
target market of young (ish) men and women who have
the money and time to travel, it seeks to get them excited
about the unlimited possibilities the future may hold for
them via YouTube adverts and a dedicated Hello Tomorrow
Facebook page. The latter contains images of in-flight
business class seating and meals as well as videos of
Arsenal football players talking to pilots.
So important is getting a brand’s voice spot-on on its social
media channels that marketing expert Ric Dragon advises
carrying out a social media voice check-up every couple of
months. He suggests a company puts its Twitter and Facebook
feeds, as well as blog posts, into a word file and get a couple
of individuals to read them over (not the authors of the posts)
to ensure there is a consistent tone (this is especially important
if several people in the company are posting). Consistency is
crucial in branding as it allows a company to build up its
reputation and, at the same time, trust: the custom