DataVinci: Social Media Marketing

There is a plethora of blogs out there scattered on the web space giving simple and complex answers to one simple question "why do the Marketers need the social Media?"

One of the very quizzical answers is - well, because Facebook is the third largest country by population.

Lets cut crap and answer it from the top- Why do organizations need marketers?

We know that the organization needs the marketers for "effective" Two WAIT FOR IT way communication of the offerings, Keeping in mind the goals and objectives of the organization.
Two way- From the organization to the consumers and from consumers to the organization.

What is conveyed from consumers to organization? Satisfaction after sales.

Well, many can argue that no, marketing is beyond this, bombarding a lay man with Jargons like Explicit and implicit needs or latent needs or whatever and some Yada yada blah blah.

But, boss ultimate objective of a business organization is sales. The company has a product/offering and the marketer has to ensure that it sells in the market through "effective" communication to the consumers. May I add that even placing the product on the shelf is communication. So, don't consider communication as advertisements only.

Now, many can argue that ,"No dude! marketers need to drive "innovation" also."

I say, boss, why the marketers only? everybody has to innovate.

Now, when I stress on the word "effective", I am concentrating on only one aspect-
1. Communication should result in optimum conversion ( Sales/ subscriptions et al)

Now, Every concept has a lifetime and after that it becomes ineffective. Pigeons were once considered an effective way of communication (hope you got my point)

For a communication to happen we need two things-
1. Message
2. Medium

I say, for an effective communication to happen we need three things-
1. Message
2. Medium
3. Methodology- creativity + execution

When we talk about an effective Mass communication, we need one more thing-
4. The right recipients

Why "right" recipients? Am i communicating to the right recipients if i send a creative message for web analytics on All India Radio? (Hope you got my point)

Lets call this thing a "model" which means it needs a fancy name also....hmmm... lets call it Walia's 3MR Model :)

But, why do we need to be on Social Media?Well, Simply put - because we can ALSO be there.

Why ALSO? Well, at the end of the day its just another medium. Yes, I know that there are tons of case studies on the impact of social media on the business or reach of any organization, but, aren't there case studies on beautiful utilization of the other mediums like- radio, print, outdoor or TV also?

So, Its a medium where the consumers of the company's offering CAN be present. And if used properly, this medium can be very efficient in complementing our communication from other channels or in certain cases it can act as the single channel of communication apart from the offering itself.

So, how do we use this platform?

Communication on Social Media is also a Mass communication.

So, If a organization is planning to go social. They should answer the "R" of the Right Recipient first. i e is the target group for the offerings of the organization present on this platform, the social media?

Now, target groups can both be actual buyers as well as the influencers. Even if the influencers are abundantly present, the marketers should go for the platform.

For Example, when Maruti Spends on Social Media, it makes sense. Even though they are influencing more number of children over their parents on social media, but it makes sense.

But, according to me Rolls Royce spending on Social media does not make any sense. Yeah, for them its peanuts. But, still. Do a charitable PR with the same money, I would suggest. Because ultimately it is about conversion, not about the feel good factor.

After it has been concluded that the target group is present on the social media. The next question shall be answered with utmost clarity- What do we want to achieve through social media that would help us grow our business.

There are multiple things that can be achieved through social media-
1. Brand Promotion
2. Brand loyalty
3. Brand recall
4. Customer relationship management
5. Surveys
6. Support services
7. Product launches
8. Consumer sentiment analyses
9. Offer promotions
etc etc

Basically, social media is a casual space. And we can't change that, so we should accept that and respect that. Social Media marketing is basically enticing WOM through the use of technology. And as marketers you need to give the users a reason to talk about you online apart from their own social stuff.

When they talk about your brand, it is considered as engagement with the brand online, and depending on your deeds it can be both positive and negative.

As we know that there are multiple platforms - Fb, twitter, blogs, instagram, youtube, pintrest, google +, four square, etc etc. And the functionality of each is different, the penetration of each is different and even the behavior of same user on multiple platforms is different. Some are very active on one and at the same time tacit on the other.

Thus, Keep in mind the behavior of the target group on various platforms.

So, this is the sequence of questions that need to be answered before executing a social media marketing strategy-
1. Is the target group present in a considerable manner?
2. What is to be achieved through social media?
3. Which social media platforms to be used?

Now, after these questions have been answered then comes the plan formation for executing a social media strategy in a creative, attention grabbing and most of all a casual manner that though makes the pitch for our offering, but does that in a subtle fashion.

The cardinal rule of social media is enticing engagement. So, all the updates of any of the platform must be directed to achieve this objective.As I mentioned earlier- promoting WOM through technology.

And please, stop governing the success of a page with the number of likes alone! It should be complemented with engagement and again, it should result in conversion.

I will conclude by this post with this thought- The weapon does not decide the class of a fighter, its the skill that does that.

Social media like any other platform is just the weapon. Its the marketer's skill that will ultimately govern the success.

And just like any other mode of combat while using this weapon also, there are certain ethos and tenets, certain rules that need to be followed.

Do, post your feedback in the comments section (Does not have to be positive only)

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