The Effective Use of Social Media in Marketing - Obey

Social media marketing is not just making a Facebook page; it’s using different networks that your customers are on and engaging them. The concentration of word of mouth could enable a company to succeed in social media marketing. To that end there are a few specific ideas to keep in mind when attempting to effectively utilize social media. The first is tying social media to organizational goals. Social media should not be considered it’s on entity but incorporated within the organization to meet marketing objectives. A problem that should be highlighted is that 60% of companies are either in the research or experimentation stage of social media marketing. Despite its growing importance in marketing, the majority of companies have not adapted to this change. This brings up to the third idea which is social media is now a part of the marketing mix. Due to consumer being more involved with purchase decisions, consumer engagement has never been more important. Social media addresses this aspect and has developed its own marketing mix.
This new dynamic creates six main objectives for marketers using social media. The first is building brand awareness. Social media enables companies to reach new audiences and build awareness with consumers that otherwise would not know about the company. Brand awareness can also be increased by sharing content of their company such as culture and news. Additionally social media can be used to move consumers from the social media networks to the company website.
Making customer service personal would be the second objective that should be considered. It enables immediate response and interaction between customer and company which enhances the company’s image. Customer support on social media outlets such as Twitter could be used to keep customers informed or answer any questions or concern the customer may have.
Event marketing is area that social media can affects. Social media allows the marketer to release updates and alerts as well promote the event itself. Effectively using social media allow the audience to participate in real time which enriches the experience and engages the audience. Sharing content from the event will allow the audience to share their experiences with potential consumers and their networks.
The product launch has conceived a new meaning. Whereas in the past companies spent millions of dollars on push campaigns, now there is a way to reach huge audiences cheaply through word of mouth; social media. In order to engage these audiences companies must not only tell the consumer about the product, but rather show them. They can also incorporate contests with a new product launch on Facebook to get consumers interested and involved with their company. These contests could consist of giving away the new product or complementary product.
Building a sales pipeline is made easier through social media marketing. In order for a company to build their pipeline they must first locate their customer base in the social media networks. Once specific social media networks have been singled out the company has to maintain a presence there. Once they have a strong presence companies can then guide consumers to their website or store to make a purchase.
Being active in your community creates free buzz. If a company is able to establish itself within a community and promotes an idea or a social value rather than just a product, a connection is made between community and brand. This connection will increase the dispersal rate of your messages and will increase consumer action. The social value that the company promotes becomes the purchase incentive in and of itself.
Tom’s Shoes has effectively been able to incorporate social media especially well within their organization. They have several different social media tools such as blogs, Facebook, and Twitter among others. They build brand awareness with their blog by share experiences of employees and customer involved with their organization.
Tom’s Shoes make customer service personal by giving their Tom’s Happiness Guarantee which states if the customer has any issue with their products they can engage employees instantly through direct channel s such as Twitter. Host a “Style Your Sole” party is how Tom’s Shoes engages consumers to market through events. Customers can use social media to promote the party within their network. The blog is used within this company to promote new product lines being launched when they released their sun glasses. The blog is also used as a pipeline to funnel customer to their website. Community activation is a strength of Tom’s Shoes marketing. With their events such as “Campus Clubs”, “Decorate your Sole” parties Tom’s Shoes calls its consumers to action.

Overall social media marketing is a very powerful tool, and no further evidence in need other than the proliferation of Tom’s Shoes.

References
"TOMS Blog." Official Store - TOMS Shoes - One for One - A Pair of New Shoes Is Given to a Child in Need With Every Pair Purchased TOMS.com. Web. 30 Sept. 2011. .
http://info.spredfast.com/SocialMediaPocketGuide-AMAwebinar.html

Social Media Pocket Guide (Canyon America)

The point of the webcast is to tell marketers the different ways that they can use social media to promote their brand. Some key uses of social media visited during the webcast are driving traffic, building customer excitement, immediate and more personal customer service and feedback, and lower costs in comparison to other media advertisements. Several times during the webcast, Jordan Viator brought up the importance of driving internet traffic to your facebook page or website where your customers can spend time and learn about the company. This is very important for building brand awareness and getting people involved in the company. By building excitement about your brand in your customers, you then have a source of positive word of mouth and closer connections to your customers. Going back to the previous webinar with Robbin Phillips, customer excitement helps marketers create a “movement” of loyal customers adamantly supporting your brand. Social media allows for immediate distribution of company news and updates, and response to customer concerns, comments, or questions. By using this aspect of social media, marketers can let customers (or potential customers) know about upcoming events, new products, and sales promotions instantly. Customer service can be greatly improved by using this tool as well because customer’s problems can be addressed very quickly and efficiently. Advertising using social media is available at little to no cost in comparison to other advertisement forms because your audience is more targeted so the return on investment is higher.

The webinar gives six objectives that every company should apply to their social media marketing campaign. First is building brand awareness. Social media is very important to creating brand awareness because marketers can demonstrate their expertise within the industry to build credibility, deliver the companies message, and give information about the company to massive amounts of potential customers. Jordan explained that most people who are online use at least two or three different types of social media so it is important that marketers don’t rely on only one form of social media but several. Second is making customer service personal. When a customer has a problem, social media allows for an immediate response to that problem. All customers online (in most cases) can see the problem or question and the response given to it, this helps to show other customers of the expertise of your company. Seeing a person’s name under the answer post makes customers feel like the answer was tailored for them and not a generic answer generated by a computer. It is important to provide “customer education” and show them how to work the product, social media allows for companies to post how-to videos on their website. Third is event marketing. Using social media, marketers can promote event details using real-time updates and customers/attendees can participate in the discussion. Marketers can then share content (pictures, etc.) from the event for everyone to see. Fourth is product launches/announcing new services. Social media is the most affordable way to launch a new product/service and it also gives companies a good way to have contests and giveaways that will build excitement and anticipation for the product/service. The company can post videos of product demonstrations online to show off their products new and exciting features. Fifth is it helps build a sales pipeline. There are unknown opportunities for marketers online. Marketers need to provide their customers with a “call to action” to visit their website, for example put “for more info… [company website]” on products, videos, and advertisements to enhance inbound marketing. The webinar suggests to marketers that they should ask for customer information. Sixth is community activation. Use social media to get closer connections with customers by sharing links, providing incentives, and having pre-packaged content, make it easy for people to share your company.

TOMS does a great job at using this information. TOMS puts their name and website on everything they’re affiliated with and gains huge support with its’ customers by standing for something and asking their customers to do so as well by putting one for one on their web pages, videos, ads, and product packages.. TOMS has a presence on facebook, myspace, twitter, youtube, their own blog, their website, and hundreds more social media outlets.

www.toms.com

Touch Points of Marketing (Team Carlos)

The main message of this report is to show the process of the consumer decision-making process and the steps it takes people to actually buy a product. One of the ways McKinsey talks about this process is through a “funnel” metaphor, in which “a consumer starts with a number of potential brands in mind (the wide end of the tunnel), marketing is then directed at them as they methodically reduce that number and move through the tunnel” (McKinsey 1). He says however though, the funnel metaphor is basically out of date and that marketers need to go about reaching consumers in a different way.

One approach proposed by McKinsey is the consumer decision journey. Since there has been a shift away from one-way communication, he needed to find a better way to meet consumer needs and control word-of-mouth. He says that instead of the process being a funnel, it is actually more of a circular pattern. This includes four steps of initial consideration, active evaluation, when the consumer buys the product, and postpurchase.

Another approach would be that consumers outreach to marketers has become more important that marketers outreach to consumers. Often times the marketer would try to push the product at certain stages of the decision making process but most times they didn’t catch the consumer at the right times of the process. Instead of having products pushed at them, consumers are now pulling information that is going to help them decide. It said that “two-thirds of the touch points during the active-evaluation phase involve consumer driven marketing activities, such as Internet reviews and word of mouth” (McKinsey 5).

The next approach would be to win the in store battle. His research found that the consumers hold off on the final purchase decision until they are in the store. They do this because they want to interact with the product they are about to buy before they purchase it. He states that in store touch points, which include packaging, shelf positioning, fixtures, and informative signs, provides an opportunity for brands.

McKinsey report talks about two different types of loyalty. There is the active loyalist, which have strong brand loyalty and also recommend the product to others. The other type is a passive loyalist, which stays with a brand but are not necessary committed to just that brand and are would be willing to change at any moment. Therefor marketers should gear more towards marketing to the active loyalist by focusing on new touch points.

I would have to say that one of the main suggestions of the report is to focus on the touch points of the consumers. Knowing when, how, and who to market the product. It’s not all about the one-way conversation anymore. Marketers need to be more interactive with their consumers than they are and build more active loyalist than passive. It is all about being at the right place at the right time.

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The consumer decision-making process has been an obvious field of interest for marketers since people figured out that there was a routine of events during the progression. The social wave of marketing has made McKinsey as well as others aware of the change from such flat marketing practices to more layers that lie in a consumer’s decision. People are more aware and informed and they absolutely have to be more engaged in the overall experience of buying a product. This world is social and now every part of our lives from what we eat and wear and do also has to be notable to our networked society.

One way that social media is effecting the traditional funnel method is that the initial consideration set has begun smaller because of information overload initially and has grown to include almost double the amount of brands considered as they actively seek more information. Consumers are now so eagerly seeking all the information they can find in order to make a well educated purchase that it is now more important to offer them the information they need, exactly where they are looking for it. Not so much shoving information down their throats hoping they might remember the taste later, but lightly spreading the information over a wide variety of mediums in an attractive manner. Consumers are in charge (or at least they think they are) and as marketers it is important for them to feel that way, and it is our job to guide them along that path with all the information they need to make a great purchase, of your product.

Post purchase actions are becoming a large part of the decision making journey, one persons past experience is becoming prime information for the next persons initial search. Reviews and blogs are driving the passive loyalists to become more active loyalists. It is not only enough to like a product and guarantee a repeat purchaser, now it matters what that customer is doing post purchase, who they are telling and how they are telling them. 70% of people now admit to reading reviews before they will ever consider buying a product. Encouraging satisfied customers to write about your product or to write a review or check in at a location is the desired post purchase dedication that every company wants.

The Kinsey report states basically that now there is a large shift in the buying process for consumers. They are no longer chasing down a certain product after weighing through numerous stores and commercials and such, but now they are gathering mass amounts of information and interaction from their computers, often before ever leaving the house. This means that there is more time for marketers to create an interactive relationship with each consumer in the beginning phases, but also providing more time to enter the decision process along the way through newly introduced mediums.

Google says it better than I can, watch this 2min vid:

Week 2: Sept 19-25

GROUP: CARPE DIEM

a) What is the main message of the report?

The McKinsey report consist of vital information of the consumer decision making process and how marketers can included themselves in this journey. This process can be as easy as understanding who our consumers are, and their needs. Although deciding who you see your consumers are may be the easy part, it’s also important that they understand your directing your product at them. Consumers are constantly in the same room as an advertisement, but the timing may not be right to purchase a new flat screen TV. However, when that time comes it's crucial that markets make the timing match. One option of many in the report is to guide them through by the use of tools you have, like the internet, or word of mouth. Use the internet to your advantage. Consumers are more helpful not only to other consumers but also to the companies they are buying from. So, make your websites informative and also instructive. By provisioning your website to be more consumer friendly, markets can make the information search process easier for their consumers, in which, can create word of mouth flow. In this matter, if your company was institutionally not in the initial consideration set of consumers, this is just one way of inching you closer. Another important factor mentioned, is to not only present the company through advertisements, internet, or word of mouth, but also to meet your consumers at the on-site interactions. This stage could mean your brand awareness has worked thus far to see consumers inside your store. This may mean the timing is right, and in order to sale you may need to make your products look more attractive, by influencing your customers through the final purchases. Conclusive to the report is the result of brand awareness in the initial consideration process for consumers.

b) what are the key differences between the traditional understanding of consumers decision journey and the one proposed by McKinsey? Compare and contrast 3-4 major features.

As represented in the report the consumer decision-making journey process, is a more circular journey (McKinsey Quarterly, pg3). One feature of the differences in traditional marketing is the research done by consumers. Because of the internet, consumers have many options in gaining information about products before they consider purchasing. Such thing as reviews, question, and answers presented by the company is one process consumers missed out on before the internet. There are so many sources a consumer can go to in order to find the products that best suit their lifestyles. Nowadays a company is critiqued by the feedback of their consumers, viewed by many and anyone. In which can cause a break in the process, to a new awareness that may not have been recognized before. This gives more marketers the opportunity to take advantage of this slot and fill it with their product name, and make it a contender in the initial consideration set. Also, consumers feed off the information search on numerous accounts of repurchased decisions. When marketers before were pushing advertisements in consumers face, they are now looking for the right kind of information. In many ways, consumers look into marketing tools to help make the decision easier and more informative. Not only are consumers interested in information, but it can be considered necessary for them to acknowledge your product. Another difference is that of the loyalty factor, between consumers and their go-to purchases. Consumers are looking to what these products can do for them in their lives, as in what more does this product have to offer? One example may be a credit card, companies offer different terms of the credit card usage that fit better in certain people’s lives. For instances, say you enjoy dinning out often, it would be in your best interest to choose a credit card that gives points back for all of your dining out experiences. Thus, gaining loyalty from a consumer, this happens in different aspects for buyers but the point is what you can do for your consumers in order to gain that loyalty from them. And why this is different is because of the post purchase response from the consumers that also excludes word of mouth through feedback.

c) The report details two types of loyalty: what are they? and what does it mean for social media marketing?

The two types of loyalties are active loyalists and passive loyalists. Active loyalists are consumers who stick with a certain brand, but also recommend it. They do this by posting reviews on the Internet, as well as putting word-of-mouth recommendations explaining their experiences and the benefits of the brand. Passive loyalists are consumers who stay with a brand without being committed to it. This means passive loyalists are open to switching to a competitors brand if they give them a reason to do so. Marketers need to challenge companies to reinvigorate their loyalty programs and also the way they manage the customer experience. In order to keep active loyalists, marketers need to identify them through customer research, find out what drives that loyalty and how to harness it with word-of-mouth programs.

d) In your own words, explain the key suggestions of the report for marketing in the new reality.

Some suggestions in this report would be that consumers focus on advertisements, news report, conversations with family and friends, and product experiences when buying a product. Consumer-driven marketing is one of the important suggestions made because customers receive information helpful to them when they take control of the process. Some examples would be Internet reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations, and in-store interactions and recollections of past experiences. Consumers nowadays wait until they’re in a store to make a purchase. An excellent way to catch the consumers’ attention into buying a product would be the attractiveness of the package, a favorable shelf position, forceful fixtures, and on-shelf messaging. Also, you first need to discover based on what the consumer makes their decision on when choosing a brand. Another way to market in the new reality would be the outreach of consumers to marketers rather than marketers to consumers, meaning that marketers should not accept the consumers brand options due to the fact that this approach failed to reach the right consumers at the right time. Changes in the consumer decision making process means that marketers need to regulate their spending. Also the changes made should not be viewed as a loss of power over consumers, but as an advantage to be in the right place and the right time, acknowledging them the information and support needed to make the correct decisions.

The Others- 3rd Post

The McKinsey report focuses on the idea that marketers for a company will see more results from a more complicated and specialized funnel that is titled as their approach consumer decision journey. It is more focused on how specific changes and ways marketers can manipulate and affect a target market. They also focus in on the fact that you can then manipulate word of mouth. Comparing that to the already familiar approach to the consumer decision journey where world of mouth can be affected but not easily manipulated, the McKinsey report is more specific. The report also suggests that as consumers do information searches on a product, it is easily possible that they will expand their number of options, instead of the obvious conclusion that the options would be narrowed down. Another valid point made by the McKinsey report is that there is more focused on the consumers outreach to the marketer instead of the other way around. Consumers do not want to feel a pressure or “push” of a specific product on them. They want to be able to conveniently seek out information, yet then the marketer needs to have all the information ready to present them so it is right at their fingertips. The consumer wants to feel independence, yet reassurance or the product that they are seeking to learn more about.

There are two types of loyalists, passive and active. For social media marketing, marketers should create ways to try and motivate consumers to be active loyalists. This way, not only are they using the brand, they are also creating more buzz and revenue to the brands company by gaining more consumers by simply word of mouth, which costs the company nothing.

If the society that people live in today is becoming increasingly complex than why shouldn’t marketing strategies follow by looking more specifically in the changes that are taking place? These way marketers can more effectively attack and gain consumers while keeping existing consumers motivated and active!

The main message of the McKinsey report is to make marketers aware of the changes in consumer’s decision process. The traditional form of the consumer decision journey is portrayed using the funnel. With the funnel consumers start out with a whole bunch of choice and narrow them down as the process goes on. The consumer decision journey that McKinsey proposes is more complicated.

One difference between the consumer decision processes would be the different types of marketing. Consumers used to not be as active in finding out information and marketers would “push” there products on potential consumers through advertisements. Today more and more potential consumers want to find out as much information on a product before they buy it. They are asking for or “pulling” information from marketers about products.

Another difference between the two would be the adding of potential products as the process goes on. The funnel suggests that the number of potential products gets smaller as the funnel progresses; instead because consumers are becoming more active and pulling for more information during the information search process the number of potential products that a consumer may buy can and most likely will get bigger. During the information search consumers find more products that appeal to them instead of finding more products that don’t appeal to them. Information search is becoming a more powerful thing and in the McKinsey report it says that marketers need to “learn to influence consumer-driven touch points, such as word-of-mouth and Internet information sites.” Consumers need to have more positive experiences with the company and the products that would generate positive word-of-mouth. The article gives many examples of how some American automobile companies have a hard time doing this while foreign automobile companies are way ahead of the US companies. The US companies need to become more aware of the consumers wants and needs and stop pushing and start having the “two-way conversations” with their consumers.

The new consumer decision journey shows two types of loyalty: passive loyalist and active loyalist. Passive loyalists do not really have a reason to stay or not to stay with a product or brand they just do. The active loyalist is very dedicated to the product or brand and generates positive word-of-mouth about the product or brand. Companies with social media marketing have a better chance of turning passive loyalists into active ones. They can either be persuaded to switch products or brands or have an opportunity to become more involved in the brand they already buy. It also allows companies to keep their active loyalists involved and keep them informed.

The McKinsey report suggests that marketers need to catch up with the times. The traditional funnel still has a good foundation to it, but marketers need to be aware that push marketing isn’t going to work anymore. Marketers need to stop pushing products and brands on potential consumers and start getting involved and including their potential consumers in the information search process. Start listening to what the consumer wants and gives it to them, by doing this the company is more likely to give the customer a positive experience and then receive loyalty and positive WOM.

McKinsey Quarterly: The Consumer Decision Journey; http://www.box.net/shared/67yrhfm1kj5lje3jycls