Social MediaSocial MediaAn OverviewAn Overview

What is social media?

Social Media is a combination of tools that provide primarily internet based users with a voice

Users can say what they want, when they want, to a vast, constantly growing population

It provides the means by which people interact, share content, opinions and experiences

Participation: encourages contribution from all

Openness: feedback, discussion, opinions and sharing of info welcomed

Conversation: two way conversation as opposed to one way dialogue

Community: communities develop through shared interests

Connectedness: social media thrives on its ability to connect itself to others

(Mayfield, 2008)

Key Characteristics

ForumsBlogsPodcastsMicro blogs Social networking Video sharingPhoto sharing Virtual worlds

Each tool offers its users different benefits and uses.

While there are many applications available, a few key competitors have arisen from the boom in social media

Social media is conveyed through….

News and content sharing community

25m registered users

17m worldwide monthly unique visitors

41% are 18-34

76% male

99% of users online 5+ times per week

(Digg internal data, 2008)

Social network providing content sharing and communication

150m worldwide users 3.8m are 18-24

39m unique monthly users

20m pieces of content shared each month

(Social Media statistics, 2008)

Micro blogging network connecting friends, family and co-workers

1m+ users

3m twitter messages sent per day

200,000 active users per week 15 twitter messages per day per user

(Social Media statistics, 2008)

Video sharing

258 million users

5 billion videos viewed

2.9 minutes average video duration

100m videos viewed per day

(Social Media statistics, 2008)

Online virtual world

1.5m users logged in per month

10m user accounts

$1m spent inside second life per month

(Second Life.com, 2009)

Social media user profile

Cheaper computing equipment and faster internet connections have given a vast number of consumers the tools to access social media

The boom has been fuelled by increased knowledge and education of how to use such tools

Social media platforms are no longer the preserve of young, technology literate users.

Now days, social media users range widely in demographics and online behaviour

What does this mean for brands?

The huge consumer base provides vast scope for targeted communication and branding opportunities

It offers a new outlet, that during the tough economic times, offers potentially huge reach at a fraction of the cost

Brands are seizing the opportunity to connect with their consumers in a way that is not possible through traditional forms of communication

A key element of Facebook is the development of applications to provide users with a more interactive content rich environment

Brands are starting to see the potential of these applications

While only a small percentage of users may utilise the application, brands can quickly encourage word of mouth and press coverage

Facebook applications

Whopper sacrifice encouraged users to ditch 10 of their friends for a free whopper

The campaign drew significant press coverage and positive online opinions

(Facebook.com, 2009)

Burger King

Youtube Channels

Channels provide interaction with the brand

Users can leave comments and rate videos

Users can subscribe to enter competitions, receive notifications of new content, offers or discounts

T-Mobile

The channel was set up to showcase the recent ‘Dance’ ad.

(Youtube.com, 2009)

Second Life

While not social media built on the same principles as other examples, it still offers a place to interact and share with others

Although a virtual world, it allows users to spend real money on items such as land and accessories for their avatar

Second Life allows brands to communicate is much the same way as traditional communication albeit, in a virtual world

Toyota

Launched in game models to promote it’s ‘Scion’ range

(Mayfield, 2008)

BBC

To coincide with the 2006 Big Weekend Festival, a virtual stage was built with avatars of presenters and bands

(Mayfield, 2008)

Twitter

The micro-blogging site gives users 140 characters in which to inform others of what they are doing

Brands are beginning to utilise the service,

To inform users of news,

Product launches

To connect directly with their consumers

Ford

Their twitter account allows consumers to keep in touch with employees and helps encourage integration with the brand

(Van Grove, 2009)

American Apparel

Twitter allows consumers to provide feedback onproducts and provide photos for the official American Apparel blog

(Van Grove, 2009)

The Pitfalls

While moving into social media carries many benefits for brands, they must be aware of the characteristics that have made social media so popular

The consumer voice provided by social media can work against the brand

The word of mouth generated can have a negative effect on the brand’s image as perceived by the consumer

Not all content sharing, communication and brand interaction will be favourable

As an extension of word of mouth, social media carries the same characteristics

Brands must be honest and transparent if their social media strategy is to work successfully

One negative comment can quickly turn into a general consensus

The collective voice generated can quickly destroy a brand’s reputation

Complaints generated through Twitter were enough to urge Johnson and Johnson to pull an advertising campaign

Their viral ad was seen to be insulting rather than clever

From this example, brands must be acutely aware that social media can work both ways

(Grant, 2009)

Brands can often be seen to be invading the privacy of social media that consumers consider to be solely theirs

They must consider that the majority of these consumers are cynical towards communication from brands

To push through the barriers placed on brands, they must provide new, interesting and engaging communication ideas

What does this all mean for the consumer?

Consumers are now being given access to brands in a way that could not have previously been possible

They are being given the opportunity to have a say in what the brand does or produces

Consumers are able to engage with brands in a more direct way, than just buying the product

As a collective group of consumers, social media offers a certain degree of power over the brands

As consumers continue to move online for their daily tasks, their consumption of communication becomes more active

Consumers are no longer willing to sit back and let brands advertise to them

They are willing to search out advertising that interests them, putting the traditional communications model under scrutiny

What does the future hold?

Social media has seen a huge rise in popularity over the last two years

Twitter, the fastest growing website in the UK grew 974% last year

Further growth is expected as social media’s appeal and consumer base develops

(Grant, 2009)

The biggest driver behind social media has been the desire to generate quantity of connections

For example, friends on Facebook, followers on Twitter

A certain degree of quantity of connections is required to create value from the social networks

(Kenton, 2008)

Quantity vs. Quality

The future however will start focusing on quality

This may be seen with the emergence of smaller niche networks, specialising in particular areas of interest

Niche networks will provide brands with ideal places for targeted communications

They will offer easily accessible groups of consumers for which a brands products are aimed at

(Kirkpatrick, 2008)

Interconnectivity

Social media has left consumers with many different profiles to maintain

A consumer may be a member of several different social networks, write a couple of blogs and be an active member of many forums

Development is expected to provide consumers with the ability to connect their social media profiles to aid in better organisation and synchronisation

Facebook Connect is one example put in place to help consumers control their ever expanding social media

portfolio

(Kenton, 2008)

Monitoring success

Monitoring social media is an area that brands are yet to develop

A recent Advertising Age study revealed that only 16% of respondents have a routine system in place for monitoring what consumers are saying about their brands online

It appears that brands and advertisers are yet to catch onto the importance and significant impact social media can have

(Grant, 2009)

As brands begin to understand the concept further we may start to see more sophisticated monitoring systems put in place

The few brands that are beginning to monitor online consumers include,

Proctor and Gamble, Social Media Lab

Unilever, Word of Mouth summit

Specialist agencies such as We Are Social are also being set up to help brands understand and develop their social media presence

(Grant, 2009)

In conclusion….

The growth of social media appears to be an attractive, low cost addition to a brands communication strategy

It offers high reach to a broad range of consumers

However, brands and advertisers must be aware of the pitfalls

They must understand the word of mouth nature of social media and develop strategies to work with it rather than against it

To make the most of social media, brands must be prepared to invest in monitoring what consumers are saying about them

It will provide them with a deeper understanding of their consumers allowing for more targeted communication strategies

It will allow the brands to connect with its consumers in a way never seen before

References

5 Meta Trends Shaping 2009 Social Media Predictions, 2009 Chris Kenton (online). Available from: http://www.chriskenton.com/2008/12/5-meta-trends-shaping-2009-social-media-predictions.html (Accessed 4 February 2009)

40 Of The Best Twitter Brands and the People Behind Them, 2008. Mashable (online). Available from: http://mashable.com/2009/01/21/best-twitter-brands/ (Accessed 2 February 2009)

Digg.com, 2009. Internal Data. Available from: http://advertising.microsoft.com/advertise/digg (Accessed 2 February 2009)

Facebook.com, 2009. Available from: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics (Accessed 2 February 2009)

Secondlife.com, 2009. Available from: http://secondlife.com/whatis/marketplace.php (Accessed 2 February 2009)

Social Media Statistics, 2009. Available from: http://socialmediastatistics.wikidot.com/ (Accessed 2 February 2009)

Social Media is good for your career, 2009. Advertising 2.0 We Are Social (online). Available from: http://community.brandrepublic.com/blogs/advertising_20/archive/2009/01/27/social-media-is-good-for-your-career.aspx (Accessed 4 February 2009)

Top Marketing Geeks Make Their Predictions for 2009, 2008. ReadWriteWeb (online). Available from: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/top_marketing_geeks_make_their_predictions.php (Accessed 4 February 2009)

What is Social Media, 2008. iCrossing e-book (online). Available from: http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads/eBooks/What_is_Social_Media_iCrossing_ebook.pdf (Accessed 1 February 2009)

Youtube.com, 2009. Available from: www.youtube.com (Accessed 2 February 2009)