Social Media and Marketing

It is show time again. It is that time when business houses and individuals gather at the show grounds to showcase their various products and services offering, at the Zambia Agriculture & Commercial Show (ZACS). I haven’t been to the show grounds for 11 years. What I remember the most are the announcements of lost children over the various public address systems. It is a great thing though to attend the show as you get to learn a lot of things. If I happen to attend the show this year, I want to visit the ministry of lands stand. I need to figure out all the processes that lead to land ownership. I would also like to see how the SME’s attending the show are packaging themselves in terms of marketing.  In my view they stand to benefit more from exhibiting than the big corporations. We all know where to find Stanbic offices but you need to ask me where to find Janet Fredman Jewelry. Over and above, I’d like to speak to and compare how the small businesses use web advertising and in particular social media marketing.

Marketing is a dynamic discipline, constantly having to innovate and adapt to changes at both global and local levels.

In the 21st century people are reinventing themselves every couple of years. It makes sense that a Company’s brand must be adjusted, or realigned with new trends accordingly, every couple of years. The objective is to build a niche for itself in the larger community. Brands can be reinvented with new marketing outlines to be both engaging and challenging the marketplace in a world that is changing in faster moving cycles.

Word-of-mouth (WOM) as a marketing technique has been around a long time but has increased in relevance with the growth of social media. Well-planned and researched WOM marketing management can help to influence consumer purchasing decisions. However social media also opens the way for negative word-of-mouth. It is important to adopt strategies for coping with this eventuality. Research shows that businesses with more experience of a social network react more positively when faced with negative WOM and that a higher level of loyalty towards a brand reduces the impact of WOM regardless of its nature.

Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites. Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. A corporate message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it appears to come from a trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or company itself.

“Social media itself is a catch- or term for sites that may provide radically different social actions. For instance, Twitter is a social site designed to let people share short messages or “updates” with others. Facebook, in contrast is a full-blown social networking site that allows for sharing updates, photos, joining events and a variety of other activities.

Social media often feeds into the discovery of new content such as news stories. Social media can also help build links that in turn support into search engine optinisation (SEO) efforts. Many people also perform searches at social media sites to find social media content.” (http://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-social-media-marketing)

Thumbs up to DSTV

The bulk of establishments of Zambian industry both private and public sector have not quite seized on the need for Social media marketing. However, I have to give the deserved kudos to a few companies in the borders of Zambia which have embraced social media marketing and used it to their advantage. Multichoice Zambia comes out top of a list I have included MTN, Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), Airtel, Zamtel, and yes TEVETA.

When it comes to social media marketing, believe it or not, some people still need to be convinced it serves a purpose other than self-aggrandizement. Most people in Zambia would rather give you the down side to using social media marketing than looking at the many benefits it offers. Two main disadvantages always come to the fore;

1.       Threat of hackers. Organisations are skeptical of having social media accounts because of the fear of hackers signing into those accounts and posting messages that can cause extreme harm to their brands. Recently, following a false tweet from the Twitter account of the Associated Press, the Associated Press had to accept that their Twitter account had been hacked. The tweet that read “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured” sent shocks wave across the world.

2.      Business risk. When you use social media like Twitter, Facebook and Google+ for your product promotion, people get direct access to post their views. There is equal probability of getting both positive and negative comments. Even your competitors can post a few highlighting the negatives. Though you can decrease the impact of negative comments through quick response, you cannot nullify it.

However, there are reams of empirical evidence that suggest social media marketing leads to increased sales, increased leads, increased brand awareness and improved communication with clients and customers. Improved communication with clients is precisely where I have ticked the box on Multichoice and their DSTV brand. Gone are the days when I rushed to Multichoice offices for any query as now I can get a response within 5minutes in the comfort of my home. Recently I had trouble accessing some of the channels and my initial reaction was to call a friend who confirmed he was watching without a problem. I had trouble the whole day and when the problem persisted the following day, I decided to put in a query, and within 5 minutes I was informed that my dish had moved and I was advised to get in touch with a Multichoice accredited installer. The rest is history. That was just my experience but I have seen a lot of issues being addressed by the DSTV team on social media and a lot of clients like me are kept happy and at the very first sighting of the subscription expiry message we will quickly make use of XAPIT payment modes or even drive to the nearest pay point.

Remarkably, while in Zambia we are still grappling with issues of web social, the rest of the world has even gone further to embrace mobile social. A Classic example where social media would have helped had it been used, is the Zambeef case (otherwise called the meatgate scandal in comparison to the infamous Watergate scandal). Barely few hours after headlines hit the papers with news of traces of formaldehyde organic compound found in some Zambeef meat products, social media was awash with condemnation of the company. Most of the comments were really actually from a point of ignorance on the effects of this chemical found in the meat. The only statement that came from the company was a press release which appeared in the papers and the company only exacerbated the situation by playing dangerous public relations games of first, 'cat and mouse' then later 'the blame game'. Initially, the statements given alleged that this was a campaign by a former employee who was denied benefits of some sought and was now bent on discrediting the organization. A host of other counter accusations without really tackling the issue were seen but after even independent laboratories from South-Africa confirmed the results of the initial test, the said meat products were burnt in Chisamba in the presence of ministry of health officials and the nation told it was the end of meat imports. Hmmm, How smart.

What happened to being factual and truthful to your clients? Even to date, there is no single statement on the Zambeef official website. How smart indeed. I don’t know if this was now a marketing problem or the guys in PR department messed this one up. Engage the people buddy, especially in times of a crisis and bad publicity.  It is time companies in this land realized the value of social media marketing. Social media would have been the best platform for handling the kind of bad publicity Zambeef got. It is a great PR and marketing platform.

If you belong to the camp that still thinks social media is not much more than a huge “time suck”, here are statistics from CompTIA’s Social Business: Trends and Opportunities study:

·         Better communication with customers, cited by 61 percent of responding companies

·         Cost savings (51 percent)

·         Brand positioning (49 percent)

·         Real-time customer satisfaction (48 percent)

·         Potential lead generation (43 percent)

Web social vs Mobile social

I intimated earlier that the rest of the world is going mobile social while as a nation we can’t even grapple with web social. Eventually, in order to remain competitive we need to move with the new trends. The penetration of mobile phone operators to all corners of Zambia has given birth an opportunity of a paradigm shift that is making internet usage extremely high. 

But before the shift to mobile social is achieved, we will need to develop a culture of web advertising and generally web social? How many organisations in Zambia have a LinkedIn account they update regularly, let alone just having one? How many companies have a Facebook account?  Statistics are there for all to access, the population distribution says 50.6% under 64years, the population is concentrated between 14-50 years. This is the age group that is very active on social media. It is also common knowledge that an advert on Facebook is far much cheaper than one on say Muvi TV yet the one on FB will be seen worldwide. In addition it doesn’t have to be a paid for advert. Companies can simply update status and will be able to inform millions of an impending new product launch. We are under utilising what would be a cheaper way of marketing communication or even PR channel.

Benefits of social media Marketing

Even though earlier on I gave only two disadvantages of social media marketing, the list can be more (especially if you are a pessimist). However, my view is that for every single disadvantage of social media marketing, there are three advantages. If organisations are skeptical because of the fear of negative feedback, they need to understand that negative information is still present through word of mouth. In any case, the best way to avoid negativity on a brand is to take it head on and address it. Even political dictators have learned this valuable lesson. It is better to let freedom of information so that you get feedback of what the masses are saying about you. If you only listen to the people in your inner circles, you can never win an election.

A great deal of research finds that word of mouth is more effective than other types of marketing. Whether compared to traditional advertising, media mentions, or promotional events, word of mouth is more useful in creating new users and customers. McKinsey suggests that “word of mouth generates more than twice the sales of paid advertising in categories as diverse as skincare and mobile phones.” McKinsey has gone so far as to call word of mouth “the most disruptive force in marketing.”

CMO surveys by firms like IBM suggest that the overwhelming majority plan to increase their investment in social media, but ROI metrics have been hard to come by and CMOs say increasingly those will be the metrics by which they will measure success of their marketing efforts. According to IBM, “even among the most successful enterprises, half of all CMOs feel insufficiently prepared to provide hard numbers [for return on marketing investment].”

A new white paper by marketing analytics expert MarketShare and the Keller Fay Group, called "Quantifying the Role of Social Voice in Marketing Effectiveness", provides new and compelling evidence that word of mouth (offline and online) drives sales to a considerable degree – providing both a direct and an indirect impact on sales, amplifying the impact of marketing as people talk about the marketing or share it via social media.   And, it demonstrates that the impact can be measured. (Download a free copy of the executive summary here.)

http://marketshare.com/insights/blog/302-finally-proof-that-word-of-mouth-isn-t-just-nice-to-have-but-drives-measurable-roi

Social media provides a way for businesses to increase their "word of mouth" advertising. Word of mouth has always been a powerful method of promoting products and services. Think about it - when you need a new mechanic for your car, do you trust the advertisements in the newspaper or your friend who tells you how great their mechanic is?

Social networking makes it possible to establish relationships and build trust online, which allows businesses to indirectly market their products and services to people who are more receptive to the marketing messages you are sending out. Generally, people are more trusting of social media sites than they are of more traditional websites selling products or services directly, because the users of social media websites feel that there are fewer people who would have something to gain by reviewing and recommending another's product or service.

Social media marketing offers a number of benefits you would be hard pressed to find in other forms of marketing, including:

• Ability to create brand awareness. As more people see your business name and the link to your site, your logo, and other details found in social media profiles, you establish more brand awareness among your potential client base.
• Trust is established through natural connections and relationships that develop in online communities.
• Your main website will gain traffic from niche conversations had through social networking websites, discussions, groups, and through blog comments.
• Search engine optimization is increased through the increasing number of high quality links to your site and/or blog as other community members link to you and as you link to yourself from various social media sites.
• Increased visibility in search engines will boost the number of visitors who find your website when searching keywords related to your industry.
• Having a following on various social sites will decrease your dependence on search engines in general, since you'll have a number of other websites helping to drive traffic to your site or blog.
• Your participation in social media discussions and groups helps you see what is going on within your niche and find out what people want to see in the products and services you offer simply by listening to what people say to one another.
• When you are actively involved in social media, you have the opportunity to manage your reputation. You can respond to complaints in a timely manner, encourage people to talk about their good experiences with your company, and keep an eye on what is being said about you in general by your client base.
• You can discover more about the needs, desires and trends that encourage your market niche to spend money, and use that information to fuel your marketing efforts.

 

Embracing new marketing techniques puts you ahead of the pack as you become more effective & efficient

Advantages of Social Media Linking

It's possible to obtain links to your website from a few different sources online - including companies who sell links to your site. One of the primary advantages of using social media marketing is that you obtain numerous links to your website and blog from multiple sources. When you publish a new blog post or an article on your website, you can automatically update each of your social media profiles across multiple websites to reflect the new post - and include a link back to your site. I do this regularly on social media everytime i put up a blog on this site. As an organisation, your followers, fans, or connections appreciate the information in your blog posts or article, you'll see them announcing these to their followers, fans or connections, quickly growing the number of incoming links through social media. You end up with links to your site strategically placed everywhere your potential client base is already visiting online, which means the people who are clicking those links are already your targeted prospects, and have already established somewhat of a relationship with you through their connection on these social media sites.

http://www.focustsi.com/resources/article.aspx?id=benefits-of-social-media-marketing&category=social-media

I worked as a sales executive for a software company and I learned quite a lot about how generally Zambian companies and government institutions are not taking advantage of available technology. Most organisations give cost as a reason for not investing in technology hence they do not have the money to invest in IT solutions. In truth, the cost and maintenance of most IT solutions is less than the cost of 4x4’s that are purchased every year by most organisations.  The world business platforms have become very consumer driven, hence the need for organisations to react and respond in ways that consumers want all the time. The sheer volume of information available today has dramatically altered the balance of power between companies and consumers. As consumers have become overloaded, they have become increasingly skeptical about traditional company-driven advertising and marketing and increasingly prefer to make purchasing decisions largely independent of what companies tell them about products. Thus there is no better point to start from than using media which engages consumers in a social way but achieving great business results.

Highlights:

• More than half of marketers who have been using social media for more than 3 years say that it has helped them increase sales
• More than half of marketers with at least one year of social media experience were generating leads using these channels
• 62 percent of businesses with 10 or fewer employees agreed social media reduced marketing expenses
• 78 percent of participants found that website traffic increased with as little as 6 hours per week invested in social media marketing
• Overall, the percentage of marketers reporting improvements has increased in all categories since 2013