[BLOG] 4 major factors that make social marketing successful
Even though social marketing has become part of the jargons we need to learn, mastering the skills that count for success is still an issue with many professionals. Like a fish out of water struggling for survival, many digital marketers are struggling hard to outdo others without basic understanding of the terrain or what really count. It is one thing to be on the field playing the game, developing a winning strategy often makes the effort worth the while. International football team knows it must first seat down to develop strategy and the game plan in order to get the medal.
As professionals, we cannot hold the view ‘Olympic is not to win, but to participate’. While it is good to be a partaker, we must note also that not all entertainers have tangible proofs for their activities. Over the years, our examination of the terrain has given us some clues on fundamental issues which aid social marketing successful. These pillars are discussed below.
Precision and not just targeting: For many marketers, we all cut our teeth with the word ‘targeting’. While targeting may be good, precision is the right word today. Precision underscores ability to clearly describe the audience in clear terms and not just in ambiguous term.Precision speaks volume about accuracy, exactness of purpose and idea. Using the term ‘moms’ may be ambiguous today. Today, we are more concerned with what kind of ‘mom’ you have in mind. Can we go further to say working mum with one-two year old babies or mom of lower or upper adolescence? In Developing countries, these may not make a lot of sense, but marketers in developed countries do know there are lots of differences.
We can also distinguish mom of special need children and those without. This lack of precision often makes many social marketers use wrong platforms. This surely does affect bottomline. Go beyond ‘liking or fan’ to strong connection and engagement: Everyday and everywhere you go today, we often see follow or like us. Staying in this plateau do not offer any meaningful benefits at the long run except if we just value crowd. Do not get me wrong, crowd may have its own benefit but what is the essence of crowd without strong connection and engagement? Strong connection and engagement eventually paves way for measurable success.
Shared purpose instead of self-promotion: for many organizations, we can easily categorize their motives as self promotion within one week of following them. This perception and categorization in no small way does more harm to the social marketing process. I like the way Nilofer Merchant explained the benefits of shared purpose over self promotion. In Nilofer’s opinion ‘Shared purpose makes customers and team-members more than transactions and payroll recipients. It allows us to “tear down that wall” between who is “in” or “outside” the firm creating a more permeable organization which unleashes the inherently collaborative nature of work — like a herd of gazelles running leaderlessly, daringly, across a plain’. To be successful, companies must develop a strong shared purpose that does not need a lot of explanation or long story to understand.
Creativity and innovation: Brand must appreciate the fact that many of their competitors are already in the bandwagon. Unlike when many were sceptical, many brands are now ‘trying’ their luck. If you must be successful, there need for creativity and innovation. This will serve as icing on the cake. Do not just belong, being different with added value will make your brand stand out. This is my thought today, over to you what do consider as success pillars for social marketing?
Yinka Olaito is happy,excited and passionate Brand Communication, Social Media expert, Trainer and speaker. Yinka Olaito helps brands(Profits and Non-profits)with effective communication and positioning for premium service delivery and returns. Yinka Olaito also has special interest in Development Communication and has consulted for noted UN Agencies. Yinka Olaito is the CCO of Michael Sage consulting and African Child Right Inc. Lagos Nigeria
This article was originally posted on East Africa Business Communities
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