Would you
believe that most, repeat most brands and organizations indulge themselves in
something called Unsocial Media Promotion in the name of Social Media
Marketing?
Yet, it’s
not hard to believe because :
1. We are so used to selling / promoting products for so long that we can’t think beyond it
2. Not many people know what Social Media Marketing
is actually!
It has been
our experience and observation that while social media opens up a brand new,
dynamic and revolutionary strategic marketing process, most social media
practitioners are using it as an extension of old, conventional, tactical
marketing tool – simply as a Promotional tool with excessive one-way dialogue. And so, there is nothing social about it
nor it is Marketing!
Therefore,
though we see a very high page likes (sometimes) – through paid ads – we hardly
see any engagements happening.
And as you
know, in social media, engagement is the only measurement criterion.
They don’t
realize that social media engagement measures the activities of their fans and
friends – likes, shares, comments, tags, etc - and has almost nothing to
do with their posts and pictures? The more they talk, the less is the
engagement!
So, how do
we move from Unsocial Media Promotions to Social Media Marketing?
Concentrate
on the “Social” and the “Marketing” part - that is put emphasis
- on multi-way communication - between you, the brand and your fans, friends, customers, end-users, influencer and brand advocates.
- don't forget your elementary marketing lessons of 4Ps and 3Cs of Product, Price, Place & Promotion and Customer, Competition & Competencies.
In your social media marketing planning, implementation and
analysis put a lot of emphasis on in-depth market research (on customers,
targets, competition, market trends, etc) and have a structured content management
process in place. This should be reviewed every week to see that you are reaching the desired engagement level.
All the best.
(C) Susmita Das Gupta
