Social Media Marketing Via Facebook: Are you doing right?

Brands are excited. Social media is an effective, cheap and easy way to communicate with our customers!!!! ….. Or is it?

It would be easy to assume that Facebook could be the solution to extensive amounts of time and money spent on marketing however, using Facebook to advertise is a lot more complicated than these companies realize..

You must remember that you are invading consumers “personal space”. People do not like to think of their Facebook page being owned Mark Zuckerberg and his team at Fabook HQ, they think of it as their own property. Their own piece of land in the online world. And the same reason why we ignore the paid advertisements that appear on the right hand side of the screen. Our experiences and perceptions tells us that these pop-ups and advertisements are all virus-causing, fake free iPod or penis enlarging advertisements. Placed there by mean nerds trying to get our attention and give us a virus. When in reality, they can be effectively targeted, cheap ways to provided us information about a brand or discounts on products and services.

There is another way to market you brand or product online. This is through the use of “Pages” that Facebook users can become a “fan” of or “like”. Yes, you can fill you page with images and information about your product for your customers to access, however you would be naive to think this is how Facebook works. Most Facebook users will see your “TimTam” page, think “I like Tim-Tams” and click “Like”. Thus making them selves seem carefree and exciting to the Facebook universe based the fact their own profile will now tell all their friends that they like Tim Tams. It is unlikely that this person will ever desire anymore more from the brands page again. Poor Tim Tam, and mre importantly poor Arnott’s.

Unless you offer them something of value, this is all you will ever be to them. A clever marketer will see this. They will find a way to give their customer value through information about new products and promotions while avoiding bombarding their “personal space” and all the while making them feel special. The increasingly popular Facebook Service of “Checking In” has meant that stores are now capitalizing on this element of social networking for marketing strategies – checking in by a socially prestigious (whether it be a celebrity or the queen bee of a school or the poplar one in the work place) generates brand awareness and positive brand perceptions. Brands are now offering promotions such as prizes and discounts to consumers who check in or become fans of pages which in turn gives the consumer value for visiting and seeking out the brand through Facebook. It encourages people to switch off the computer, leave the house and physically enter the store instead of choosing to shop online.

A Facebook Page I have been following is the Melbourne based boutique fashion retailer, Green With Envy. They use their page to do the obvious - such as to post images of new stock that is coming or has arrived as well as informing customers of sales and VIP nights. However, they have also hired a team responsible for their social networking sites. This team provides their customers with advice on how to wear certain styles and creates outfits for them to consider. It also asks for their input in what pieces from a designer’s new collection should the buyer purchase? And which style of shoe it their favorite? And thus gauging important information about what styles and quantities to order when making the important buying decisions – a task which can often be a risky guessing game referred to as “trend forecasting”. They even photograph their own sales floor team, visual merchandisers and buyers (looking stylish and decked out in the season’s latest products – all available in store). This not only utilizes the company’s employees as models, but builds respect and trust in the employees by showing them as real people who are aware of trends, are approachable and available to help style you when you need. They are aware that social media needs to be constant! It’s a 7 day a week and 24 hour a day responsibility.  People want the brands on Facebook to be as readily available as their friends – which these days, seems to be all day every day!

Facebook can also lead to negative brand perception at times. People who are ignored by the brand will feel neglected and not cared for. A boring page may lead to the brand being seen as dull, old-fashioned and undesirable. Nestle experienced this when GreenPeace targeted them in their virally successful video,  outing Nestle for using Palm Oil and thus sent the message that “if you eat Kit Kats, you may as well be killing and eating the chimpanzees and other wildlife that are being destroyed as a result of palm oil farming”. As a result, the Nestle and Kit Kat Facebook fan pages both experienced a rapid increase in people becoming their “fans”, however these people were only “liking” the page to express their anger, distrust and hatred for the brand. Nestle ignorantly did little to solve this problem. Some generic and dismissive responses were sent out but predominantly, consumers views were ignored – and as a result Kit Kat sales dropped remarkable. In contrast, Cadbury chocolate experienced a similar issue when they too began using palm oil in their products. However, they hired a team who interacted with consumers who had expressed their disliking of the decision. Cadbury explained their reason for using the ingredient in order to remain competitive and due to recipe constraints and agreed to label the ingredient so they would not appear dishonest and told consumers that their opinion was important to them and that they were investigating options that they could take to avoid using palm oil products in their manufacturing process.  

Marketers need to remember that consumers always want value! Whether it is in the form of information that they will have before others, styling advice, entertainment, discounts, prizes or competitions or even just something to bring up the next time they are having coffee with a friend.

If a brand decides to use social networking to market themselves, it will not be easy, free or quick to do. It will require an employee or team to take responsibility for the page; responding to consumers and remaining respectful and aware that they are representing the brand in the eyes of the consumer. While remaining aware that your page will not only give your fans a place to offer praise, but also a place for your critics to voice themselves.  

Remember, you are entering their personal space, so be respectful. Don’t bombard them with annoying advertisements but instead useful, interesting information as well as encouraging two-way communication for this is what Facebook is all about!