Most brands think their social media rocks – so why do most customers disagree?
80% of companies say that they deliver great social service. Only 8% of customers agree. It’s a huge disconnect – and it exists because most marketers are getting it wrong. People use social media to connect with one another, with things they need, things they care about. Yet often marketers are too wrapped up with pumping out ads that get lost in the feed, treating social as a one-way channel.
Often due to marketing and service departments managing social in silo, the experience isn’t one holistic thing working towards the same goal. People end up obsessing over the wrong metrics, they underestimate how powerful social can be and focus only on one area of what it can do: the advertising.
Paid ads can pack a punch, but they’re not the only way to drive big positive impacts. We want to highlight the scope of what can be achieved with social – beyond the expected – in ways that add value and improve the customer’s overall experience. There are myriad ways in which to define a vision for your efforts in social: moving to a point where we can all drop the word ‘media’ and become something stronger, something that rocks.
Let’s take a look at some ways we can do that…
1. Social listening
Social isn’t just a broadcast channel. Listening to your customers can shape products, brand campaigns and customer experience. One brand who do this brilliantly are Monzo, the online banking trendsetter who use their socials to listen to what their customers want, and change their offering based on that feedback.
Endless scrolling isn’t healthy or helpful. Instead, creating richer and more meaningful social moments can build stronger audience connections and extend brand experience. Moments aren’t only things that we’re creating for our brands, but also things that we’re paying attention to – mixing up ad strategies and channels, being mindful of where our audiences are and what’s on their minds. A fantastic example of a social moment happened last April when Innocent released their new ‘Bolt from the Blue’ drink with a divisive and hilariously inane tweet which insisted the (quite clearly) green drink was actually blue. Cue the internet meltdown which followed, consequently turning Innocent’s Twitter into one of the most followed brand accounts of 2019.
2. Social convenience
Social platforms can add a lot of value by making processes more convenient. Building more convenience by understanding social platforms and customer pain points, and finding exactly where to add value, is invaluable in a marketplace increasingly driven by customer experience. For example, last Christmas Lego built a chatbot called Ralph designed to help people stop dragging their feet over Christmas gift decisions, offering a fast and convenient solution to a common problem!
3. Social technology
With the growing need to create better social experiences, we need better social technology powering it. One example is social API, which can connect the dots from platforms to users to internal systems, helping to deliver a holistic view of your data and simplify processes. Another – brilliant – example of how social and tech can work in tandem to create innovative ideas is Twitter’s Powered by Tweets programme, which has helped users create ideas ranging from emojis which help people give blood, to backpack-wearing pigeons delivering info about air quality… 👌
4. Social purpose
Purpose connects the dots and makes everything you do more impactful. It’s not about mindlessly following trends, or jumping on the biggest thing, but about doing the right thing. Purpose isn’t about marketing – it’s about experience. Purpose directs everything we do. If you start with the question ‘why should your brand be on social?’ then your objectives, your audience and your social experience will make a lot more sense.
If ever in doubt, be more like the Cow & Gate baby club…
One more for luck… social goodness
Social has been the subject of much criticism lately. We keep getting told it’s bad for us. But if it’s used in the right way – as we’ve seen above – social can do really good things. For us, that means bringing everything back to the question: is this truly the best thing for the audience? Does it add value – is it entertaining, helping or connecting people? If it doesn’t, it probably doesn’t rock.
At krow.x, we don’t believe in making up the numbers, click-baiting or vanity metrics. We want to add value with social and use it for good.
If now’s the right time to shake up your social strategy, contact Sam at sam.bettis@krowgroup.com ✌️
MORE LIKE THIS
Purposeful social
Written by Sam Bettis, Customer Engagement Director at krow.x
Read more
Three ways to improve your digital performance
Written by Steve Staff, Social Media Manager at krow.x
Read more
What Google MUM means for the future of search
Written by Neil Bond, Search and Content Planner at krow.x
Read more
