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2012 Social Media Marketing Predictions

In Social Media on 12/17/2011 at 2:02 pm

Data is the new black. Today, brands have access to vast amounts of consumer insight that would have seemed inconceivable as recently as a year ago.  Yet, brands have barely scratched the surface in terms of how they harness this data and effectively reach consumers over social media.  2012 will be the year of the social enlightenment, and we’ve identified a small list of emerging trends in the social media marketing space:

More Social and Local Mobile Marketing – “SoLoMo” is a new term being coined to describe the future of mobile marketing, which will be intertwined with social and location-based marketing.  SoLoMo will prevail in existing geo-social apps like Foursquare, Shopkick and Yelp.  Social buying (e.g., Groupon and LivingSocial) will become more app-focused and provide real-time alerts on local deals.  Brands will move beyond virtual badges and begin offering real-life rewards.  Messaging will become more relevant by exploiting location-based targeting and embedding social content/shareability.  With Facebook’s recent announcement that it will be testing mobile ads in spring of 2012 and the social giant’s acquisition of location-based social network, Gowalla, the likelihood of “SoLoMo” rings truer.    

Social Intelligence Becomes More Critical – Social media is now mainstream and brands finally no longer see it as an experiment—it is now an accepted and effective business strategy.  According to a report by Useful Social Media, 12% of the companies surveyed claimed that social media was under the direct control of the CEO.  With that said, there is certainly increased pressure on corporate social media practitioners to deliver on investment: There’s an ever more pressing need to demonstrate ROI, along with progress against other crucial KPIs.  In 2012, we will see more and more brands deploying social intelligence to inform their overall brand strategy, media planning, and ad creative across both online and offline projects. Insights will make a tremendous and lasting impact on marketing budget allocation throughout the year and into 2013.

Social TV Convergence – Today, television viewers are flocking to the digital water cooler to discuss their favorite shows and reality TV stars—and they are engaging in these conversations across multiple second screen devices.  In 2012, these social activities across smart phones, tablets, laptops, and gaming devices will converge and become integrated with our TV sets.  The future of interactive entertainment has three key attributes: It will be personal, connected, and social.  This convergence will lead to a more personal TV experience, providing viewers with recommendations on new content that they will love.  With companies like Samsung and LG developing new products featuring built-in Google TV, viewers’ experiences will also become more connected, as they’ll be able to enjoy TV shows anywhere, no matter where they are or what device or screen is in front of them.  Finally, the TV experience will become more social as an influx of TVs will have social design ‘baked in,’ giving consumers access to programming based on what their friends are watching, what their interest graphs indicate that they will find appealing, and even what mood they tend to be in at certain times of the day.  This will be an incredibly powerful capability for the media industry. 

Brand APIs  – In 2012, at least one brand will release an open API that will allow consumers to develop branded applications and games at scale with minimal investment.  With the growing application developer talent, the possibilities for brands will become limitless, and some of the smartest brands will start taking advantage and push for the creation of the most fascinating applications beyond our imagination.  This brand will create value in the form of content and utility and distribute it via platforms that extend in reach beyond proprietary channels.  For instance, a company like Safeway could use that API to create its own app tied to its grocery delivery service. Customers could have all of the ingredients in a selected recipe delivered to their front door.

Brands will continue to forge new ground in 2012, and the ones who will integrate social media into their media mix will rise to the top. 

 

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The Sky Is the Limit for Innovation

In Social Media on 11/19/2011 at 11:36 pm

Major airlines have increasingly adopted social media to keep up with younger, higher-income, and more tech-savvy consumers, who are the most frequent users of sites such as YouTube and Facebook, and the earliest adopters of new mobile location–based concepts.  Some of the most cutting-edge innovations in social media marketing have emerged from the smaller carriers that struggle most to be noticed.

Here are some of the most-innovative social media marketing campaigns in the airline industry:

Virgin Atlantic keeps its Facebook page fun and entertaining.  Last week, Virgin partnered with Facebook to launch its very first global social media marathon involving Virgin groups in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, engaging with millions of fans worldwide.  As part of the marathon initiative, Virgin launched a Facebook app called ‘First Times,’ which highlights Facebook “firsts” with friends, such as one’s first post, first tagged photo, first event, among many others.  The friend a user selected for their “firsts” will then be notified and a collage of information created via the app will be dropped in to the creator’s “Virgin First Times” photo album and the friend’s Facebook wall.  Virgin offered various prizes to fans through Facebook on every hour of the social marathon, ranging from flights and getaways to various Virgin merchandise.

Southwest’s strategy is to use social media to listen to its customers and then interact in a way that’s personal. Southwest instructs team members who post on Facebook to sign their names, effectively putting a real face on the brand. The airline encourages localization, with 20 different Facebook pages covering specific Southwest airport operations groups. Southwest also reaches out specifically to opinion leaders, including travel bloggers, brand fanatics, and avid travelers. To involve its own employees in the social media experience, Southwest sponsors an internal social media club. It also organized a social media conference in January 2011 that offered training on content creation for contributors throughout the organization.

In January 2011, Airlinetrends.com highlighted the creative use of social media by Air New Zealand, which allows users to upload their own videos to the airline’s YouTube channel, and then shows selected videos on flights. The company also leverages social location service FourSquare, offering passes to its elite lounge to users who become the “mayor” to certain airports and terminals.

The approach of larger major airlines toward social media has been more conventional, which is in line with what major corporations in other industries have done (eg, Facebook fan pages). However, in 2010, Delta became the first airline to allow travelers to book tickets entirely through Facebook. Without ever leaving the Facebook site, users can simply select “Book a trip” from a menu of options on Delta’s Facebook fan page.  From there, they are redirected to Delta’s Facebook application, creating a seamless experience for users who consider Facebook a home base for web surfing.

The sky is the limit for innovation in the airline industry.  Most recently, Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport announced that they will now allow passenger check in via Skype video call.  It is exciting to see how far the airline brands will fly in the social media space.

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The Social Nature of Human Beings + Sharing 2.0

In Digital Media, Social Media on 09/10/2011 at 5:37 pm

Social context shapes the human behavior and sharing information is innate to who we are.  We’ve been sharing information for centuries as a means to communicate, entertain, and pass on our cultural values from generation to generation. Today, as we are no longer bound by the physical realm (pencil and paper), the Information Age allows us to share more content, more often with more people, and more quickly.

In order to understand and take advantage of the two-way dialogue between brands and consumers today’s social media technologies enable, it is crucial to understand why people share, the different personas of online sharing, and most importantly, how we, marketers, can influence this sharing of information and generate earned media about our brands and products.

A recent three-phase study, titled “The Psychology of Sharing,” published by The New York Times Customer Insights Group explores the answers to these very questions.

Why do people share?

  • to bring valuable and entertaining content to others
  • to define ourselves to others
  • to grow and nourish relationships
  • for self-fulfillment
  • to market causes or brands

Six personas of online sharing: 

Altruists are helpful, reliable, and thoughtful.  Many altruists stay connected with email and pass along information in attachments and links. 

Careerists are intelligent web users who have been quick to see the immense value of social networking.  Careerists use websites like LinkedIn and FaceBook to build professional profiles and relationships. 

Hipsters are young, popular, creative, and prefer the cutting edge of technology.  They’re less likely to email, opting for newer, quicker methods of communication, like text, Twitter or Skype message.

Boomerangs share content for validation and reaction.  Empowered with information, Boomerangs use social websites like Twitter and Facebook to post thoughtful questions and comments to engage other users.

Connectors are creative, thoughtful, and relaxed.  They are likely to make plans via email and Facebook, hook up online discounts, and take advantage of freebies and promotions. 

Selectives are resourceful, thoughtful, and careful about the information they share.  Someone who is a Selective sharer may prefer to send an email or private message to communicate, rather than a social update or post.  These intelligent sharers understand the permanence of everything posted to the web, knowing that every message is indexed, even if you delete it or move it to your desktop trash bin.

Key factors to influence sharing:

If you appeal to the motivation to connect with each other — not with just your brand — you will encourage sharing.  Here are some tips to remember when soliciting replies, posts, or other online content. 

  • keep it simple
  • have a sense of humor
  • create a sense of urgency

Once you determine what online sharer persona your target audience is and understand what and why they share information, you can create more relevant and appealing content that will inspire ongoing sharing and word-of-mouth buzz.

Download the complete study here.

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