Expectation, Anticipation & Brand Value in Social Media

In the pre-Social Web days, a brand and it’s components and assets could be fairly well managed. The company determined the design elements, packaging, promotion, channels of communication and shaped the message. In large part a company could also control the message. Feedback to assess effectiveness of the marketing was via focus groups, various forms of surveys and sales.

Ultimately however, the consumer shaped the brand. But there were controls in place for the brand owner to shape the perceptions and expectations of the brand. Not anymore. Once a brand decides to engage actively in Social Media, a conversation begins. This means a two-way, far less controllable medium. This situation also means more work to manage the brand. As social media usage increases brands big and small, will have no choice but to engage. The days of didactic one-way advertising only are fading. Some claim brands are dying altogether.

This puts some inherent new issues for brand values and management on the  brand owner. I see this as two key areas;

1. Expectation: By engaging in a conversation (whether I’m conversing or just reading/viewing) as a consumer of a brand, the brand is now setting a certain set of expectations.

2. Anticipation: Now the brand ha engaged with the consumer, a certain anticipation about what will happen with the brand in the future is set.

These are two huge considerations for a brand looking to engage in Social Media. But they have little choice as social media usage grows and consumers want to engage the brand.

(Author: Giles Crouch, Principal)

Social Media is Grayer Than You Might Think

Social Media too, has many gray areas. Just not the gray you might think. We’re talking about gray hair here. In the research we’ve done for clients, we’ve found an increasing amount of social media usage by the 50+ demographic, and we expect this to increase.

With txt messaging being so common today, even the 35+ demographic has begun to broadly engage with txt messaging. Our research in Atlantic Canada and New England states has shown us that the average age of a Facebook participant (remember, we hate the term “user”) is 47 years old. We see that increasing as well.

So what does this mean? Why does business need to care? Because it means more of a wealthier market it increasingly engaging with social media. Added to this is then the challenge of how one engages with social media and the tools used. We’ve found that the older the demographic, the differences in the tools and how those tools are used, become quite significant.

Some traits of the 40+ demographic using social media are behaviours such as less personal information revealed, a tendency to write longer and read longer blog posts. More “intelligent” or deeper and longer discussions on topics of interest in Twitter or on blog posts. Older demographics tend to stay more loyal to platforms (i.e. Facebook, Netlog or Twitter) and only move to new platforms/services that have become a mainstay in the social mediasphere.

Understanding the age group you are targeting will significantly influence the communications strategy you engage in, the advertising you conduct and the services/tools that you can leverage. Sounds much like the real world doesn’t it? The difference is that in the real world, your communications and marketing are “broadcast” format, whereas in social media it becomes more of a conversation. And the 45+ demographic is very eloquent and persuasive in their discussions.

(Author: Giles Crouch, Principal)

Your Social Media Channel Just Became Uncool.

A  social media channel going “uncool”? I’m talking about something like, well, Plurk as an example. Plurk is a microblogging channel and well, it’s losing it’s cool factor. As are other social media services, including MySpace (as Abrams Research recently found.) With the evolution of social media moving quickly and growing, the “tools” are perhaps more at risk of losing value, quickly, than any other form of product in history. Including the Chia Pet and Pet Rocks.

Here is an often undiscussed business risk of engaging in a social media channel. MySpace is already feeling the pinch of becoming “uncool” as advertisers shift their spending to more popular Facebook. Plurk is seeing outward migration to Twitter. Some smart companies still haven’t engaged fully in social media, and that may not be a bad thing.

Walgreen‘s didn’t move onto the Web until 2000, preferring instead to watch the mistakes of the first movers then capture that space. They did, and they did it well. The risk today is not just a service becoming “uncoll”, it’s also that the service may shut down due to lack of a business model and subsequent funding.

So, you might say, just move to another service. Certainly, but not easy. Again, you have to “listen” to see where those people you were engaging or marketing to have gone. Then you have to build up your presence again…all of which takes time.

Is there a way to know what’s becoming “uncool”? If you’re listening to the chatter, there are signs as people move, and usually they’ll tell their freinds. If you have a good rapport with them, likely they’ll tell you as well. It’s bound to happen, but by always listening and having a contingency plan, a move to a new service can be a little less painful. What would you do?

Atlantic Conversations: Social Media in Atlantic Canada

We’re finally pleased to be releasing the public version of our report on Social Media use in Atlantic Canada, or a we’ve named it Atlantic Conversations 2008. The report is available at this link for download (atlantic-conversations-08-report) in pdf format. We note that this is the public version. A premium version with more specific provincial and user data is available, for a price of course. After all, we are a business.

Essentially, we uncover that Social Media use is growing in Atlantic Canada, as quickly as anywhere else. Similar to most markets, while many engage, few engage on more regular basis. While 73% of Atlantic Canadians are online, we estimate about 85% of the online population are using some form of social media bi-weekly at least while 15% use social media services regularly. Atlantic Canada has an approximate population of 2.6 Million according to Statistics Canada.

All provinces are delivering broadband service to rural areas and as much of that will begin to take effect in 2009, we anticipate even more social media usage taking place. Media consumption habits are changing in Atlantic Canada and people are increasingly getting their news online and local, community news as well. This represents both a threat and opportunity to newspapers and magazines in the print industries.

We hope you enjoy the report and find useful and helpful information. Feel free to email or call us with any questions.

(Author: Giles Crouch, Managing Partner)

Drill or Hammer? The Right Tools for Social Media Engagement

Carpenters, plumbers, electricians…they all have specific tools for the work they do. Before beginning their work, they asses the situation and the site. Then they select the right tools for the job at hand. It’s no different when looking to engage in Social Media for a company.

When we say “tools” in social media terms, we are talking about the technology applications that will enable good engagement, whether you’re building your own community or engaging in other communities. Take for example discussions about the practicality of Twitter as a “tool” for companies to use, or blogging.

Our approach for social media engagement is always based on 3 Core Principles (Promise, Tools and Bargain) and so tools are important in terms of being the right one to facilitate the promise and enable the audience your engaging with to complete the bargain.

In some cases it is a single tool, such as a blog, which will suffice. In other cases it may be a combination of tools like a microblog, video and blog. The key is to not try and use all the tools out there. In the rush to expand a presence into social media, a fatal mistake can occur when trying to adopt all the tools you can, with little sense of their value or the manner in which communities use them.

(Author: Giles Crouch, Managing Partner – Twitter: Webconomist)