social marketing
Richard Webb
DIRECTOR, MANCHESTER UNDERWRITING MANAGEMENT
“ Clever social marketing ”
can establish a brand quickly - and kill it even sooner!
Social Media exposures
Social marketing is the next leap after the emergence of the internet. Why reach thousands when you can reach millions? But as Richard Webb explains, there are pitfalls to watch out for
he media industry’s work surrounds us daily. From film, TV and video, through the written word in newspapers, magazines and books, from internet to e-mail - we are constantly enveloped with advertising. The marketing communications industry is continuously evolving, finding new ways of getting the message across.
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In 2010, online advertising spend in the UK was over £4bn, which is an incredible 25% of the total. The influence of the internet has grown in business and so methods of online marketing have evolved. Websites are designed for many purposes, from being online brochures through to online trading and delivery of services. You can buy almost anything online to the extent that you could never leave your home. Postal mailshots are morphing into e-mailshots and e-bulletins with a direct link to the advertiser’s website. Hard copy advertising is morphing into online advertising, with the added advantage of embedded software that can be tailored to the reader’s own characteristics.
Successful websites with a healthy level of visitors can sell space offering advertisers prime locations. Online advertising has developed its own language. You can have a banner, or a skyscraper, a pop-up, buttons adverts and so the list goes on. Placing your advert on a
20 insurancepeople JULY/AUGUST 2011
website in the right position is important, affecting the “click through rate” to your own website dramatically. This user sensitivity is one of the major advantages of online marketing. When someone sees your advert in a magazine you are unlikely to know if they have responded to it. But on a website, if someone likes your advert they can click on it and come through to your website. You are aware that they have responded to your advert. It is this ability to monitor the success of your campaign, and the detail of real people that businesses like about online advertising.
Enter the social network
But the marketers haven’t stopped at websites. An ever growing number of people use social networks in their daily lives. Twitter has over 200 million users and Facebook has over 500 million members. These are ready- made audiences for advertisers. The marketing com-
munications industry hasn’t let this opportunity slip, hence the emergence of ‘Social Marketing’. This is marketing targeted through the social networks. It’s not uncommon to find companies with their own Facebook page targeting specific demographics of society. For example, VISA ran a successful campaign targeting small businesses through its Facebook page in the USA.
Many people use online forums and blogging pages. A further advantage of the internet is the ability to reach millions of customers rather than thousands, very cheaply. Social marketing companies can use these forums to push products and research customers’ reactions. They can also be used to rubbish rival products.
A small company can target potential customers around the world rather than just their local area. Clever use of social marketing can establish a brand quickly - and kill it even more quickly!
The internet has shown how quickly gossip and bad news can spread. It’s regularly reported in the national press how online gossip circulates around the world at breakneck speed, faster than any traditional print gossip magazine could ever achieve. Monitoring information that goes on to online forums and blogging pages is not easy. How do you control comments on your client’s products made by individuals from across the world? The quality of e-bulletins and adverts can slip.
In the old days before the internet became such a part of our lives, companies would sign off hard copies of adverts, press releases and mailshots before they were sent. But nowadays business moves at a much faster pace. The demands of the
internet, such as signing off adverts, press releases, online statements and e-bulletins can lead to corners being cut. The danger of a poorly worded statement or incorrect e-bulletin increases.
The internet brings an instant service and the marketing company’s clients will expect instant results. This is where the social marketing companies and consultants can leave themselves exposed. Yet many marketing companies do not see this exposure until it’s too late and a problem has arisen. The scale of the damage caused to a client’s reputation is increased exponentially as the internet magnifies any error to a vast audience.
How do you avoid these problems and how do you control things when they occur? The marketing company will have in place procedures that ensure client sign off, without corners being cut. Where possible, the use of forums and blogs should be kept to sites where the client and marketing company can vet the content prior to it being published. If the problem has occurred then a professional indemnity insurer who understands media claims is essential, as the problem is more than indemnifying a monetary amount, but also reacting fast and protecting a client’s reputation.
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