Advertisers and their agencies have embraced Facebook and Twitter, as social media reaches a size and scale few brands can ignore.
Many leading brands have used some form of social media, which agencies contrast with traditional advertising slots bought on television, billboards, or in print.
Unilever’s Dove Soap brand, and P&G’s brands Pantene shampoo and Pampers Nappies have active presences on Facebook, and Coca-Cola this week launched adverts on Twitter.
The leaning is toward “earned media”; the term coined for messages which spread by word of mouth. Even recent controversy over privacy has failed to dent advertisers’ enthusiasm for Facebook in particular, which has almost 500m members and is planning to expand in Asia.
If privacy can be managed properly, many leading advertising agencies, feel that Facebook is something which is incredibly strong, and which will represent a big new platform of communication going forward.
It surprises me just how long leading agencies have taken to commit fully to social media. No doubt, brands are resistant to change, especially when budgets are increasingly under threat. But the measurability of social media can be much more clearly defined than magazines or television. Sure, you can track who has seen it, through readership or viewing figures; but you can’t measure the response to it, as closely as you can through social media.
Consequently, this enhanced level of measurability, enables you to essentially tailor your message accordingly in future campaigns. And this can be achieved at a more cost-effective rate. That is a much stronger proposition in my mind.
Social media is particularly powerful for consumer goods brands. People talk about brands, and companies need to be part of the conversation. If not so much to steer it or indeed influence it, at least to be participative in it.
Social networks create a deeper relationship with consumers, that simply cannot be achieved through TV or magazines. This is why Facebook is, for me, the world’s largest message board from a brand perspective.
Coca-Cola has achieved strong results through its sponsorship of a “trending topic”; using “promoted tweets” to be involved in this week’s World Cup discussions.
This is not so much the future, but the present. The main point, is that you can achieve a closer relationship with your customers, and in an instantaneous and completely measurable fashion.