By: Stacey Furtado
With summer temps hitting most of the country this week, social marketing felt like it followed suit. World Cup ads were all over YouTube and Facebook, Internet Week New York and Vocus’ Demand Success rolled across Twitter and Justin Bieber went viral, in a bad way. Here are our favorite marketing soundbites of the week.
- The quote:
- Why it matters: Like goldfish, today’s consumer is constantly distracted by the shiny objects around them. A willingness to try new things means that while brands have a real opportunity to get their attention, they also need to work harder for it. Brands are no longer in complete control of the information surrounding their products and services, which is why finding that core customer base and keeping them loyal and happy is all the more important. Those customers will do the work, brands just need to do a better job rewarding them for it.
- The quote: “Facebook is the most commonly used social platform by both B2C and B2B marketers surveyed (97% and 89%, respectively).” – Ayaz Nanji (Marketing Profs)
- Why it matters: This article is full of statistics on the modern marketer’s relationship with social media, both personally and professionally. Read Nanji’s round-up to learn more about the platforms fellow marketers find the most effective. I’m happy to see Crowdly’s personal favorite, Facebook, leading the pack.
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- The quote: “Don’t just broadcast to people, arrange interactions between them, too. And once the company facilitates these interactions, it can go back to those who it helped and say, “Now we want you to do something for us.” This quid pro quo is at the core of an effective social strategy.” – Carmen Nobel (HBS’ Working Knowledge)
- Why it matters: Nobel’s coverage of Mikolaj Jan Piskorksi’s new book had me yelling, “Amen!” more than once. This was one of those times. Piskorski breaks down the importance of brand advocacy and the dividends its paying for brands marketers, stating that, “Quid pro quo is the core of a successful social strategy.” Social currency, both in person and through media channels operates by this rule and the clear and honest terms with which Nobel covers Piskorski’s advice is worth the bookmark.
- The quote: “Brands work not because they have clever logos or taglines, not because they run a lot of ads, but because something about their story and their promise resonates with deeply held cultural beliefs. “People like us do things like this/buy things like this/like things like this,” is the mark of a brand (a comedian, a clothing line, a store) that has become part of the zeitgeist, at least for a portion of the population. Most of all, it’s, ‘people like us treat others like this.'” – Seth Godin (Seth’s Blog)
- Why it matters: Godin’s daily insights could easily make our blog each week, but I try to hold off until something really strikes me. This particular post did. Why consumers connect to brands is the holy grail marketers are constantly in search of and the answer is a lot simpler than we think. Sure, they want and need to be surprised, delighted and excited — but mostly, consumers just want to relate. If a customer sees themselves in your brand, you’ve won half the battle.
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- The quote: “Although there was much to admire about the way Lego used digital marketing at the time, with lots of great shareable content, a brand new ecommerce site and some excellent mobile apps, its official social accounts were seldom updated and failed to take advantage of the sheer amount of brand mentions on each channel. Within two years, things are looking quite different. LEGO now runs social channels where it keeps a constant eye on the feeds and is super quick to engage and remain personal to its audience. It has also built a supportive and consistently imaginative community on its LEGO Ideas site. The point when LEGO got its marketing strategy dead-on is when it started treating adult and child one and the same. LEGO’s invitation to its audience is a catch-all policy: ‘hey come on in, we’re all the same here, we’re just a bunch of people who love LEGO.'” – Christopher Ratcliff (Econsultancy)
- Why it matters: LEGO is widely considered one of the best brands in digital and social marketing. The nostalgia it evokes in adults and excitement it brings to younger consumers make it an extremely social and shareable brand. But it’s important to see the steps it needed to take to get there. Your brand’s advocates are out there sharing how they feel about your products. Find a way to bring them together to share with other fans, build that base and watch your digital marketing thrive.
In other news, “Ford is killing sex,” and Crowdly can help with all your advocate marketing needs.
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