For modern retailers and brands the direction of their communications strategy is one of the most important decisions they can make regarding marketing plans. These days, in order to reach audiences across the board, brands must use an integrated approach of using classic marketing and social media marketing in their media plans. Most modern consumers are savvy and do not take classic advertising whether it be print ads, TV, radio or billboard at face value. They know a “a sales/ marketing spiel” from a mile away and most skip through the commercials, turn the page or ignore the ad entirely.
Grabbing the attention of the masses is harder and takes a broader, more robust campaign including multichannel and multimedia creative.[1]
The most beneficial aspect of this layered approach is that classic marketing and social media marketing support each other and can drive traffic back and forth between the social media channels. [1] A print ad only talks to you, but it can use a hashtag or give you Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube information, and let the consumer talk back. Social media can help a brand not only organically by consumers talking, tweeting, referring or posting, but a brand can also talk back to the consumer by responding to posts or advertising directly in the channel.
Most people are overloaded with marketing messages all day. Especially for millennials, they no longer want a brand to talk to them, but want to be immersed in an experience in which they can relate and even contribute to the content.
Take Lowes for instance, they gave simple How-To advice on Vine. Lowes uploaded 15 second videos with easy step-by-step information on how to do small projects then gave the user a hashtag to post their own videos on social media.
Lowes on Vine. Click to view.
GoPro uses a similar tactic to keep the consumer involved. A production team goes on location, shoots video and posts to their website and on YouTube. The videos go viral and in return, they ask their audiences on the website, YouTube, Instagram and Vine feeds to shoot their own video or photos and upload to multiple GoPro channels or use #GoPro. The audience vies for a coveted chance to be featured on the website or on one of the brands social media platforms.
GoPro original video featuring a whale breach. Click to view.
User uploaded images on the GoPro Instagram feed. Click to view.
The language in classic marketing is vastly different than the way you communicate on social media. Classic marketing can lean towards “catchy” phrases and even rhymes that try to be memorable. I think most people know the jingle from commercials, “The best part of waking up, is Folger’s in your cup” or how about “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” The sad thing is, it might give you an ear-worm, but doesn’t make you want to buy. Even if you do remember the name of the ad, these days, consumers still go online to research before buying. McKinsey Quarterly estimates that “TV only is only 35 percent as effective as it was in 1990.” Therefore, brands are smart to have a social media presence that is on-brand with their classic marketing as well as a good online reputation and can’t be filtered out. [1]
There tends to have a specific formula in classic marketing. Take the standard print ad. It consists of a headline, maybe a subhead, marketing body copy with “why you should buy,” a call to action (call now) and a logo with a big image in the background. The conversation tends to be more formal, sometimes even with legal-ease at the bottom. The savvy consumer knows this model and will not buy something solely based on an ad. This is why most print ads, commercials, etc. drive user traffic to a hashtag or back to a brand’s social media channel.
Social media marketing is much more conversational and not long-winded. Twitter is only 140 characters, Instagram and YouTube are more about the visuals and marketer can speak directly to a consumer on a channel to personalize the experience.
Taco Bell seems to hit this out of the park on a daily basis with their Twitter feed. They use tongue-in cheek conversational humor as they reach out not only to other brands, but also their audience.
@TacoBell and @MensHumor Twitter exchange
@OldSpice and @TacoBell in a friendly Twitter “feud”
Oreo and Pizza Hut also use humor on their Twitter feeds.
Oreo’s “Lost Oreo” on Instagram.
@pizzahut on Twitter. To me, you are perfect.
Lowes, GoPro, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Oreo have huge social media followers that are brand loyal. The brands all still do classic advertising but have ventured successfully into the social media arena to shore up the brand message and to hit additional audiences that aren’t seeing traditional media.
In short, brands today can no longer rely solely on classic marketing media and expect to succeed in the marketplace. In order to get traction with their brand amid a cluttered landscape, a multi-media, multi-channel technique has to be the standard practice in brand communications.
Additional links:
- Antony Young, Brand Media Strategy, Integrated Communications Planning in the Digital Era (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2014), 17, 18, 19
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/michael-patterson-10-brands-amazing-social-media/624169
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