Think about the last thing you bought in a supermarket. Maybe you popped in for a loaf of bread, or something to eat for dinner? Perhaps it was a bottle of wine as a pick-me-up on the way home from work? For me, it was an orange Twirl (okay okay – I gave in to the hype!)
Now, think about what it was that made you buy that particular product. Perhaps it’s habit – you always buy the same one. Perhaps it was on a price promotion, or at the end of the aisle so you couldn’t miss it. Maybe it was a recommendation from a friend, or maybe you don’t know – you just felt like it. Either way – we bet you don’t follow that brand on social media.
The thing is, when it comes to the things we buy most frequently – be it a chocolate bar, or a bottle of wine – we generally don’t feel the need to communicate with those brands on social – unless, of course, we want to complain (in which case, we want to shout it from the rooftops). For many, our purchase intent does not, and will not, correlate with our likelihood to follow that brand on social media.
But everyone knows that social media is one of the most effective marketing tools, right?
Don’t get us wrong – social media is an incredibly effective way to cement your brand values; enabling you to solidify your tone of voice, excite your audience and convey the rational and emotional benefits of choosing your product. For some, it’s an invaluable tool which enables them to inspire and educate their audiences, showcasing how products or services can be used. However, it can be tempting to feel like the more active you are on social, the more likely people are to buy your products – but this often ends up with marketing teams dumping endless, uninspiring content onto their channels, in the hope that something sticks.
For certain industries, the effects of building a loyal social media following are astronomical, particularly when it comes to service-based business, and categories such as fashion and beauty where it’s crucial to build community in order to inspire. However, for FMCG brands, investing significant resource and placing emphasis on growing your organic social media following could mean you’re missing a HUGE slice of the pie when it comes to your potential customers.
Think about it – let’s compare the amount of people in the country who could or would potentially buy your product, compared to the amount of people who would ACTUALLY want to follow your page or like your posts on social.
It is only now that we see that the people who actually follow you are only a very small minority within your total potential customer base. Yes, these are the people who will be loyal buyers; and are likely to buy your product multiple times over a month or year. However, to reach all of the potential customers in a category, you need to think bigger. Those people who buy once or twice in a year are likely to make up a much larger proportion of your sales because there’s more of them – and when all things are said and done, product sales are what matter.
So how should your brand be making the most of social media as a marketing channel?
In order to answer this question, we need take it back to the key fundamentals of marketing.
Your brand exists only in the minds of your customers, and to build a brand we need to communicate a number of elements in order to create a unique appeal. Customer attitudes change incredibly slowly, and often they will often ignore new information if it differs from how they already think and feel. It’s HARD to change people’s perceptions, and if you do, it will only happen very gradually.
Therefore, if you’re trying to build a brand – think broadly, and think about frequency. Put your budget into your media spend. Get your ad infront of as many people as possible, and use this phase to gather data about your audience – who’s clicking and why? Ensure your tone, your creative and your messaging are consistent in every post – your customers want to know what to expect from you and what you stand for. Make your audience feel something – the important thing is that they remember you, and that they talk about you. Use your socials to consistently reinforce the rational and emotional reasons to buy from you, which will start to improve ad recall and put you front of mind. Think about touchpoints – combine social with other forms of media such as PR and out of home media for maximum impact. Forget what you’ve heard about engagement – for consumer brands, social media should be a brand awareness tool.
Once you’ve built this foundation, you can consider implementing more targeted, tactical sales activations. Tailor your messaging to different audiences to really drive footfall and sales, using offers and incentives. It’s also really important to use your social channels to really, deeply communicate with your audience – even if that means acknowledging mistakes. It’s only when we really get to know our customers that we can really start to deliver value for them.
But what metrics should I be using to measure success?
When it comes to brand building – you want all eyes on you, for as long as possible. Consider how long people are viewing your ads (particularly if you’re creating video content) and whether or not they can remember it. Make sure you are buying reach at the right cost, and test different formats and creatives in order to optimise your CPM and CPC.
Ultimately, though, you should be seeing an uplift in sales. Although this can be exceptionally hard to track, consider social as a touchpoint within your wider marketing mix, and don’t be fooled into thinking likes and follows are a sign of success.
