Using Social Insights to Drive Brand Preference

Historically this has been difficult to achieve It requires multiple touchpoints with potential customers across various media and too often relies on direct response to measure effectiveness Unfortunately those tactics and the resulting data have never been able to provide the level of connection necessary to truly influence brand preference As marketers we39ve been conditioned to meticulously work our way down the purchase funnel and obsess over ROI It39s time we recognized the funnel works both ways and put more emphasis on making an impact through brand engagementThis is where social media is changing everything Social platforms provide the structure for people to forge connections They allow customers to talk and engage with each other build communities around shared interests and create a twoway discourse with brandsThe power of social media for brand branding building is exemplified in campaigns like the Oreo Daily Twist The campaign39s goal was to take a 100yearold cookie that was in danger of becoming stale and put it in the cultural limelight Social data succeeded in aligning the brand with the most relevant content in realtime And as Forbes points out quotthere is nothing like social media when it comes to cultivating a community When your followers become your community you gain instant access to them amp8230 you can find out what challenges they are facing and what they like and don39t like about your offeringsquotThe data of social media builds on this with unprecedented tools to drive brand preference by providingMore and better customer intelligence Given the enormous number of people using social media Facebook alone boasts nearly 1 billion active monthly users marketers can now leverage the largest set of observational data that39s ever existed But social data also provides a view into a person39s connections to other people and preferences This more rounded user profile delivers insights into which brand characteristics they find appealing key to winning brand preferenceBrand tailoring With social brands no longer have to take a onesizefitsall approach The strongest source of personal interest data and powerful targeting capabilities allow brands to discover niche audiences and deliver bespoke content aligning with an audience39s passion points and building brand relevanceA new solution to old problems Marketers have traditionally had to funnel branding through client relationship management and direct response to learn if it has resonated The social format removes that funnel by showing instant user recall and response The immediacy of social data can also show if a customer is engaging with a brand as a result of an ad that just ran or even overlap television viewing data through a set top box With this insight branding campaigns can become more focused and responsiveInnovative opportunities Social media platforms are not only engaging but also creating new experiences for users In the same way that Instagram39s single image marketing is often more captivating than a traditional ad and Pinterest has redefined the wish list social media is constantly innovating better ways to connect with customersFlexibility across data sets Social data can overlay topographic geographic and other information to gain deeper knowledge of a target audience39s engagement A marketer can learn who39s tuned into a set top box visiting a web site or pinged on Instagram or Pinterest and measure responseApplying social media in these ways can deliver striking results A large consumer electronics brand integrated a large social component into its recent event sponsorship The brand saw a 125 percent increase in engagements and 25 percent increase in loyalty in the week following the eventBrand preference can only be won if a customer feels truly connected to a brand in a way that goes beyond marketing tactics such as pricing and promotionamp160not to mention reach and frequency By leveraging their many advantages social platforms offer a marketer new and better ways to shepherd that process and drive lasting brand impactThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecom management or associated bloggers Image courtesy of cooldesignFreeDigitalPhotosnet

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Using Social Insights to Drive Brand Preference

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Lance Neuhauser

The Ad Council, Huntsman Mental Health Foundation and Amazon Announce “The Mind Set” to Support Mental Health - Ad Council InSites

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Using Social Insights to Drive Brand Preference

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Lance Neuhauser

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