Brands are for people. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the society that will use the services or products of that brand while creating a brand. It is essential for brand managers to understand this important point and not be indifferent to what society is interested in. This is the reason why big brands like Coca-Cola sponsor various festivals and events. Successful brands are brands that can go where consumers go and interpret people's emotions. Big brands that manage to focus on people can become a part of popular culture and establish emotional bonds with people. Successful digital marketing strategies are people-oriented strategies.
Why Social Media Marketing?
In our rapidly changing world with digitalization, popular culture now exists with social media. Newspapers, radio and television have now been replaced by social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. These platforms, where millions of people spend time today, offer undeniable opportunities for brands to reach consumers. In short, social media marketing is done to reach the next generation of customers .
Things to Consider While Doing Social Media Marketing
The way to use social media effectively is to produce the right digital content and to manage these content correctly. However, there is an important point for brands to understand. Just as people do not turn on their televisions to watch advertisements, they do not enter social media platforms to see what brands are doing. This sensitivity is an important issue that brands and brand managers should understand. A company that understands that people don't go to social media to see brands can manage to produce the right content. On the one hand, brands should understand that people are not there for them on social media, and on the other hand, they should embrace the feelings and thoughts that society enters. The winning social media content strategy is the brand strategy that resolves this conflict.
Today, unfortunately, the vast majority of brands cannot understand this contradiction and cannot manage their content correctly.
What are the Do's and Don'ts While Producing Social Media Content?
It is meaningless for a dairy product brand to celebrate World Seafarers' Day. In other words, brands trying to take on the meaning and importance of each day follow a losing content strategy. On top of that, this understanding of content, which is frequently used in social media, is a content management that is shallow, not society-oriented and not consumer-oriented. It is meaningless for any irrelevant brand to convey a message on social media on February 14 Valentine's Day or April 23 Children's Day. Brands cannot touch the lives of the people they want to reach in this way. It's more important for brands to shut up if they have nothing to say. Because just as it is true for people, being silent is a skill for brands as well.
What Content Strategy Should Brands Follow in Social Media?
Perhaps the most successful example of content creation is the path taken by Michelin Tires. Companies that want to produce successful content must understand Michelin's story and embrace the content philosophy behind it.
In the early 1900s, Michelin began publishing a food and beverage guide in France compiling the best restaurants to encourage people to travel by car. Michelin divides these restaurants into three groups. The first group is restaurants that are "worth a stop" on the way and give one star to this type of restaurant. The second group qualifies as restaurants that are 'worth a detour' and receive two stars. The third group is designated with three stars as the least numerous and unusual restaurants. This third group is referred to as "worth the trip just for that restaurant" restaurants. Over time, this content created by Michelin becomes such a valuable part of culture that today, when Michelin is mentioned, this restaurant guide comes to mind before the tire.
The reason why this guide of Michelin is so memorable is that it has adopted the service of humanity and produced original and interesting content.
How Should Companies Behave When Creating Content?
We live in a rapidly digitizing world. In the virtual world that enters our lives, content that is sincere wins. In other words, the internet and social media never removes glare, insincerity and pretending. If companies want to grasp the spirit of this new world and exist in social media, they must first determine how they will be beneficial to people and produce content according to that benefit. Whoever is genuine on social media wins. Sharing that adds fun, information and inspiration to people's lives becomes the winning content in these channels.
Benefit is the indispensable rule of content production . Brands that fail to grasp this are doomed to be ridiculed on social media. Moreover, companies should share the original content they produce on a regular basis, not just once. Inconsistent content on social media reduces the interest in the brand and harms its presence on the internet. Sustainability has become an indispensable feature of producing content.
Indispensables of Social Media: Benefit, Sincerity and Sustainability
If a brand wants to exist on social media, it must first decide how it will be beneficial to people and create content suitable for this benefit. Content that does not contribute to people's lives does not attract attention on social media and companies that aim to benefit are winning.
The most important rule of the virtual world is to be authentic. Today, most brands are present on social media without understanding this rule. However, the ineptness, inexperience and, more importantly, insincerity in the approaches of these brands are immediately apparent.
If you cannot produce original, sincere and regular content, then use social media like television; just advertise.
How to Make Successful Social Media Management?
Social media has radically changed the world as we know it. Now, every day of the year, every minute, billions of people can communicate with each other, create content, and buy anything they want, from food to clothing. The power of social media is not limited to this, social change starts from the digital environment. Appreciation and protest, admiration and vilification work through social media. The golden rule of successful social media management is to understand changing consumer behavior.
The indicators of this change can be listed as follows:
- Even people who have not yet purchased a product or service on the internet, first research and question the brands they want to buy from the internet.
- With smartphones and tablets, consumers compare the price of the product they will buy, its features and differences with the competition, even at sales points.
Although internet shopping is still small in the total commercial volume, changing consumer behaviors show that this rate will gradually increase. If you understand how your potential and current customers behave in the digital environment, you will make a successful social media management. A people-oriented marketing approach will make your brand superior to your competitors.
3 Rules for Understanding Social Media
- The number of followers is not a holy number. Most brands see the number of followers as a measure of success and consider it important to gain more followers than the competition. This understanding is not true because the content published by brands does not reach all their followers. Social networking sites such as Instagram and Facebook deliver brands' content to about 5% of their followers. Thus, they direct brands to advertise.
- Social media platforms are diverse. Apart from Instagram and Facebook, there are many active social networking sites. For example, channels such as Twitter, Youtube, Linkedin, Vine, Foursquare, Pinterest and Tiktok. When brands use this unique social media spectrum correctly, they establish a healthier communication with the consumer.
- While traditional channels enable a single broadcaster to communicate with millions of people, social media allows millions of people to communicate with each other. In other words, while traditional media monologues, social media is very vocal.
Successful Use of Social Media in 6 Steps
- The most important concept of social media is transparency. Brands that will exist on social media must first accept the critical nature of these media. It should not be forgotten that in this virtual world where people reach information very quickly, brands that are not ready to criticize, complain and touch often cannot manage their communication in social media. A brand that decides to take part in social media must accept that it will act openly and transparently. Brands that operate in a closed circuit, hide information and want to manipulate their consumers, harm themselves on these platforms.
- Consumers know that brands – like people – can make mistakes. However, brands that do not take responsibility for their mistakes and mislead consumers through denial and distortion are ruthlessly criticized on social media. Authenticity and sincerity are essential in social networking sites. On the contrary, brands that admit their mistakes, apologize and make sincere efforts to correct their mistakes are honored in the social media.
- Correct communication goes through correct information. Brands that offer the right information that people want to reach on the internet are preferred.
- Brands that provide useful information on websites and social media gain a competitive advantage.
- Accessibility in social media is important. Brands should be accessible by using sites like Linkedin for human resources.
- Content is everything. Successful use of social media goes through producing original content. In order to communicate correctly on the internet, brands should create original content that is different from the competition, understands the consumer, follows the trends, and is interesting and inspiring.
Understanding the New World
Digital customer behavior is changing rapidly. The competitiveness of the brands that do not understand the changing customer behaviors are doomed to decline. Brands that use the communication network of social media effectively, reach consumers and understand their wishes, questions and needs are candidates for growth .
The digitalized world is not just about technical infrastructure. Social media and sharing sites have a philosophy. Guy Kawasaki 's observation is very accurate; "Brands need to understand the new world that is changing with digitalization and their marketing communications need to adapt to this world."
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