Social advertising & Facebook marketing to parents
July 29, 2015
Facebook marketing to parents
Mothers aren’t just active users of social media; they live and breathe this form of networking. They use it for a variety of functions beyond entertainment and are a valuable commodity when it comes to marketing through social.
High level research from Pew Research Center(Sept 2014) shows just how invested US mothers are in social media; they use it for:
– support
– to gain information
– to contribute by responding to questions
– as a method of responsiveness to both good and bad news
What this data reveals is that mothers are active on social media and that it is meaningful to them. They are not ‘passing through’ as mere observers; rather, they are active participants in this life stage and use social media platforms to remain connected within motherhood.
Brands can utilise this info by focusing their marketing on mothers and their activity. Content should be focused and resonate strongly, tapping into the purpose and function of social media in a mother’s life.
Furthermore, Facebook tops the list for percentage of parents who use social media, by quite a large margin. Although other platforms have gained in popularity, Facebook should remain a priority within marketing plans as it has the highest reach by a long shot.
What the research highlights is that mothers are active users on social media, but utilise it for various reasons. Often the goal is to spend time in a leisurely fashion and alternatively it is more purpose driven. At agency:2, our secret is to hone in on the motivation behind social media use and thus connect brands to parents’ Facebook activity through smart content and clever targeting.
What’s more powerful today – content or community?
July 16, 2015
Social media trends are continuously changing. Reactive content is on fire, videos are taking the lead and Instagram is the new black.
Brands are constantly trying to maintain their social currency, by creating strong communities of like-minded fans who engage with their content.
In some scenarios, we need to consider what’s more powerful…content or community?
Communities move on
Think about new mums. Early motherhood is lonely and mums often find support in the mummy community. But, babies are small for a very short time. What happens when they move on from their current stage? They need something new to engage them, something new to talk about other than nappies and baby food. A mum engaged may leave the community to find something else.
Contrast this with book lovers. They will always be book lovers. A passion doesn’t usually fade; in contrast, it may grow over time. These fans are likely to stay part of a community that they engage with. Unless, the content grows stale and doesn’t keep them there.
How to keep fans engaged for longer
So where does this leave a brand’s marketing strategy? Is it better to focus on building the community or producing high quality content? The answer is balancing the business objectives with the audience’s needs – strategies that encompass the proper use of social media and are aligned with business goals, will be more successful towards building communities and keeping them.
Next Gen social insights drive ROI
July 3, 2015
Social Insights Drive ROI
Our challenge: A global hotel chain wants to run a social campaign to highlight their fabulous newly decorated rooms. Traditional digital marketing routes have not yielded results, so they need to think outside the box and figure out how to reach their audience in a new and innovative way.
The Target audience: Young professionals who enjoy short-haul travel.
Our solution: Using specialist insight technology to discover their audience’s passions, the data reveals that this target audience is predisposed to Michael Palin and “trying interesting foods”. Two seemingly random insights…but a post with a Michael Palin quote, superimposed over tempting images of regional dishes, accompanied by a link to book a hotel room, drives significantly more action than a generic post focused on booking hotels.
Our Results: Dramatically increased audience size by over 400% + lower cost per action by 250% = greater sales & happy marketers.
The most effective way of hyper-targeting through social advertising is becoming increasingly dependent upon using AUDIENCE INSIGHTS to:
>Connect with a fan’s emotional side
>Understand an audience’s motivations and drives toward purchasing
>Engage with the audience’s wider interests to spark a connection
>Break through the hyper capacious noise of internet traffic and create meaningful associations
We are proud to use our Social Insight Engine to achieve these goals, a next generation social insight tool which has been developed to give marketers access to audience insights not previously available. This allows them to accelerate beyond their competition into new, exciting realms of marketing.
Optimising social channels for retail
July 3, 2015
A recent study tracked the social media usage of 50 top US retail brands across 5 categories: beauty, apparel, electronics, big box and home goods.
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/yesmail-retail-brands-social-media-channels/622117
Data from Yesmail:
As can be seen from the above graphic, Facebook is still the most popular network and is used across all categories, from beauty, to apparel, to home goods. Facebook’s ubiquitous nature keeps it at the forefront of brand conversation, and despite strong growth from newer channels, it remains a priority for most companies to engage with their customers.
Although Facebook is a primary channel, from our experience the most effective way to optimise your social performance is to play to the strength of each platform.
Why are big brands continuously using multi-channel social media sites across industries?
– to increase brand awareness and affinity
– to develop a strong reputation and manage damage control
– to drive sales and marketing KPI’s
Superior competitive advantage and hitting business targets is achievable with the right social channel mix.
