AgVoice | Social Media Demands Courage!

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

The statement is valid in all walks of life, and at this time, it seems relevant in the space of Social Media as well.

Okay, need to rewind and start at the beginning.

In our business of being a Social Media agency, we meet a lot of clients. Many of them are large brands with significant marketing budgets and advertising spends. Several of them initiate the discussion on Social Media from their end, while few discussions are initiated from our end as well.

At this point in time, most brands are convinced about looking at Social Media. Few are still hesitant, and few have made good inroads to be confident to place large bets. But most of them are in the middle of the road. They are approaching Social Media very gingerly.

Let us look at some typical scenarios:

1. Brand is going for a new campaign, in mainline media: an expensive TVC, supported by print, perhaps OOH too. When we hear of these developments, we propose significant strategies around the campaign. Possibly including doing a teaser on social media, then taking the longer versions of the TVC on to social media (why be constrained with 15-30 seconds, when you are not paying by the second on YouTube ' build a larger story board!), putting some behind-the-scenes clips (especially where celebrity brand ambassadors are involved), etc. We could even ask users on Social Media, to carry the storyboard further, maybe even propose a sequel for the advertisement.

Few brands have been venturing out with some of these strategies. Many just go ahead and create a Facebook page around the campaign (which is also abandoned, once the campaign is off-air), and many do nothing at all, on Social Media.

2. Brand wants to get onto social media independent of any other campaign: convinced that this is a place not to be ignored, a brand wants to get there. Where smart ideas of potential high impact are shared, may of them like those, but want to get started with "just a facebook presence first'.

3. And there are some brands who are set to go to Social Media, but are still hesitant, whether to go "as the brand' or do some surrogate work. Since they fear that as soon as they step into the space, on their own name, they will be inundated with large number of complaints.

All of these are examples of brands playing it safe. Lets look at each of the cases.

If the brand has a new campaign out, in mainline media, it's a great opportunity to leverage this with a decent Social Media extension. Crores are being spent on the TVC ' on its creation, and then on the media itself. At a fraction of that cost, the brand can get users on Social Media, engaged with the brand, by smart placement of the campaign story.

Why then, does the brand hesitate? It is inherently a fear of the unknown. The brand is not sure what they are getting into. Will the users rip apart the campaign? What if it creates negative response? What if questions are asked that we cannot easily respond to?

The fact is that these questions are asked anyway. Advertising is one of the biggest discussed topics on Social Media. If a brand is confident about the campaign, then there should not be hesitation in facing the consumer in a direct interaction over it. And in doing so, give yourself the opportunity of creating good mileage on account of the same.

Coming to the case of creating a social media presence, why opt for the safe and boring "only facebook page' presence? The creation of the Old Spice man, with the large number of videos and the interaction, was clearly a brave act. What if it was rejected? But it was not. And went on to become a stupendous success. Would Old Spice have achieved even a fraction of that visibility if it had stayed with a "safe and simple' Facebook page?? As I said at the outset, "nothing ventured, nothing gained'.

And the brands that hesitate still, in putting their name out in the front, for fear of getting user flak, well, they are also losing an opportunity here.

If the service is demanding flak, the flak is coming, no matter if they are present on social media or not. Their presence, a confirmation of their "listening' to the customer, their responses back to the customers, will generate a positive feel about the brand. Not being present is to let the users have a free hand, to allow the odd complaint to potentially snowball as users keep adding fuel to the fire, with no one giving the brand's point of view.

I reckon we have reached the point where Social Media is now accepted by most brands as being real, but most of them still have a sense of apprehension about going all out, into that space.

And what distinguishes the few who have taken the bigger calls, and have been successful in so doing, is a sense of dare.

Be it P&G internationally or a Just Dial or Star Plus in India, it is indeed that bravado that differentiates these winners, from the many also-rans.

So dear brand owner, in social media, there is nothing to fear but fear itself! And as Seth Godin put it, "If you waiting for a case study in your business vertical, it is already too late to jump in".

Go for it! Social Media is indeed, here and now!!

By Sanjay Mehta

Social Wavelength

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