During his Tuesday session, “Social Marketing 101: Giving the Emperor New Clothes,” at the 3rd Annual Engagement & Experience Expo, presented by Loyalty 360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association, Bostwick told attendees there needs to be a clear and strategic focus when developing a social marketing strategy.
“Focus on consumers who love your brand and love them back to the same or equal measure,” Bostwick said. “Cracking the code in social is the biggest opportunity. There is huge potential, a clear destination, and the means to make it work.”
From his previous crossover consumer marketing experience at Kraft, Coca-Cola, Disney, and MTV, Bostwick discussed re-engineering the digital/social marketing model during his 90-minute workshop.
With 85% of the U.S. population connected to the Internet, Bostwick told attendees the opportunities are boundless, presenting an unprecedented capability to reach people. But there is a lack of a pathway between online engagement and the retail purchase. How do brands successfully bridge that gap?
Focus on your absolute best customers and build “fan communities”, he said.
“There has to be a meaningful strategy,” Bostwick explained. “Social media equals an opportunity to get friends to engage and share in social dialogue.”
But Bostwick said one of the fundamental problems is that consumers using social media are more interested in their lives and their friends’ lives than the brands they interact with.
“We’re lost in a sea of technological complexity and can’t see the simple truths,” he said. “The consumer controls the switch.”
Here are some pivotal questions brands need to ask when developing a social strategy:
Who area you targeting and why?
What is the value proposition for consumers?
How do you make money?
How do we know it’s working?
Audience members offered Bostwick their concerns after working in small groups for 10 minutes. Some of those concerns included:
It’s still a radically changing media, and how do you know where to focus and how to measure?
Just because someone likes your page doesn’t mean someone likes you
Bostwick said a social marketing program should include the following ingredients:
It has be customer-centric with precise focus on who delivers the most value
Have a real strategy for changing behavior
Marketing strategy: who do you focus on and how do you get them to deliver the maximum impact for money spent?
How do you get them to do what you want – to behave the way you want them to?
Focus on “super fans” or brand advocates……
Treat them differently because a VIP experience is less about economics, and more about making them feel different, better, and special—unleash that to drive a massive business model
“Start on the inside of your brand with passionate users, the beating heart of your brand, and the people who love your brand, live your brand personally and socially, and aren’t just consumers of your brand,” Bostwick explained. “Every category every brand has these people”
Who should a brand build a social marketing strategy for?
Brand VIPS account for 45% of your ecommerce revenue; 90% of all online engagement, and 99% of peer-to-peer brand building, Bostwick explained.
Who are they and what motivates them?
Find out where they’re engaging
Social mapping drives insight and strategy
It’s more anthropological than statistical – finding out what makes the people tick
Social fan mapping leads to a proprietary process for recruiting and building a scaled community with a fan-centric value proposition
VIP status is the most powerful form of social currency -- rewarding desired behavior in real time
Build an irresistible VIP fan-centric online social experience and integrate it to shopper marketing programs to drive directly to retail and drive incremental revenue
Mobile is the decisive platform for the 21st Century and most important feature is the GPS app
Invest to build a scaled brand VIP community that is fan-centric with deep engagement and rewards