Why Is Social Media So Popular?

We use social media in our daily activities. Whether we are sending a text message to a friend, answering a Facebook message, asking about a recipe on a food forum, or looking for a job on Linkedin. We are always using social media.  But why is social media so important? Why is it so popular? Who cares that we are on  different digital platforms and constantly uploading our own content and reading content of other users? 

The following figures will give you an insight on why social media has become so important for companies and individuals: 

Facebook boasts over 171 million unique visitors compared to Google, the most popular Web search engine, which  exceeds 174 million unique visitors.  YouTube, a video sharing website, is the second largest search engine with 153 million unique visitors and where over  two billion videos are downloaded each day.  There are over 156 million blogs in existence. Tumblr is the 8^th largest site in the U.S. Social Networks and Blogs category.  Nearly 40 % of social media users access social media content from their mobile phones. Americans spend  more time on Facebook than on any other website. 

These figures are astounding.  Social media has a powerful influence on consumer behavior and on purchase decisions.  In fact, 60 percent of people who use three or more digital means of research for product purchases learned about a specific brand or retailer from a social networking site. Furthermore, 70 percent of  social networkers shop online. 

The audience now decides and expresses freely the value of a company’s products and services.  Companies worldwide want to know how to better tap into this huge market.  These companies are aware that to stay competitive  they have to not only become “social” but understand how to harness the power that social media marketing  can have.

SIMPLE TIPS ON WRITING INTERESTING & VALUABLE ONLINE CONTENT

The thought of writing valuable content sometimes can be so overwhelming that many of us decide we just cannot do it on a regular basis. Here are a few tips to making it easier:

1. Do use information that you already are an expert in.  You don't have to spend hours and hours researching before writing valuable content. You know your product or business more than anyone else and already possess the information people are looking for.

2. Don't assume the information you are  giving is common sense and everyone knows it already! It may be common sense for you but not for the majority of your audience. Do write about the basics.

3. Chances are that what is interesting for you is interesting or of value to others.

4. You may be an expert in your field but your audience is not so remember to use easy to understand terms.

5. Be generous about offering information. Don't hold back.

6. Keep content short and to the point. If you can get the message across using less words, do so.

7. Keep in mind where your content is being published online and who your audience is accordingly : a wall post on Facebook, a blog post, a tweet, etc.

Burberry, Social Media and Sales

If you are interested in social media and fashion you don't have to look far to see how Burberry has had a tremendous boost in sales due also to its extraordinary efforts in social media. I took a trip to our favorite outlet in Tuscany (Leccio Reggello Florence) Italy to The Mall on Saturday and found to my amazement the Burberry Store was cram packed with buying fans. With cash in hand (the outlet only takes cash or debit cards), hundreds of people were in line paying for outer wear, coats, trenches, rainboots, umbrellas, scarves  of every type and color, handbags, wallets, shoes. Is this because of the affinity people have with the brand? Is it because of its social media brilliant presence and engagement?

Before entering the store on a freezing Saturday afternoon (the Mall is outdoors), we strolled passed Valentino, Gucci, Ferragamo surprised to see mostly vacant stores with salespeople twirling their thumbs. Instead at the Burberry store, you could hardly get through and had to hold on for dear life to those items you wanted to purchase for fear they would be snapped away. Men, women, children of different nationalities looking through items to purchase, standing in lines, trying to look in mirrors without being trampled on....this was the scene at the Burberry store in (Leccio Reggello) Florence Italy last Saturday.

Myself? I ran away happily with a new delicious Burberry trench in hand. My husband? A beautiful new Burberry winter coat. Thanks Burberry. You made my birthday.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN ITALY

In any industry you really have to know a culture well to be successful in a foreign market. I have to say I am putting to use pretty much everything I learned during my Graduate studies of International Marketing and Consumer Behavior when working with the Italian market. However social media marketing complicates things even more. Let's take Italy for instance:

Social media networking is alive and well in Italy. It has been embraced by not only teenagers but also men and women of all ages, demographic groups, income levels, professionals, and non professionals. It has been embraced on a friendship use primarily. It is a great place to post photos, make arrangements to see eachother, stay in touch with friends, lovers, etc. Even the majority of businesses while on Facebook for instance or MySpace are still not taking advantage of their full business generating potential.

Most of the brick and mortar businesses owned by couples whose children are now old enough to use the Internet are utilizing social networking. The same is true for large, medium and small family owned companies.  In house someone (usually the child of the owner who is old enough to understand Internet) mostly sets up the business profile page and then sends it out to the family's friends and friends of friends and that's about as far as it goes. They wonder why they are not getting any increased income from the social network. They did not do any research to even find out if that social network is appropriate for their business. In Italy, it is the standard to follow a fad and social media is a part of that ideology. Many Italian business owners join a network because everyone else is on it and therefore it must be the new "it" thing like buying the latest Gucci handbag.

Is this changing? There is not a lot of education being diffused in Italy on how social media can really be utilized to create increased engagement and revenue. You receive a lot of blank stares from business people when you talk about return on conversation, sharing valuable content, etc. Italians are social by nature but with people they already know. It is not like an average Italian person to strike up a conversation with a total stranger and the virtual world is no different. Even Italian business people have a difficult time networking in the traditional sense. It is just not part of their culture. They usually will converse with someone if they have already been introduced and even then the conversation is not so free flowing.

So how will social media pan out in Italy?Great, fantastic on a friendship use level. With regard to business and aside from the Italian giants like Buitoni, Gucci, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, etc I believe Italian businesses have a long way to go! Comments??

Luxury Brands & Social Media Marketing

Burberry acquires 3 million fans on Facebook and has a social network Art of the Trench that is truly engaging. Jimmy Choo runs with its treasure hunt on Foursquare and Louis Vuitton partners with Foursquare to offer a designer badge. Tiffany wears its Engagement Ring iPhone app.  DKNY is doing fashionably well on Twitter.  It is especially exciting for marketing professionals to watch what is going on with social media and luxury brands. Who would have thought that something so exclusive, so closed doors, so v.i.p. as luxury brands would utilize social media to not only get "in touch" with their present followers but to acquire new fans and thus consumers? It is fantastic to see what some of these companies are doing to really harness the power of social media.

Forbes recently wrote that according to a Forrester Research Survey, "in 2008 only one third of international luxury firms actively sold online, yet 8 out of 10 affluent consumers actively used the internet to research and purchase luxury goods on a daily basis."  Another survey shows how these numbers are growing. EMarketer published in 2007 in   "Affluent Internet Users: How The Rich Live Online" that these users will grow from 43.7 million in 2006 to 57.1 million in 2011.  So we know that the affluent purchase more and more online on a daily basis so why aren't more luxury brands taking advantage of this?

This is astounding and signifies that those few luxury brands that are embracing the internet have an extreme advantage over their competitors who refuse to budge. What else can luxury brand designers do to remain at the cutting edge of social media and attract a new generation of luxury consumers?

1. Research

• Study the trends and behavior of  online visitors and customers to identify new opportunities 
• Find creative ways to increase consumer engagement with the brand and product online

 2. Social Media, Mobile & SEO

• Work with in house departments and third party firms to define and execute the mobile strategy 
• Maintain total brand consistency throughout all digital platforms while building  brand awareness, engagement, purchase intent, repeat purchase and brand advocacy
• Direct search engine marketing and optimization
• Utilize digital platforms, stores and third parties to increase e-mail address acquisition 

3.  Ecommerce

• Identify innovative ways to enhance consumer interactions with the brand and product through Ecommerce and especially via mobile devices.

 4. Follow up 

• Analyze performance and tweak and retweak according to results.  Remeasure.

    

Writing Quality Social Media Content For Your Business

One of the most asked questions is "how do I write quality social media content for my business?" Most of you already possess the quality content. It is just a matter of putting down in words. You know your product or service better than anyone. You know your clients better than anyone and their needs. You are probably thinking, "yeah but I don't want to give away all my trade secrets." You don't have to.

Here are some examples of what I am talking about:
A tailor explaining why hems of pants should only touch the shoe and not drag on top of the shoe is not giving away all his trade secrets but telling his followers or potential fans that he is an expert in his field and is offering this free advice.

A nutritionist who posts regularly recipes for healthy meals is not giving away all her trade secrets but showing she cares while showing she is an expert in her field.

A famous fashion designer asking his loyal followers what new trends in colors and styles they would like to see or showing how his staff works together, is not giving away trade secrets but opening its once closed doors to its adoring public.

A photographer explaining the best angles and lighting to use to shoot photos is not giving away all his trade secrets but instead giving away free suggestions that opens doors to conversations and engagement with his potential audience.

Social Media & Putting Yourself in Your Audiences' Shoes

There is a multitude of information out on social media these days about “thinking from the end user’s perspective.” We tend to forget that the audience is real people with real feelings and real needs.

The people that buy your product, complain about your product, fantasize about owning your product and the people that does not know your product. Who is this particular audience of your business or product or potential customer? What social media circles does he / she visit and hang out in ? Where are these conversations taking place? What problems or needs do these people have concerning your product? For instance are they searching for a particular shoe model to buy and cannot find it? Are the sizes not corresponding to their actual size? Have they had a problem with a product defect? Do they know the different ways they can wear that coat? Do they want to find out the latest trends in shoe heels? One could go on and on with needs but this is the idea. You have to put yourself in their situation considering as many demographic factors as you can gather. Where are these people? Who are they? Mothers? Aged 40-60? Male professionals in their 40’s from the West Coast in the United States? University students? Retirees? You need to do your demographic research and find out what your audience is doing in the social media sphere. You need to find out where their conversations are being held. Are they on Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, using blogs or message boards and forums? Wherever they are, you need to start listening and listening more.

The other factor to consider is providing your audience with quality content, quality information. For instance if you have a shoe repair shop, why not offer tips on how to keep your shoes from falling apart. Tell your audience about products they can use to prevent wear and tear. Tell your audience about what to do if their shoes are too big, using particular insoles that will keep your foot from slipping etc. Here the trick is not to wait until a need is expressed but to provide your audience with useful free information before they actually request it. If you are putting yourself in your audience’s shoes, it will be easier to know what these needs are.

Trust and Service. Putting yourself in your audiences’ shoes also means gaining their trust and providing them with quality service. If someone has expressed a concern or a complaint about your product or service, quickly respond to that person thanking him or her for taking the time to express it and tell him or her you will see to rectify the problem. There are no tricks here. The focus is to be real and not on getting the fast sell. This is about wanting to truly create long term relationships with not only the influencers in the social media circles but your audience in general.