Be objective

Would you make a TV ad without having a clear objective?

Of course you wouldn’t.

 I don’t know anyone who spends money on a marketing campaign without knowing why you and what aiming to achieve. Sometimes I might quibble about the robustness of the measures of success and the extent to which these measures are aligned with the strategy and broader objectives of the business but in the main most marketing teams have some form of idea of why they are doing what they are doing.

It might be to build brand awareness and brand preference.

Or to drive sales.

Or to recruit new customers.

Sometimes it might just be to inspire and engage colleagues.

No matter there is a purpose behind the activity.

And yet often I see marketers who have no clear idea why they want to be on Facebook or have a Twitter feed. It is as if when it comes to social media we lose sight of the need to have purpose, an objective, a reason for doing what we are doing.

Some businesses however will measure their presence by the number of followers or friends they might have.

Is this valid? What is the value of a friend or a follower? Does anyone know? Does anyone care? Has anyone done the analysis on this?

Remember in the early days Hitler had millions of followers, Jesus had 12. Numbers can be misleading.

And if you are The Acme Screw Company, why would anyone want to be your friend or follow you. And I think there is nothing worse for any brand if it has a low number of friends or followers. What does that say?

So instead of just trying to amass as many Facebook Friends or Followers as possible, let me suggest that any brand’s social media activity should set out with a more clear purpose and role.

Maybe it’s to provide an enhanced customer service. Travel businesses for examples use their Twitter feed to provide a steady stream of updated information on travel conditions, delays and the like.

Maybe it’s to use social media to reach out and engage with key influencers as part of an enhanced PR approach. Not all Friends and Followers are equal and as marketers we should not be chasing everyone but influencers and building a social media approach around these people. These are the ones who will re-tweet, endorse and otherwise build engagement with your brand. I am convinced that many brands will be really disappointed when they see what percentage of their followers or friends are genuinely influential.

Or maybe your social media presence can be used to support your brand campaign and encourage customers and prospects to participate in the campaign through a competition, a cause or to build participation in the brand story and its characters. And thereby extend the reach of the TV ad spot and maybe even build up a database of prospects and customers. Few brands and few ad campaigns are strong enough to carry this off to good effect however.

I don’t mind brands being hugely social but we do need to be objective about this and have a meaningful commercial objective about why.

As someone once said ‘social media is like parenthood-you can read all the books you like but until you have a child, you just won’t get it’.

All I ask that we stay objective.