Just in case you are wondering “What Is The Secret To Social Media Selling?” Here is the answer: STOP SELLING!
Breakfast Event Panel – Originally since on www.Clickz.com
Brands who give the hard sell a miss are more successful on social media in the long run, a panel of experts said at a London event.
The event, hosted by digital asset management software providers North Plains Systems and Elateral at the Eight Club in Moorgate, focussed specifically on regulated industries. But representatives from SAB Miller, Shell , Bacardi and Flock Associates agreed that social media efforts regardless of industry were better spent building communities, not pushing for sales.
Philip Calvert, a financial services marketer and social media guru, likened social media to an evening at the pub.
He said: “Imagine having a drink with friends and a man shoulders into your group and starts handing out businesses cards. That’s not the way to break into a community.”
For Sam Smithson, global brands digital manager at SAB Miller, product placement is more powerful when it comes from customers. To that end, one of his brands — Peroni —has built a powerful Instagram presence where the product itself very rarely appears.
Simthson explained: “It’s the story behind that content — the aspiration of engaging with that brand — that takes [a customer] from brand awareness to point of purchase.”
“There’s hardly any product placement on our feed,” he continued. “We let the consumer share the product.”
Calvert agreed. “Social media is about people. When we engage our customers they do our marketing for us.”
But if selling is strictly verboten, what are marketers to do? According to Travers Tarr, customer communication manager at Shell, it’s a genuine conversation customers are after on social media.
He said: “Tell authentic stories about yourself that resonate with your customer.”
Authentic storytelling and brand safeguarding aren’t mutually exclusive, according to Rikard Antblad, program director of product lifecycle management at Bacard. But it’s essential to establish a firm list of brand dos and don’ts before you give your teams free rein to be creative and start conversations.
“Be clear internally,” he said, and on-brand content will follow. It’s also helpful for the customer. As Antblad adds: “You need to be very clear about your brand, and then it also becomes clear to the customers opting in.”
Antonio Silano, marketing transformation consultant at Flock Associates, sees potential in the newsroom model, where established processes and constant communication govern content production. In such a world, he says, the rise of ad blockers and other troubling technology could become an opportunity for marketers.
He said: “Frankly, consumers are being disrespected and the interruptive model of advertising needs a shake-up. Ad blocking is that shake-up. But we can be a lot more intelligent about the format.
“Consumers understand that their content comes at a price. But make it relevant and decent; I see that as a positive. We just need to up our game,” he concluded.