1. dmn.ca ❯ Direct Marketing ❯ May 2010
Column/Industry News 15
Unlocking the power
of social media
How to use social media in your marketing research
The concept of social media has been have the right tools you can now unlock lose out on the quality of the research. your initiative. The best example of this, is a campaign. Share of voice is one of
around forever, not too long ago over the the power of social media. Research It’s my opinion that you can have both, the story of Cindy Gordon Vice President of the easiest metrics that can be used to
Easter weekend my brother-in-law asked is typically done to give a company a or more aptly a Quali-Quant approach. New Media and Marketing Partnerships for measure success. Others can include
what all the social media hype was about? competitive advantage and reduce risk. It Some Social Media Monitoring tools allow Universal Orlando Resort. She was charged brand sentiment (whether you were
Considering the time of year, the first also has three major components: strategy you get very detailed with investigatory with marketing a new attraction for the able to move the needle from negative
analogy that came to mind was biblical. I (what to do), development (how to do it) work letting you isolate meaningful theme park called The Wizarding World of to positive), demographics such as male,
said, social media has always existed in and evaluation (did it work). conversations and opinions that really Harry Potter. Instead of spending millions female or age groups (whether you were
fact one can argue that JC himself was delivers value. For example, I’m a proud on PR and using all of the traditional able to engage an older audience or a
the first master of social media. Think Strategy father of two young boys (Dylan and channels, she elected to tell 7 people, yes specific gender). Most tools on the market
about it, he found 12 key influencers to Strategy can be accomplished by looking Gavin), prior to taking our annual trip to a only 7 people! But these were not just allow you to create custom reports to
spread his word and ensure his story was at public sentiment for a brand or product, tropical resort I always read reviews on the any random bunch of 7, they were highly effectively determine if your campaigns are
heard. More recent incarnations would then working with that data to enhance or resort. Often times it’s a mix bag of results influential bloggers who had a rabid having the desired impact. There are many
include any form of multi-level marketing release a new product or service. Having ranging from 1 star to 5 stars. I never collection of fans that religiously followed ways to deploy a SM campaign that can
such as Tupper Wear Parties, Amway, done many research projects myself, only look at the overall rating as it can be them for breaking news on Harry Potter. be distinctively tied back to results - the
Avon and host of others. Two things have I discovered online social media users misleading. The last resort we went to Gordon held a secret webcast to these key is to make it unique and social. There
changed significantly since then, access are just as likely to speak about a great had some horrible feedback, specifically 7 individuals featuring the production is a financial institute that has successfully
to information is much easier and faster, experience with a product or brand as the disco closed too early, there were no designer of the Harry Potter films and VP done this by giving an incentive to an
also traditional word-of-mouth has gone they do when the experience is not as bars open after 2 a.m. and there were too of creative for Universal. They were able to existing customer and the person they
almost completely electronic with the gratifying. many kids in the pool. I can see how this give a unique perspective on the making refer for all new accounts. This works really
onset of forums, blogs and social sites such This “unbiased” perspective is usually in could be bad for someone who is headed of the theme park to this exclusive group well as it puts the customer first and it gives
as You Tube, Digg, Facebook and Twitter. real-time and very relevant. Organizations there to party all week however this was of people. After the webcast an email was the referrer credibility with their friends as
So how can social media be used can now conduct Primary and Secondary great for me and my family. In fact the sent to the park’s opt-in email list and like they both gain from the transaction. Since
for research? Let’s begin by discussing research all within the same sandbox in 5 star ratings mostly came from young most successful viral campaigns these this campaign was never released over any
the tools. Three years ago there were a half the time and usually at half the cost. parents who loved the amenities that 7 people coupled with the emails were mass-media effort all results were purely
few companies collecting social media Our ability to listen is not constrained clearly catered to the needs of a family able to reach over 350,000,000 individuals pinned to their social presence. There are
conversations, today there are probably to just conversations about your own with younger children. Drill through the worldwide. Since Gordon’s yard stick of many great agencies out there that assist
over 1,000 applications. My guess is, three brand and products but also those of data to find the high quality posts that are success was measured on global reach, I with putting together a strategy that is
years from now the few we started with your competitors’. This information is relevant to your objectives. think we can all agree this approach was a accountable and measurable.
will still be around and most others will be extremely valuable in the strategy phase, heaping success. In conclusion, social media is not all
gone. The other thing to remember, is no as you are able to find out what works and Development hype; in fact a recent Forrester’s report
one tool fits all needs, I would encourage what doesn’t with your brand and that of Development can be accomplished by Evaluation show that the largest growing segment
marketers and agencies alike to do some the competition. mining the results from your research to Evaluation, it’s important to mention for share of interactive marketing spend
research and commit some time to Research purists may argue that this is identify the key influencers and detractors metrics, as the objectives for the research is in social media. It is projected to
evaluate a few applications. Assuming you strictly a quantitative approach and you for your brand and using them to promote must be clearly identified ahead of increase by 34 per cent from 2009-2014,
developing an execution plan, “you can’t a close second is mobile marketing.
manage what you can’t measure”. Having The SM phenomenon reminds me of
“The other thing to remember, is no one tool fits all needs, a campaign go viral is usually the objective an inspiration poster hanging in my old
I would encourage marketers and agencies alike to do of most social media campaigns, some
to drive sales or in the case of Universal to
boss’s office, it reads, “If you’re not riding
the wave of change, you may soon find
some research and commit some time to evaluate a few drive awareness. What’s important is that yourself beneath it”.
you can evaluate and create most metrics
applications. Assuming you have the right tools you can through your Social Media Monitoring Vish Ramkissoon, FSA Datalytics - Insights |
now unlock the power of social media.” tools. This can be done by establishing
benchmarks prior to, during and after
Execution | Results