Tuesday 19 August 2014

Social Media in Today Ghana


Ghana, like many other African countries, is gradually appreciating the need for social media integration in corporate business. Few years ago, most brands saw it as a waste of time and money investing in social media advertising and campaigns but in recent times the trend has changed tremendously.

Today, there are award events for corporate organisations that use social media most effectively. The telecommunication industry has really blazed the trail on social media use. Political parties, the Media and other organisations are doing great as well.

Blogging Ghana, an organisation of Ghanaian bloggers organised their annual event ‘blogcamp’. The event was under the theme ‘The new phase of social media’ and this blogpost is my reflection and assertion on maximizing social media by corporate brands.
 I hope this post will serve as good motivation and guide to using social media for your brand.

COMPETITION ON SOCIAL MEDIA

The competition for attention on social media  is soo intense the audiences become very fragmented. Brands do not only compete amongst themselves but against producers, distributers and consumers.
Yes, Consumers. This is because they can produce their own contents and it may be better than your brand. No wonder a consumer who posts good contents on their facebook or twitter page could have more and quality followers than an old brand.
Also because they can talk about your product and might do it better than u do. Be it a good or bad opinion.

WHAT DISTINGUISHES SOCIAL MEDIA FROM TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING MEDIA ?

When advertising in social media, ads should not only talk about the product but the whole brand. Therefore on social media u consider your brand values not product values.  Consumers interact with the brand not the product hence the brand image directly affects the product or service being promoted.
  
RUNNING A GOOD SOCIAL MEDIA PAGE 

Opening a Social Media page is not enough - A dormant page is as good as an empty shop. As long as no activity is going-on on the page, consumers begin to form negative perceptions about the brand. A dormant page may make consumers conclude that the brand is either unserious or do not have any good products worth promoting.

Promote consistent messages - What you are advertising on the traditional media should be in sync with social media. A brand’s ads on traditional media should be similar if not same as on social media. If you are promoting a new function of your product or service on traditional media you do same on social media with a digital twist.  

Listen to their needs, wants and interest - The beauty of social media is that it allows for interactivity and prompt feedback. On social media, communication is not a 1 way flow as is the case of the traditional media. As a brand is promoting their product, service or idea, consumers in turn analyze and comment on their forecast and experience about/with the brand.

Stay interactive - Real time response is the name of the game in social media. Prompt response reassures consumers that you take them seriously. Your office may not run 24/7 but your social media office should run 24/7. Good thing is, social media management can be done from anywhere ie.  2 administrators can be put on a shift to monitor and respond to post at any time.
Schedule posts where necessary.

Social media should not talk to people but talks with People


TIPS TO NOTE

Strive to fulfill the expectation of your audience
Provide relevant information for you people
Touching their emotions makes the difference
Put people’s stories first
Get people to love your product
  

 HOW CONSUMERS BEHAVE TOWARDS BOTH PLATFORMS


Show me                             TRADITIONAL MARKETING                               Sell to me



Help me                            SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING                                Entertain me


NOTE: Add value to the audience before they do it for your brand

QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN DOING SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNES

1.      Am i thinking about the people first?
2.      Am i connecting those people’s stories to my brand in a relevant way?
3.      Am i creating compelling content that impact human change


SOCIAL MEDIA IS ALREADY TOO BIG TO IGNORE !

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