Grayling Insights

Taking advantage of social networks in communication without overusing them

Přidal Na 17.01.2012 Od Adrian Elliot V Germany, Switzerland, Grayling Blog, Global, World Cup, Austria, Grayling Insights, Europe, Middle East & Africa, Western Europe, Olympics 2012

The growing influence of online communities and social networks is making companies ask themselves the inevitable question: what can we do to increase our presence in the conversation? Logically, this query leads us to evaluate which are the requisite tools for increasing our “digital fingerprint”; whether Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Google+… However, we easily forget that these networks are merely online meeting places for people who share similar interests and to gain a foothold in them, we need to understand those things that motivate users and provide them with useful content.

Social networks such as Facebook or Twitter are complicated environments for companies given that the majority of their users do not rely on them primarily to learn about products or to make purchasing decisions. In fact, according to the last study on Social Networks by the National Observatory for Telecommunications and the Information Society (ONTSI), 63% of their users state that they keep a profile mainly to keep in touch with friends and family, and 47% of them claim that their sole purpose is contacting people with similar interests, therefore we can safely conclude that nearly half of the social network users would be, at the very least, indifferent to any product campaigns launched on these platforms. This last factor serves to temper the social networks’ high level of penetration in Spain, which reaches 77% according to Nielsen’s data. In any case, 27% of Spanish users do rely on social networks to gather information for purchasing decisions, so companies should focus their online communications efforts on these.

In view of this reality it is clear that, before launching a campaign on social networks, it is vital to carry out an in-depth analysis of the online environment and our target audiences’ profile, so as to make certain that all our advertising material is transmitted through an adequate channel and provides added value to those users who might want to receive it, without annoying those who prefer to remain detached. We also need to consider that even those users who may be interested in receiving product information (61%) generally search for opinions via friends and family, not through direct contact with the companies. Only 19% consult corporate web pages to obtain product information. Regardless, it is also true that although only a small proportion of users actively seek product information, they are greatly capable of influencing their family and friends’ opinions. Therefore, upsetting a customer or a potential customer through your Twitter or Facebook profile can have much more negative consequences given the speed with which that person can share his/her opinion with his/her extensive contact network.

On the other hand, according to the ONTSI report, 27% of the users who confirm that they consult Internet and social networks to acquire products admit to using Twitter to obtain brand information before making a purchasing decision. If we add to this information that only 26% of the Spanish internet users are in favour of posting an opinion or a negative experience of a product or service through the forums or Twitter, the importance of managing image well in the social networks is evident.

To meet this challenge, and especially in an environment where the majority of the users are reluctant to interact with companies or with advertising material, adopting an aggressive online policy with the traditional advertising campaigns can never be an effective strategy. Firstly, to obtain maximum efficiency, corporate communication executives should try to get internet users themselves to put in a good word for us, instead of sending out idle messages. How can we accomplish this? Well, above all, by listening to what they say about us and answering in an open and transparent way, offering solutions whenever possible. And secondly, by developing quality content and distributing it through popular channels consulted by those users who turn to social networks to obtain product information and share information on products and services. According to the data contained in the 2010 study performed by the INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING BUREAU (IAB), echoed also in the ONSI report, which reflects that 41% of network users resort to social networks to share photos and videos, we can conclude that taking advantage of the viral contents for the users to share among their followers is another tactic to consider, however, contents must be original, witty, and above all, transmit values or the brand’s philosophy without relying on an excessively advertising tone.

According to the data revealed in the report, as opposed to the 26% of Internet users who publish negative comments, 74% of them believe that they would preferably post positive comments on public social networks such as Twitter. We should direct our campaigns to these users if we want them to have a positive impact on the global perception of our product or brand.