The power of Social Media Marketing is not limited to private sector only. Government can use social media effectively to promote different public programs.Different social media tools can be leveraged to support the ammunition needed for public programs.Authorities such as web masters, communications managers, PR directors and other such people who are the voices waiting to be unleashed within government offices can bridge the gap between their voice and public by the help of social media platforms. Other than attention, by unitizing the social media strategically, Government can reach the following objectives:
Public Engagement: by sharing real voicesand stories which will help bringing the mission of a particular agency into action more effectively.
Public Poll: by demonstrating widespread public supportfor an issue or department's mission government can promote more transparency and thus promote the program.
Availability: by being easily assessable by stafferswho are the first point of research for any policy or legislation motivation to participate can be accelerated.
Voice: by activating the most passionate voicesinternally and externally an agency's mission can be promoted more effectively.
Measurement of success: by managing negative comments or content on a particular issue or policy acceptability of any program can be varied which will enhance democracy.
Traditional or risk-averse the leaders of a particular government agency might be reluctant to use the power of social media but it the advantages are more profound than the disadvantages.
Several responders on Twitter and people leaving comments shared the point that a social media strategy shouldn’t be avoided and limited. Yet there are some fictions about using SMM in public sectors which are
·Audiences can be reached easily with social media.
·Social media will change the public behavior dramatically.
·All the target audiences use social media.
·To use social media effectively one need to be on Facebook and Twitter.
Social media marketing is a two way communication and people can choose their content of interest and not all are comfortable using internet and computers. Hence the myths mentioned above prevail. Yet the coverage by social media is more effective than TV and print media in terms of all recourses needed for any campaign. The popularity of using social media is growing at a 3 digit growth rate worldwide and the usage of mobile devices in Social media has minimized these gaps even further. Therefore, this new media is simply an un-avoid in promoting public campaigns.
What are some other potential scopes of Social Media Marketing in Public sector?
Preece, J. and B. Shneiderman (2009). The Reader-to-Leader Framework: Motivating Technology-Mediated Social Participation. AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction, (1) 1, pp. 13–32.
Social media marketing comes with its own challenges of defining the appropriate voice for the brand and how to engage the customers and generate conversation, preferably positive. The challenge is even more critical in the industries which are highly regulated with many strict guidelines. Should fear be the driving factor for a business? Are companies that are using the excuse of fear and not make the SMM as part of their marketing mix missing out on important opportunities to enhance their online presence and connect with their customers?
The marketing of Pharmaceutical industry, one of the highly regulated industries, is highly regulated by the FDA and the Division of Drug Marketing and Communications (DDMAC). Pharma marketing is extremely competitive and lacking in clear social media boundariesbased on current regulatory guidance. Yet some healthcare and pharma companies are doing well by finding ways to connect physicians via secure social networks to improve information sharing . Despite many of the logical privacy and legal concerns about discussing health issues in such a public platforms, companies have been using (within guidelines) Direct Marketing in this industry for a while. In 2010,of 52 warning and notice of violation letters sent from DDMAC to companiesonly one was issued in the social mediaspace. Clearly if pharmaceutical companies follow existing marketing guidelines the risks aren’t off the charts.
Pharma companies need to think beyond direct product promotion when using social media tools. For example, Johnson & Johnson has created an active social presence by focusing on blogs with stories of employees, wellness information, and corporate content. The blog contains robust content and is supplemented with YouTube and Facebook pages. J&J also connects with community members via communications staffer Marc Monseau who tweets on behalf of the brand in a more personal voice.
Points to deem on when working in a highly regulated industry such as health
Educate stakeholders about the importance of social media–the first step is to highlight the need to be ‘there’ on the social media platform. The tight industries are hesitant about social and open comments on them because of the regulations despite the fact that consumers will be talking about you whether you are there or not. Hence, preventing the business to be aliened with the present market opportunities just because of the fear of bad reputation or violating regulations is not a smart act to do.
Tying the marketing and legal team: Working with the counsel is essential in social media marketing. Thinking creatively on how to advance the brand goals is the job of the marketers which could be tied with the legal team for multiple campaigns. Find ways to solve problems by making both the team work closely.
Create options for sharing risk information in multiple formats
Create strong internal Guidelines for Social Media Objectives: Establish controls and expectations of staff that would be involved in public engagement are the first things to do. Social media checklists as well as a checklist on present regulatory boundaries and potential scenarios where legal counsel would be notified of consumer concerns are to be created. Once approved set frequent reviews of the social media program to identify potential pitfalls around key regulations like patient privacy or adverse events.
Create Stories to enhance Customer Engagement:Social media is driven by the inherent desire in people to seek connections. The task is to identify compelling stories that highlight benefits of the medication. Success stories like these should be reviewed and submitted in compliance with established DDMAC process but, once approved, can be shared through social channels to demonstrate real impact in the lives of consumers and enhance public goodwill toward the company.
Are there greater risks in highly regulated industries? Absolutely there are. But that doesn’t mean companies should not capitalize the biggest buzz of present time. There are ways to work within the rules and use social media in these industries effectively and for the benefit of the company and customers.
Social Media is the recent buzz and expected to be around for a while, well may b for more than a while to be exact. Some present common observations of social media are:
·Creating a trust is one of the major objectives
·Stories are the most prevailing key to create and reinforce change
·Human currency is imperative for the SM success but sometimes against the motto of the company
·Some businesses are trying to make money out of SM who have a little idea on SM yet are successful at it
·Businesses are stuck on measurement but using some wrong metrics.
Companies are putting more attention on greater level of metrics which are wrong for example likes, number of fans and followers, etc and are not educating their executives on the real aim of Social media. These metrics can’t provide anything of substance because companies do not link these metrics directly with their customer through measurements such as ‘the net promoter score of social customer’, what products are the customers buying, etc. Most businesses proclaim to have an ear for their customers but in the reality only few have changed or implemented right processes or products based on their listening which could cash into huge ROI. Unless companies are threatened by any noise, they are too lazy to bring any change. Silence the noise is that they run after. Again social media is not about listening only but about gaining useful insights and intelligence. Traditional marketing is no more that much of effective as it was used to be. People prefer reviews or eWOM more than TV ads now a day as the pendulum has shifted!! Other than advertising, customer service is something that can be provided best through social media. All traditional ways to provide customer services are well swept by this new media. If shutting down the customer voice and trying to expedite resolution are the aim, then that’s not a contemporary customer service and not any metric.
Many businesses run new media efforts through PR or marketing. I have even seen a few that run social media through their outside marketing agencies (talk about being close to the customer). Anyway, I have tried a few of these out over the years. My view is that these disconnected businesses are attempting to placate consumers, to minimize or eliminate the complaint. In order for social media service to scale, change MUST happen. Companies must care. New metrics must surface that place the customer back in customer service.
Companies have not changed the way they run business no matter how much engaged they in social media today. This is not because the scaling is not possible but because they are reluctant. The trouble is the efforts are not leading to wholesale change in the way companies interact with their customers. If companies are simply placating loud customers, all they are really doing is encouraging others to focus on the channels where they believe resolution awaits.
Dell or Comcast success stories in the early social media days, is due to the amount of work that went on behind Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. The true transformation of these businesses what not in taking to social network, but instead building the back end to start fixing the problems that created negative experiences in the first place. Both Dell and Comcast utilized the power of stories and online conversation to help drive improvements.
Social media is creating change in how businesses conduct themselves and placing still underestimated power in the hands of consumers and employees. If companies truly aim to influence brand perception, companies must encourage themselves to
·Be more flexible and not so stuck on processes that prevent change
·Empower employees (they are the life blood and the greatest ambassadors for any brand)
·Improve the customer experience, not just through service, but the entire experience with the company
·Start co production and avoid being afraid of the customer
·Start maximizing the value of the customer! They are really very influential in this post-commerce phase
The brand of any business is the culmination of shared experiences. Hence, business are to change they traditional way they operate dramatically. The power has already shifter to the consumer side, but only few businesses could successfully connect the dots. The bottom line is that businesses need to have wholesale improvements over the way they interact with customers. These changes are currently being driven by the customer. However, it also must be driven by empowered employees to see success in their business along with processes that support transformation and adaptation which can not be avoided.
In 2008, the UK mobile telecommunications category was in the eye of the worst recession since the 1930s. T-Mobile wasn’t a popular name in the industry and hence it was facing diminishing returns in a contracting market. It could not win over the giant competitors; therefore they changed the rules of the game: use the recession to their advantage. ‘Life's for Sharing’ gave people something to celebrate and an experience they wanted to share. Their smart promotion strategy led to extraordinary engagement and a ROI to remember and appreciatedespite the market recession.
The campaign generated £15M in incremental sales and a return on marketing investment of £1.46.
Campaign Details
·Title: T-Mobile: Life's for Sharing, even in a Recession
·Advertiser: T-Mobile
·Agency: Saatchi and Saatchi
·Brand: T-Mobile
·Campaign duration: January - March 2009
·Campaign objective: Brand relaunch, reposition
·Country: United Kingdom
·Media budget (USD): $10-20 million
·Media used: Cinema, Events, In-store, Internet search, Mobile, Newspapers (national), Newspapers (local), Online video, Public relations, Radio (national), Social media, Television (broadcast), Word of mouth
The Drive
During the recession they noticed some new trends:
·More and more people sharing their lives through Social Media.
·Mobile phones were ‘ushering’ in a new era of connection and openness.
·Sharing was no longer closed between friends and family; but increasingly open between strangers and community.
·The society was moving from “me” to a “we”.
·Spontaneous gatherings and get-togethers were becoming more and more commonplace.
Capitalizing on all these new trends, they crafted thestrategy of not only to tell people about Life's For Sharing, but to celebrate and enable sharing and allow people to join in. a radical approach to brand communications was planned by creating an dramatic event that people just had to share. Reactions from people, TV journalists, press journalists, bloggers, radio callins, copy-catters and online tributes were aimed. ‘Let the dance begin’ was formed and the rest is a history.
The Idea
15th January. 11am : at Liverpool Street Station in London a single commuter started dancing. Moments later hundreds more joined in, including genuine members of the public. It was a beautiful and simple metaphor for the power of sharing, a collective act of defiance against the recession and the winter cold, an expression of shared hope that pointed to a better future. Eleven hidden cameras shot the ad in eleven takes which generated over six hours of film. A 3-minute TV commercial, aired within 36 hours, came out of that reel.At the event, on the spot vox pops was conducted with stunned London commuters, which became their radio ads. Several photographers were planted around the station, briefed to find iconic shots of commuters caught up in the event. The public at the event became the posters (48 sheets and 6 sheets), the direct press and even POP retail displays.
Role of Social Media: Any hype on the camping is forgotten if it became old news, this was highly realized by the marketers of T-Mobile and hence to avoid that social currency was used in this campaign. Sharing is instantaneous and compulsive. It is a wave of energy that ripples through social networks, spreading from one connector to the next. Unless the event was shared, the whole camping would have failed. It had to create a sudden burst of infectious energy. Minutes after it aired, Facebook groups started springing up. Youtube activity increased exponentially. And influential bloggers, like Perez Hilton picked it up. The internet was alive with activity, and the more people who saw it, the more they want to share it. A branded YouTube Channel, suitably called, Life's for Sharing was created. On the Channel people could see the dance and learn how to do it for themselves. People were later encouraged to upload their own efforts. Celebrities participated in the dance and was posted on the channels. A regional dance tour, where groups of people spontaneously danced in shopping centers were arranged to hold the hype.
Once it was shared online, people started to copy it. People across the world including different age groups started dancing
Statistics: Dance had over 20 million hits on YouTube. 'Life's for Sharing' became the #2 most subscribed YouTube channel of all time in the UK (Events category) and #22 worldwide (Source: YouTube). The event inspired 68 Facebook groups, largest with over 4,500 members. Over 95,000 people downloaded the film via Bluetooth-enabled digital outdoor screens. This is the most popular Transvision Bluetooth campaign to date.
Result:
·Brand Consideration Increased: Brand tracking research showed an increase in T-Mobile's share of brand consideration, from 15% in 2008 to 17% in 2009, which was more than giant competitors (source: Harris Interactive).Dance almost doubled the number of people actively searching for “T-Mobile” online, from 1.6M in 2008, to 2.2M in 2009.
·Increased Customer Conversion :Even during the recession, the campaign generated a huge increase in retail footfall to T-Mobile stores. Average weekly retail footfall increased to double. The campaign helped to drive up conversion rate as well. More of the people who went into a T-Mobile store actually purchased a contract.
·T-Mobile customers became more loyal: Churn rates of T-Mobile fell as the customers became more loyal. In mobile industry the cost of acquiring a new customer is relatively higher than keeping old. It is therefore significant that churn rates for T-Mobile actually fell as customers became more loyal to the T-Mobile brand over the campaign period.
·Contract sales beat the market: Even when the new T-Mobile contract sales were at a high in value (£30+) than during the same period the previous year. T-Mobile contract sales increased by 49% more than previous year where the market growth rate only 1%.
·Proportion of T-Mobile contract sales by price increased: despite the average revenue per user (ARPU) fell for all mobile networks between 2008 and 2009, T-Mobile’s revenue beat the market.
·Cost per acquisition reduced to more than half: The campaign was not only effective, it was also efficient. The cost to T-Mobile of each new contract customer more than halved from 2008 to Dance in 2009.
Creating a buzz is essential for any business and what can play a better role than Social Media in doing such? It all started with the desire to give people hope in a time when the recession was at its worst and social media took it to the next level. A powerful and wonderful statement about the indomitable spirit of people to overcome adversity was formed when everything else was in a depression mode! Now this is what I call the power of social media with a smart strategy.
