2. Objectives
•
Explain how social communities enable user
par ticipation and sharing
•
Under stand social networ ks and their primacy
in ter ms of social community
•
Describe how mar keter s use social
communities for br anding and pr omotion
6. Social Activities in
Online Communities
Dir ected communications ar e one-to-one
inter actions on a social networ k between two
user s.
• Two forms of direct communication exist:
• Direct messages
• Instant messages
7. Social Activities in
Online Communities
•
Consumption
communications ar e
passive
communications.
•
For example,
r eading the feeds
other s post.
8. Social Networ king Sites
How do we
interact
with other s
onsocial
media
platfor ms?
We
obser ve,
we lur k,
we mingle,
we chat,
and we
shar e
9. Social Networ king Sites
Status Casting
occur s w hen you
br oadcast updates to
your news feed or
activity str eam.
Activity str eams ar e
the news feeds or
“wall” (as it’s known
in Facebook) social
networ ks use to
establish an ongoing
point of connection
between networ k
nodes
A nudge is a tool for
r eminding someone
to socialize
10. Social Networ king Sites
T he top thr ee
r easons people
shar e content
“sociall y”
1. They find it
interesting
and/or
entertaining
2. They think it
could be helpful
to others
3. To get a laugh.
11. Social Networ king Sites
Typical sharing activities include:
•
•
•
•
•
An activity stream is a tool to share a short piece of content with a network.
Gift applications enable members to present virtual gifts to their friends.
Ongoing sharing means working with partners
to include activities from other sites in an
activity stream on a partnered site.
Uploading functionalities
are applications that make
it easy to share from many
locations.
Embed codes let people
share content where they wish.
12. Characteristics of Social
Networ king Sites
Social networking sites
typically vary in terms of
three important
dimensions:
1.Audience and degree of
specialization
2.The social objects that
mediate the relationships
among members
3.Degree of decentralization or
openness
13. Mar keting A pplications in the
Social Community Zone
Paid Media in Social
Communities
Ear ned Media and
Br and Enga gement
User-Gener ated
Content Campaigns
16. Paid Media in Social
Communities
• There are three variations on social ads:
1. A social engagement ad contains ad creative
(image and text) along with an option to
encourage the viewer to engage with the brand
(e.g., clickable “Like” button).
2. A social context ad includes ad creative, an
engagement device, and personalized referral
content from people in the viewer’s network.
3. Organic social ads are shared on a person’s
activity stream following a brand interaction (such
as liking the brand).
17. Ear ned Media and Br and
Engagement
Ear ned r each (the br eadth and quality of
contact with user s) gained w hen people shar e
positive br and opinions and br anded content
with other s is invaluable because of the
influence attributed to individual,
per sonalized br and endor sements.
Influence posts occur w hen an opinion leader
publishes br and-r elevant content such as a
blog post in social media.
18.
19. User-Gener ated
Content Campaigns
Br ands can seed many for ms of content in
social communities as they tr y to boost
engagement and sharing. One of the most
popular tools is the use of:
User-gener ated content (UGC) campaigns –
these ar e campaigns that of fer a way for
br ands to invite consumer s to enga ge and
inter act w hile they develop shar eable
content.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLTmyAEA7h4&feature=youtu.be
http://artofthetrench.com/
20. Social Presence: Brands
as Relationship Nodes
Br ands may cr eate a br and pr ofile within
selected social networ king communities. In
this way, the br and acts as a node in the
networ k’s social gr aph.
T he fan base is an indicator of the br and ’s
success in establishing a known pr esence
within a community.
Retur n on emotion (conceptuall y) assesses
the extent to w hich a br and has deliver ed a
value in exchange for the emotional
attachment fans have awar ded it.
21. Is T he Brand Ready for
Social Communities?
Brands should ask these questions
before deciding whether social
relationships will work for a specific
brand.
• Is the brand set up for engagement?
• If the brand participates in social media, where
should the brand be?
• How can the brand’s profiles be developed in such
a way as to reflect the brand’s personality?
• If “fan pages” exist among brand loyalists on social
networking sites, how can the brand leverage the
fan sites to better meet its objectives?
• How can the brand integrate its social network
presence into other campaign components?
Editor's Notes
You might think that most of the activity on a network is directed communication, but most users interact only with a very small core of people in their network. Research shows that most people can maintain only around 150 meaningful relationships, online and off—this figure has become known as Dunbar’s number (named after the researcher who first reported this pattern). Although you may “friend” 5,000 people on Facebook, all but roughly 150 of them are relative strangers that only follow your life with limited interest.
As we read status updates and posts from those in our network, we feel that they are communicating with us, even if they posted these updates a while ago. In other words, directed communication is active whereas consumption communication is passive. That’s ambient intimacy in action. But it requires the public sharing of content to work because without shared content, there’s nothing for us to consume.
A recent study of social media users found that 75 percent of people are likely to share content using social media channels. The top three reasons people share content “socially” are because they find it interesting and/or entertaining, they think it could be helpful to others, and to get a laugh. Although the content can be virtually anything you can send in digital form, most people reported sharing family pictures and video, news about family and friends, funny videos, news articles and blog posts, and coupons and discounts.
Finally, sites encourage sharing when they reward participation with reputation indicators. People like to be acknowledged for their contributions. Sites can award top status to those who contribute the best and most. Reputation indicators broadcast these contributions; they include participation levels, labels, collectible achievements and awards (badges), and points. Some sites maintain a leader board to highlight the best participants.
Remember, the social community zone focuses on relationships. By becoming an active participant in these channels, brands can leverage social communities to meet several marketing objectives including promotion and branding, customer service and customer relationship management, and marketing research. How? By advertising within the community space, participating in brand-to-consumer relationships within the chosen communities, and engaging consumers interactively.
Brands earn value in social media when they engage consumers over time (relationship marketing) and when they encourage consumers to interact with the brand and share those interactions with others. Brands stand to benefit from heightened brand loyalty among engaged consumers and a more expansive reach for brand-related messages.
The most frequently used manifestation of CSM is the “create your own ad” contest, which has been used by numerous brands including Frito-Lay, Dove, and Chevy. Sponsors encourage submissions with incentives such as prize money or the chance for the winning entry to be broadcast on television (possibly during high-exposure events such as the Super Bowl and the Oscars). Doritos used this approach with its Crash the Super Bowl campaign.
Doing so increases the opportunities for interactions with customers and prospects and also serves to encourage people to talk about the brand with each other.
When a brand profile launches on social networking sites, the brands exist much as people do on the sites. Friends can interact with the brands; share information, photos, and videos; and participate in two-way communication. As we discussed in Chapter 2, brands may participate as a corporate entity, as one or more people representing the brand, or as a mascot. Whichever the choice, the brand will develop a profile to represent its persona and then should interact in keeping with that profile—like a good actor, it should “stay in character.” Building brand personas strengthen brand personality, differentiate brands from competitors, and set the stage for a perceived relationship. Assuming the brand’s persona is likeable and credible, it can facilitate message internalization (the process by which a consumer adopts a brand belief as his or her own). It is a natural expansion of the trend for brands to create personalities for themselves, both through the use of creative language—including style, imagery, tone, and creative appeals—and music.
