There was a lot of chatter this week about a newly released Gallup Poll that concluded that “social media are not the powerful and persuasive marketing force many companies hoped they would be.” Proponents of the poll believe this is fuel on the fire of those who don’t buy into social media advertising while naysayers point out a number of fallibilities of the study, starting with the fact that the surveys were conducted over a year and half ago. Read on to hear both sides of the story.
Social Media
The Wall Street Journal: Social Media Fail to Live Up to Early Marketing Hype
The Wall Street Journal featured the Gallup poll heavily in its story with an attention-grabbing headline, highlighting Ritz-Carlton as a brand that hasn’t found “success comes with numbers” (which isn’t necessarily untrue).
Adweek: Gallup’s Buzzy Social Media Report Appears ‘Deeply Flawed’
This Adweek article does a good job of disputing the survey and illustrates how hard it can be to get a clear picture of the cause and effect relationship social media has on consumers. One thing is clear: “while social media may have more influence than some Americans realize or will admit, these data show that relatively few consumers consciously take into account what they learn from social media when making purchases.”
Marketing Daily: Consumers Viewing Social As Customer Service Channel
By creating public social media accounts for your brand you open up a new channel for customers to reach out when they have customer service needs. Make sure you have a plan in place for how inquiries will be handled before they start coming in.
Mobile
Advertising Age: The Mobile Strategy Gap (and How to Close Yours)
While this story is speaking specifically about mobile, it’s still relevant to social media as well. Think about the “mobile moments” you can offer to your followers and fans and make sure you are there for them with the right content and engagement when they need it.
Mobile Commerce Daily: Fair trade retailers translate emotional connection on Instagram to sales
When we create great content, we often want to share it on as many of our platforms as we can to make sure all our fans see it. However, the key to forming a strong, lasting bond with our customers is to give them a reason to follow across all channels. Toms and The Little Market have found emotional, engaging ways to make their Instagram channels worth a definite follow for their brand fans.
Adweek: Facebook Says If You Like Video Then You’ll See More of It
Users who regularly watch and interact with Facebook videos in their Newsfeed should expect to see more of the format, while those who don’t will see less. So far, advertisers have had a lot of success with the autoplay videos. Helpful tip: Facebook only counts a video view if a user enables the audio or enables the full-screen option by clicking.
Denver Startup Week
GFM Panels: GFM at Denver Startup Week 2014
Denver Startup Week is on the horizon (Sept. 15-20) and the panel picker is open for anyone and everyone to vote for the panels they’d like to see. GFM has chosen three topics this year – just visit the link above to learn about and vote for our submissions!
New Stories on the GFM blog this week:
Search Engines Give Reputation Problems a Long Shelf-Life
General Motors: Why Euphemisms Don’t Work
Crisis Communication Plan: How To Plan For a Crisis
