Social Marketing Do's And Don'ts

SAN FRANCISCO It's a pretty safe bet that all marketers now know engaging in social media can be a gamble. But the question is whether opting out is really a choice.By most accounts, one of the smartest moves a marketer can make is to solicit, and interact with, consumers' comments and critiques about their brands. What they learn from these modernized focus groups can lead to new products, inspire new positionings and inform marketing programs. Besides, public commentary will happen with or without them—on blogs, in forums and even in readers' comments on news sites. So if marketers don't grab a mitt and get on the field, they'll be left on the bench watching the game go on without them.With that in mind, a number of marketers have ventured into social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn. But while some were warmly welcomed, others, including Wal-Mart and McDonald's, have gotten burned. One company that has met with success is Target Stores, the retailer that positions itself as a hip, mod brand for the masses. For the back-to-school season this year, Target made its first foray into social networking by sponsoring a page on Facebook, a site rich in college students. (Half of Facebook's 46 million members who logged on in the last month were in college, according the company.) Its already strong brand identity with younger consumers and a Facebook page in tune with its brand values of design and affordability helped make its initiative a positive experience. (Its back-to-school campaigns in their entirety helped lift sales 6.1 percent in August 2007 compared to August 2006, per the National Retail Federation.) In preparation for the site's launch—it ran from mid-July through Oct. 1—Target rejiggered its marketing approach from storytelling to, well, party planning. "Our attitude had to be that we were taking advantage of an environment that already exists; we aren't there so much to tell a story, but to put on a party, giving the students a platform for social interaction," says Mauro Cavalletti, cd at AKQA, which produced the site. He adds that any content provided by a marketer in such a setting "needs to work as social currency. ... Whatever story there is, it's mostly told by the users, not by the brand."Facebook vp of media sales Mike Murphy says this insider college orientation means the site has a community wary of advertisers, "very generous with their opinions, [and this group] will act on those opinions." AKQA art directors and interactive designers visited Facebook and other social networks at least once a day. According to Jeremiah Owyang, a Forrester Research analyst who specializes in social computing, all brands should research the conversation and community before jumping in: "Just like going to a cocktail party, the savvy attendee will know how to dress and won't jump into any conversations before understanding the context."Target then focused on the finding that college is a period of anxiety and worry for students, who are moving into small, boxy rooms, often with strangers. As a result, Target's Facebook page was given the theme of "Dorm Survival Guide." "It was all about the box," says Charlie Taylor, group account director at AKQA, referring to the small rooms. Attention was paid of course to essentials such as comforters, pillowcases and furniture, but the real focus, Taylor notes, was offering aid. Along with member posts and discussion groups, the site gave students design advice, recipes for the odd ingredients likely to be in their refrigerators and a personality test tied to their furniture. The page initially included video and photos of dorm rooms designed by roster shop Wieden + Kennedy, later replaced by photos of members' actual dorm rooms. The site also helped members upload and swap pictures of their homes away from home.Target also wanted to communicate in the students' vernacular, "not in Targetspeak," Taylor adds. For example, it chose not to use the TV campaign's tagline "Hello, Goodbuy" on the site. Instead, words such as "awesome" were used with some frequency. The site included a logo and a subtle Target banner (that had much white space in between "Target" and "sponsored"). By Sept. 31, it had attracted 7,176 members, 409 photos, 483 posts and hosted 37 discussion groups. Most of the feedback was positive and discussed good deals to be had in Target's brick-and-mortar stores, from which had coffee shops to which had shorter lines, and gave kudos to the dollar bins of discounted merchandise. One posting read: "I go to Target to buy everything" and then goes on to list specifics, like the "$5 dvd wall" and "useful baking stuff right after valentines day ... 75% off just because it was pink and red!"Facebook is still pristine territory when it comes to marketing, says Drew Neisser, CEO of Renegade, a youth marketing agency, and its users are "not looking forward to it getting too junked up"—which, he adds, is "inevitable." A brand has to fit in if it wants to be accepted there, he explains. "Target's tips about decking out your dorm totally fits with the brand perception of bringing design to the masses for low prices, so the students didn't reject it," he says. To help create this acceptance, Target, which had an estimated $500,000 budget that included the sponsored page and banner ads placed elsewhere on Facebook, dialed down its online sales pitch. The ads that appeared elsewhere on Facebook, for instance, linked to Target's Facebook page, not its e-commerce site. Discounts and promotions were also kept off the sponsored page. "We learned that in this social environment we had to talk to people first, before trying to sell anything," Taylor says.As Target and AKQA watched patterns of posts and page views, they also saw that the online social network has an ecosystem, in the same way that any group of humans has its internal organization. In a social network, there are people who join to grab information, those who like to distribute material to others, those who want to simply look around and those who want to shape the activity in the group, says Cavalletti. By watching the discussion threads, Target could identify the people who tended to serve as mentors for future marketing efforts.The brand also learned that such networks are not the ideal place for its normally bold and stylish presentation. "Visual cues needed to show students that Target was respectful it was in the Facebook environment," says Cavalletti. In Target's traditional ads, "people expect to see design and polish, but on a social network the ... site has to reflect the visual language of its members," he says. Taylor says they were surprised by how quickly the members opened up to each other. When Nathan Crain from Arkansas Tech University posted a video tour of his Vegas-style dorm room (packed with playing card decorations and casino memorabilia), many users told him they loved his "crazy" taste, some asked where he found the time and a few wondered if he wasn't a little too obsessed with gambling. Target would not comment on its Facebook initiative. A DIFFERENT STORYNot all marketers have had positive results with their forays into social networking. One retailer being bruised by Facebook members is Wal-Mart, known for its inexpensive wares, not trendy styles. The company has had a mixed experience in large part because while people shop there, many are put off by its corporate policies—e.g., its anti-union stance and commitment to building stores where local business could be hurt as a result. Putting themselves in a forum open to criticism merely opens the floodgates, say experts. And while traditional one-way marketing can avoid addressing the company's controversial nature, social marketing can't. The company's back-to-school Facebook page, "Roommate Style Match," created with Edelman, was launched Aug. 6 and runs through Oct. 31. Its goal, says Wal-Mart representative Karen Burk McDevitt, is "to connect college students with a variety of dorm-related products and information."The page does not, like Target, have a discussion board. Instead, comments are restricted to the site's "Wall Posts." And rather than mention the company's bargains and goods, many people—in fact, more than half who have posted—criticize the company's labor practices and corporate reputation. One posting reads: "Wal-Mart is toxic to communities and livelihoods." Another notes: "We don't support this company's use of a space for social networking to further horrendous business practices." Bloggers noticed the flood of anti-Wal-Mart posts on Facebook in late August and added their voices to the controversy—only adding to existing conversations on the Web about Wal-Mart's practices. In addition to creating a page where people can bemoan company policies, Wal-Mart also seems to have strayed from its core values."Wal-Mart is known for discounts, not style," says Renegade's Neisser. "They are stepping away from their core brand truth and trying to play in foreign waters. Students immediately perceived the inauthenticity of Wal-Mart trying to give fashion/style/taste advice and called them out on it."Forrester analyst Owyang says that the issue has to do with strategy. "Wal-Mart's strategy appears to be more of an interactive Web design, which is evident because it isn't using the discussion forum. Target is involving students to shape and be part of the group."Asked why the forum section is not being used, Wal-Mart's rep explains, "The Wall was the opportunity we made available for these online discussions."(Wal-Mart sales were up 3.1 percent in August 2007 over August 2006, per the National Retail Federation.)This is Wal-Mart and Edelman's third attempt at social-network marketing. Last year, a blog supposedly written by two independent consumers turned out to be backed by Edelman on behalf of Wal-Mart. The retailer then tried to create a social network "The Hub," but it closed after 10 weeks due to lack of participation.So was it surprising to the company, then, that its third try is receiving so much criticism?"We recognize that we're facilitating a live conversation and we know that in any conversation, especially one happening online, there will be some positive posts and some not so favorable. We welcome them all," says Burk. She notes that at least 2,000 members have participated in the site's roommate quiz and other dorm-related features. Company rep Linda Blakley posted on the site that Wal-Mart would continue to support the online posts. Some have found it commendable that Wal-Mart has kept the postings up. One blogger said Wal-Mart "is being brave to allow the online debate to continue." Another, posted on a Businessweek blog Aug. 30, wrote, "I'm glad to see Wal-Mart letting this play out naturally. ... It's pretty uncommon for these things not to be censored, denied, or covered up."McDonald's is another company that has been bruised by social networking. Its career recruitment-sponsored page on Facebook, McCareers, was put on the site in mid-summer. Not too long after its launch, it was filled with negative comments about the company and its employees. The brand subsequently turned off the posts and discussions.While sponsors can't control what's posted on their pages, they "have the option of turning the discussion on or off," notes Facebook's Murphy. "However, we advise brands to keep discussions going because the comments give brands an opportunity to learn about consumer concerns and a forum for telling consumers what they are going to do about those concerns."Despite the varying degrees of success with social marketing, experts say it's a difficult avenue to ignore. For forward-thinking companies "the worst thing is to be perceived as irrelevant," says Cavaletti, who explains that an affiliation with a social network lets a brand show it understands its customers as well as provide a forum to offer solutions. "The problem with becoming irrelevant is that by the time you realized what happened, it's too late."

Brand Marketing

Social Marketing Do's And Don'ts

Joan Voight

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Joan Voight