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Having 616 brand pages sounds like overkill.
But this was a reality for Reebok in a 2012 Facebook audit. They managed to trim quite a few, with the help of fan page owners and moderators, but they were still left with over 200 internally-created pages.
Most social media teams won’t have to deal with this high volume of accounts, but the fact remains: Many social marketing teams are taking on more accounts than necessary. In a thoughtful Social Media Week talk this Tuesday, Falcon.io’s senior strategist Casper Vahlgren highlighted the importance of selectiveness, prioritization and consolidation.
Selectiveness: Reducing Reebok’s staggering sprawl
Vahlgren revealed that roughly a thirdof those Reebok accounts were deactivated or closed, including some pages generated externally by fans. And while this was an audit of Facebook pages, we can find such duplication across platforms.
When marketers resist the impulse to be everywhere, the focus can return to long-term brand building. “You don’t necessarily need to shut down profiles, just make a strategic choice around where to allocate resources,” Vahlgren said.
Prioritization: Activating Adidas’ narrow, but intentional scope
Adidas’ corporate strategy included a focus on six cities—London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo—where the brand wanted to over-proportionately grow what they termed “share of mind, share of market, and share of trend.”
Vahlgren noted that Adidas had additional profiles, but these local pages get a proportionately larger share of budget, resources and personnel.
An overarching corporate strategy is reflected in the moves of their social team, from how they’re funded to the output on each channel.
Consolidation: Coca-Cola’s zombie-killing social strategy
While Adidas opted to recalibrate the energy spent on non-priority accounts instead of killing them, Coca-Cola instead chose a different route. Data revealed that half of their 400 brands accounted for just 2% of their total revenue. CEO James Quincey vowed to prioritize their core brands, and discontinue products (and by extension, any social presence) for these “zombie brands.”
The two benefits that Quincey saw in this approach? Freeing up time and bandwidth to “bring stronger innovation to the table,” and “combining the platforms of global and regional brands to connect to local insights.”
It’s better to use the time, energy and resources you do have to focus on creativity and innovation in areas where you’re more likely to succeed. Vahlgren’s a strong proponent of using ad managers like those developed at Facebook and Twitter to help define your focus.
Don’t forget your current darlings
While thinking about killing their darlings—which was the title of this session—Vahlgren encouraged attendees to mind their current darlings. “As you do this, don’t forget the existing community,” he said. “Growth and penetration is critical, but you still need an engaged community—and a happy customer.”
With tools like ad managers and a renewed dedication to exist more intentionally in fewer places, marketers can make their time on each platform count.
“That long-term brand building requires money and resources,” Vahlgren said as he pointed out how such efforts perform better when compared to short-term sales activations.