Neworld, Great relationships build great brands

Just why is content so important in social media marketing? To identify this we need to understand the role of traditional communications, that of TV, print and radio, against social media.

The average European consumer is bombarded with 500 marketing communications per day. This high level of messages has resulted in a subconscious filtration system called ‘avoidance strategies’. In some studies as little as 5% of the marketing communications pass the filtration process, that’s just 25 messages breaking through. Those studies have been conducted in traditional media, where the consumer doesn’t have a huge say in what products are marketed to them. I mean, you don’t choose what adverts you wish to see on TV. Why do you think that is? One, the technology isn’t there, and two, these adverts are the ‘hard sell’, their purpose is to promote a brand. These constant promotions will get irritating after a while won’t they?

In social media the customer has control over what is marketed to them. If Coke wish to market to me on Facebook, they will have to wait until I decide to go to their page and then decide that I ‘like’ Coke. Then I will receive their marketing communications. Essentially what I have said to Coke is ‘market to me’ – that I want to receive their marketing communications. That’s a far cry from the bleak picture painted in the first paragraph of message bombardment and subconscious filtration.

But now that Coke have me they have to be more clever about how they approach their marketing. After all if its one constant stream of self-promotion it’s going to get irritating, fast! Now replace that self promoting with interesting content and I might just stay a fan of Coke. If it’s really good I might share it, or tell my friends about it – like the time another Coke fan posted a tattoo of a Coke can they had gotten on their arm! It was so bizarre I knew it was worth telling my friends about.

So why is good content important?
1. First, good content attracts new fans, followers or subscribers
2. Good content gets shared amongst friends, this can help drive traffic to your social media channels.
3. Some of this new traffic will also translate into new fans, followers or subscribers – make sure you know what to do with them then
4. Your fans have already agreed to receive your social media marketing messages. They have agreed to give your brand time out of their day, ahead of the 499 other brands competing for their attention each day – make sure you make it worth their while.          5. Don’t forget about the SEO benefits!