A lot of business owners I speak to often are questionable about social media marketing. What I hear the skeptics most say is that:
– They’ve tried it before and it didn’t work for them – It’s not right for their industry
– It’s a passing fad
– They don’t understand it, and so can’t market in it
I usually listen, nod or accept their answer and know exactly where they are coming from. I was once skeptical about social. I had an e-commerce company (Amaze Tea) and would spend money on advertising and sometimes not see a result. Luckily, it didn’t take me long to discover what I had to do with my marketing, and the business turned into a success. I learnt by talking to other business owners there is one thing most marketers and business owners were getting wrong. That is understanding the basic laws which control marketing. Also, knowing social media is a marketing channel like any other. Once understood, marketing on social media becomes so much easier.
Marketing in itself is a game of ‘touch-points’, or at Attention Experts we call it ‘Touch Point Marketing’. The more touch points you score with an audience, the more you will develop front of mind marketing with the consumer. A ‘touch point’ could be defined as:
‘Any point of contact with your brand or service.’
So a person visiting your website is a touch point. Someone receiving an email from you, even if you don’t open it, so long as they see your brand, is a touch point. Someone seeing a bill board with your brand on it, even briefly, is a touch point. An audience seeing your brand or service on social media is a touch point.
Touch point marketing is the key to marketing success
The difference between social media and other marketing channels is of cost and value. Especially, the more traditional channels such as TV/Print/Radio, is that touch points can be done much cheaper. Social media can be much more targeted and create a visual and engaging effect for little cost. Today on Facebook advertising 1000 people can see your advertisement for around $10. With the option of re-marketing to that audience available, it gives us a much greater value. Re-marketing allows us to speed up greater touch points.
How many touch points do you need to create an effect?
Today, we know from observation, it takes around 15-20 touch points with an audience for you to create front of mind marketing. Those 15-20 touch points can done fast if you wish. But creating those 15-20 touch points is key to success in any marketing campaign.
So how does social media help?
Social media offers you not only the ability to enter a very targeted audience through geographic, interests, behaviour and demographic targeting. It also allows you to capture the audiences that have been reaching out to your brand before and re-engage with them. This then allows you to ‘cultivate’ an audience and build brand/service touch points with them.
A cultivation of an audience can continue to happen until you hit the 15-20 brand touch-points, where by you are now front of mind for that audience. From there, promotional offers are a lot easier to sell. Lead generation occurs more naturally and you are able to create a much easier effect, due to a warmer audience.
What we know is if we go to an audience that has touched your brand once or twice, and ask them for a lead or a sale, it is very unlikely to happen. If it does happen it is most likely to not be of high value. If we go to an audience who has touched your brand 10, 11 or 12 times or more and ask them for a lead or sale, it is most likely they would be open to buy. Or if after leads, that they would likely provide their details easier. What’s more is that that sale or lead would be of a much higher quality. They would buy at a higher value point or the lead would be much easier to close business with.
Brands like Coca Cola, Nike and Gillette have being doing this for years. When you see a Coca Cola advertisement on the side of a bus, you are not going to buy a bottle of Coke there and then. Yet, that touch point has created a front of mind advertising point which is very powerful.
Today, most small businesses have the chance to create the same effect via social media. Also, with a much smaller budget. The barrier to entry is much lower and allows a business to have a chance at dominating their space.
If you’ve read to this point, you’re likely very interested in the above and should give us a call for a strategy session. Our number is (02) 8069 9796 (02) 8069 9796 if outside Australia), or message us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/attentionexperts. You can also book a meeting with us via our website atwww.attentionexperts.com – I would be very happy to run through some of the above strategies with you in more detail.
