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PLEASE BE AWARE: This is an old article, and while we think there are still nuggets of good advice included here, it may be out of date. Things move very quickly in the world of Digital Marketing, Lead Generation and Conversion Rate Optimisation - so please see our latest news for the most recent advice on how to get more out of your website and online marketing.
Here’s a really great example that might give you a little inspiration for your own Friday afternoon social media marketing push.
Me again! I spoke a couple of weeks ago about social media for business and how by having a clear strategy, your business can really benefit from spending time in the right places online.
Continuing this series, I’d like to share an example of a small but clever trick a brand I follow used to convert me.
Since turning Vegan (don’t judge me!), I found that Veganism really is its own little community online. In fact it’s unlike any other virtual network that I’ve come across.
People share recipes, pictures of their delicious meals, and tips on what restaurants are good for Vegans eating out – pretty much any support, advice or companionship you could want. The other key thing here is influence. Online Vegans are constantly advocating certain brands and products with a very niche, like-minded group of buyers who, crucially, often feel they aren’t well catered for. Posts such as “Anyone tried the Lime Salsa Chickpea & Cumin Tortilla Scoops from M&S? Yum! AND they’re Vegan!” are pretty commonplace. Cynics may argue that the forums, Facebook groups and tweets have been seeded by brand ambassadors and marketeers, but I actually don’t think that’s the case in the Vegan community, not on the whole anyway.
According to Nielsen’s most recent Global Trust in Advertising Survey, friend-to-friend sharing is the most trusted form of marketing, followed by online consumer reviews. The success of bloggers like Zoella and Rumi Neely is testament to that – they’ve made careers from being people’s ‘online friend’ whose opinions consumers trust
It’s this trust and sense of community that marketers can tap into with great effect.
On Facebook, I follow an initiative called Veganuary. They’re regularly posting things I’m interested in and I actively follow what they’re talking about. A few weeks ago, Veganuary posted a small giveaway, in conjunction with another Vegan-friendly company – That Protein.
Here’s the post.
See what they’ve done? Clever isn’t it? And participation is really easy and unobtrusive all for the cost of a few packs of powder!
As well as connecting with potential new customers and gaining followers, people are likely to continue to purchase the product if they have a good experience with it. Then, particularly in this example, they’ll recommend to friends, on and offline.
It all goes back to what I was talking about in my first post in this series – where do your markets hang out? Be there too. And make sure they know you’re hanging out there too!
That Protein worked out that the online Vegan community is tight and relies heavily on tips and personal endorsements from each other. By tapping into that, they could potentially connect with a mass of people who are their exact target audience.
The important thing to remember here though is that people aren’t silly. If you’re pretending to be something you aren’t, consumers can spot it a mile off. Be true to your brand values.
If you’re smart enough to successfully gain followers on your pages, from social media marketing, make sure you don’t lose them. Keep updating your page with interesting, useful information that are super relevant to your online community.
That’s it from me for now; I will continue this series with a post all about classic social media faux-pas’ and gaffes!
Happy Friday!!
Es. x
