2013 Social Media Marketing Outlook

Social Media Marketing in Korea

 
Let’s look back to the flow of social media marketing in the year of 2012 and figure out what is the best approach and which direction we should take for the 2013 social media marketing strategy.

In 2012, companies have sought to magnify their Brand Engagement and induce customer participation through the blogs, twitter, facebook pages that they started.

First of all, they redefined the characteristics of each social media’s channels, their function as media, their role as communication-with-the-customer, and constructed a Social Platform to ensure a synergy effect through connecting each channel and strengthening that connection through complementary cooperation and linkages. Especially, company blogs have been repositioned as Social Hubs that tell stories and communicate contents, twitters have been linked to send out that message, and facebook utilized as a communication channel with customers. Moreover, differentiated social media such as Flickr, Youtube, Slideshre, and Pinterest have been linked to maximize the synergy effect as well.

If the focus of 2012 was on connecting the Social Platform and strengthening the synergy effect through an integration of social media channels, 2013 will be the year of strengthening the marketing strategy from the established integrated marketing communication.

Social media, based on its three frameworks of customer, channel, and communication, should provide contents that the public can identify and relate to, construct a linkage between the existing social media channels and the online/offline customer contact channels, and organize a ‘integrated marketing communication strategy’ that redefines customers by their participation rate and communicate with them accordingly in order to build a lasting relationship.

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First, social media management needs to be made efficient, marketing communication-wise. If social media was more of a channel to bring in new customers until now, it is time to reinforce the focus on establishing the relationship and continuing various contacts with procured customers. Instead of utilizing outside sources to get new customers, it is much more efficient to elicit voluntary participation of the loyal social media fans and connect this to new customers and new visits.

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Second, firms should deploy a channel mix strategy that connects the inside and outside customers. Instead of limiting itself to Facebook and Twitter, we should focus on realizing a Social Channel Mix strategy by creating a linkage between social media channels like Youtube, Kakaotalk, and Pinterest and furthermore, between social media and the established offline customer contacts.

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Third, we need to utilize Co-Creation and Curation strategy that invites customers to actively participate in content creation and marketing communication. Companies need to move away from producing and promoting all of their contents on their own and promote customer participation and a voluntary, mouth-to-mouth marketing communication.

The following is a good example initiated by the “International Book Week” postings on twitter and Facebook. The content spread to a point where even domestic publishers and book-related social media pages began to post things that encourage more participation in the event.

“It’s the International Book Week. The rules are as follows. Pick up a book that is nearest to you, and turn to page 52. Post the 5th sentence onto your ‘Status.’ Do not state the title of the book, and copy and paste these rules onto your status as well.”

This was a good example of Co-creation in which people voluntarily participated, posted statuses about books, and used social media as a way to spread the word, even though the International Book Week was not well established event, an event hosted by neither an official international organization nor the government.

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Fourth, we need to utilize the gamification method in order to increase customer participation and brand experience. By applying game-like missions, rankings, and prizes to social media services and campaigns, companies will be able to keep a lasting relationship with their customers who enjoy and experience the brand while they participate.

NIKE Mexico set up a bidding page on Facebook named “Bid Your Sweat,” enabling customers to buy their favorite NIKE items through bids. The bidding price, though, was not in cash but mileage that would accumulate for every mile that you run with NIKE plus during the 15-day campaign. And adding to the fun and excitement, they displayed the rankings so that more competition would kick in and customers would continue to participate. Not only did the gamification method on Facebook fans provide a differentiated brand experience of NIKE plus, but it also initiated voluntary participation and active exchanges among them.

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Lastly, a LOSOMO(Local, Social, Mobile) strategy is needed to link and communicate with the customer on a real-time basis. Because the center of online communication has shifted from PC to mobile with the development of smartphones, companies have to secure the infrastructure that will build a real-time relationship with knowledge of the customers’ current whereabouts in any place, at any time.

Toyota has recently come up with a Social App service called “Social Drive,” in order to build a connection with the young people of 20-39 who do not really possess much interest in cars, and raise awareness on Aqua, their 2nd generation of Hybrid cars. When you put in your smartphone to the driver’s seat phone holder and turn on the application, a tweet will be sent out at every landmark you pass as you drive. “Social Drive” enhances overall brand experience by playing a role as connecting channel for offline experience of driving a car with online communication.

Charles Darwin said that ‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change,’ emphasizing change and adaptation. To a company, 2013 will be a year that will recognize new perspective and find Strategic inflection points, changing and adapting to social media.

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