‘Brand segmentation focuses not on who will buy but on how many will buy?!’
Brands, nowadays, are promoted more through social media, such as Facebook and Twitter and promotion of brands through print, visual and audio media are finding less favor with marketers nowadays. There is no doubt that these social media platforms are proven marketing channels now, but if the tactics or tools are not taken into consideration, then it definitely can turn things bad!
One of the extensively used social media platforms by marketers nowadays is the Facebook and there are certain things which need to be considered by marketers before using this platform for carrying out marketing activities.
Let’s have a look on some facts that need consideration while using this digital medium:
- Facebook is not treated as a brand enhancer – As a social networking forum, this is one platform where people and brands come together from any and every part of the globe, but unfortunately very less is discussed here regarding how and what actually enhances the brands. The number of ‘likes’ depicts if it’s the customer’s favorite or least preferred one. Sadly, the very purpose and essence of a social media is lost if there is less of interactions.
- Content lost, opportunity lost- The marketers usually try to increase the ‘Like’ counts for the brands but barely do they realize that every ‘like’ of a customer is a question put to them asking “Hey your product sounds interesting, but could you tell us more?”. This is one chance the marketers are waiting for but ironically their replies carry everything except their brand!!
- The demographics and psychographics are all right – Most brands target persons belonging to 18-35 age group and luckily most users of Facebook too belong to this group. Facebook, as we know it, allows us to assess the overall personality and lifestyle aspects of the person. In spite of these clear demographic segments, marketers still feel Facebook is not the medium for their brands! Time for them to think again!
- Just-a-click-away- This is one misconception marketers feel the customer is likely to face i.e. Is the brand within reach? Well, Facebook was not created for this purpose, but as a social media tool, it is definitely bringing the customers closer to the brands. The marketers however, with adequate and proper planning, can also get the products to its customers. Their reply to these skeptic customers ought to be “Everything is now a Click away”.
- “What’s next?”- The increasing number of ‘Likes’ for your brand may be explained by your agency as ‘High rating by fans’. But as a marketer, you should interpret it like, ‘are they really fans of our brand?!’, ‘So, how is it good for us?’, ‘What next?’
Facebook is fast becoming unavoidable in this era of Marketing and Brand segmentation. However, the success on how well the brands sell is definitely the call for any marketer and not the media. What to post and what not to are yet to be studied and it will take time for marketers to understand this phenomenon and till then experiments will continue.
