Image Credit: rlmiceli
In social media strategy sessions, we tend to focus on a few key groups:
- Brand Amabassadors
- Their Networks – Crowdsourcing and the Domino Effect
- Target Market
- Employees
Take a brad such as Apple: they have built a brand based off consumer mentality and loyalty - not revolving around their products. Forget the hard sell – they focus exclusively on their brand ambassadors. John Sculley was quoted in 1997 as to saying, “People talk about technology, but Apple was a marketing company. It was the marketing company of the decade.” Their brand ambassadors ARE the domino effect – they make the employees passionate about the product, and their networks see it when they talk about it without prompting.
Repeat after me: The Apple social model is not an instant solution or band-aid approach. If you don’t have passion for the brand you work for? It won’t fly. Strategy approach must be cultivated specifically for the brands you represent and their reputation.
Do agencies sometimes forget a group that need more attention when it comes to planning social strategy for brands? Perhaps it falls under “their networks” but sometimes these people aren’t socially inclined. It’s that second tier buyer decision. Companies such as Zappos, Southwest and Apple (which recently passed Microsoft as the largest tech company with only 6-10 percent of the market) are able to get away with the “brand ambassador only” mentality. It’s what they were built on. A brand that revolves directly around one guy (look at Apple stats after Steve Jobs left // before he was brought back.)
You only have to read Tony Hsieh’s book to know it’s exactly on point.
The second tier buyer decision can be a spouse, significant other, trusted friend or family member. My dad will be the first to admit that my mom handles balancing the checkbook and paying bills. She makes budgets (don’t I wish that had rubbed off on me.) She also tells my dad when he can’t buy something, even though he’s the one bringing home all the bacon.
Stereotypical Example: A Texan wife probably has a husband with a gun. It is also typical she hates it. So instead of manly ads focused on the primary buyer, why not focus on something that would make the wife feel better? “Protecting the house” mentality would a.) make her feel protected b.) playing into the male ego of being the superhero.
So what do you think? Is it a market we should focus on, at least on specific basis? Should it have a seat at the strategy table? (9 times out of 10, I bet it’s the wife calling your customer service line.)
