Der Rest der Welt - Tim Ringel

Even if SMM (Social Media Marketing) is not as big in Europe as it already is in the US, everybody is talking about it. I really pay my respect to every Brand Manager who is open enough to start using Social Media for his Brand already. Very often the main problem is that Brand Managers and e-Commerce Manager don’t know how to use SMM in the right way. SMM offers a very thin line for each Brand to either screw it up or be very successfull. Of course you can find a lot of material already about how to setup a good SMM approach - but all these examples are from the US. Nevertheless they are great but very often not so easy to transfer to Europe.

TOP 6 reasons why listening can be more important for your Brand that anything else in SMM

1.) Social Media is emotional - please keep your own relationships in mind - friends, family or even your partner. If you deal with individuals on a face to face base - everything can be taken personal or emotional. Thats why in chats emo’s were invented - to show emotions and understand them. The internet can be pretty unpersonal but spreading information into a social network is a personal matter.

2.) Social Media is a response channel you should not underestimate. The smartest way to use Social Media Networks like Twitter or Facebook is to listen to the crowed first. It’s not unusual that TV Ad’s or political speeches are discussed live in Twitter and on other Networks. So Social Media in the first step is a response channel and that needs to be understood. By searching for your own Brand and or brand related terms as well as product related terms you will be able to learn a lot about what your consumers think, like and whats moving them right now.

3.) Social Networks are about Networking, not about shopping. Of course with more than 200 Million Facebook user worldwide will some of them have the idea of buying a product online in the next couple of hours. But - nobody how is activly using his social network rightnow wants is chatting with their partner, friend or family because they want you to push any kind of AD on their screen. Meaning - Advertising in Social Media is a matter of timing.

4.) Social Media can have a hugh impact on your Brand. Lets say your Brand is a online only brand. Lets also say your target audience is somewhat between 18 and 35 years old. Wow - you just qualified for a perfect Social Media Brand. By placing your Brand and Products in the right way and the right moment in Social Media, you can greate a hugh impact on positioning your Brand in your target audience. By “right way” I’m not talking about running AD’s in Facebook - but im talking about beeing available for your audience. By “right moment” I’m not talking about pushing your product into the social network groups but further more by reacting in realtime on requests and by following discussions about your Brand and/or product.

5.) Identify yourself with Social Media. The worst in placing a Brand throu Social Media is doing it annonymus or try to do it as a fake consumer. You need to understand that Social Communities are based on tousands and tousands of people how are sometimes very very nerdy and will figure fake things out quicker than you can imagine. Therefore be straight with your audience. Be open about you beeing your Brand and manage expectations in beeing clear about what you can offer or how you can help your consumers. The moment you hide and/or fake anything about your approach in Social Media - you can greate THE BUZZ but it will most probably run against you and not help you positioning in a good way.

6.) Social Networks are a realtime thing. If you try to create a strategy for your social media approach - thats fine but you will have to keep in mind that Social Media is a realtime channel in terms of responseand of course lifetime of what you communicate.

Want to know more … stay tuned …

Tim

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