Social as a Proxy for Brand Strength
SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS IS AN OUTCOME OF BRANDING
Follower numbers are a reflection of overall brand AND sales scale. The brands with the largest number of fans on Weibo/WeChat are also (generally) the brands with most awareness. As a result, most companies should be focused more on expanding awareness as KPI - less on follower count. Brands with very high levels of existing awareness should focus more on engagement.
The aim should be building better brands. It’s not simply getting more followers.
The Optimal Path has Shifted Away from Fan/Follower Count
A subtle change in the role of social marketing became more evident in 2017. In the past, brands have focused on fan/follower count as the singular measure of social performance. The thinking was, that these followers, would, in turn become customers. Therefore brands were spending money to attract followers on social …and then working to convert those followers from social to ecommerce (sales). While this flow from awareness - social (engagement) - sales can be effective, it is not the optimal path for most brands.
Brands should be focused more on generating awareness (reach) on social, using that attention to convert directly to sales.
Social plays three important roles; (1)as platform to launch new awareness efforts (eg. viral videos, KOL collaborations…), ...(2)as hub for audiences who know/love the brand (engagement), and (3)as a launchpad for brands to penetrate important interest segments (allowing the brand to expand reach to new audience segments with purpose-built content).
Build reach and engagement with the right audiences, and fans will follow.
RETHINKING THE ROLE OF SOCIAL
Given this shift, the optimal path for most brands operating on social is:
Build reach/awareness with promoted posts/KOLs
Direct attention from promotions, toward ecommerce channels (Tmall)
Convert interest from customers to official social channels
Keep loyal audiences engaged, informed on official social channels
Use loyalists (& quality interest-based content) to drive growth into new interest segments
The cycle is Build Reach - Convert to Sales - Consolidate on Social. With each subsequent wave of growth, reach (views, impressions) matter more than engagement.
Fan count is the outcome of comprehensive brand performance & sales, it’s not the proximate goal.
Brands who are most effective on social media will have two types of content; (1)content designed for growth in reach/awareness into new interest groups (content that gets shared, yielding high views/impressions), and (2)content created to score high with loyal followers (yielding high engagement numbers). Overall measurement of success on social ought to be a less a function of total follower count …and more a calculation of reach x engagement per month.
ENGAGEMENT vs REACH
All brands should be planning a mix of engagement and reach content in order to (1)expand awareness, (2)retain audiences, and (3)ultimately yield WOM growth. For brands at early stages of growth - with limited follower numbers - there should be a higher priority given to content which generates reach/awareness. Conversely, companies with high brand awareness (and high reputation), should shift the focus more towards engagement focused efforts.
