ROI Under the Spotlight

Social media seems to have become a buzzword. Most modern marketers would find the question “Do I need a social media strategy?” a no-brainer – as much as the noughties equivalent: “Does my company need a website?”

But what place does such a qualitative, PR-based medium have in the world of Direct Marketing? Any company writing about their latest social media success tends to talk about it in terms of top-line figures: numbers of followers, re-tweets, the number of fans accumulated within X number of hours etc. The success of social media campaigns tends to be measured from the outside, the end result. But why? Because it’s just so difficult to justify how you got there!

However, despite the fact that few marketers seem to be brave enough to utter the terms “ROI” and “social media” in the same sentence, there are platforms emerging which allow the creation and strategic tracking of social network campaigns. One such platform has been developed by the Oxford-based company EngageSciences. The software was developed from two simple premises: the first, based on market research by IBM and Experian Hitwise, is that those who ‘Like’ fan pages on social networks are most likely to do so if they know they’re getting something in return; and secondly, that successful harnessing of social media is achieved by identifying the greatest influencers amongst existing fans. A good campaign will therefore identify and maximise individual channels of potential.

In return for offers and vouchers, the individual is invited to 'Like' a Facebook page, by their friends or by the company, which then subsequently allows the EngageSciences software to track their level of interaction with the fan page and the extent to which they share this activity with their friends. Both of which, of course, vary hugely from user to user, meaning that the most ‘generous’ fans may then be segmented for targeted messaging and offers.

It does seem then that marketers are beginning to harness social media by understanding consumer motivation and embracing the mechanism upon which social networks thrive.

So, are there any other learnings to be taken from this? The day appears to have arrived where a direct marketer is forced to acknowledge the value of earning attention from its customers. ROI is increasingly becoming a reflexive concept: it is no longer the concern solely of the marketer, as customers have a greater range of brands than ever to choose from, each with a similar offering.

From here on there are two routes: the first is increasingly targeted marketing; the product of more and more sophisticated insight. And the second? Attention earned through knowing exactly what your customers will listen to. In an increasingly cluttered marketplace, it’s worth learning a thing or two about the latter.

Sarah Greaney
Analyst

It’s not austerity, it’s intolerance

We live, allegedly, in a world of austerity. It is accepted wisdom that all consumers are wearing hair shirts, spending no money and are as miserable as sin.
No marketing activity can overcome this. Especially on Blue Monday

From where we sit that’s patently not true. Reviewing client results this morning we see clients with 60%, 15% and 30% growth year on year. Consumers will spend, and spend on high ticket products or services. Absolute cost isn’t an issue. Perceived value is.

There isn’t universal austerity, but there is universal intolerance of poor value. And that covers relative value for prices that can be easily bench-marked, or perceived value of less easily bench-marked services.

There are obvious messaging implications of this consumer behaviour, but there are also media implications. Once again this stresses the need for an integrated media campaign to demonstrate value. Broadcast media have a role to engage consumers emotionally and break inertia; print and digital media provide rational support to the value message; and social media provide a comfort blanket of the “wisdom of crowds” reinforcing that buying decision.

That implies higher risks and bigger capital investments. But the rewards are there, even on Blue Monday!

Mike Colling
Managing Director

MC&C 2012 Predictions

Bearing in mind prediction is very difficult, especially about the future; who could have foreseen the demise of the News of the World in such torrid circumstances, it’s still worth a crack.

So here are a few pretty safe 2012 predictions - famous last words! Not surprisingly, it’s going to be a big year for TV. London 2012 Olympics, Paralympics, Euro 2012, and the digital switch over are going to make 2012 a particularly interesting year. Adam Crozier is talking down the revenue uplift but I’d have thought that they will add significantly to ITV’s coffers to enable him to make new investments in programme production. Radio and outdoor will do okay again through the Olympics’ effect although community radio will have a devil of a time surviving, however, press will continue to fall as retail continues to feel the strain. Only the Metro is in for an Olympics windfall possibly in the region of £5m.

One thing that won’t be difficult to predict is that there will a lot of happy people at Facebook. The likely $100bn internet public offering will make 1,000 people into millionaires. Thinking about social media, multi social media networks will become more popular. The improved quality of cameras in mobile phones will make the video and visual communication more compelling than just 140 characters. More significantly there will be greater convergence between social media activity and mobile devices and the need for clients’ web sites to be mobile friendly will move from a ‘nice to have’ to an absolute necessity.

Have a great 2012!

Ian Prager, Planning Director