Health-conscious Consumers
As more consumers start to seek healthier lifestyles, healthy products are now entering mainstream outlets. Yet transparency is paramount.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Why ‘less’ can be ‘more’ when it comes to social media marketing
By our News Team | 2021
Oversaturating social media with brand content across many channels may cause your audiences to skip content or ‘unfollow’ you.
There’s no doubt that social media is an essential component of almost all business-to-consumer marketing and communications strategies across Africa. The question, though, is: How many social media channels are enough to achieve your objectives?
A recent study by international social media management platform Hootsuite found that oversaturating social media with brand content – especially repeated content – across many channels causes audiences to skip content or unfollow.
This is not good news for marketing professionals, who go to great effort and cost to acquire social media followers in the first place.
“It all begins with understanding your audience and the spaces they occupy”, said Desirée Gullan, Executive Creative Director of African-based communications agency, G&G Digital.
“Then you can craft value-adding content that speaks to your audiences in the channels they love. Doing so allows you to have a trusted voice on social media, as opposed to bombarding your target audience with generic content everywhere.”
What to consider when selecting channels
According to Gullan, the following are the five key aspects to consider when selecting social media channels:
1. Who uses this channel and what are they using it for?
Is it an important channel for your target personas?
What conversations are going on here?
What content type works best?
2. Will this channel help you achieve your objectives?
Why does it make sense for your business or brand to use this channel?
What goals will you pursue through your activities here?
3. Does the channel align with your content mission?
Will your content be viewed as unique and valuable, or will the community find it intrusive or irrelevant?
Have your competitors established a strong presence?
Could you lead the conversation on this channel for your brand’s positioning?
4. What results do you want to achieve?
What should you be asking followers to do after engaging with your content – share, comment, visit, subscribe or shop?
Is the community likely to take an action?
Do you have the right metrics, monitoring and KPIs to measure success?
What kinds of content work best on this platform?
Is your content strategy relevant to this audience?
“Talk to your audience, not at them,” Gullan emphasises. “People trust brands that give back; whether you’re providing valuable information, entertaining, sharing news, or simply providing a safe place where they can be with other people going through similar experiences.”
Retail Strategy
More than half of consumers say they are giving more thought to the social and environmental impact of their purchases before they buy.
Data Protection
Latest penalty means that embattled Meta has been fined around US$1-billion by the European Union since September last year.
Marketing Trends
Almost all marketing respondents to a Warc survey say the impact of the recession is affecting their planning.
Black Friday
In-store purchasing remains notably more popular than online shopping, but with virtual card usage on the rise.
The Internet
Online users in almost every country surveyed want better control over how their personal data is collected, used and sold.
Advertising Spending
But the silver lining is that October outperformed all other months so far in 2022. Digital, OOH and newspapers are among categories that grew.
Consumer Research
We’re so worried that the people we’re buying gifts for will be offended by our present, that we overspend or get them what they don’t want.
Brand Acquisitions
Study finds brand acquisitions may not work out as planned, as consumer perceptions of the brand become tainted. But this can be mitigated.
Supply Chain
Consumer-packaged goods industry in Africa is being ‘systematically transformed’ by Ramani’s ‘huge ambition’, investor says.
Executive Appointments
Zayd Abrahams joins from banking group FNB, where he currently leads marketing for the Personal Banking and Private Banking segments.