My Designer Blog

Being Social: Better Than Free Advertising

The success of any brand strongly depends on how well people familiarise with it.  An average consumer comes across hundreds of advertisements each day through different forms of media including television, radio, newspapers and many internet websites.  However, the ones that appeal to someone’s needs, interests, imagination, thinking, behavior, and/or lifestyle tend to be the most effective in terms on gaining new customers.  At the end of the day, an individual remembers only few advertisements out of the major chunk that he comes across on that particular day.  Although  the International Geological Congress (IGC) does not have a particular product to sell, the IGC are still in the business of promoting the conference where social media strategies will be equally effective.

There are several businesses that consider social media as an expense rather than an investment. Conventional firms often stick to the traditional advertising vehicles and are reluctant to use social media tools, which is not a desirable move today. No doubt traditional mediums are important, but the growing significance of social media just cannot be ignored. It needs to be included while designing an integrated marketing plan.

As an added measure of effectiveness on a broader scale, it would be beneficial for the IGC to create social media profiles on a variety of networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. Currently Twitter averages 50 million tweets per day, which is evidence of society’s ability to effectively use this micro-blogging tool.  The diagram below shows the effect and stages of social media, from initiating brand awareness to the brand becoming popular.

Even if a follower/friend doesn’t currently use the brand, or in IGC‘s case, have an interest in Geological Science, scanning it every day on Twitter or Facebook simply reminds the viewer that it exists. This could eventually prove valuable if/when that individual or someone he/she knows happens to be looking for such a community.  As the IGC is targeting a very niche demographic, it is in their best interest to promote on as many networks as possible to ensure the greatest spread of interest.

Similar companies to the IGC that have already implemented the social media strategy discussed in this post include the DEMO Conference and the JavaOne Conference.  The JavaOne Conference Facebook Page has been quite successful with over 10,000 ‘likes’ and 198 have ‘talked about this’ on Facebook.  Looking through past posts, the JavaOne Conference Facebook page is updated at least 3 times a day to ensure the brand’s consistency and integrity.

However, If a company is struggling to generate consumer interest, Facebook Adverts is a tool advertising outlet as the company can specifically target any demographic.  People can be targeted by their location, gender, interests (what other pages/companies they like), relationship status, language, education and work history.

The below video highlights the power that social media has on a enterprise, which is full of amazing facts!

Comments (9)

  1. S.L

    You made a really good point about scanning adverts for business’ even if you don’t need them at the actual time. One day, you might or someone else might and then you can help them out without having to lift a finger really. And the diagram was helpful for people like me who don’t always understand your jargon about ‘DEMO conference’ and things!

    Well done! :)

  2. Joshua Whysall

    Very nice blog post. It is extremely well write.

    I totally agree with you about companies benefiting from social network sites. Companies and organisations just don’t understand how beneficial social network sites are to their company.

    • Nicholas Burge

      Thanks Josh!!
      I’m glad people are realising the benefits of social networks. I am just worried about companies run by stubborn older men who cannot deal with change… =/

  3. Anban

    Great Post Nicholas

    You makes some great points on Brand Awareness on how social networks with there large follower base are currently the best way to get your brand out there to been seen. Its a pity that some people see at as expense even though most social networking sites are the main way of advertising in this modern day .Maybe they will think out of box and join this phenomenon as it will only work in there favor in the long run

    • Nicholas Burge

      Hi Anban,
      So true! the only expense is the time invested in starting up and maintaining the profiles

  4. Caitlin Hess

    Hey Nicholas,

    Great Post! Definitely agree with the advertising – apparently we see at least 300 advertisements per day… I can’t even remember 5 of them! I think its a great idea to get people’s attention even if they aren’t fully interested in that particular topic, as you said – someone they know or in the future they may be. Great idea. :)

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