Online Media

Here are some questions I answered recently on Online Media.

1. What are the usual benefits for a company who decide to go into online and social advertising?

The benefits might be manyfold or might not be there at first. It is like letting the piggy or a nice cat out the sack. Some companies are being flooded with very negative customer reviews when they start, some will have a nice surprise and most will see that a lot of people don't really care that much about their brand.

One has to understand, that online and social media is nothing new and there are a lot of misconceptions around. The best way to approach online/social media is to think of electricity. It is everywhere we go, whenever there is a button, there is electricity involved. Online media is the same thing, it is having a conversation, being connected. A global web of always being connectedness has been created and that enables us to get in touch faster and with the right people.

If you are a SME, then using online media for finding prospects, marketing, branding, R&D etc is a must, it is the cheapest and most productive way out there for most, of course if you are selling in a country with developed infrastructure. In many countries in the world, it would make more sense to have have communication through cellphones rather than bulky websites.

Some benefits for a SME:

1. Instant access to customer thoughts, targeting.
2. Easier to keep customer always in focus and instant feedback on products/services.
3. Easier to build long-lasting relationships.
4. Building a brand, what used to cost millions through traditional channels.

For enterprises, it is somewhat the same, somewhat different. Big companies have scale and buying power, which will possibly lead to better campaigns and better positioning.

The benefits and potential are limitless. Initially, electricity was meant to light only bulbs.


2. What is the usual return on investment (ROI) for companies taking this step?

I would ask in return, how do you calculate ROI for electricity? or How do you calculate ROI for 1 phone call made?

It is the same answer, you can go look for the return on every step you take but it would be foolish. ROI has become a cliche word for people who don't get the concept of basic communication and are looking for proof that this "new thing" is worth my time. The theory still remains the same as known before, as we are all humans:

1. You have your short term goals for a campaign for example, getting a certain number of reach and awareness. And this can be measured easily, by number of visitors on site, downloads, subscriptions etc.

Then...

2. You have your long term goals for the company and where you see it standing in years to come. You see the picture of you and a horde of busy people in a designer office and a reputable brand. This cannot be measured easily. Sure, you can set numeric goals to have 10 more people in the office for 2020, but that is not wise, as it is limiting in How, but not answering Why. Underlying fact here is, that you will never know if the guy you just had lunch with, will have a car accident the next day or be your client in a month.

When building a brand online, the wisest is to first start listening your audience, then evaluate on what you could contribute to the conversation, be bold and execute more than planned. The only metrics you need to know is your revenue, did we do the right things last month(last year) to increase our revenue or not.

3. Are there any risk/threats to be aware of when entering the online media? In which ways can it damage a brand?

I personally think, that brands will not get damaged. If they start online and see the piggy runs out, then it just means the brand has always been weak, the the company was just not aware before.

But what to keep in mind is simple to grasp but hard to do. Whenever you start a romanic relationship for example, people have the tendency to be very open and smiling all the time, but often blindfolded and not listening. The most popular fatal mistake to any relationship, is not to listen. If a company starts only shouting out "Buy me, buy me", then obviously the relationship will end very soon. One needs to make sure to understand the counterpart first and then engage into a relationship.

4. Is the online audience different than an typically (offline) advertising audience?

The audiences are the same, we are all people. But the behavior in different channels is diverse.

Many studies have been conducted on the habits of surfing the web and our online behavior. We tend to have less patience and are used to having everything exactly how we want it to be. People skim a lot of messages and loose interest within seconds. It is vital to understand different online channels behavior pattern of users.
The same principle of engagement still applies though, before the sale, you need to have the customer trusting you.

5. In a global online community, how do you define a target-group?

Usually by the channels people use. Twitter users are mostly professionals, entrepreneurs, early adopters. Facebook has a wide array of target groups already, as the user base has grown over 350 mil. Teens use a lot of Youtube etc.

Currently the best strategy online is to use pull marketing and let users produce relevant content to the audience you think this is valuable, by giving enough incentives. In that case you will start building a community of your own, in a form of a blog, RSS feed, forum or whatever channel necessary.

Picture: http://www.jedelectric.com/images/Electricity.jpg