Mobile SM marketing.

 

Mobile social media marketing. 

First a definition: that doesn’t just mean mobile phones.  Tablets and laptops, any device that can be ported and connects to various Wi-Fi sources come under ‘mobile marketing’. For Kaplan (2012), this specifically means ‘the exchange of messages with relevance of one specific point-in time’. This of course ‘requires two actors: (1) a sender who is willing to share information and (2) a receiver who is willing to listen to it.’

Why would anyone willingly share information about their location? One reason is the concept of self-presentation and self-disclosure: people will happily share information about themselves if it is consistent with the way they would like to be viewed by others.  One example is someone happily checking in at Saks Fifth Avenue but not letting everyone know when they’re down at the Walmart Super Centre on Staten Island for the weekly grocery shop. Another reason could lie in impulsiveness theory, all about people struggling between long-term control and giving in to short-term temptations.

 Why do others read and react to this type of mobile information? For friends, it may be because they like the ‘ambient awareness’. For marketers, it allows messages to be distributed that are relevant for only specific time periods /and or locations.  An entertainment character in these messages can create value for customers quite apart from a favourable financial outcome.

Here are the four “I’s” of mobile social media marketing according to Kaplan (2012): Integrate, Individualise, Involve and Initiate.

1.Integrate. This is the opposite of ’Annoy’. Do Not Annoy the Customer. Their privacy is paramount. If a customer checks in at your location or installs your app this shows Trust. Don’t abuse it by spamming them with irrelevant sales messages. They can disassociate from you with a click of their finger.

2.  Individualise – this means customise the message or, such as a burger chain, allow customers to customise the product.

3. Involve the user in some sort of interactive story or game, or even in an old fashioned discount. This can become something shared between the user, the company and the user’s social network.

4. Initiate the creation of UGC. A favourable restaurant review is a good example and worth loads more than a company touting its own wares.

Back to you as a customer.  Why do you disclose your location? Is it about self-presentation and self-disclosure for you? Or is it more a question of the struggle between long-term control and giving into short-term temptations? 

Kaplan, A.M. (2012) If you love something, let it go mobile: Mobile marketing and mobile social media 4 x 4. Business Horizons 55, 129 – 139.

Marketing and cybersecurity

So you’re in the marketing department: make friends with the IT department. After all, if there is a data breach it is YOUR department that is going to have to rebuild TRUST with customers.

In that awful but all too familiar case of a data breach make sure all departments are on the same page so customers don’t receive conflicting messages.

Graphic from Wardini (2018)

As well as trust, there could be legal issues and privacy issues around a security breach. You should all agree with, and know, the CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN and who is part of the INCIDENT RESPONSE TEAM.

Marketing should tell IT about what they want to do, whether that be introducing new software or inviting entrants to a competition.

Marketers present an easy target for hackers because of their accessibility and their sizable presence on social media sites. Attracting new customers means contact with any number of random addresses. IT should make sure you don’t have access to any more information than you need.

Personally and professionally it is important to stay safe online. Everyone should follow these 6 easy steps:

(1) Lock or password protect ALL devices, including mobiles and tablets. A password should be 8 – 10 characters long. It should include upper- and lower-case characters, special characters and numerals. Locking devices can also be through a fingerprint or using a PIN code.

(2) Use a different password for everything: do not use the same one.

(3) Regularly update your devices.  Allow time at least weekly to restart and update your devices.

Did you know that for Microsoft Apps on average there is a coding error in every 2000 lines of code? And that a simple iphone game app uses 10,000 lines of code. No wonder manufacturers are continually issuing updates.

(4) Install anti-virus /anti-malware software on your machines.

(5) When searching or visiting new sites, look for the locked padlock and full https or http in the address. Look carefully at the email address of new senders. If it doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t. Never click on an unknown link or open mail from a strange email address.

(6) Be especially careful when downloading ‘free’ software. You may be infecting your computer with malware

So, are you cyber-safe?  Do you automatically follow all six procedures?

References

Doughty-White, P. & Quick, M. (2015) Codebases. Information is Beautiful blog, Sept 24. https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/million-lines-of-code/

Gentle, T. (2019) Cybersecurity.  Small Business Victoria. Aug. 21  https://www.business.vic.gov.au/marketing-and-sales/eCommerce-and-digital-technology/cybersecurity

Hatter, M. (2016) Why cybersecurity should be a top priority for marketers.  Marketing, Sept. 21 https://www.marketingmag.com.au/hubs-c/marketers-and-cybersecurity/

Mayer, D. (2012) Ratio of bugs per line of code. Continuously Deployed blog. Nov. 11 https://www.mayerdan.com/ruby/2012/11/11/bugs-per-line-of-code-ratio

Ritzkallah, J (2017) The Role of Marketing in Cybersecurity. Forbes Technology Council, Dec.5. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2017/12/05/the-role-of-marketing-in-cybersecurity/#7cdfe66b2027

Wardini, J. (2018) Marketing and Cybersecurity:  Why you need to care about data breaches.  Blog. https://mention.com/blog/marketing-cybersecurity/

How brand communities create value. 

This week’s blog is based on a 2009 article by Shau, Muniz & Arnold . Don’t be put off because it’s from the pre-IPad era: The way people behave now is still the same.

Brand Communities

There are 12 value creating practices across the nine brand communities of study. The 12 practices are organized into four categories: (1) social networking (2) impression management (3) community engagement and (4) brand use.

(1) social networking – creating, enhancing and extending ties among brand community member

 IA) – welcoming

1B) – empathizing

1C) - governing

(2) impression management – have an external, outward focus. Want to create favourable of brand and community in the social universe beyond the brand community.

(2A) – evangelizing

(2B) – justifying

(3) Community engagement practices reinforce members’ increasing engagement with brand community.  Brand is secondary here.  Practices are competitive.

(3A) - staking

(3B) -  milestoning

(3C) -  badging

(3D) - documenting

(4) Brand use

(4A) - grooming

(4B) - customising

(4C) - commoditising

Each practice exhibits three things:

(1) understandings - knowledge and tacit cultural templates

(2) procedures or explicit performance rules, and,

(3) emotional engagements

Practices generate consumption opportunities. For example, by documenting commodisation, others are able to copy, thus generating consumption. Trying to achieve milestones likewise generates consumption. Grooming creates value by preserving appearance and performance. The empathetic nature of a brand community adds to the switching cost and means members are more likely to stay with that brand community. In fact, Muniz et al, argue that all practices are an act of value creation, and that if people have the opportunity to construct brand communities and the freedom to modify products, they will.

Implications for Marketers

Actions that marketers should take are to plug the gaps in the brand community, thereby making it stronger.  For example, perhaps a brand community has developed brand use practices but has little social networking practices. This is where the company should foster or sponsor social networking practices.  Perhaps a brand community has developed various customising techniques but has developed no milestoning practices. Perhaps the Marketeer could offer a branded book or emblem to commemorate the milestone. Perhaps the company website could also host ideas from other companies about how to customize a brand.  The company can also get the brand community in designing new products:  Feedback about new flavours or looks; If marketers support and nourish brand communities they have access to a community dedicated to the brand and how to make it better.

Do you agree that all practices are an act of value creation? Comments welcome!

Schau, H.J., Muniz Jr., A.M. & Arnould, E.J. (2009). How Brand Community Practices Create Value. Journal of Marketing 73(Sept), 30-51.

Passive, Active or Later?: Your company’s involvement with SMM

 A company can be either actively or passively involved in social media marketing, says Efthymios Constantinides.  But before you even think about social media, make sure the back end of your company is in good shape.

Does your product have a ‘unique selling proposition’?  Is it good value?

It is very easy for customers to compare your offering with that of others, and be vociferous online about it.

Do you have a good marketing department and a robust, customer-oriented website that can cope with increased orders and traffic resulting from your foray into social media?

Production, logistics, customer service, sales and procurement might be traditional but they’re vitally Important.

Lastly, does your company have the staffing resources to position itself in social media marketing?

If you answered NO to any of the above questions: Get your company in order, social media marketing can come later.

If you answered YES to all the questions, then your company is ready.  You now need to choose whether your engagement with social media is active or passive.

The aim of the PASSIVE approach, or ‘Listening-In’, is to provide marketers with information about market needs, customer experiences, competitive movements and trends. The social media marketing tools you can use includes blogs, forums and content communities.  Content communities are websites that organise and share content such as YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia and TripAdvisor.

An ACTIVE approach to social media marketing, can result in direct communication with customers, the acquisition of new customers and the retention of old ones.  An active approach can involve the use of: Blogs, social networks (ie, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter), content communities and forums.

Forums & bulletin boards are interactive sites for exchanging information about sharing particular types of content.  Forums & bulletin boards can also be aggregated around selling such as eBay and Gumtree. Content aggregators can also be used to actively interact in the social media world. Content aggregators are apps that allow users to access customized web-content, or apps such as Google maps which contains content from various sources and is customisable by the user.

I want to have an ACTIVE voice in social media marketing so please comment on this blog!

Constantinides, E. (2014). Foundations of Social Media Marketing. Procedia - Social & Behavioural Sciences, 148, 40-57.

Porter, M.E. (2001). Strategy and the Internet. Harvard Business Review, 79(3),62-78.