Social media is no longer just a buzz word.  Econsultancy’s State of Social Report 2011 pointed to a maturing disciple where brands are no longer simply experimenting in the social space.

However, while the report demonstrated that social media is well and truly part of the marcomms mix for many, it did highlight that three quarters of board-level execs are not bought into it as a discipline, suggesting it’s not quite getting cut-through at the top.

At the same time, brands are faced with a more demanding consumer.  Expectation economy means that consumers not only want, but expect so much more now.  We’re much more inquisitive, enjoy researching, doing our own competitor analysis and are much more likely to engage online if we find value in something.  All this means brands need to work harder to build quality relationships and earn customer loyalty.

So, how do we add value to the bottom line as well as add value to the consumer to ensure that social media is not stuck in the ‘nice to have’ box?

Customisation is not necessarily a new trend, but two stand-out campaigns in 2011 have capitalised  on social media’s new tools to achieve this perfectly.

Using Facebook as the platform and some of its newest tools, both Heinz and Nivea offered their fans the chance to personalize a product, allowing greater affinity with the brand and adding genuine consumer and commercial value.

Heinz gave its 80k fans the chance to send a thoughtful, personalised can of soup to their friends for just £1.99 as a get well message.  The campaign kicked off in October as coughs and colds begin to set in and firmly positioned the brand’s comforting proposition.

What’s more, on the busiest online shopping day before Christmas, Nivea launched a campaign to offer its 240k Facebook fans the chance to have their Nivea gift set wrapped in personalised wrapping paper created with the fan’s own pictures.  It tied into Nivea’s Feel Closer campaign and was a creative mechanic to get consumers purchasing gifts and receive a free, bespoke gift wrapping service.

Both these campaigns worked on three crucial points

They were both relevant – both fit perfectly into the brand values and targeted an existing fan base

They were timely – capitalising on a current and timely trend to ensure it resonated with the consumer

Plus they added value – not only to the consumer to ensure they received something in turn for investing time in the brand online, but also added to the bottom line of the brand itself

These three principles should be at the heart of any social media campaign and it’s something we at Finn always strive for when developing our digital strategies.

There’s still a long way to go, but in 2012, I’m sure we’re going to see more and more campaigns that not only engage with consumers online, but have a tangible commercial impact.

Posted by on January 9th, 2012