The future of social media marketing is in digital storytelling; the ability to humanize a brand in ways with which people identify and are closely engaged, thus feeling invested in its future. The brand becomes an extension of the fan and they are its most compelling ambassador. Social media is more than water cooler chat and exceeds the benefits of traditional word of mouth marketing. While it provides immensely useful data about our habits in real-time, the new frontier of social media is chronicling lifestyle. When viewed not at the scale of minute by minute updates, social media provides a holistic picture of who we are and how we live. It begins to speak to customers as whole people.
The NMS team has been on tour the past several weeks, visiting clients to brief them on spanking new social media developments – from the smallest emerging platforms to the elephants throwing their weight around. And while everyone is curious about what’s up with Google+, a multitude of movers and shakers warrant an update to our social media watch list.
NMS recently hosted a seminar for 19 precocious George Washington University interns spending the summer studying communications in DC. It was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate social media’s power to surprise and delight customers while solidifying brand loyalty. Turns out those of us who live and breathe marketing strategy were the ones who left a bit surprised. We began with a case study: Last fall, KLM Airlines rewarded its customers by delivering “small doses of happiness” in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Over three weeks, KLM surprised 28 passengers with gifts based on preferences indicated in their social graphs, generating more than 1 million impressions in 88 countries on Twitter alone. The premise: “Creating a real smile on somebody’s face is much cooler than attaching a smiley face.”
My job here at NMS involves frequent travel and it’s a lifestyle I’ve come to embrace. Reflecting back on a busy quarter of numerous trips across the country, I have seen that the same forces changing the way we communicate are also changing the way we get from place to place. With a mobile web always at our fingertips, the world is adopting social media to discover, consume, and process information in new ways.
The Facebook App for iPhone was just updated, providing users with the ability to check-in to Facebook Events. According to Facebook, the event check-in ability is extended to invited guests—but only those who have replied “I’m attending” or “Maybe”. Guests may begin checking in up to three hours before the event is scheduled to begin, and event creators have ultimate control over moderation of unwanted check-ins. Facebook has a full explanation of a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=20251">how to check in to an event; though for most it will be intuitive.
About a month ago, I decided to join Foursquare. I didn’t have much experience with geosocial platforms, and I didn’t know how I would feel about sharing my location throughout the day. Four weeks, eight badges and 55 check-ins later, it’s safe to say I’m officially a fan. Foursquare is—simply put—fun! Users check in to locations and events, and are rewarded with points and badges for doing so. You can stay updated on where your friends are eating out, discover sweet discounts and deals at businesses and read great tips about the places you visit.
The Facebook Place Page for Washington Dulles International Airport has 47,220 check-ins, and its foursquare venue has amassed 57,965 check-ins. It is instinctive to check-in at the airport, as this action has become social proof of one’s jet-setting adventures. Retailers and brand-sponsored check-in venues do not generally experience an airport-like momentum of instinctive check-ins. Brands can begin by offering a healthy incentive to check-in, such as a discount, preferential treatment or insider access to information; however an extra push is needed to activate those customers who remember to check-in at the airport but are not instinctively thinking “I should check-in” when shopping at their favorite store.
In the hyperconnected morass that is South by Southwest Interactive, it’s easy to get stuck in the “did I check-in/update/tweet about this panel/party/handshake” infinite loop. With a slew of new apps and sites to check out and an ABGC mindset – Always be Generating Content they say – it can get overwhelming. But even when it does come time to put the smartphone down, it’s hard. Many have hit on the idea of using game mechanics to motivate action – the gamification of the Web.
2010 was an astounding year for New Media Strategies, kicking off a second decade dominating the social sphere. Whether launching the first automotive brand profile on Foursquare or helping our public affairs clients gain critical support, expanding our Hispanic outreach or breaking box office records, the buzz about NMS this year showed nothing short of record growth, not to mention a brand new office space.
‘Tis the season for trend tracking, and as we look forward to another great year, here’s what we expect in social media trends in 2011.