SME Owners: Social Media Marketing is your secret weapon to success

IIf you are the owner of an SME and think that social media marketing is something good to have only when you have the time and budget to look into it, you will want to read this. Social media is not a disruption to your business, nor is it a threat. It is an amazing opportunity that gives you the sweet chance to succeed amid an increasingly competitive landscape.

Digital marketing is perfect for digital natives, it’s not rocket science!

 It is a digital world out there. The sooner you embrace this fact instead of fight it, the better! A whole generation of young people have grown up never knowing a life without the Internet. They live, work and play online and offline, transiting seamlessly between the two, sometimes even preferring the online medium since they are so comfortable on it.

 It therefore makes perfect sense to prioritise marketing on digital channels, particularly social media. In a reversal of roles, traditional media is no longer the stronghold of marketing efforts – new media, including social media and other digital platforms, has become the platform du jour for all that is fresh, in-trend, and current.

 So to put it simply, social media marketing is now CRUCIAL to whether your business makes or breaks it. And here is why.

1. Forming meaningful relationships 

For many young people, a significant proportion of their interactions are carried out online, especially on social media platforms. There has even been studies which have revealed that they even feel more comfortable conversing on web or mobile applications by exchanging emails or instant messages, instead of speaking over the phone or in-person!

Social media is therefore a great way to reach out to this segment of your audience, which is admittedly a significant group that you ignore at your own peril. Reaching out to them in a way that they are comfortable with is key to speaking their language and gaining their trust. Taking the time for these also helps build your brand and personality, which is imperative today. It has been proven that people make purchase decisions based on trust in the brand and a connection they feel with the brand’s personality. That means no hard-selling or direct sales efforts. Sharing interesting and relevant content is one great first step to take!

2. Efficient with low barriers to entry 

Social media marketing is particularly cost effective as compared to marketing on traditional platforms, because of how anyone with access to an Internet connection can do it – as long as they have the expertise. Of course, there are nuances to strategy and messaging, as with traditional marketing, but dollar for dollar, it is immensely more cost-effective to execute a social media campaign.

 Almost all social media platforms are free to use – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Snapchat are among the most popular at the moment. With a proper strategy planned out, the day-to-day posting can be easily executed with anyone with access to the account, from virtually anywhere. This is great news for SMEs, especially if you often work off-site from remote locations.

3. Wide reach 

Many SMEs struggle with gaining sufficient visibility in a competitive playing field dominated by huge corporations with long histories to back them up. Social media is a brilliant way to get round this, by penetrating the digital audience in an environment that is in itself the home of innovation and fresh ideas. By maintaining a personable social media presence informed by a vibrant social media marketing strategy, you make your business accessible and in your audience’s eye.

If you use social media well, your possibilities for growth are really borderless. You will be able to speak directly with specific audiences and tweak your messaging according to who you are targeting according to gender, age, life-stage, interest.

The Top 3 Marketing Campaigns in 2015

There has never been a more exciting time for marketers as the present, with even more platforms to shake up campaigns and make them even more creative and effective. With all that is available, multi-level, integrated marketing campaigns are now the norm. We suss out three of the top marketing campaigns that took 2015 by storm and also tell you what you can learn from them for your own business!

1) Dove’s Choose Beautiful Real Beauty ad campaign

The Dove “Real Beauty” campaign needs no introduction –   it has been running for the last 10 years across a wide spectrum of mediums and attracted a whole lot of criticism and plaudits alike. Previous versions of the campaign have received prestigious awards (2006 campaign video “Evolution” won two Cannes Lions Grand Prix Awards in June 2007 at the Cannes Lion International Advertising Festival in France) and the positive media exposure. 2015’s iteration of this campaign, “Choose Beautiful,” was a video shot in five different cities across the globe, where women are faced with the choice of walking through two doors: “Beautiful” or “Average”.  Other than boosted sales, the true success of Dove’s campaign is in its staying power, as can be seen from the rehashed campaign year after year. Even better is that since the campaign has been going on for years, consumers have drawn a strong link between the campaign and Dove. Case in point: how many of you would not almost immediately think of Dove when you see the image below?

How Does Social Media Fit in your Business?

More of us are increasingly connected in the online world. We put newsfeeds into our Facebook, we post pictures we love on Pinterest with hashtags, we connect with our business associates on LinkedIn, and the list goes on. In whatever business you are in, chances are your customers are on one or more social networks.

However, before you even ask ourselves how does social media fit into your business, the starting question should probably be whether you should use social media for your business.

For a small business, social media can take a lot of your time. It is not just about putting sporadic entries in between meetings and check in the next time you want to post something new. You have to think about why you are on social media and how you are connecting with your customers. If you are ready to embrace social media as part of your business strategy, below are three things you might want to think about:

1. Which areas of your business do you want to integrate social media?

The most common area for businesses to integrate social media is marketing. But more businesses are integrating social business beyond the marketing department. According to a recent study, maturing companies are infusing social business into multiple functions across the enterprise:

Events and Facebook management should come hand in hand

February marks the start of Year of the Wooden Ram. With shops continuously blasting common songs related to Chinese New Year and displaying all the irresistible goodies, have you planned any marketing and promotional initiatives this festive season?

Fret not if you have not done so. Event management companies in Singapore will be able to help you plan and execute the perfect strategy. We at ROI suggest that you can look into having both events management and Facebook marketing initiatives to raise your business’s profile and generate more leads to you, especially during such major holiday seasons.

If you do not have a Facebook account or page for your business, it is high time to set it up! Do you know that there are approximately 3.6 million Singaporeans on Facebook monthly, with 3.2 million of them using the mobile Facebook interface? This marketing channel certainly cannot be ignored.

Our take is that events management and Facebook management should come hand in hand when doing marketing, as events provide a physical promotional platform while Facebook provides an online platform for sharing. Either of the platforms can direct traffic to the other, and it is also possible to tie up with other Facebook pages to share about the event. This was a strategy taken by ROI when we did both event and Facebook management for our client Global EduHub for its educational symposium held in January.

Still unsure about how to get started with incorporating both event management and Facebook management as a form of marketing strategy? Our experts at ROI Strategy Consultants — can offer you an effective solution to planning and managing a successful event for your business, as well as suitable execution to convert your target audience into loyal customers. Contact us and get help today!

Creative social media marketing for festivals and driving brand awareness

All festivals, no matter the significance, are important occasions for marketers to leverage on for driving their brand awareness effectively. Although there are some brands which simply go through the motions, there are still some that strive to find more interesting ways to connect their names with the holiday occasion. For example, the Mid-autumn Festival (Mooncake Festival) has its marketing potential and marketers should not miss it.

Giving mooncakes as gifts during this season has always been the norm in Singapore and surveys have shown that it is the top rated entertainment expense for local SMEs during the festival. In addition, 71% of SMEs surveyed said that mooncake is their choice of gift for their customers.

Since most young people are using smartphones and other electronic gadgets, marketers can take this golden opportunity and come up with creative social media marketing strategy during this festival, especially targeting this crowd. A successful example is Hong Kong Maxim’s mooncake. The company launched a microsite to engage people, both young and old, encouraging people to upload a 15-second video showing the coolest way of enjoying its snowy mooncakes.

Though Maxim’s mooncake has both traditional bread-crusted and ice cream crusted snowy mooncakes, they are sold differently. The traditional mooncakes target the middle-aged and old using standard advertisements and traditional PR, aiming to take people down the memory lane. On the other hand, the youth-focused snowy mooncakes are branded as something literally “cool”.

There are companies which are hesitant to launch a social media marketing campaign due to the fear of its effectiveness not being measured in concrete ways such as sales, presence of advertisements and site traffic. Nonetheless, the beauty of social media is strongly about spontaneity and full of surprises, which makes such a marketing strategy innovative and exciting to follow. If the message is sent out using the right channel after listening and conversing with consumers in a meaningful way, the results will be shown eventually.

Unsure about how to create a creative yet effective social media marketing strategy to drive brand awareness, especially during festive seasons? Our experts at ROI Strategy Consultants — a top marketing company in Singapore — can offer you the best solution.

We at ROI will be able to maximize your returns with the development of an effective marketing strategy, coupled with suitable implementation. Contact us at ROI and get help to create a successful promotional event or campaign through effective use of media today.

Marketing During Hari Raya to achieve ROI

The once in a year Muslim festival Ramadan lasts for an entire month and has a profound effect on the branding and marketing strategies of various brands in Muslim countries, especially in Asia. Just like Christmas for the west, Ramadan in the Muslim world is when brands spend the most amount of marketing dollars too.

During the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, from dawn to dusk for the whole month, Muslims refrain from drinking and eating. Breaking the fast by comparison becomes a great B2C opportunity to target customers with special offers and themed meals. The fast food brands like McDonalds, KFC and Burger King go to town with special themed deals for family and friends to enjoy.

In Samsung’s first foray into brand convergent festive marketing, instead of tactical promotions during Raya, the brand highlights the importance of family togetherness. The campaign comprises TVCs, print ads, radio ads, digital and social media with the hashtag #PortraitsOfRaya.

Social brands like mig33 adapted marketing and aim at customers who will use the platform in greater numbers towards the end of the fasting day and then again during the breaking of the fast. Media brands like Facebook and Twitter were used, as a source for charity needs. The spending on ‘off-line’ campaigns went up by 20 percent during Ramadan and many brands are realizing the opportunity to encourage social media posts that include content tailored to specific audiences during this time period to match both brand advertising and also tying in with TV content. Most of the companies have ideal window to communicate with customers through social media, which enhanced brand engagement. The holy month enjoys higher organic engagement rates so budgets can push content further in Ramadan especially on social media.

Brands have to be especially creative in their execution in order to appeal to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. They have the ultimate challenge of not trying to appeal to one audience more than the other and don’t wish to offend; it can often be a careful balance. Talk to experts in Roi Strategy Consultants to find out how your business can achieve the most return out of the marketing dollars spent, especially when tapping on festivity marketing.