20 years back, if someone said that a group of people will take down the top most sort out hedge funds by simply putting out opinions on a platform ultimately creating a market frenzy, toppling billions and thus creating history, they would have been laughed at. But it did happen and it not only showed the vulnerability of the stock market but also revealed that social media is no more “just playful”. It is reported that seasoned hedge fund managers are now afraid that this trend may continue in more companies leading to more losses and mayhem in the market. Similarly, when Tanishq was berated for its advertisements of controversial nature, there were two groups on social media-one calling for boycott of the brand while other came out with full support and adulation for the brand. Despite of the backlash, Tanishq enjoyed the trending tag for weeks and that just increased more visibility and positive publicity way more than the advertisement could have. Thus, social media can be used to put forth opinions that might crush a company, create environment awareness, generate interest in innovative practices, creating historical movements, and building a company’s own reputation amongst many. So now that we understand the significance of social media in our daily lives, let us dig deeper in understanding how a marketer can use it to his/her own benefit and create a positive word of mouth for the company. Firstly, All the brands that have a social media presence should do one thing right and that is their engaging content. The most viral videos are the ones that have the capacity to capture consumers’ interest and ensuring that it is seen and further recommended by those viewers. The more relatable your content is, the better. The most recent example of this is Sugar Free ‘rap’ made by a musician that was later shared by Sugar Free on their social media handles that has garnered more than 3 million views on Facebook and 2 million on Instagram. That is the reason why influencers are widely used because its better when a ‘shout out’ or praise/ recommendation comes from an influencer, which the consumer is frequently engaged with, rather than the company itself. Secondly, the choice of influencer also deeply affects your social media presence. Micro influencers are more in vogue because it is felt they have a real and more connected audience rather than already established ones. That being said, the already established influencers do have a larger audience that can be catered to. Thirdly, you need to decide the degree of freedom you will give to your influencer in creating content for you. Few companies give a set script for influencers to follow while others give varying degrees of freedom. Fourthly, content that allows and encourages audience to be a part of the campaign, has proven to be quite fruitful. Campaigns like ALS ice bucket challenge, Wendy’s chicken nugget retweet challenge, Kiki challenge amongst many were popular as their examples. To summarize, there are a plethora of social media strategies for a company to stay relevant in today’s era. These strategies should be carefully chosen keeping in mind the kind of audience, type of social media platform and company’s vision to ensure a positive and consistent image that stays in the mind of consumers.
By Silky Gaur