Social media isn’t a fad; it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. The way people experience media has evolved, and it has evolved at an extraordinary pace. To put this statement in perspective, it took 13 years for TV to reach 50 million viewers, while Facebook reached 200 million members in less than a year. We’re living in the social media revolution and shrewd brands are capitalizing on the power of this relationship-driven medium to engage consumers.
On Facebook, visually appealing photos accompanied by a well-crafted, engaging post will create an undeniable social engagement. We know this, and we’ve got the numbers to prove it. Over the past three years, Glass Agency and our digital leg, Rumble Interactive, studied the social space, mastered its functionality and capitalized on its unparalleled worth when it comes to client branding and customer interaction. It’s not about selling anymore; it’s about engaging with our customers, building a relationship with potential brand loyalists and inviting them to share their love of the brand with their network of friends and family.
Our resident social media guru, Erica Rau (VP, Director of Brand Engagement), took some time to sit down with Sacramento television station KCRA to talk about the ever-changing, ever-growing social media behemoth, Facebook. Erica contributed some pointers on how to increase your client’s clout in the social space. Whip out your notepad and enjoy…
Who recognizes that emerging media has revolutionized our industry?
The world has never been more connected. Consumers’ share of attention has never been more fragmented. Marketers have never had more opportunities to achieve brand resonance.
@glassagency, we’re drinking the Kool-Aid. From top to bottom, we literally have a sick obsession with emerging media and we hope it shows. Below is a little food for thought on marketing in the digital age, starting with some thoughts for companies that are new to social media.
Social Media Integration
Step one when launching a social media program: create synergy between traditional and digital channels. Brands that are having success in the social space are taking the time to assign roles and objectives to social media programs and aren’t obsessing over the ROI that social media delivers on its own. Trust me, if you can’t find a way to leverage a platform with over 500 million users to benefit your brand, there is someone else gunning for your job that can.
For a couple examples, check out this Sac Business Journal article, where GLASS Agency President, Amber Williams, provides some insight into the marketing power behind social media and how it can work as a tool to help companies achieve brand resonance (we apologize in advance to non-Business Journal subscribers, this content requires a subscription).
Digital Media has Special Powers…Use ‘Em!
Once you’ve gotten comfortable with the idea of a fully integrated marketing plan (including a mix of digital channels), make sure that you are leveraging the proprietary functions that each of these digital channels has to offer.
Whether it’s a tagging feature, retweet entry, photo upload, or one of the other hundreds of unique functions offered up in the digital space, leverage it to stand out and strengthen the demand for people to engage with, pay attention to, or remember your ad or promotion.
And this advice applies to more than online and mobile platforms. Below is an example of how we recently used the real-time nature of Digital Outdoor Units to compliment an integrated campaign supporting Sutter Health’s tertiary services. Throughout the day, the digital billboards show the score of Boy versus Girl babies that were born that day at a Sutter hospital.
In March, as is the case every March, NBA team owners across the country alert the NBA if they have intentions of moving their team to a new city. Most years, this deadline comes and goes without much fanfare. This year, it could be big news for Sacramento.
The owner of the Anaheim Ducks (NHL) offered a $100 million loan to cover costs if the Kings will move there.
Louisville, Kentucky has assembled more than 7,000 citizens under a “Bring the Kings to Louisville” Facebook page.
Seattle may also be interested. A December headline read, “Two years later, pain of losing Sonics still stings.” And they’re not alone. San Diego has been waiting 27 years for a new NBA team. Kansas City has been waiting 26 years. Losing our professional sports team means losing something we may never be able to replace.
You don’t have to care about basketball to appreciate how a professional sports team impacts a city’s ability to thrive, prosper and, frankly, be relevant. It is a part of what makes Sacramento a great place to live. So is the Crocker Art Museum, Old Sacramento, the fact that we are two hours from Tahoe. The list of what makes Sacramento alive and interesting is long and to lose any of it hurts our city.
Why a campaign?
If we were accountants, we probably wouldn’t be running billboards and posting on Facebook. But we’re in the business of advertising and social media so we felt like we had an obligation to do something we know how to do. Bottom line, we care about the culture of Sacramento and, in our book, a professional sports team is a part of that culture. Sacramento has already lost the opera. What more do we have to lose before we step up and take action – not government stepping up, not developers, but us, the people of this city.
There is value in being one of a limited number of cities in this country to have a professional sports team. It’s something to be proud of – to have the option of going to a game, even if you never do. And, as far as we’re concerned, Sacramento is not a city that lets a group in Kentucky show more support for our team than we do.
And we’re not a city that lets our team leave without a fight. ___________________________
To be a part of the fight, go to SacDeflated.com.
by Amber Williams, President, Glass Agency
www.glassagency.com