Understanding word of mouse

In the old world Unilever spent 97% of its marketing budget on television advertising. Next year it will reportedly devote 50% of its entire global spend to digital marketing. When a consumer brands behemoth like Unilever – owner of Dove soap, Flora, Marmite and PG tips – makes such a fundamental change to the way it reaches consumers, it is clear the world has changed. There has been much noise around digital marketing and social media, especially about social networking brands such as Facebook and Twitter, and it is tempting to think of these things as passing fads: the latest, latest thing that will grab popular culture’s increasingly fleeting attention span for the briefest of moments, before being dropped for whatever comes next. But the mist is clearing. Given the brevity of television channels, and the plethora of alternative media platforms, big brands (like the ones owned by Unilever) are starting to appreciate that buying TV ad spots is the equivalent of throwing jelly at a wall and seeing what sticks. On the other hand using digital marketing in the right way – sending messages to customers that have somehow sought out your business (or at some point put up their hands for more information about your business) is like firing an arrow at a target. It also means that businesses of any size – be it the local Dog & Duck or a brand like McDonald’s – can build relationships with their customers. Increasingly, firms are starting to appreciate that being online is an increasingly important part of the way people live their lives, and that Facebook and Twitter, having reached critical mass, are key components in a new age of communication. As Dan Holm pointed out at last week’s Digital Future conference, with over 320 million users, if Facebook were a country it would be the fourth largest in the world, bigger than the US. There are 22.6 million people using Facebook in the UK. It is also not just the preserve of the “yoof” - 33% of Facebook users fall in the 35-54 age group. Plus, silver surfers (55+), which account for 34% of internet use, are catching up fast. Toby Carvery knows this – it has a Facebook fan page with 40,000 members and gives discount vouchers via Facebook. By the end of the year six million people in the UK will be on Twitter. It is something that Giraffe is alive to, and that YO! Sushi has just started encouraging (visit twitter.com to see who’s there, and who’s not). One of the key points, or “take-aways” to use the correct parlance, of the Digital Future day last week was that this stuff is happening. Companies do not have an option of whether to participate in online communities or not, but they can manage their presence and try to influence positively. However, beneficial participation requires dedicated commitment. But the point is, there is a point to all this: done well, online marketing and social media engagement creates footfall, drives sales and produces decent returns. They say that word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool, especially in the eating and drinking-out market. Social media IS word of mouth, in the digital age. As Dan Holm put it: “According to Peter Drucker (the celebrated business author), the purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer. “But now businesses can create a customer who creates a customer.” I'm on the mobile And the next thing is mobile. Scott Seaborn, head of mobile marketing at Ogilvy, said that too many companies were just “ticking the innovation box” when it came to mobile, with social media campaigns and marketing campaigns from other media channels crow-barred into a mobile format, rather than companies focusing on bespoke initiatives. He said this was changing. He said: “What we are seeing is the unique emergence of the channel. Mobile is a fantastic way to reach people, it is golden. 2010 will be the year of change in the mobile space. Lots of people have been saying [the time of] mobile is coming. It hasn’t happened yet, but it will happen soon, and it will happen fast.” Mobile is not just about whizzy marketing campaigns, said Seaborn. It could be used for very simple messages, such as a text to a guest on their way home from an evening at a pub or restaurant, to check they enjoyed themselves and also perhaps including an incentive for them to return soon. Thanks to all our speakers and to our very generous sponsors Brulines and itradeNetwork. There will be full coverage of the Digital Future conference in the next issue of M&C Report. Here’s some more facts and figures for a Monday morning: • 71% of the UK population is online • 75% of those online use the internet every day • 32% of internet users are aged 18-34 • 78% use social networking • there are 33,000 “restaurant” searches on Google in the UK every hour • the average Facebook user has 120 friends