Alex Marks wonders if we’re becoming a little obsessed with generating ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ for our brands as a level of marketing success.
Last week I bought some compost. Yes, I know, that devil may care attitude may come back to haunt me, but needs must. With a bit of initiative I reckon you can probably deduce that I am the proud owner of a garden, or at the very least, some un-potted plants.
Now this may strike you as a bit strange but having bought the aforementioned compost I contacted absolutely no one to let them know about my purchase or what I was going to do with it. What kind of reckless individual am I?
This is the quandary that many compost manufacturers now face. Surely we must ensure that all his known associates know about his compost buying habits? Indeed marketers of many different types of products and services in the digital age have been betting on the fact that their customers would tell the world about their new purchases, thus enabling the word of mouth transference that we once dreamed of.
Now while lazy customers like me don’t necessarily think to do this themselves, help has been at hand for advertisers, because many of the social networks on which a large number of us spend a lot of time, do it anyway.
But a problem that has been staring us in the face (but no one was really brave enough to admit it) has been confirmed by a study taken by PR firm Endelman.
Their recent study ‘Value & Engagement in the Era of Social Entertainment and Second Screens’ found that as many as 67 per cent were unlikely to use automatic notifications to share with friends, finding it too intrusive. No way?!
And as for brands recommending content, 29 per cent appreciated the recommendation but 39 per cent of UK respondents said they found the same approach invasive.
Now arguably, my compost analogy is a little facile, and if I’d just bought an Aston Martin perhaps I would want to share it? Wouldn’t I? Maybe not.
Are we not becoming a little too obsessed with generating ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ for our brands as a level of marketing success? Just because the facility is there doesn’t mean it is of any value to a brand. I ‘like’ lots of things in this world. Many of them brands I will never ever buy
Marketers are actually in a potentially powerful position here. As guardians of both brand value and customer relationships, we should be looking to add value to the development of these ‘software as services’.
If the engineers who created the software behind these services spent more time working with ‘real’ people instead of imagining what they must be like, and if the commercial model was part of the development process rather than something that is bolted on afterwards and is always seen as ‘ad-funded’ (why does no one realise the market isn’t a bottomless pit?), then we might see less of the hype and fall, crash and burn. And, just maybe, we might see the creation of sustainable services that work for consumers and brands alike.