Just a few years ago, social networks were considered a novelty. But now there’s no debate or doubt about their importance to businesses and brands.
Social media has had a significant impact on businesses and individuals worldwide – how they engage with one another, as well as how businesses operate, has changed.
Like many other big brands worldwide, Flow’s clients have upped their social media game.
On the Socialbakers list of the top 100 Twitter brands in South Africa, Flow client South African Tourism’s consumer account currently sits in 11th place, with 57 400 Twitter followers, while South African Airways is 16th with 42 133 followers. Socialbakers is Facebook’s preferred marketing developer and offers monitoring and tracking tools that enable brands to measure, compare and contrast the success of their social media campaigns.
“South African Tourism is still one of our biggest clients and we handle all its social networking accounts – Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Pinterest, Instagram – as well as content for its website,” says head of Flow’s writing studio, Melanie Feris.
According to Thabs Royds, a Flow project manager on the South African Tourism account, “Social media is one of the easiest ways to contact travellers as well as understand public opinion.
“We’ve seen good traffic on the website, and social media statistics show a lot of cross-pollination [when users are directed to the website by links on social media pages] as most of the website traffic comes from social media,” adds Thabs.
FlySAA, another of Flow’s clients, is currently ranked fifth on the Socialbakers list of fastest-growing Google+ profiles and fifth on its list of top Google+ brands in South Africa.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation is another Flow client with a massive social media presence. “@NelsonMandela on Twitter has nearly one million followers (around 930 000 at the moment), and the Nelson Mandela public figure Facebook page has over six million fans,” says Flow media developer Kate Rau.
Kate points out that traffic referral to the websites of Maropeng and the Nelson Mandela Foundation increasingly shows social media as the top referrer.
More than 90% of businesses that participated in the South African Social Media Landscape 2014 research study agree that social media is a valuable tool for building business.
“Social media is one of the most cost-effective marketing methods – even with a tiny budget, there is no limit to how many people you can reach on Twitter, while Facebook advertising allows brands to reach very specific segments of the online market,” says Roy Barford, manager of Flow Cape Town.
One of the reasons behind the success of social media when it comes to marketing is that consumers have shifted away from traditional media and are constantly online accessing and sharing as much information as they can.
When looking to try new products or travel to new places, online users are more interested in reading the reviews and experiences of others than hearing directly from the brand.
“Society is increasingly becoming digital and we don’t only want to hear from organisations, but from people as well,” says Thabs.
Says Flow strategist Kevin Collins, “The credibility of experience lies more with users than with brands.”
Social media campaigns are successful when brands are able to align their corporate strategy and marketing strategy with their social media strategy.
According to Roy, brands that avoid social media, or are not using it properly, are simply missing the opportunity to achieve results – such as gaining new consumers and strengthening the bond between brand and consumer – faster and more cost-effectively.
As Lori Ruff, who was named in the Forbes list of Top 50 Global Social Media Power Influencers, says, “Social media is here. It’s not going away; not a passing fad. Be where your customers are: in social media.”