We all know
that brand awareness plays a crucial role in consumer’s buying decision. Consumers
who search for a product or a service often take a decision based on their
prior knowledge of a brand. For example if you are searching for a latest
smartphone with all new features, you will probably go with the brand that you have
heard in the past while a new Smartphone manufacturer offers almost all the
attributes that you are looking for; may be at a much more cheaper price.
Sometimes the brand and the product becomes so synonymous that when you think
about the product, you actually think about the brand. ‘Coalgate’ and ‘Xerox’
are few good examples that have done this miracle over the years.
But, today’s
generation is more informed and more knowledgeable. They are ready to
experiment and go for the new ones. And, social media plays the most significant
role here. Social media has grown rapidly in last one decade. Today, there are
3 billion active social media users worldwide, which is almost 40% of world’s total
population. This is a huge number that brands can’t ignore.
Brands have to
be more social and approachable to reach out to their consumers and should establish
direct dialogues with them; of course, more frequently and ethically. Brand
owners have to put ethics at the top of their agenda in their social
communication strategy. For example, the CSR initiatives taken up by big brands
not only just showcase their social face; but also establish them as ethical
brands. Consumers often relate themselves to these messages easily. P&G’s
‘Shiksha’ is one of such examples where consumers take the pride of being part
of a social cause.
A social post
can create more noise than an official communication like a press release or a
news release could do in the past. Traditional communication strategies have to
be modified according to today’s consumer behavior. And, for the success of
any of such communication strategy, you have to consider social media as more
of an engagement platform rather than a medium to push out your marketing
messages. From marketing perspective, the future of social media is all about
nurturing your relationship with the consumer and taking this to the level of
personal know-how. Personalized content better connect with a consumer taking
his/her specific wants and needs into consideration. In this context,
personalized content means creating specific content based on factors such as the
audience, their geography, their content consumption behavior and the devices
they use. When consumers feel that their voices are being heard,
brands can build a valuable relationship with them. This change is just one
among the many changes that the future of social media branding will witness
and influence consumer’s buying decisions significantly.
