The vast amount of information online today is like a candy store of marketing intelligence for savvy companies. With so much consumer data available, how does a company, with goods or services to sell, begin to analyze it all and zoom in on what matters most? How can social marketing intelligence deliver greater ROI than data from television, radio, print and direct mail advertising? For 15 years, Take 5 Media Group has perfected the art and science of identifying the winning edge for clients in many different industries.
What Exactly is Social Marketing Intelligence?
Statistics from the Pew Research Center indicate that 79% of Americans use Facebook, followed by Twitter (24%), Pinterest (31%), Instagram (32%), and LinkedIn (29%). Social marketing intelligence refers to the method of mining valuable information in social network interactions and data flows that can enable companies to sell products and services with greater speed and accuracy and at lower cost than other advertising and marketing campaigns.
Simply put, social marketing intelligence helps companies learn about consumer preferences. Rather than “shooting buckshot” and hoping for the best, social marketing intelligence hones in on target audiences by knowing their age, gender, personal cultural preferences, hobbies, leisure activities, past purchases and much more. Once a company has that knowledge, it can engage potential and existing customers, build brand awareness and generate sales.
How does Take 5 Media Group Do Social Marketing Intelligence?
Take 5 Media Group segments data from a range of sources into groups representing the audiences their clients wish to reach. To illustrate how that works in the real world, consider the Robinson family, a fictional personification of how America shops. Greg Robinson is a family man in his early forties. He has a 37-year-old wife, Julia, a 16-year-old daughter, Zoe, and a 10-year-old son, James. Julia is pregnant and expecting their third child in a few months. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson and daughter Zoe are on social media. Here’s what we know about them:
Lifestyle Preferences
Greg is a basketball fan, Julia loves yoga and Zoe collects concert blu-rays. From sporting goods stores, to nutritional supplement companies and event ticket promoters, a wide array of companies would like to be friends with the Robinsons.
Transactional Data
Take 5 has identified 150 different behavioral psychographic attributes of the consumers in their database. They send Greg a survey where he shares his preferences and aspirations. He tells us, for example, that he prefers being outside, is a leader rather than a follower, and his biggest aspiration is to attend the NBA finals with courtside tickets. With information such as this, Take 5 determines what products and services Greg is likely to buy and includes him in appropriate databases.
Demographic & Household
The Robinson household contains two adults, one teenager, one child and a baby on the way. They live in a 3-bedroom, 2 ½-bath house with a pool. Can you think of 10 companies with products the Robinsons are likely to buy? That’s just the tip of the iceberg!
Life Stage Triggers
Take 5 MG’s 157MM+ Life Stage Triggers databases enable companies to establish their brands as a valuable part of their audience’s lifestyle milestones. Julia’s status and profile updates on her Facebook page announcing that their third child will be a boy puts her on a list of mothers expecting male children, so Osh Kosh B’Gosh, for example, might send her emails with new baby clothes for boys size 0-1. Amazon might suggest the latest baby bottles, cradles and monitors. This highly-targeted approach eliminates the huge waste factor of traditional advertising, which casts a wide net and hopes that it reaches the right eyeballs and ears. Zoe, who is beginning to think about college, gets news about SAT prep courses and dorm essentials from Bed, Bath & Beyond. There’s lots going on in the Robinsons’ lives and countless companies want to reach out and get to know them.
Purchase Intent
The Robinsons’ cable service has gone down for the second time this month. It takes two days for the repair technician to solve the problem, causing Greg to miss two very important basketball games. He receives an email asking him to take a survey and gives the cable provider a scathing review. Take 5 acquires the survey and includes Greg in the database for its internet and cable-provider clients, who promptly contact Greg and offer him a better rate and service than his current provider could provide.
Social marketing intelligence provides the solution that retail marketing genius John Wanamaker was looking for almost 100 years ago. Finally, there is a way to make all your marketing dollars hit your target.