Words are great, but color is better when it comes to social media marketing

Social Media is a multimedia experience. Content is shared in a myriad of forms: video, text, photo, audio clip, gif, etc. All can benefit a company’s brand in the effort to reach viewers. But we now know that color plays a very important part in brand perception. According to recent research, the color palette creates the mood and feeling of a brand that ultimately drives consumer behavior. Color, when used effectively, has the ability to connect with the subconscious (gut feeling) which can be a direct line to a positive customer action.

However, there are some who still argue that the perception of color is too dependent on personal experience to have universal applications such as the psychology researchers at the University of California, Berkeley who learned that, "personal preference is determined by all the entities you've encountered of that color and how much you liked them."

Although this may be true in some cases, the true benefits of color in marketing are apparent when the “perceived appropriateness” of the color being used fits the brand image and feel. 

As author Gregory Ciotti states, “certain colors do broadly align with specific traits (e.g., brown with ruggedness, purple with sophistication, and red with excitement). But … it’s far more important for your brand’s colors to support the personality you want to portray instead of trying to align with stereotypical color associations.”

A company creating or revamping their brand image should consider long and hard the colors they select. Color choices that enhance the feel of the brand will be perceived as successful and more impactful than color choices that are at odds with the desired feeling of the company.

Ciotti continues, “Focusing on the way colors affect the feeling, mood, and image that your brand creates that play a role in persuasion. Be sure to recognize that colors only come into play when they can be used to match a brand’s desired personality (i.e., the use of white to communicate Apple’s love of clean, simple design).”

When done wisely, color choice will lead to successful brand recognition and even instill a sense of trust. Ideally correct color application will positively affect the company’s brand perception metrics, including brand loyalty, brand recall, “top-of-the-mind recall” or “share of mind” and the ultimate, “share of heart” metric.

According to the SMstudy Guide, the “share of heart” metric indicates the highest level of brand loyalty and recognition. The book states, “A high ‘share of heart’ indicates a very strong connection between the brand and its customers…and that the marketing strategy is effective at communicating and delivering the value needed by its customers.”

Harnessing the power of color (and applying it appropriately) will enhance a company’s social media marketing and has the potential to increase viewer and customer engagement no matter what form of media is being shared.

For more interesting articles on social media marketing, visit - www.smstudy.com/articles

Sources:

“The Psychology of Color in Marketing and Branding,” Gregory Ciotti, Aug. 6, 2013. http://www.helpscout.net/blog/psychology-of-color/

“Color Preferences Determined by Experience,” Emily Sohn, Oct. 1, 2010 http://news.discovery.com/human/evolution/colors-preferences-evolution-style.htm

Words are great, but color is better when it comes to social media marketing

Social Media is a multimedia experience. Content is shared in a myriad of forms: video, text, photo, audio clip, gif, etc. All can benefit a company’s brand in the effort to reach viewers. But we now know that color plays a very important part in brand perception. According to recent research, the color palette creates the mood and feeling of a brand that ultimately drives consumer behavior. Color, when used effectively, has the ability to connect with the subconscious (gut feeling) which can be a direct line to a positive customer action.

However, there are some who still argue that the perception of color is too dependent on personal experience to have universal applications such as the psychology researchers at the University of California, Berkeley who learned that, "personal preference is determined by all the entities you've encountered of that color and how much you liked them."

Although this may be true in some cases, the true benefits of color in marketing are apparent when the “perceived appropriateness” of the color being used fits the brand image and feel. 

As author Gregory Ciotti states, “certain colors do broadly align with specific traits (e.g., brown with ruggedness, purple with sophistication, and red with excitement). But … it’s far more important for your brand’s colors to support the personality you want to portray instead of trying to align with stereotypical color associations.”

A company creating or revamping their brand image should consider long and hard the colors they select. Color choices that enhance the feel of the brand will be perceived as successful and more impactful than color choices that are at odds with the desired feeling of the company.

Ciotti continues, “Focusing on the way colors affect the feeling, mood, and image that your brand creates that play a role in persuasion. Be sure to recognize that colors only come into play when they can be used to match a brand’s desired personality (i.e., the use of white to communicate Apple’s love of clean, simple design).”

The study of color theory is vast and much information can be found online, but for a basic introduction, check out this video on branding and color…

When done wisely, color choice will lead to successful brand recognition and even instill a sense of trust. Ideally correct color application will positively affect the company’s brand perception metrics, including brand loyalty, brand recall, “top-of-the-mind recall” or “share of mind” and the ultimate, “share of heart” metric.

According to the SMstudy Guide, the “share of heart” metric indicates the highest level of brand loyalty and recognition. The book states, “A high ‘share of heart’ indicates a very strong connection between the brand and its customers…and that the marketing strategy is effective at communicating and delivering the value needed by its customers.”

Harnessing the power of color (and applying it appropriately) will enhance a company’s social media marketing and has the potential to increase viewer and customer engagement no matter what form of media is being shared.

For more interesting articles on social media marketing, visit - www.smstudy.com/articles

Sources:

“The Psychology of Color in Marketing and Branding,” Gregory Ciotti, Aug. 6, 2013. http://www.helpscout.net/blog/psychology-of-color/

“Color Preferences Determined by Experience,” Emily Sohn, Oct. 1, 2010 http://news.discovery.com/human/evolution/colors-preferences-evolution-style.htm

The Search for Social Media Insights

It may be time to recognize that data collected from social media will not so easily reveal its immediate impact on a company’s sales (as we’ve said before, it’s proven to be a bit slippery). But this doesn’t mean the baby should be thrown out with the bathwater. In finding ways to prove its value, social media marketers are changing the conversation away from a cause/effect relationship between a company’s marketing and its ROI to a deeper understanding of social data’s value. And as it turns out what it offers is way more valuable- the unprecedented parse-able social insights of a population.

In a recent post, we explained that the number one problem facing social media marketers today is tying social data to an increase in the bottom line (or the sales of a product or service). The challenge of “proof,” in turn, was making it harder to make a case for additional investment in social media marketing.

We said, “Demonstrating the value of the social programs within the company was, in fact, the top challenge noted (60%) by survey participants consisting of 600 media marketing professionals.”

 The State of Social Marketing 2015 report by Simply Measured states, “Companies of all sizes and maturity levels are struggling to prove the value of their social programs. Social media activities can be difficult to quantify, and marketers are trapped between readily available “vanity metrics,” such as Likes and followers, and difficult-to-measure objectives such as brand awareness.”

We went on to suggest that unless there’s a collapse of the capitalist system, better tools will surely arise to address the challenge. But we also noted, of equal, if not greater importance, would be the ongoing discovery of more creative and accurate ways to query the data.

As marketers hone in on methods to extract the gold nuggets of consumer intel out of the mountain of information, they’re hitting upon the true capital of social media- the most comprehensive picture of consumer behavior, sentiment and decision-making process they’ve ever been blessed to lay hands on. This might not be the smoking gun that ties directly to a sale, but, in fact, presents many more gifts in the long run as John Donnelly III, SVP of global sales and marketing at Crimson Hexagon, points out.    

 “One of the most effective ways to glean consumer insights is by analyzing social media conversation… sales teams are realizing that social media is rife with information about what their prospects care about, how they consume media and what motivates their decision-making,” said Donnelly.

Based on Donnelly’s presentation and other insights, here are some ideas to consider when taking the dive into social data.  

Get granular. Almost any question a marketer has regarding brand perception, market competition and the general sentiment of people discussing a product or brand can be found through social media analytics, so ask away.

Getting granular also let's marketers zero in on microsegments of the population that either are or can be Word-of-Mouth advocates for a brand or product.

Word of Mouth is the golden standard for all marketers. The ability to target Word-of-Mouth advocates on social media can be the difference between success and failure. Writing for convice&convert, Devon Wijesinghe discusses the importance of Word of Mouth and how it can be used.

“This rich source of information comes in handy when you’re looking to generate Word of Mouth about your brand. Tapping into the “right” market segments—segments whose interests and values are aligned with your brand—can be the catalyst your campaign needs,” Wijesinghe said.

Layer trending topics on top of a hyper-targeted market segment (both bits of information available through social media data analysis) and a marketer has made a happy marketing marriage.  

Focus groups may be passe according to some, but testing is still very much a part of the marketing strategy. From a product standpoint, social media insights can reflect the strengths and weaknesses of a product’s lifecycle as well as the effectiveness of current marketing efforts. Filling the role of the modern-day focus group, social media insights are also valuable for taking the temperature of the public on an idea such as a logo or slogan, a product or service. Testing the social media world’s tastes and perceptions allows for adjustment before launching, saving money and perhaps even preventing a catastrophic mistake.  

Social media data is virtually limitless (pun optional) and social media marketers are stepping up and learning how to use it best. We expect to be reading many more social media data “hacks” in the future. Stay tuned.

Visit smstudy.com for additional articles on sales and marketing. 

Sources:

"How to Sell Smarter Using Social Insights," Devon Wijesinghem http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-measurement/social-insights/

"Supercharge Your Selling Strategy: The Power of Social Data," John Donnelly, https://inbound.org/discuss/john-donnelly-forget-the-focus-group-how-social-insights-can-help-you-sell-smarter-at-inbound15

The State of Social Marketing- 2015, Simply Measured, http://simplymeasured.com/#sm.0001gymsunkgqdcepli19xtqnlo4p

Brand Loyalty

Brand loyalty is a metric associated with brand perception in marketing. Brand perception refers to how prospective and current customers react to seeing or hearing about a company’s products or brands and how the company is perceived within the market.

Brand loyalty is reflected by how many customers purchase a brand repeatedly. It indicates the commitment that customers have towards a brand irrespective of the price offered by competitors of similar products and is the basis of a strong relationship between the brand and its customers. The underlying metrics for brand loyalty may be the percentage of repeat customers out of total customers, the frequency of repeat purchases, and the degree to which other brands are also purchased along with the brand under consideration. A high degree of purchase of other brands reveals a low brand loyalty for the brand under consideration. Another way to measure brand loyalty is to examine customer response to situations where a product variant is unavailable. If customers are loyal to a brand, they will either wait until the product becomes available or buy another product variant of the same brand.

Let’s illustrate the idea with some example. Some retail chains use payback / loyalty card to measure brand loyalty by frequency of a customer’s repeat purchase of products from their stores. As part of the loyalty program, these retail companies incentivize the loyal customers by offering cashbacks, payback points and other personalized discounts over and above the listed discounts. Some luxury car manufacturers have strong brand loyal customers who are ready to pay a premium price for a luxury car due to its perceived uniqueness and status. These set of customers are so brand loyal that they book their vehicles well in advance and are willing to wait several months for their order to be fulfilled and they will not accept substitutes.

To learn more about other brand perception metrics, refer Marketing Strategy, the first book of the SMstudy® Guide.

http://smstudy.com/Article/Brand-Loyalty