If a company wants to effectively and efficiently gain
consumers, it must say goodbye to the old days of TV, radio, and magazine ads,
and hello to social media advertising via audience targeting, specifically “hypertargeting”
and “nanotargeting.” Dave Kerpen explains the difference between the two
techniques:
““Hypertargeting,” in
which a company gears a marketing and advertising effort toward a specific group through individuals’ social
media profiles, activities, and networks.” (Kerpen, p.25)
““Nanotargeting,” a
concept similar to hypertargeting but with search criteria so narrow that you
can target one individual among hundreds of millions.” (Kerpen, p.25)
Kerpen explains that targeting on Facebook is an
example of hypertargeting, as audiences can be narrowed down based on age,
gender, education marital status, interests, and job titles, while
nanotargeting would be helpful if a company wanted to “engage with the CEO of
the largest company in town or investment manager of a venture capital firm or
marketing director of a key vendor or partner.” (Kerpen, p.26) Targeting
strategies are the wave of the future, companies no longer have to mass advertise,
they can narrow down its target audience to a much smaller age range, interest
type, marital status etc. The main idea is to target people who are already
interested in or in need of your product, rather than pushing a product on
people who potentially have no need for it.
“Once
you find your target audience, listen to them, find out what they are looking
for, and provide your product or service to meet their needs. You can build a
relationship with your audience and even allow them to directly buy goods or
services, all using social media.” (Kerpen, p.27)
In addition to Facebook, Kerpen explores the benefits
of other social media such as LinkedIn and Twitter. Kerpen explains that Linked
in is used by 160 million professionals and business users. He goes on to say
that LinkedIn can be particularly beneficial if you are looking for senior
professionals who do not have Facebook, because if they are present online at
all, they will likely be on LinkedIn. When talking about Twitter, Kerpen says: “By
utilizing Twitter, your target audience becomes based around what people are
actually saying, not simply what you gain from demographic research.” (Kerpen,
p.32) The idea is that people are actually writing about wants, needs, and
likes on Twitter, resulting in knowing exactly what they want, rather than assuming
they want, need, or like something just because they are single or fall in a
certain age range. “Focus on a narrower but much more potent audience.”
(Kerpen, p.35) This notion is meant to help prevent wasting money on people who
are not interested. Finally, Kerpen tells us to think and act like our
consumers, and ask ourselves if we like being interrupted by ads. (Kerpen, p.
39) We should ask ourselves the following questions before advertising:
·
“Will the recipients of this message truly
find it of value, or will they find it annoying and disruptive?
·
Would I want to receive this message as a
consumer?” (Kerpen, p. 41)
It is imperative for us as marketers and advertisers
to think like consumers (which should not be difficult because we are consumers
outside of work) if we want to be successful. Kerpen provides an excellent and insightful
roadmap to victory in advertising. I know I will be looking at advertising in a
much different light from this point forward.
Reference:
Hi Debra,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you brought up the difference between hypertargeting and nanotargeting. I loved the nanotargeting example of how Kerpen and his wife send each other messages through Facebook (Kerpen, 2011, p. 26).
Do you have any experience using either hypertargeting or nanotargeting? What are some of the advantages of targeting just one individual?
While I agree that LinkedIn is a good place to find senior executives, it is becoming even more common for them to have an online social media presence in general, as “C-level executives are more involved online than their counterparts, and younger generations of executives…are bringing profound organizational change to these companies” (Scott, 2013, p. 145).
It makes sense to target people who are already looking for a particular product or service, but targeting is so much more. It includes “defining and finding the narrowly targeted, correct audience and then beginning to engage them in a conversation, so that when they are ready to buy, you’re the obvious, logical choice” (Kerpen, 2011, p. 35).
Overall, you talk about the benefits of using the different social media platforms, such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Furthermore, you mention that thinking like a consumer can lead to success. How does this fit in with the use of buyer personas? How can the use of buyer personas further enhance the use of social media platforms?
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on Facebook (& other social networks). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Scott, D.M. (2013). The new rules of marketing & PR. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Hi Allison,
DeleteI do not have experience with any kind of targeting. I am currently just a full-time student and do not have any marketing/advertising experience. This is all a learn as I go experience. The advantages of targeting an individual would be just as I cited in my post, for instance targeting a local CEO that you are interested in doing business with. I also enjoyed the nanotargeting example about Kerpen and his wife, so cute. Thinking like a consumer is important because it allows you to see things from a different perspective and potentially make more consumer friendly choices, rather than what is best only for the business. This can enhance the use of social media if the advertisers think about how consumers are using social media and what way would be most effective for advertising that is not intrusive.
Thanks for your response
No worries that you do not have firsthand experience yet—it will come with time! It is certainly interesting to see how work experiences differ from concepts and theories that we learn about through texts and classes.
DeleteWhile I agree that thinking like a consumer is helpful, to play devil’s advocate, do you also think there are times that certain decisions cannot be made in terms of thinking like the customer because it would be bad for business?
Yes, I absolutely agree that there are times when thinking like a customer would be bad for business. If companies always thought like consumers, the prices would be as low as possible and there would be no profit. I think that keeping the customer POV in mind while making decisions is a good policy in general, but of course doing what is best for the business will always be priority. Usually pleasing consumers is what is good for a business, unhappy consumers equal bad business.
DeleteI agree that acting on what customers like should be good for business. Most people are not interesting in knowing about earnings statements or new employees, etc. (Kerpen, 2011, p. 46). Many times, customers want to see and hear about things that have nothing to do with the brand or product itself. This makes marketers uneasy because they are trying to sell something and they are instead spending money and not even mentioning what is being sold. However, “even if the message isn’t about your brand at all, if it’s being commented on and liked, your Facebook page name will still be seen by your fans and garner attention from others” (p. 47).
DeleteTake a look at this article on social media advertising that enhances our discussion from this week and further shows the importance of social media advertising and targeting: http://marketingland.com/social-media-advertising-set-explode-next-3-years-121691
Do any of these points stand out to you?
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on Facebook (& other social networks). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
I enjoyed the points about "lookalike targeting, conversation tracking, and mobile dominance." It makes perfect sense that companies are reaching out to its consumers via social media, and this is the most convenient way to do so it today's technologically driven world. I particularly liked the point about lookalike targeting because it seems to be the most creative way of reaching new yet similar users. But just because these ads are tailored to consumers based on their social media, does not necessarily make them any less of a nuisance than TV commercials, particularly if these people are using social media as a means of relaxation and entertainment.
DeleteYou’re right! Just like people are skipping TV commercials, they may start ignoring online ads and other social media ploys from companies. Banner ads run rampant on almost any webpage that you visit and they have a very low click rate. My sister works for a company called TripleLift, which specializes in native advertising. This company tries to make ads more aesthetically friendly and integrated into the content of a website, so that you are more inclined to click on it. The website is as follows: http://www.triplelift.com/. Overall, companies will have to continue to be innovative, even in the digital world, to keep their customers engaged.
DeleteDebra,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Love that you point out the specific differences and benefits to the various forms of targeting. I agree that the tools and analytics now available to all through the streamlined social media platforms definitely has the ability to change advertising as we know it. While targeting by specific genders, age groups and geography used to be advanced demographics - this is now information we are able to utilize at the click of a button - much easier than in the past. I believe this is one of the reasons hyper targeting and more distinct forms of target/segment markets have developed. Obviously, as the systems advance as do the practices. Hashtags and trending have also been great ways to further target people's conversations and interests - as you include in your Twitter example. The amount of information now available to organize and target consumers as a whole is absolutely a fascinating (and maybe scary) advancement of the future of our field!
Hi Caitlin,
DeleteI agree, the amount of information available to organize and target consumers is both fascinating and scary. So many people probably don't even realize that by filling out profile information on social media, they are handing themselves over to advertisers, it's quite ingenious. This certainly has changed the face of advertising and it does not look like it's slowing down any time soon.
Thanks for your response.
Part of the problem is that if you do not agree to the terms and conditions, you cannot sign up for a lot of these social media platforms. Since no one actually takes the time to read the agreement, there is a lack of general knowledge of what rights have been given up by agreeing to these initial terms.
DeleteEven on websites we develop at work, we use opt-out clauses, rather than opt-ins. We would rather have people check the box when they no longer want to participate because we find that way less people actually do this than you would think. On the opposite side, when we have people opt-in, we see a very low percentage of participants.
Would you still sign-up for a lot of the social media platforms, emails, and/or contests if you knew how all of your information was actually being used by these companies?
Hi Debra,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Hypertargeting is a great way to to market a product or service towards a specific demographic. I found an interesting youtube interview with John Callahan (now with Fox but previously with MySpace) where he talks about his hyper targeting endeavors with both companies. It starts out around minute 3:30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p57l9FzeKl4
I thoroughly enjoyed your statement, "It is imperative for us as marketers and advertisers to think like consumers (which should not be difficult because we are consumers outside of work) if we want to be successful."
Too many times I feel we forget we are consumers, too. If we can relate our personal experiences to what were working on, it may help us better understand the consumer and help us weed out the difficulties reaching them we encounter along the way.
Nice job!
- Jordan
I enjoyed your
Jordan,
DeleteI love your ending statement about how we often forget while working in the field that we, too, are also the consumer in our own lives. Sometimes I don't realize until after a purchase or interaction that I "fell" for marketing or advertising methods - which is funny as I am usually the person behind the messaging, targeting and strategies.
Sometimes it is hard to be in tune to our behaviors as they are happening because they become second nature - but I absolutely agree with you that if we were able to maintain awareness, our own input and experiences as consumers in our own right could be such a great tool for understanding fellow buyers and customers. Especially as we continue to live in a fully-connected and synergized world, including the internet, social media and continually-evolving advertising.
Great point!
In theory, we can think like a consumer, but in practice, it becomes harder to do because we are typically working on a product or service that we have a lot of knowledge on and hopefully are a proponent of. Thus, it makes it harder to us to be unbiased towards our own marketing campaigns and what we may think is interesting as a consumer may not be as universally well-received as we would like. As a result, it is also important to ask our customers what they do and do not like, so that we are getting information out there that is valuable to them (Kerpen, 2011, p. 46).
DeleteMoreover, everyone is different, so asking the question “what would make you click Like or leave a comment?” may lead to very different responses depending on who you ask (Kerpen, 2011, p. 46). What are some ways to make sure you are getting the “right” people’s opinions?
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on Facebook (& other social networks). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Allison,
DeleteGreat point! It is incredibly difficult to determine what the "right" methods when trying to reach a targeted, but still individually varying, market. You definitely make an argument about the other side of the coin - maybe being so involved in the marketing field (while also participating in it) presents an interesting gap for bias.
For the "right" opinions - I suppose one would say that test markets, focus groups and other efforts are the best way to gain the most direct and proper insight. However, smaller companies cannot necessarily allocate the necessary funds or time to those sorts of efforts. In that case, I think our past readings truly speak to the importance of "listening."
Brands should always be prepared to make changes to their strategies in marketing, advertising and social media alike. By carefully tracking and paying attention to their markets, companies can shift their tactics to discontinue efforts that are not yielding desired results, and possibly increasing the frequency or methods for those that seem to have people more engaged and satisfied.