Social Momentum is the public perception that a brand is up-and-coming, exciting, and a must-be-followed. By contrast, a legacy brand is seen as having achieved its full potential; nothing new or exciting is expected from this company. Today’s fickle, over-stimulated consumers are more interested in companies – and their products – that have social momentum.
B2B customers, classified as “brand advocates” (those highly active in using and promoting a single brand over others) in a Sensei Marketing Study listed the brand characteristics of the companies they were more likely to purchase from as “Dynamic”, “Up and Coming” and “Leading Edge”. Of note: the brands they considered as having social momentum were not only startups but firms such as Google, Apple, Honda and Nike.
On the other side, the survey demonstrated that those businesses that customers liked – but were less likely to purchase from – were categorized as “Traditional”, “Legacy”, “Boring”. These included Motorola, AOL, Nokia, and Caterpillar.
Further, the study discovered that brands with perceived positive social momentum exceeded average industry sales by at least 13%.
Perceived Momentum Creates the Conditions for Further Momentum
Social Moment is not an exclusive trait of business start-ups. In fact, I’d argue that its not about the brand itself but the consumer’s perception of the brand.
Many believe that in social media channels the “fake it till you make it” principle is the best advice for those seeking this momentum; that it’s less about having a set of solid products and services but creating the illusion that they are the next big thing and buzz-worthy.
Building the anticipation and publicity is just as important, in the short term anyway, as having the products to back up the hype.
The argument being that momentum is built during a period of anticipation, not when the product is being actively used. It’s about attracting early adopters, who tend to be the most vocal about products and brands. They’re always looking for the next big thing and it’s these early adopters that become the brand’s biggest advocates and that others will look to for direction.
Consider the recent launch of the Google+ network. Google has a well-documented history of negative social network attempts, yet Google+ was one the most highly-anticipated and successful launches in recent history with the very audience that knew of their past failed attempts.
They were successful in creating buzz around the product and playing on the needs and vanity of early adopters by creating a very public, invite-only beta test. Those who were “lucky enough” to be let in behind the velvet rope went out of their way to blog and tweet about their experiences in order to position themselves as “in the know”.
It didn’t matter if their experiences were positive or negative; the anticipation that Google and its early adopters built up among the public was so strong everyone was clamouring for an invite.
Creating Social Momentum
So it’s not necessarily about being a new brand but teaching old dogs new tricks. Yet brands seeking to create social momentum will find it’s not as easy and they might think.
Customers are increasingly fickle and the competition for their attention (channels and messages) increases by the minute. The industry has proven that simply posting a video to YouTube does not make an Internet sensation.
There is still and undefined “magic mix” of right message at the right time in the right channel…with a dash of luck and sprinkle of lightening.
The one constant: today’s category leaders never let their brand’s momentum stand still. They are constantly re-inventing and reaching out to top influencers in multiple social media platforms in order to generate interest and demand for their products, elevate their brand’s status and create a sense of “can’t wait to see what’s next”.
We’re debating social momentum during this week’s special LIVE broadcast of the #BizForum Twitter Debate with fellow Social Media Master: Deb Weinstein, president of Strategic Objectives, a leading Public Relations firm. The following four themes will be debated:
1: Building Social Momentum has become more important than building a solid product.
Understandably a short term strategy, the modern audience is increasingly social and has developed “Look-a-Squirrel!” syndrome. Anticipation has become more important to selling a product than launching with a great product. The product can be improved through crowdsourcing and beta-testing, but without anticipation & buzz you’ll not have the critical mass to crowdsource to. Agree/Disagree/Why?
Understandably a short term strategy, the modern audience is increasingly social and has developed “Look-a-Squirrel!” syndrome. Anticipation has become more important to selling a product than launching with a great product. The product can be improved through crowdsourcing and beta-testing, but without anticipation & buzz you’ll not have the critical mass to crowdsource to. Agree/Disagree/Why?
2. Social Momentum becomes increasingly harder to achieve the older a business is.
The bigger a business gets, the less flexible and open it becomes yet the characteristics of a business building and maintaining social momentum include the willingness to embrace crowdsourcing & new technologies such as mobile, constant re-invention, openness and empowering employees to engage in social communications. Agree/Disagree/Why?
The bigger a business gets, the less flexible and open it becomes yet the characteristics of a business building and maintaining social momentum include the willingness to embrace crowdsourcing & new technologies such as mobile, constant re-invention, openness and empowering employees to engage in social communications. Agree/Disagree/Why?
3. The concept of “momentum” can only be achieved in the modern era through social channels.
We can all agree that online channels are part of the overall marketing communication mix for most businesses and should not be embraced in isolation; however, given the increasing adoption of social communications, is the social channel not the only way to capture the imagination of early adopters and build this momentum? Agree/Disagree/Why?
We can all agree that online channels are part of the overall marketing communication mix for most businesses and should not be embraced in isolation; however, given the increasing adoption of social communications, is the social channel not the only way to capture the imagination of early adopters and build this momentum? Agree/Disagree/Why?
4. Social Momentum is required in our modern social-economy to “stay on top”.
No business will survive long-term without a great product or service along with the ability to earn a profit. Yet leading an industry and beating the competition in our modern era can only be achieved through building and maintaining social momentum. Agree/Disagree/Why?
No business will survive long-term without a great product or service along with the ability to earn a profit. Yet leading an industry and beating the competition in our modern era can only be achieved through building and maintaining social momentum. Agree/Disagree/Why?
Please join in on October 5, 2011 from 8 to 9 PM Eastern by following Tweetchat or monitor the #bizforum hashtag on your favorite Twitter client. This week’s debate will also be LiveCast on Ustream where Twitter participants can watch/listen to the BizForum team debate these issues live. Deb will also be joining me as a presenter at the upcoming Social Media Masters conference on Social Business in Toronto Friday October 7th, 2011.
What is your position on these topics? Agree? Disagree? Share your experiences and opinion below!
