Let’s talk about it. Lots of things are going on in people’s lives right now. We are in the midst of a global pandemic, there is civil unrest in countries around the world, and people’s trust in their institutions everywhere are eroding. I don’t particularly care what side of the aisle you’re on, either — this year is a struggle for everyone.
So suffice to say, it is especially upsetting to see major brands and corporations flex their out-of-touch ad spending on a population of disillusioned citizens. Even Twitter and Instagram are becoming newly discovered hot-beds to reach young people with advertising. Though this is not all bad, it is crucial for these same firms to be aware of what is happening in people’s lives that can make their campaigns not just relevant, but important to users on these platforms.
I think that social listening is an integral part of any corporation’s marketing strategy, and a lot of firms are dropping the ball. Consider the idea of ‘social listening’, which is explained in part in this Stukent Expert Session video with Tori McClellan.
As far as I’m concerned, the strategy of social listening dictates that a firm keeps its ear to the ground of social media conversation, with keywords, hashtags, and trends so they can contrive some answers to their overall marketing strategy. What is making people’s 2020 so difficult? What can we offer as a solution? Is this the time to be shilling out the same ad campaigns with only “COVID-19 in the title?
If firms were genuinely asking these questions for themselves more productive dialogue could be happening on these social platforms. Dialogue that really informs a business on their performance. In my opinion, the biggest brands should neglect self-promotion entirely in their actual feed posts, and save it for the paid social ads. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn an accounts’ sole purpose on social is to communicate with others- so brands should start acting like it.