Shifting CPG resources from traditional to social media
This guest post is by Beth Ludwick, manager of member communications at the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Beth collaborates with us daily in the production of GMA SmartBrief, and provided us with her first post on social media in the CPG space just last week.
Almost every week I see at least one news article about how consumer packaged goods companies are increasing their spend online, particularly in video. When GMA set out to conduct an informal survey on social media with our members, I was not surprised to see that of the 22 companies surveyed, 63.6 percent of respondents are shifting resources from traditional to social media.
What was surprising in the survey findings released at the Dec. 10 GMA CPG Social Media Forum is that more than 50% of respondents are not monitoring consumer-generated content about their brand or tracking social media activity.
Of those who are, the majority are using proprietary measurement tools from private vendors. Fans, followers, sentiment, comments, clicks, engagements and interactions are just some of the metrics as being tracked, however answers varied greatly, which is important to note because companies should be measuring what is important to them — one size does not fit all.
Monitoring what is being said about your brand is one of the crucial first steps when entering social media. During the forum, the majority of speakers advised CPG companies who are new to social media to begin by listening to what consumers are saying online because that data is the key to creating an effective social media strategy for the company. Without that data, the allocation of resources is a shot in the dark.
More presentations from the CPG Social Media Forum, including the GMA Survey Findings can be found here.
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Posted by Kevin Warhus on December 21st, 2009 at 4:26 pm
There is definitely a major trend within the business world switching their approaches towards more modern marketing techniques such as social medias and I personally feel it is a great way to connect with customers and build relations if done correctly. I was very surprised to read how few businesses from your survey are actually monitoring their results. While i do feel it is extremely useful for businesses to have a presence on social media sites it is just as important to track results in order to ensure your dollars are being efficiently put to work.
I work for a company called ShopTab that you might want to check out (http://www.facebook.com/shoptabapp) as this application helps businesses get measurable results through use of social media. We saw a huge opportunity for eCommerce business owners who wanted to leverage and monetize their Facebook presence. Facebook ShopTab App allows these business owners the ability to create a shop tab directly on their Facebook fan page.
We feel with the use of personalization through social media sites like Facebook companies can continue to build valuable relations through various media vehicles and keep their customers involved and happy.
Thanks,
–Kevin (http://www.twitter.com/shoptab)
Posted by Christopher on January 15th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
A lot of CPGs use social media in ways you may not know. For instance, a lot of them engage in respondent-centric research. Sure, it does not get as much press as Twitter or Facebook, but never underestimate the value of a custom community with a unique URL.
One thing’s for sure, research needs to be innovative.
http://www.visioncritical.com/industry-insights/the-top-5-must-dos-of-respondent-centric-research/