Social Media can be used in important ways to communicate with customers and consumers. It is therefore essential to get my clients thinking about the opportunities social media represents. Social media potentially changes the game completely for small start up businesses and ones which are developing, allowing direct access to consumer information in ways never before possible
Many of the people and companies I work with want either to develop and manufacture a product based on an idea or capability they have or to manufacture a product they may have already developed The first question I always ask is “how and where are you going to distribute and sell the product”
Almost none of them have thought of this
The second question I ask is “how do you know that people other than you are going to like it”
Almost none of them have thought of this
The third question I ask is “how are you going to find out what people think of the product and how it can be improved”
Almost none of them have thought of this either
Most small and medium sized businesses and particularly new start-ups do not have a full spectrum of business skills. They often have technical or financial skills but lack relevant commercial and marketing experience. By acquiring and adopting a social media based approach it is possible for businesses to acquire useful information about their target market and distribution channels quickly and at modest cost
Businesses may require assistance in interpreting the information, but even raw and simple information will (hopefully) help them to avoid catastrophic errors – such as producing something nobody likes or wants or failing to understand retailers needs and requirements
Developing and manufacturing a product is (relatively) easy and straight forward. It is a mechanical and definable process which the client can control and resource. Distributing and selling the product is MUCH harder
- Why should people stock the product?
- Why should people buy the product?
- When and where might people want to buy it?
- Do they like it or could it be improved?
- How do you get people committed to the brand or concept
- Are competitors really going to stand back and let you take their market and shelf space?
To be successful, before you start making anything you need to know that people want your product and that people will be willing to stock and sell it. You will need:-
- Information
- Evidence
- To listen
- To communicate
A good Social Media strategy can help in achieving this
The Importance of Dialogue
It has been (or should be) the wish of any manufacturer to be able to have a constant, constructive dialogue with current and potential customers and consumers. This has previously been more or less impossible for small businesses and even large organisations have had to rely on the opinions of a few dozen people and to allow themselves to be convinced that they represent the views of the population at large
Social media has changed this radically and it is now easy for even a small company to communicate directly with current and prospective customers and to listen to their opinions and attitudes
Importantly for a small or medium sized business, social media allows this dialogue to start on a very local basis and then to be used to expand the distribution base as demand is created by the consumers themselves as much as by the activities of the producer. There have been many examples of this “creation of a community” in other sectors and there is a huge opportunity to do this with confectionery, particularly with confectionery which has a particular functionality or identity
The Opportunity
A properly constructed and managed social media programme allows the entrepreneur to talk directly to potential customers and consumers even before the product is launched
- To find out what they want and what they think of the idea,
- How and when they will use the product
- Where they might want to purchase it
- Does a product only have novelty appeal or is it something people will adopt on an on-going basis
- What changes and improvements are consumers looking for – is there a particular flavour, presentation or functionality they are looking for
- Is it available where and when they want it or does the distribution need to be changed
- How do they feel about pricing
- Making new products in a range a constant topic of interest in the consumer group
Using the Information
The information gained through a social media based campaign can be used in many ways:-
- Developing and supporting an initial business plan
- Identifying and facilitating business development opportunities
- Providing vital evidence for presentation to retailers – the people you have to convince to give you shelf space.
- Helping the retailer feed back to you what is selling and when and also to allow flexible deliveries – just what he needs, when he needs it, at minimum notice.
- Identifying, understanding and targeting appropriate new distribution opportunities and motivating retailers to defend shelf space
- Making the consumer feel part of and committed to the product – the “Apple” effect
- Quickly and effectively exploring new ideas with consumers and retailers without the need for expensive conventional research
- Building links with groups and institutions which have large numbers of relevant consumers, such as universities, sports clubs etc.
Some Dangers to be Avoided
- It is important to have a genuine community with a diverse set of opinions – do not just listen to the loudest voice or the ones saying what you already think – look carefully at contrary opinions and don’t be defensive
- Guard your reputation – maintain credibility and develop a reputation for honesty – if there is a problem make sure the community hear about it from you.
- Monitor the space so that you become aware of issues and deal with them quickly
- Silence is definitely not golden! – make communications regular and relevant to the target audience, keep them excited and interested by frequent short and interesting comments
- Keep websites secure and make sure that content does not offend (although the only way of not offending anyone is never to do or say anything, and even then someone will complain)