Chapter 9 Leveraging Social Networks
for Innovation
By Dr. HABINEZA Emmanuel
The Importance of Social Media for Business Innovations
• Social media is fast becoming the new front door for any business. A venerable
powerhouse, supporting nearly every marketing objective from brand awareness to
advocacy over the past decade.
• Consumers are spending up to 3 hours on Social Media platforms per day and even
longer looking at their mobile screens
• When it comes to using Social Media, consumers across the planet say researching
products, entertainment and news/current events are important to them.
• Almost a third of online consumers use social media to research and find products to
buy. Consumers now go on social to connect with their favourite brands, research
products, and purchase the products they research.
The Importance of Social Media for Business Innovations
Social media is valuable for businesses of any size or industry,
and finding customers on social media has a direct impact on
sales and your bottom line.
71% of all decision makers say social media is influential when
they’re researching or considering a new product for their
company.
Social Media platforms are also gradually becoming a place to
complete purchases, as networks mature further
Social Media is the golden thread of the whole customer journey
throughout, as it allows a unified customer experience, as people
are buying into experiences, not just products. Social
compresses the customer journey from days to hours.
Question:
•Which social media sites do you use to
research/consider new products/services
The Importance of Social Media for Business Innovations
Social media is, now more than ever, a powerful tool for
1. Retrieving consumer insights
2. Generating brand awareness, as well as maintaining relevancy
3. Providing a seamless shopping experience
The Importance of Social Media for Business Innovations
• The role of social media in the purchase journey is by no means
reserved to the much-coveted purchasing stage via a “buy” button
on a social platform.
• In reality, social media brings added value to each stage of this
process.
• Only with this in mind can the true potential of social channels’
role in the purchase journey be realized.
The Importance of Social Media for Business Innovations
• Social commerce must be viewed within the frame of omni-
channel retail strategies and beyond clicking “buy” buttons on
social platforms. Shoppers are increasingly making use of a
multitude of channels when looking for and buying products
online. Social channels can be used in conjunction with – and
complementary to other commerce channels to provide a
convenient and seamless consumer experience at each stage of
the purchase journey.
The Importance of Social Media for Business Innovations
• Social Media today has evolved to more than just a space for
communication, content sharing and news consumption.
• It has increasingly become not only a tool where general
networking can easily take place, but also a space that serves the
needs of businesses – everything from advertising and marketing
to ecommerce sales. But it’s the possibility of completing the
purchase journey while remaining within the ecosystem of these
social platforms which has emerged as the “holy grail” in the
development of social commerce.
Social Media as a Branding and Marketing tool
As a Branding and Marketing tool, Social Media is extremely important
not only to sell a specific product, but also to create an experience, to
share the passion and work put into the actual final product.
With basic Marketing Principles in mind, and looking at the “Brand
Actions on Social That Prompt Consumers to Purchase”, it is important
to forexemple communicate to the consumer what Wine really is: the
passion committed generations put into a product that will be enjoyed
by other families. It’s the vineyard, and the teams that look after it all
year round. It’s the winery, the processes, methods and equipment. It’s
the winemaker, their experience and unique style. It’s craft, knowledge,
art and technology. Wine is where nature, innovation and love all come
together. And this is fascinating, whether one is a true connoisseur or
the occasional drinker.
Knowing the Social Networks Audience
• One reason why using social media for business is so effective is
that you can micro-target your audience. But first, you need
to understand who your audience is.
• Social media allows companies to listen in on unfiltered
conversations consumers are having about their preferences,
experiences, and habits.
Knowing the Social Networks Audience
• Start by thinking about your target customer. Then, compile data on your
current customers. Then, dig deeper with social media analytics. You’ll
start to develop a solid picture of who’s buying from and interacting with
you online.
• What are their interests?
• Their location?
• Their age?
• Occupation?
• What do they use their social channels for?
• And based on all this, what would they like to see from your brand?
• Current trends are very applicable to your social media content. Topics like
sustainability, veganism, zero waste, natural produce, local produce, and
so many other trending topics will help you capture eyes and hearts.
The Current Consumer Trends
Today, the consumer is empowered, dynamic and proactive
Majority are those who want a blend of physical and digital
Majority are again those happier monitoring their digital usage – which
makes it extremely important to know what is relevant to a specific
audience and when are the key hours to reach them. Make the right
offer at the right time to optimize the result
Approximately half of Social Media users block ads, which makes it
more difficult to connect to the consumer through paid ads. This shows
how companies should focus on growing their organic reach, which is a
long-term goal but a sustainable one.
The Current Consumer Trends
Context and control are fundamental to the age of the audience. An
example of this, Team Mates which will be launched by Linkedin,
through which people connect to people they actually work with in real
life.
Consider integrating social commerce in your strategy. Consumers are
using social media for more purpose-driven activities and research
suggests it has the potential to become mainstream.
The top motivations for using social include public content consumption
◦ to research/find products to buy
◦ to find funny or entertaining content
◦ to stay up-to-date with news and current events
The Role of Social in the Online Shoppers’ Purchase Journey
A Social media is a go-to in the research and discovery
stages of the purchase journey.
• 24% of online shoppers discover brands through review
sites, with 58% of the online population interacting with
reviews in some way during their purchase journey.
• While 51% of the online population have used an ad-
blocker to stop ads being displayed in the past month,
online ads still feature high on the list, with 1 in 4
discovering brands this way.
• The effectiveness of online ads garnering users’ attention
The Role of Social in the Online Shoppers’ Purchase Journey
A Social media is a go-to in the research and discovery
stages of the purchase journey.
• 24% of online shoppers discover brands through review
sites, with 58% of the online population interacting with
reviews in some way during their purchase journey.
• While 51% of the online population have used an ad-
blocker to stop ads being displayed in the past month,
online ads still feature high on the list, with 1 in 4
discovering brands this way. research.
The Role of Social in the Online Shoppers’
Purchase Journey
B. 92% of millennials visit an online retail site or store such as
Amazon each month.
• In addition, 12% of internet users interact with brands when doing
research on messaging apps, showing the importance of convenience
and immediacy in social brand consumer relationships, and indicating
the growing potential for chatbots.
C. Social platforms provide important brand-consumer
touchpoints.
• Increasingly social media has evolved into a space that serves the
needs of businesses – everything from advertising, to brand-
consumer engagement and ecommerce sales.
• At present, 38% of internet users follow their favourite brands on
social media, with 25% following brands they are thinking of buying
something from.
What this means for brands: Maintaining a strong social media
presence is a prerequisite to reach consumers who follow and research
brands on social media, but traditional content and SEO strategies haven’t
lost their appeal- and are still more important in most cases.
thank you !!!