FMCG and Social Media
It seems to me that when it comes to bringing social media together with fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), your campaigns have to do three things: (1) drive brick & mortar sales, (2) offer a way to track and measure those sales, and (3) keep consumers socializing with your media long enough that their increased expenditures cover the cost of your social media campaign. In a word, FMCG marketers should be choosing social media campaigns based on how they can meet the objectives of what a FMCG is:
Increased sales – (Planning Costs + Fulfillment Costs) = ROI
Recently, Chris Brogan posted on how companies can choose social media channels that are right for them. And something he took the time to point out, and that so many other “evangelists” are quick to gloss over, is how in that decision process, companies need to have clear goals and ways of measuring them:
It’s not all about the conversation. It’s not a matter of whether you get it or don’t. Like all things, it’s finding what works, building from a foundation, measuring progress, and adapting to new situations.
This got me thinking about the relationship between FMCG and social media because “what works” for them is what drives up brick & mortar sales, incrementally or otherwise. The makers of FMCG don’t have web-friendly products. I’m not going to order a beer or tube of toothpaste online, especially not on a whim. It’s just not going to happen.
I mean, sure, it’s great when everyone is talking about you, and you’re part of “the conversation”. But what good is that when they’re talking about you in a context (such as online) where your product isn’t readily available. After all, what’s going to push me, the consumer, away from that online conversation and out to a point-of-sale (POS) where I will make a purchase?
And even if I recall the buzz around your brand when I notice your product at a POS, is that going to be enough to make me buy? And if so, will your social media campaign create enough impulse buys to cover the agency fees behind that campaign? And whether it does or doesn’t, how are you going to track it? What measurement tools do you have in place or can you get access to?
Granted, social media can be an excellent strategy for fostering customer loyalty, but what’s it potential to do so with non-web-friendly products? Your super-bowl Facebook app might get me to buy a six-pack of your beer the night of the game, but will it keep me coming back when the season is over?
Burger King got it right with their Facebook app. They didn’t try to foster a devoutly loyal customer base using Facebook groups or their own social network. Rather, they devised a delimited marketing blitz with very clear objectives and measurable goals. Every consumer that participated got a coupon that could be tracked upon redemption. This would provide them with a complete cost-benefit analysis, measuring the costs of deployment against the additional costs of fulfillment alongside increased sales during times of redemption.
As long as objectives are kept in mind, social media can be an effective marketing channel even for FMCG. What’s important, though, is that marketers choose a medium both based on those objectives and on their need for measurement.
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