Embrace social media, exploit its potential, but be aware that it can be counter-productive if not used correctly, Benji and Zak Borg, the brains and brawns behind Anchovy Studios, caution.
Social media offers infinite opportunities for interaction
The new digital creative agency has embraced the shift towards social media marketing after signing an exciting partnership with IM.MK, a leading international Facebook-preferred marketing developer which boasts high-profile names like Microsoft and McDonald’s.
“A website has become the default practice in the business world, with each business having its own website,” Benji Borg explains. “Although contemporary sites are highly interactive and dynamic, they lack one essential ingredient which is synonymous with social media, namely a two-way communication channel.
“Social media allows clients and fans to interact with a business simply through conventional ‘likes’, comments or direct messages. Apart from a two-way communication channel, social media channels such as Facebook also allow for a more informal lively medium.”
The Borg brothers believe Maltese businesses have begun to exploit social media but there is much more to it than simply accessing Facebook.
“Social media channels such as Facebook are being used impressively well in Malta, apart from some businesses which should keep Facebook regulations in mind when running a competition: using the newsfeed and standard Facebook functionality to determine the winners is against regulations. Apart from Facebook we have noticed that most other channels are rarely used. One of these is LinkedIn, an amazing tool for business-to-business,” Zak Borg added.
Benji and Zak explain how social media offers infinite opportunities to interact with existing and potential customers, building a brand, and promoting a company’s services and products to the world.
“However, the enormity of social media also makes it a slight challenge and could potentially harm a company’s brand image if used incorrectly,” Benji warned.
Like any other business undertaking, making social media work requires a solid and well-defined strategic plan with the key performance indicators laid out before initiating a campaign.
Some of the most common mistakes Zak and Benji have come across include handing responsibility of social media to a staff member whose primary role is not social media, who would start off without clear and well-defined goals in mind and undocumented strategy on how to achieve them. Some strategies focus exclusively on amassing a number of followers rather than engaging them, and posting irrelevant or too much content.
There is also some confusion when people come to make the distinction between Facebook pages and apps. Zak explained that a Facebook page offers businesses and individuals the opportunity to portray their brand’s image, providing a two-way communication channel by posting relevant and interesting content such as images, videos and short phrases on the newsfeed.
A Facebook app offers businesses the possibility to create a custom competition or game within a page which users are able to compete in. The app allows businesses to create compelling and innovation competitions and games, which encourage existing and new fans to participate with the prospect of winning an award. Most Facebook apps like games are built with two specific purposes in mind: increase the followers and increase traffic to the page.
A typical example of a Facebook app is a ‘photo competition’ through which fans of a page are able to vote for the best image. The voting does not take place on the main news feed of the page but in the custom app.
The potential is clearly there and Benji and Zak are convinced that social media, handled the right way, is an important tool in the digital way of doing business.
“Social media campaigns allow business owners to track everything in great depth, ensuring the campaign is optimised to meet the goals. Businesses must weigh the costs of employing another team member to handle all social media campaigns or outsource the work to experts dedicated in the field. Social media has the potential to drastically spread your company’s brand image at a very minimal cost compared to all other media,” they said.