south african social media conference 2013

Marketing Mix 2014 South

Africa Social Media Briefing

Messaging: Brief Comments In Context

Godfrey Parkin

@gparkin britefire

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9.4m users – 65% of SA income

5.5m users – 55% of SA income

4m users – 22% of SA income

2.7m users – 18% of SA income

10m users – 68% of SA income

7.4m users – 48% of SA income

1.5m users – 5% of SA income

iPhone, Google+

Instagram, Pinterest:

<1m users - <4% of SA income

SA Income Distribution@gparkin britefire

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SA Income Distribution@gparkin britefire

• The economically active

population is online and

using social media better

than you are

• Social is their territory -

you have to earn their

respect

Messaging

The means evolves but the end remains

• Simple

• Cheap

• Fast

• Synchronous

• Discreet

• Device ubiquity

@gparkin britefire

Featurephones Future?

Dominant brand in a

declining industry

Missed smartphone

revolution

@gparkin britefire

Featurephones Future?

Dominant OS in a declining

industry

Missed mobile revolution

(<4% of mobile OS)

@gparkin britefire

Featurephones Future?

?

@gparkin britefire

Featurephones Future?@gparkin britefire

In developing countries, a smartphone is a

key to knowledge and advancement

Featurephones will die overnight as markets

jump to better phones at lower prices

• Desire for mobile computing + free WiMax

+ plummeting smartphone costs = smart

phone ubiquity

• Vodacom SA smartphone customers up

from 1.2m to 6m in one year.

• Messaging will remain a primary

application if monetization is non-invasive

• Refine segmentation, be permission

based, stay relevant

Messaging Future@gparkin britefire

• Work the niche networks where target

customers converse

• Major products get fatally disrupted every

day – Facebook is not the future

• Facebook users in Nigeria doubled in past

6 months – what happens to 2go?

• WhatsApp being challenged by WeChat

• Social is not an island – integrate among

platforms and with other digital and offline

Platform Future@gparkin britefire

It’s Not About The Platform

• Social platforms are unstable technologies

with short life expectancies

• Don’t build your strategy on a platform,

build it on customer needs

• Define business goals and don’t judge

success by primitive metrics

@gparkin britefire

It’s Not About The Masses

• Social marketing is about relationships

and community building

• Humanise your brand

• Our fascination with the tools obscures our

apparent ignorance of the art

• Make real connections with individuals

• Success is in a handful of ardent disciples

rather than a herd of passive ‘fans’

@gparkin britefire

Blogging

• The social strategy hub

• Most important tool in the social box

• A blog is a bridge between your social

touch-points and your brand

• Link through social to gain rapid SEO

• All social media fails if you have nothing of

value to share

@gparkin britefire

Content Is Not King

• Conversation is king; content is a catalyst

• Tweets, 6-second videos, hashtag memes,

microdevices: the stimuli are getting

smaller, your ideas must be bigger

• The biggest screen in the universe is the

human mind

• Content is not an end, but a beginning

• Go start something awesome

@gparkin britefire

Twitter: @gparkin

LI: linkedin.com/in/gparkin

FB: facebook.com/britefire

Email: godfrey.parkin@britefire.com

Image credits:

guy with phone: Martin Gommel http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwerfeldein/5803621274/

stadium steps: Wintershrooms http://www.flickr.com/photos/wintershrooms/5594455878/sizes/l/in/photostream/

ferris wheel: Mark Dunn

apple woman: Mohsen Rashidi

orange flower: Hubert Kosmowski