The Best Innovation In Social Media Is A Return To Basics

Tweet

photo credit: Generation Y via photopin (license)

Innovation has become a way of life in marketing, particularly in social media, as marketers jump from one strategy (fan accumulation) to another (SoLoMo) to another (six-second videos) to another (messenger bots), hoping to find the right innovative strategy to improve brand health. The social networks continue to innovate as well, striving to earn more consumer attention and marketing dollars with live video, algorithmic timelines and buy buttons.

But even though consumer adoption of social media remains strong, brands still struggle to put social media to good use that drives demonstrable results. This is because marketers have approached social media innovation from the wrong perspective–they have embraced idea-centered innovation rather than need-centered innovation.

Social media is an inherently consumer-oriented and -controlled channel, and this suggests brands need a different approach—a customer experience approach. The best innovation for brands’ social media right now is to return to basics: Understand your important audience segments, probe their needs and social behaviors, identify how your brand is performing and innovate in a way that satisfies customer expectations.

To read more about how customer experience methodologies can drive better social media innovation, along with some examples of how an ideas-focused approach to advocacy failed while a needs-centric approach succeeded, please continue reading on my Gartner blog.