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'Social' remains a key topic of interest for marketers – both the development of social media platforms and, more broadly, social as a marketing and communications strategy.
2014 saw the social space evolve rapidly. It is clear that social now refers to a number of diverging tools and techniques, and marketers should be clear which are most relevant to them:
- Social as the 'plumbing' of the internet – it is the pipes through which content flows and reaches an audience. Thechanges Facebook has made to its algorithm are having an impact in this area, though there are, of course, other channels content can flow through.
- Social as a real-time platform, and in particular the growing link between TV or live events and platforms such as Twitter.
- Social as a data-rich media buy – this is the driver of Facebook's rapid revenue growth.
- Social as a source of data and insight.
- Social as a customer management tool.
As the social space diverges, there is decreasing emphasis on brands building communities. A provocative piece by former Forrester analyst Darika Ahrens argued that the focus by brands on building 'communities' of fans or followers had been a misstep.
Of course, there are examples of brands that have successfully built and used a community, but Ahrens argued that for each example of success there will be many failures.
Ahrens' conclusion: "Brands need to ditch the community ideology. Then invest in the parts of social media that are working: advertising, customer service, and data."
The evolution of social strategies, then, is not only a result of platform developments, but a realisation of what is working.
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