Social media: You’re never good enough

It's an understatement to say the social media landscape is a tumultuous one: half a decade ago, it was about rushing onto Facebook and getting customers to check in; then it was about making conversation and engaging with your pre-established fan base; then it was about creating a different dialogue on different channels ....the list goes on.While ticking off items on the social media to-do list is like trying to satisfy a needy teenager, global managing director of Social@Ogilvy John Bell (pictured) lays out an ultimatum: attract digital advocacy, which, he said, is manifested not only by brand satisfaction, but rather by brand satisfaction on a niche product or experience worthy of mentioning in that online market.For example, Holiday Inn's breakfast tends to drive advocacy in the U.S more than any other feature in the chain."It's a matter of acting at the right moment," he said."At a hotel, for example, there are various moments of truths - getting into your room, service from your waiters, spa owners, at check out. These are definitely moments when you're thinking of whether you had a good service of not," he said."Brands also need to be thoughtful about how they are sharing the content and make sure it's valuable to the fans and not just representing the brand."According to the latest 2013 Social@Ogilvy Global Brand Advocacy Study,China boasts the highest overall brand advocacy rate at 30% (of people mentioning the brand on social media channels after experience) out of Brazil, UK and US; yet it's also the least passionate market about their brands - as in, most digital fans don't show a "love, excitement, must-do, or buy" attitude.Though Bell attributes this trend to China's relatively younger consumer and the sudden boom of brand invasion in the country in the past few years for any real passion to take place, national head of Social@Ogilvy in China Jeffery Cheng contributes the matter to a shallow pursuit of "cool"."On the Mainland, people will forward brand information because they want friends to know that they've discovered something," said Cheng."So at an event, for example, rather than actually sharing the brand story, they'll post a photo to show off the fact that they're at the event. There's no passion or any details about the brand" itself."Though Bell said that every country is testing the waters as to what works as a point of advocacy, the first step is to locate the group who shows the most care online; and despite that the initial steps of advocacy and measurements are difficult to achieve, it's also the inevitable future that marketers must face."Admittedly, brands have faced a bit of challenge in social media: measure and advocacy is complicated, so most of the time, brands take the easy way out by looking at reach and fan engagement numbers. That's what we can do today, but that's not sophisticated enough."