Social Media in 2011: The good & the down-right ugly

10 days into 2012, I decided to look back at the social media scene in the Middle East and evaluate the year that was. 2011 brought its share of the good and bad, but it seems that unfortunately, the worst is not over yet. This post, comes as an attempt to recognize and curtail some of the “bad” which translate into malpractices within our industry.

Nonetheless, I hope to stress that 2011 was marked by several positives, various innovations and advancements in the industry,some of which include:

• The increasing role of a social media agency: With the onset of the financial crisis, more and more businesses seemed unwilling to pay for that full-page newspaper ad or invest in creating yet another TVC, which meant more companies wanted to go digital. Going digital meant getting smarter about the way businesses measured media ROI. And it meant more business for niche agencies like Socialize. We started in 2011 with a 4-man army and today, we’re almost 20 people with over 40 retainer clients across the region a success also seen many other digital media agencies/digital units.

• Successful digital/social media campaigns
  • Early 2011: For most part of the year, the best campaigns (I mean: Those that created the most engagement & fan increase) were ones that involved the formulae: “upload picture – gather votes – win”. For example: the Little Explorers campaign got moms to upload images of precious moments with their little ones. In a month, not just did they get over 45,000 fans on their Facebook page – they also had higher sales on-ground than ever before. However, not only are these sort of campaigns no longer allowed by Facebook promotional guidelines, they soon became common place, and, a tad bit boring. A negative consequence of such campaigns is one that I discuss below:
  • Mid 2011
    A lot of the agencies started innovating and by the second half of 2011 saw ‘viral’ campaigns that were initiated on ground, showcasedcreativity & gave all fans an equal chance to participate. Example: Deira City Centre incentivized shoppers to spend at the mall for a chance to have their very own Cosmopolitan cover. Final cover shots were uploaded on Facebook rather than giving them away on-ground. This not only increased engagement & activity on the social media channels, it also got fans to visit the mall & spend. Another fabulous application was one launched by Axe Tunisia (View here)
  • End 2011
    We also started to see lots of outstanding flash games which combined brand messaging & interactivity. One such game can be seen on the Herbal Essences community and another one developed for Puma Running (Middle East activation).

  Of course all of this good wouldn’t come without the bad.

• Fight to the Media Space on Facebook
  While consumer technology and retail businesses were the early adopters of digital media in Q1/Q2, by Q3 we saw a lot of government bodies start to put out some very serious looking RFP’s for social media. In Q4 however, that right column on our Facebook page was no longer filled with just ads from big brands with big budgets – a lot of SME’s and entrepreneurs (especially event planners, DJ’s, small F&B/spa outlets) started to invest money into Facebook media buying. I wonder how many of you agree that, with so many brands fighting for the same audience, today its getting harder and harder to attract drones of people onto a Facebook page. From ipads, to trips to Paris to 40,000AED in cash – brands gave fans everything to click the ‘like’ button. Where does this end? If content is king, then fan count must take a back seat and engagement/ROI numbers should be in the limelight. However, the best of our clients are all chasing the same number. The likes.
• Now, people create fake profiles or visit vote exchange sites (Yes! they exist) to win contest that involve votes. Have a look at this vote exchange forum, talking about a contest on our Msheireb Properties community. Rather dismaying.

• By mid 2011, for a lot of brands, ‘increase my likes’ became the sole social media strategy. So, suddenly there was a flurry of ‘internet marketers’ and ‘agencies’ who promised fans per dollar. One would imagine that they meant fan increase via good, targeted media buying? Nope. They mean fans that magically appear on the page without an media buy report. They say they got it through their large network on Internet marketers. But what does that really mean? Here is what we know:
  • A practice called click-jacking. For those who are curious, you may read here.
  • Not just likes, you can buy Youtube video hits, twitter followers and what not. Some sites that offer this are likes365 or fanpagehookup.Do theyoffer you real people who have an interest in your product or brand? Nope. Do they offer you a creative campaign that impacts your bottom line? No. They offer you a number.

What does 2012 hold?
Hopefully, Augmented Reality (AR). Lots of it. A lot of digital marketers in the region have been talking about mobile marketing/applications, but most applications that get developed, don’t get downloaded, and if they do they get downloaded, they aren’t used after the first month. In other words, their short life spans don’t justify the ROI. With apps a plenty – how will your mobile app leave an impression? I think the answer lies in Augmented Reality (AR). We’re proud to be associated with the Today I Will campaign, conceptualized by the FP7 creative team, which is one of the first examples of seamless AR implementation in this region. Go on, grab a coke can and unlock the initiative: Today I Will.

In the end, I hope in 2012 companies and agencies alike will realize that shiny mobile & Facebook applications are not the silver bullet to cure all social media issues you may have. Apps must be incorporated within a larger social media strategy, instead of being the sole focus. Don’t just focus on the numbers – focus on the reason you set out to get the numbers in the first place and on powering connections with your fans and customers. Apps are just a tool, what matters is how they can help you offer your customers a unique brand experience.