Titi Ogunbayo- Blog Entry #9

I’m not someone you would describe as a “fan” of social media but when it comes to expanding or deepening the relationship between a brand and its audience, I’m all for it. As Brian said during the Likeable Media presentation,” social media has changed the dynamic and turned marketing onto a conversation”. The notion of marketing being a one-way street is long gone and consumers expect their comments and concerns to be heard, acknowledged and acted upon.

At Likeable Media they understand that listening is an important part of social media and they craft their social specific campaigns in a way that leads to active and proactive consumer engagement. And I think this ties in very nicely with their mission: To create a more likeable world- being likeable and having people like you is ultimately good for your business.

The scope of Likeable Media’s work is somewhat what I expected but I didn’t expect Brian to stress upon relationships as the building blocks of an effective social media campaign. My ears perked up when I heard him say that and it sort of endeared the company to me a little bit more. I was also surprised to learn that after a social media campaign has been created for a company, Likeable Media still manages the campaign. I would have thought once the campaign has been created and it has a solid footing, Likeable would hand over the reins to the company in question. But I suppose, since companies approach them for their social media expertise, it wouldn’t make sense to leave a campaign under the care of the company it was created for. After all, if they could do it themselves, they wouldn’t have hired Likeable.

I also appreciated his honesty regarding what brands/companies can expect social media to mean for their business:

-Social media is NOT free: it is based on mutual trust and resources such as time have to go into it. Consumer engagement is a full time job and companies that go into it need to realize that it is a commitment.

-Social media will NOT always drive instant results: patience is indeed a virtue when it comes to social media campaigns. Now that I think of it, I wonder if there is an average waiting period most companies can expect before seeing this type of investment yield any fruit. Or does it differ from brand to brand? Or maybe the type of social media campaign also affects the waiting period? I should have asked these questions but they didn’t come to mind during the visit.

-Social media will NOT make up for a bad product or service: while I agree with this, I also wonder if social media can improve a bad product or service. After all, with all the customer feedback and comments, companies in this unfortunate position can use all of this information as insights on how to improve their products or services.

In serving their diverse roster of clients, Likeable is in a unique position to explore and grow in terms of meeting challenges and exceeding expectations. But with so many clients, is it also possible that the staff could be spread too thin and may not be able to give the proper attention that each brand deserves?

I can see myself working for a company such as Likeable, based on both the work and the company culture. I like that building and maintaining relationships is the cornerstone of their work. Plus, I’ve worked at a small agency before and I enjoyed the ease of communication between the different levels of staff. I found it much easier to learn and grow in that type of environment.