Social media insights are needed to effectively leverage social media for engagement. Consumer insights relate to needs and brands, while social insights relate to how people interact with brands, each other, and social media tools. Examples that achieved success used insights about digital friendships, storytelling through photos, and different levels of participation. A campaign missed an opportunity by not considering that events project status for their target audience. Armed with social insights, campaigns can create stronger brand associations and encourage sharing.

1. THE NEED FOR
SOCIAL MEDIA
INSIGHTS

2. At the heart of every
brief are its insights

3. typically either Brand
or Consumer insights

4. Consumer insight: a
category relevant
need/want

5. Brand insight: an
offering unique to
category

6. together they can
make a powerful idea

7. So how does media
channel selection play
into this?

8. Social media is often
chosen because of
reach & engagement
potential

9. but how do you know
how to leverage it to
get engagement?

10. the answer:
Social Insights

11. Social Insights are
less to do with how
consumers relate to a
product category

12. and more about how
they interact with
brands, other
consumers & social
media tools.

13. consider these
following examples:

14. whopper sacrifice.
social insight:
The collection of digital
friendships made every friend
you have less valuable to you

15. canon mystory
social insight:
Facebook had become more
about telling stories through
photo & photo commentary

16. my obama
social insight:
Every user participates
differently. There is a need for
choice in what form and how
you want to get involved.

17. all these combined
brand, consumer &
social insights to great
success.

18. consider this
additional example:

19. lynx partyacrosstheinternet
involved OTP display, video &
interactivity sending you on a
party across the net...

20. the final destination was a
facebook fanpage with a
call-to-action to become a fan...

21. lynx partyacrosstheinternet
social insight:
??

22. the social insight was missing.
what if they had considered
what was an important social
interaction for their target
audience...

23. that facebook events are all
about projecting status
(=social insight)

24. armed with this insight, the
call-to-action could have
been an event page...

25. where more engagement
and offline brand interaction
could take place...

26. stronger brand associations
formed and encouraging peer
sharing through networks.

27. NB!
you might be thinking,
‘these are all obvious &
not insightful’

28. Consider this definition:
‘an insight, once discovered,
seems so obvious, that you
cannot believe you missed it’
-anonymous planner

29. Moral of the story is..

30. think! what social
interaction insights can I
discover to help inform
the creatives.

31. ...to give them a push in
the right direction.

32. See The Forest Through The Trees
http://throughthetrees.tumblr.com
Thoughts by Marek Wolski
@marekting