Did That Terrier Just Tweet When I Poked It?: Marketing to Boston University Students with Social Media

I leave my dorm room mid-morning to make photocopies and media lists at my internship. On my way out of Myles Standish Hall, I pass flyers stacked next to the doorway advertising local restaurants, but I don’t see them because I’m busy texting. Walking down Beacon Street to the Kenmore T stop, a young woman in cargo pants asks me to “save the polar bears,” but I don’t hear her because my iPod drones out the sound of her voice.
On the T, advertisements cover the walls, but I don’t notice because I’m killing time playing solitaire on my phone. When I get off at my stop and walk to work, my eyes skip over a billboard ad for The New England Aquarium plastered to the side of a passing bus. When I sit down at my desk, I log onto my computer and pull up my web browser. My pop-up blocker prevents Amazon.com’s offer for free shipping from distracting me. I check my email and all I see is a message from my boss because my spam filter has trashed Fandango.com’s attempt to tell me what films I’d like.
A friend instant messages me asking, “did u c the trailer for the new johnny depp movie this summer during office last night?”
“no, i musta missed it,” I reply. “h/o.”
Five clicks later, I’ve already been to IMDB.com to get the name of the movie and I’m watching the trailer on YouTube, eagerly tapping a reminder into my phone to make an effort to see “Public Enemies” opening July 1st.
I’m a Boston University student. This is how my world works: if a public relations practitioner, advertiser or marketer wants to deliver a message to me, he or she will have to stray from his or her traditional methods and use new and social media.
Like every other Digital Native I know, I don’t want products pushed in my face. I don’t trust the source, and I don’t want to be interrupted. The channels that held my parents’ attention don’t work on me. I decide what I want to pay attention to, and I’ll actively seek it out online.
According to marketing guru Seth Godin, author of the popular ebookFlipping the Funnel, my attitude mirrors that of most Americans: “Whether you are selling steel I-beams, scientific glassware, or soccer balls, people are better at ignoring you than ever before.” The rules of the public relations game are changing quickly. To target these increasingly difficult-to-reach demographics, PR, advertising and marketing agencies and departments have to adopt several new strategies.
These new strategies harness the Internet’s power to influence buyers who have grown up with Internet access. Public relations’ use of new and social media fulfills three main roles that apply to college-age shoppers and consumers of all ages. Social media enhances word-of-mouth, transforming consumers into salespeople. It also provides a new forum for targeted advertising to individuals instead of demographics. Finally, social media and new media speed up the buying process.
More and more, consumers want to hear advice from people like themselves before they spend. If they want to reserve a room in a hotel, they read the consumer reviews on Travelocity.com. Before they buy a book on Amazon, they first read what others have said about it. Before going to see a movie, some BU students monitor the Twitter feed for its title to see if other moviegoers are saying they liked it. Although it has always been an important part of branding, the Internet provides a new forum for word of mouth. Best-selling author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, David Meerman Scott calls this new forum “word-of-mouse.”
Scott’s newest book World Wide Rave highlights a textbook example of cost-effective “word-of-mouse” marketing. Cindy Gordon, Vice President of New Media for Universal Orlando Resort, was in charge of spreading the word that Universal Studios was building a Wizarding World of Harry Potter section of their theme park. Instead of sending press releases to media outlets, or buying television advertisements, Gordon told seven of the most popular Harry Potter bloggers via an exclusive webcast. Gordon’s webcast was the only initial marketing effort Gordon made, and it was the only one she needed. Universal estimates as a result of the webcast over 350 million people have heard about the park.
What happened in the time between those seven bloggers watched a webcast and Harry Potter fans around the world heard about the theme park? Social media’s “word-of-mouse” propelled the information from blogger to reader; from reader to friend; from friend to family. Shortly after that podcast in May 2007, my little sister woke me up at 7:30 a.m. to tell me about the park. My family has since made travel plans to go to Orlando Studios next year to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potterwhen it opens in early 2010.
A simple social media gimmick turned a webcast into monetary profit through the power of “word-of-mouse” alone. Obviously, the sheer popularity of the Harry Potter brand compelled fans to talk about the new park. Marketing as a tool to compel consumers to spend money on something they haven’t read seven books about might be more of a challenge.
For hypothetical purposes, let’s look at how a PR practitioner might go about launching a new pizza shop on Commonwealth Avenue using new and social media. A marketing or PR practitioner could complete this task successfully and inexpensively by spending some time using the free tools available online.
The first step would be to establish an online presence to make information easy to find. If Jane, a Boston University sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences, sees construction near her dorm while walking home from class, she might wonder what’s going to be built there. She wouldn’t wander onto the construction site and ask one of the workers. She would most likely see the “Coming Soon! Petey’s Pizza!” sign and plug the pizza shop’s name into a Google search when she got to her computer. If the search turns up nothing but unrelated material, Jane will shrug it off and surf elsewhere on the net. However, if the “Coming Soon!” sign had a web address on it search engine optimized to the top of a Google search for the shop’s name, the Boston University student would likely visit the site.
However, an online presence is more than just a website with some fancy graphics and basic information. The online footprint Petey’s Pizza leaves has to harness the Internet’s ability to let the consumer share content. Imagine if the website had links to become a fan of Petey’s on Facebook or Myspace, or to follow the pizza shop’s owner on Twitter. What if Petey’s, like Papa John’s, created an application allowing users to order a pizza directly from Facebook or an iPhone? The owner of Petey’s could tweet specials and links to online coupons for BU students? What if the main website had a webcam in the kitchen so that customers could watch their pizza being made before it was delivered? Petey’s could create a YouTube video on the secrets of making a pizza, or how to toss pizza dough. Would BU students say, “Check this out!” and pass the links along to their friends? You bet they would.
Sure, Petey’s could place an advertisement in the Boston Globe or on local television channels and say, “Well, we tried,” when they didn’t see BU students rushing to order. Shrugging off the ineffectiveness of advertising these days would indicate Petey’s was missing the concept of viral marketing. When Jane Google searches for Petey’s, and invites her Facebook friends to be fans of Petey’s Facebook page because it has cool videos and coupons, she is selling Petey’s brand. She’s a customer and she is spreading the word on a local business simply because she finds what it has to offer online interesting. If any one of her friends ever orders a pizza, Jane made a sale, made money for the business, and branded Petey’s Pizza without being paid or solicited.
True, those social media marketing techniques might not work for every company seeking attention from consumers. Some products might not have such share-friendly features. Regardless, social media still plays a role in the buying process for college consumers with more than just word-of-mouse techniques. While we’ve seen old-fashioned, paid advertising is largely ineffective in penetrating the spam-proof bubble of college student life, social media provides a new forum for targeted advertising.
On Facebook, advertisements appear on the right column of the home and profile pages. These advertisements are not aimed at a general demographic of Facebook users. They are targeted, not on a demographic level such as television commericals and print advertisements, but on an individual level. For example, I have The Office listed on my Facebook profile as one of my favorite television shows. When NBC launched its new show Parks and Recreation, (from the creators of The Office) I got an advertisement on my Facebook home page telling me when and where I could watch it.
Google has also taken advantage of its ability to personalize ads. The Official Google Blog entry posted on March 11, 2009, declared Google’s new approach to making advertisements more relevant. Google said they would begin taking into consideration each user’s browsing history before deciding what advertisements to display to that user. For example, if someone interested in snowboarding frequently visits snowboarding sites, when that person uses any of Google’s online tools (GoogleDocs, Gmail, Google searches), the advertisements will be snowboard-related.
Members of the blogging community complained Google’s new practice violates personal privacy, but Google’s explanation in the blog post argues, “By making ads more relevant, and improving the connection between advertisers and our users, we can create more value for everyone.” Google has been conducting similar practices for some time. In my Gmail program, each individual email accompanies a string of sidebar advertisements reflecting keywords written in it. If my mom emails me about transportation for my trip home, I see advertisements for airline prices and rental car services.
While the individually targeted advertisement policies may border on privacy invasion, their justification is practical. The ads are more relevant to my life, and I am much more likely to look at them and click on them than I am, say, banner ads on the New York Times website. These ads influence my online spending in helpful, relevant ways, thanks to social media and Internet technology.
So if I see an ad for something I’m not necessarily looking for, but is relevant to what I’m looking at online, I can more quickly buy that product than I could in the days before the social media boom. This new development highlights the third role the interaction of PR and social media fulfills for consumers: to speed up the buying process.
Social networking sites provide a new forum for marketing and consumer spending to take place. Namely, they hand over control of cost and quality to the consumer. Boston University students socio-economically and diversely represent college students throughout America, who are a tight-budgeted demographic. For students these controls are a critical element to the buying process.
Now, consumers can sell directly to other consumers on social networking sites such as EBay and Craigslist. Gone are the days when a shopper would go to a store to see if an item was available or if the store even carried the item. Now, BU students frequent Craigslist for cheap, used furniture or dorm accessories for sale by young professionals. They might visit EBay and name their price for a new iPod or cell phone. The consumer is in control of price via negotiation or bidding and quality (new or used) thanks to social networking sites.
How should public relations practitioners in charge of promoting a product treat the consumer-seller Internet scene? I can see two ways. The first is to keep the brand strong. Alex, a BU junior in The College of Fine Arts, visits EBay and searches for “iPod touch” instead of “mp3 player” because he recognizes Apple as the industry leader. So although that user may be buying a used product from which Apple will make no direct profit, Apple’s PR can still promote the brand to keep new customers loyal. The college-age buyer of that used iPod will still buy songs from iTunes to load onto it. He may even have to call customer service once or twice. Although PR might not control a quantifiable relationship between a company and the profits from college-age consumers buying used products, opportunities still exist to improve the attitude and behavior of those consumers in favor of the company. Those consumers are a public, and the PR firms and departments need to treat them accordingly.
Ultimately, social media transforms the PR departments and their interaction with publics on a digital forum. The challenge for PR practitioners in the online world is keeping up with the ever-changing realm of social media. Companies need to know where the conversation about them is taking place and they need to be a part of that conversation. This added responsibility is a new aspect of boundary spanning.
Mike Volpe, Vice President of Inbound Marketing at Cambridge-basedHubspot lectured on social media marketing at BU in February. After hearing about services such as Twitter and social bookmarking sites such as Delicious.com, the students asked him, “What’s the next big thing?” Volpe responded, “You’re the college kids; you tell me!” PR professionals will have to take a reactionary approach to the future of social media. They will not be able to control what social networking site is the fastest growing or what web-based free service is this month’s hot topic. They will need to see where people are conversing online and go there to deliver a message. PR departments and social media consultants need to follow the lead of the consumer, because the consumer is in control.