After winning a new account, agencies delve into their client’s industry to find out what consumers are saying and how they can develop effective advertising and marketing strategies. The agency demonstrated adaptability, awareness, and experience in the pitch. Now they must about their new client, the industry, and the product to add value and strategic direction.
Part 2: Diving Deeper into Social Analytics
Agencies can build upon their initial research by dissecting their most interesting findings and transforming them into actionable strategies. This process of discovery is complex and may be approached from many different angles. An agency may decide to compare current advertising strategy with consumer conversation, as seen in our prior post on Maybelline. While Maybelline focuses their advertising on eye makeup, posts that discuss purchasing and intending to purchase lip makeup compose 15% of the Maybelline conversation, far surpassing intent to purchase conversation for eye makeup, which made up only 7% of the conversation. One product that contributes to the lip makeup conversion is Maybelline’s Baby Lips, a popular moisturizing lip balm. Maybelline’s new agency can maximize consumer interest in Maybelline and Baby Lips by targeting marketing efforts to the broader, unbranded lip makeup conversation and the profile of people who post about lip makeup.
Over the past three months, roughly 3.3 million Tweets were written about lip care and 38K of these discussed Maybelline products specifically. By sorting these posts into analyst-defined categories, an agency can turn lip care conversation into valuable advertising insights. They can identify their client’s share of the conversation and the topics of conversation that will serve as fertile ground for expanding the brand’s market share. For instance, themes such as products, qualities, and needs highlight a variety of different factors that contribute to the lip care conversation
Agencies need to know which products are popular and how products’ popularity changes over time. We found that when consumers discuss products they need lip balm is the most popular product, followed by lip gloss. Interestingly, lip liner, lipstick, and lip stain follow well behind. This pattern is likely influenced by consumers bemoaning that they had lost or forgotten their favorite lip balm or lip gloss.
https://twitter.com/IAMhinari/statuses/380969961859977217
Equipped with the knowledge that lip balm and lip gloss make up a large proportion of the conversation, agencies can continue to dig deeper by determining which qualities inspire the most conversation. Looking into the features that consumers look for in lip care, we find that shiny lip products are the most popular. In contrast, matte products are a far less popular topic of online conversation, making up only 5% of the total conversation.
Finally, it is vital to recognize why people are purchasing your client’s product. Data from the past three months highlights how summer activities and weather influence lip care. Sunburned lips make up a whopping 19% of the total conversation, surpassing the more general chapped lips complaint at 10%.
In order to maximize influence, an agency can combine these topics of conversation with the wide array of data available through social media.
For instance, the top mention in the general lip care conversation is @YouTube with over 95K mentions. This trend highlights the popularity of makeup tutorials, online video clips created by makeup enthusiasts who actively share their favorite looks and products. Popular video creators and bloggers may inspire the agency to incorporate native advertising into their marketing strategy.
After learning about what potential customers are saying and who they are listening, the agency can uncover who is actually in the lip care audience beginning with demographic information. For instance, of those profiles with identifiable gender, 62% are female and 38% are male. The Maybelline lip care audience has a much higher proportion of women and it is 84% female and 16% male. Since Maybelline sells cosmetics, it is not surprising that fewer men are joining into the conversation.
Geography can also be factored into the lip care analysis. Countries with the most posts per capita discussing lip care include the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK. Other top countries include Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. Perhaps there is increased conversation in the South African region due to climate or simply a greater interest in lip care products.
Crimson Hexagon’s Affinities tool identifies the interests that differentiate Maybelline’s current and potential customers from the general Twitter population. For instance, the lip care audience is 18 times more interested in skin care, 4 times more interested in R&B, and 6 times more interested in Bollywood than the general Twitter audience. When Maybelline fans are compared to the Twitter audience, similar patterns appear. The Maybelline audience is 40 times more interested in skin care, 27 times more interested in cosmetics, and 3 times more interested in Fashion than the general Twitter audience.
When the interests of the lip care and Maybelline audiences are compared, the Maybelline audience is 3 times more interested in haute couture, 2 times more interested in cosmetics, and 2 times more interested in One Direction than the lip care audience. In contrast, the lip care audience is 20 times more interested in Nigeria, 3 times more interested in Atlanta, and 2 times more interested in being a mom.
Agencies can use this regional and lifestyle audience data to design and position advertising. A significant interest in lip care appears in Africa, highlighting a market where Maybelline can expand its presence. Similarly, cities in the American South are also of high interest for the lip care audience and are absent in the Maybelline audience’s interests. Agencies can design advertising that appeal to consumers in these unique regions, conquering even more of the lip care industry.
In our pitch, we explored the lip care industry and created actionable insights by measuring the themes and topics that drive consumer conversation. As an agency developing its marketing strategy, we find that consumers are actively discussing specific lip care products, features, and needs in specific regions.
Maybelline Baby Lips appears to be well-suited to a fresh, well-informed agency strategy. An effective advertising strategy to expand the consumer base for Baby Lips will address the most in-demand features for lip care in general, including glossy texture, SPF, and long lasting moisture to treat chapped lips. Using social media analysis, the agency can also inform Maybelline’s strategy to market to a broader audience. Focusing marketing efforts in the American South and Southern Africa will transform conversation from lip care to the Maybelline brand.
It is clear that social media analysis is vital for agencies to learn about their new clients’ category and product. A new agency can delve into the Maybelline conversation, the cosmetics industry, and consumer needs and complaints with rapidly increasing ease and accuracy. Topic analysis, demographics, and audience interests highlight what consumers and saying and who is taking part in the conversation. Incorporating these insights into brand research will ensure a win for agencies and their clients.
To learn more about how agencies can incorporate social analysis into their research and campaign strategy, we invite you to download our retail fashion eBook that delves into how some of the main players are performing, how they are perceived and described by consumers.
