Online networks gain influence over marketing

By Macharia Kamau

Consumer referrals have proved to be an effective avenue to build a brand.

Chances are consumers may not believe advertisements but tend to trust what someone says about a product or service.

A referral tends to gain credibility when it comes from someone in one’s professional or social circles.

Referral marketing is reputed to have the power to turn around a company from near collapse to a success story. There is, however, the flipside, which can be detrimental as negative sentiments can discredit a brand, leading to it losing market share.

With growth of technology, referrals have gone a notch up. Consumers can access weblogs and online social networks to rant and rave about bad experiences with products or services.

Disgruntled employees can use Internet platform to take a shot at their employers without fear of reprisal, while critics are no longer worried about censorship, all of which should be of concern to any brand manager.

Online media experts say while social media today stands out as among the most potent tools in brand growth and management, they can easily damage the reputation of a brand and marketers should always be on the look out for damaging comments online.

Mr Japie Swanipoel of Interactive Concepts, a South African advertising agency, says they pose a great threat to a brand’s reputation.

"One dissatisfied customer can wreck havoc on a brand’s image when they talk of their frustrations with a product and other consumers read and comment on the negative remarks made," he said.

"Online reputation management is key and marketers should be able to leverage on the positive comments made by consumers to counter negative remarks."

Negative online publicity may be in form of complaints, rumours, and even the occasional cases of unethical competition.

Bad publicity

Mr Tony Karanja managing director of Infinite Communications says there are tools that can be used to manage bad publicity that may come from blogs and social networks, though Kenyan companies rarely use them.

"Kenyan companies are taking up social media but only doing it in bits, there have not been attempts to integrate them fully into their marketing and advertising campaigns," he says.

Among these, Karanja says, were being active on the social networks being able to answer to consumers complaints soon as they are received.

Karanja, however, says one can be able to track much of what is being said about their brand through use search engines or even subscribe to online media monitors that alert one when anything about a brand is posted online.

Traditional media

He also noted that active presence on social networks like Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter helps as customers can ask questions and get response.

"Social networks give companies an opportunity to engage with their customers directly. Previously they had to communicate to them through the traditional media but social networks give them a chance to have a one-onone conversation," he says.

Infinite communications acquired exclusive rights to sell advertising space on Facebook in the East African market last week.

The company, which has partnered with South Africa’s Habari Media in the venture, said social media is increasingly becoming an important element in the Kenyan market due to growth in number of Internet users.

"Since the landing of the fibre optic cables online advertising and marketing has been on a steady rise and continues to raise greater interest among Kenyan advertisers," said Mr Tony Karanja managing director Infinite Communications during a press conference.

There are about 600,000 Facebook users in the country, a substantial number subscribing to a single social network given that there are only 3.6 million Internet users in Kenya.