"Google knows everything about us. We're more honest with Google than with our partner or doctor. The information that people look for via Google can help companies get to know their target audience. Let's say you want to know how often people searched for potatoes last month. You can request this from Google Trends, as well as related searches and the profile of those searching," says Daniel Fritz of EU Insight during the collective meeting of Freshfel and Profel on June 20.
87% are online daily
In 2015 he gave a presentation during a Freshfel event about the importance of social media. This time he showed he was serious and that we can't avoid it anymore. "85% of people now have access to the internet. In 2010 it was still 70%. 87% of people are online every day. 8 out of 10 EU citizens are online on their mobile phone. They use internet to read their email, check the news and for social media."
Necessity
Not every company is active on social media. "That's 46% at the moment. Companies mainly use social media to develop the image of their company, to market products, respond to customer questions and to looks for new employees. It's clear that social media is working. If you claim a spot on the internet you get a larger share of the cake. Nowadays a company can no longer go without social media, it's a necessity!"
Google Trends
Via Google Trends you can see what is trending on the internet at the moment. "Like I said: everyone uses Google. You can get those trends for free. Let's use the example of the potatoes again. You can see that there are more searches for this product in the UK during the Christmas period. In 1 week the search potatoes is very popular. The four main related searches were 'roasted potatoes', 'sweet potatoes', 'potato' and 'potatoes recipe'. The great thing is that these trends look very different in Germany. They sometimes even relate potatoes with search terms such as calories. This could show that Germans fear gaining weight from potatoes. Google shows all of this. Of course you can look at this for plenty other products, the information is fantastic!"
Whole Foods
Daniel regularly used Whole Foods as an example of a company that does very well in the area of social media. "They are active on all social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. They have a different market approach for all social media. They communicate very differently on LinkedIn compared to Facebook. They know their audience, know who visits their pages and what they like. Imagine a consumer has a question, they don't contact the entire company, they get in touch with an employee - often from a local store. In this way their communication is personalised and they really connect to a customer." A method of 'influence marketing' is to have someone say something about a company or product on social media. "This doesn't have to be a well known person. Whole Foods does this through 'regramming'. If a consumer has been to Whole Foods and takes a nice picture, someone from Whole Foods will ask if they can use it for their own account. Almost everyone says yes. This is how you use someone else's positive message and 'regram' them on your account. Now people are 'fighting' for Whole Foods in a sense. All for a regram!"
Data
"There is more than enough data available," according to Daniel. "It just has to be managed in the right way. Certain companies use everything that is communicated through social media. This is very carefully stored in a CMS system." Convincing consumers can be done in different ways, he believes. "Nudging is a good example. You don't tell people what to do, but they are positively stimulated or inspired. Cross-selling, or tying your product to another product is also a way of nudging. A birthday cake needs candles of course."