In most of our articles about consumer insights, we talk about one of the key elements when working with social data which is the activation of these insights. But ... what does activate them really mean? We could say that insights activation means the development of certain actions based on the insights and intelligence obtained from the social data.
You may be thinking that that's all well and good on paper but how do you put it into practice? Over the coming weeks, we'll be publishing a series of posts that will answer that question focusing on the different phases of a marketing campaign. We'll begin today by looking at some examples of how insights about audiences obtained through social data can be activated during the pre-campaign phase. So, let's get down to it!
In any pre-campaign stage, during the research and planning phases, gaining an in-depth understanding of how the target audience is like is key. You need to understand the different segments that make up the target audience, what their favourite brands are, who influences them and what the distinctive characteristics of each of these clusters are.
This detailed information allows you to gain an understanding of the target audience in order to adapt the messages to the different segments, create pieces in their favourite formats, roll out the campaign in the most relevant media for these individuals or adapt the marketing actions according to the factors which most influence the buying habits of the target audience. This analysis may also reveal the existence of segments that were previously unrecognised and so create a new target audience on which to focus during the campaign.
Analysing the Fortnite audience in the pre-campaign phase
As an example, we have analyzed the audience of one of the most hyped current video games: Fortnite. The title, developed by Epic Games and People Can Fly, registered more than 10 million players in the free game mode over the first two weeks after its release.
Let's look for users who identify themselves as part of the Fortnite community by including a mention of the game in their bio. At a first glance, we can see what the demographic characteristics are and what the most relevant brands, people and media for this community are. We can also see that there are 4 highly differentiated and identifiable segments that we have named: Battle Royale Fans, Fortnite Pro Streamers, Fortnite Streamers and Fortnite PC gamers. Immediately, this gives us a starting point for planning the potential campaign: was the existence of these four clusters of players known? Are the strategies being customized in some way towards different segments according to their most distinctive characteristics?
Thanks to social data, we've uncovered how, for example, the community of Fortnite players on PC forms a well-defined group that identifies itself as such and whose characteristics and interests may differ from those that play through other platforms.
If we look at the different individual clusters more carefully, we can see that these PC players are the youngest segment of the target audience by a significant margin compared to the full audience. Such a fact can set the tone of communication with respect to other more senior segments of the existing community around Fortnite. This is a clear example of how an analysis, in the initial phases of a campaign, conditions both its creative development and subsequent execution.
Another example of insights activation in this stage of analysis and planning is the identification of the key influencers for the general audience and the individual segments previously defined. By identifying and analyzing the most relevant and unique influencers for each segment, you can understand how to reach them. Selecting the most relevant and unique micro-influencers for each segment will unlock an "army" of influencers that can reach a more loyal and also a much more niche audience.
Microinfluencers for "Battle Royal Fans" segment
Microinfluencers for "Fortnite PC Gamers" segment
Today we've shared with you a couple of examples of how social data about audiences and the consumer insights drawn from this data can be a powerful tool in the pre-marketing campaign phase. Analysis and planning can benefit from the knowledge extracted from this data and form the basis for smarter decisions, saving both time and money. If you too want to use consumer insights in your next marketing campaign, request a demo of Audiense Insights and we'll show you how to benefit from social data and increase the ROI of your marketing actions.
