In our whitepaper you can find useful tips that will support your Social Media work for your FMCG Brand.

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Steps to Success!FMCGs
Social
Media and

2. Introduction:
How Social Media influence purchase decisions
Challenges and opportunities
4 ways to use Social Media for FMCG
(common practices):
1. Engage with your fans
2. Create experiences
3. Tell a story
4. Build an interest community
Conclusion
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4 Steps to Success
Contents
By Kyriaki Iatropouli

3. XPLAIN
4 Steps to Success
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“75% of people
don’t accept
advertisements
as truth but 90%
believe Brand
recommendations
from friends”
How Social Media influence purchase decisions
With Social Media and Word of Mouth playing
such a critical role in the purchase decision
process, no Brand can abstain from Social
Networks any more. Especially for FMCG
Brands, competition is growing fast, with
many of them having already realised the
power of the medium and strategised their
efforts. Pepsi, Lays, Red Bull, Oreo, Skittles,
Dove, Trident, Mountain Dew, AXE are only
a few of them which have built big, strong,
active communities on Facebook and other
Social Networks. As your competition is taking
advantage of this huge opportunity, it is no
longer realistic to stay out of the game.
You may think “Who wants to connect with a
ketchup Brand on Facebook?”.AlthoughSocial
Media for FMCGs looks like a big challenge,
it is actually a big opportunity, because on
Social Media a ketchup Brand can become
the most interesting Brand to connect
to. It is not easy for a low-cost, fast-moving
product, with huge competition, to stand
out but Social Media provides Brands with
this opportunity: to build a human face and
character and create bonds with customers
so, when they are in front of a supermarket
shelf with ten different ketchup Brands, they
pick the one they feel connected to.
Challenges and opportunities

4. Simon Sinek
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4 steps to success
Peoplechoosebetweensimilarproductsfromdifferent
Brands, the one that matches most their profile, style,
way of living and thinking. So, the first thing to do
on Social Media is to let consumers know why you
do what you do. Then, create your Brand’s human
character based on who you are, who you are talking
to and what you are talking about. In other words,
create your own story, which will be revealed through
your everyday interactions with your customers.
“People don’t
buy what you
do; they buy
why you do it.”
“84% of Millennials
report that User
Generated Content
influences their
purchasing decisions.”

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How a FMCG Brand engages with
consumersisoneofthebiggestchallenges.
Of course, a ketchup Brand is not possible to
write about ketchup everyday. So what are
you going to talk about? If you have done
your exercise above and you have defined
the “Why You Do It”, things are much easier
for you. Let’s see a few examples of Brands
with strong characters on Social Media:
Each of these Brands have a content strategy
in place, tailored to their target audience and
character. Their posts are written in a way
that fuels interactions and conversation.
Skittles,for example, have a unique strategy.
Most of their posts are funny lines, posted as
simple status updates, which sound almost
random, but they work amazingly because
they give fans the opportunity to joke and
have fun together. At Oreo, they have found
a creative way to use their cookies in their
posts. Besides,they are not afraidto saywhat
they stand for and even publish provocative
posts sometimes, Pepsi’s posts are more in-
line with their audience’s real life interests,
such as sports, music and gadgets. On the
other hand, Procter & Gamble’s posts are
meant to trigger emotions.
A targeted and well-thought content
strategy is a critical step for an engaged and
active Brand community. The best content
in the world, though, will have no impact
if the overall approach is not truly Social.
Successful Brands onSocial Media engage
with their fans on a daily basis, taking
part in conversations and answering their
questions, because they realise that these
interactions are eventually part of the overall
customer experience.
1. Engage with your fans
Pepsi
Procter &Gamble

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Social Media have given to consumers the
power to influence each other’s purchase
decisionsbysupportingtheirfavouriteBrands,
sharing customer experiences - good or bad,
writing reviews of products and, eventually,
controlling the online reputation of Brands.
Word of Mouth has now become more
influential than ever and people demand
better Brand experiences. Good news is that
Social Media enable Brands to offer them:
2. Create experiences
•Instant customer support (answering questions, resolving issues)
•Listening and valuing feedback
•Participating in conversations
•Rewarding loyal fans
Examples:
Innocent Drinksvalue their
fans’ ideas for new smoothies
and use them to create new
flavours.
Skittles reward their loyal
fans who send their photos with
the product by posting them
on their timeline and declaring
them “Fans of the week”:
Skittles
innocent
drinks

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Who doesn’t love stories? From our childhood and throughout our lives, we love to listen, make
and share stories. This is where the popularity of Social Networks lies. Not only we like to get
told stories, but we also relate to them. Each of us have our own experiences, goals, dreams,
expectations and we prefer to relate to people and things that have similar stories to ours. For
example, think of a movie or a song. When it reminds you of your own experiences, you enjoy it
much more. You relate to it.
It is the same with Brands. We buy the ones we feel closer to our beliefs and style. So, the story of
a Brand differentiates it from competition and helps people relate to it and its values.
Ideas for great stories:
a.The “Why You Do It” is your ultimate story:
Why and how was your Brand started?
What makes it different?
Who are the people behind the Brand?
What does it stand for?
Who is it for?
b. Create inspirational stories
How does your Brand make people’s lives better?
How can it inspire people?
c. Share your customers’ stories
Customers often share their experiences with a product or Brand on the Brand’s page.
Use them as part of your story, by sharing them on your accounts.
Tell a story3.

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Make your video go viral
1. Make a video that you would really like to
share with your friends.The videos that go viral
are usually surprising, funny or touching.
2. Upload it on as many video sharing sites as
possible
3.Startsharingitandaskfriendsandcolleagues
to do the same
4. Send it to bloggers and media
Tools and Platforms:
The best way to tell a story is to visualise it. Social Media
allows you to share high quality photographs, images
and videos. Besides, Facebook’s timeline is designed for
narratives and Twitter is a big challenge for creativity - can
you tell a story in 140 characters?
InstagramandVinearegreattoolsforvisualisingstories:
Instagram: A photo-sharing app/social network that
enables users to take photos, apply digital filters to them,
share them with the Instagram community and also post
them on otherSocial Networks, such as Facebook orTwitter.
Vine: A mobile app, acquired by Twitter, which enables
users to create videos of maximum 6 seconds length and
post them to Social Networks.
Examples:
Red Bull is a Brand built on stories. You
can see it intheirTV commercials, Facebook
posts, videos, events. Their Facebook page
is a good example of how every post can
be a story.
Dove also uses video to tell inspiring
stories to women, such as their latest
Real Beauty Sketches. The surprising and
emotional factors used in these videos
make them spread quickly and go viral.

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If allthe above - content, engagement, experiences and stories - combined around
an interest which relates to the Brand and its fans, then a strong connection can
develop between them, which enables the creation of a strong community.
Think of your target group, what are they passionate about and how can your
Brand relate to it? Even further, how can your Brand help them experience and
enjoy their passion?
Examples:
Nike has created big, active communities around sports. By integrating Social
Networking features to their actual products, they have made sports a more
social experience, enabling their community members to interact with each
other regarding their training. Apart from their main Facebook page, Nike has
also created Nike Football and Nike Basketball pages, so fans who are passionate
for one of these sports can express their passion on a dedicated page.
Pepsi’s Refresh Project brought together people who were passionate about
good causes that could bring positive impact to the world. The campaign was a
huge success, resulting a billion media impressions in the first three months.
Pepsi also focuses on music and brings together people who are passionate
about mixing tunes, discovering new tracks and sharing music with their friends.
4. Build an interest community

10. Conclusion
At the moment, the fastest growing
Branded Facebook pages, according
to Social Bakers, belong to FMCG
Brands. If you have not jumped in
yet, this is the right time to do it.
The above tips and practices can
help you develop your strategy.
The only thing you need is a
passionate team with fresh ideas!
Sounds challenging?
We Are Here To Help You!
4 Steps to Success
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W: xplain.co
M: letsrock@xplain.co
READMORE
• The Seven Deadly Social Media Sins
• 6+1 Tips for Great Stories on Social media
• Social media Marketing - what works for FMCG’s
• Best Tips on How to Make it to your Fans’ News Feed
• Do you Hangout with your Customers on Google+?
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WrittenbyKyriakiIatropouli