Page 15 - 2017 4th Qtr Newsletter_TAA_FINAL

TAA NEWS

TAA MEMORIAL ENDOWMENT SCHOLARSHIP

2018 will be the first year for the Texas Auctioneers This scholarship will provide the winner a full tuition and
Association Memorial Endowment Scholarship to be stay to the Texas Auctioneer Academy. Applications for
featured. The scholarship honors the memory of those the scholarship will be available on the Texas Auctioneers
who impacted the auction industry and the Texas Association Website and must be submitted prior to April
Auctioneer Association organization. The TAA Scholarship 1, 2018 to be eligible. The committee wants to thank Trey
Committee is proud to announce the first annual “Jim Gallaway for this generous gift to ensure the education
Sample Memorial Scholarship” which will be presented and assistance for future auctioneers. Please join us in
at the 2018 TAA Convention in College Station, Texas. thanking Trey for keeping the spirit of Jim Sample alive.

Social Media Crowdcultures and How They Affect Your Brand Effort

Article courtesy of the National Auctioneers Association
As brands, we spend an awful lot brand message to interested parties assuming that
of our marketing thoughts, energy, if done so thoughtfully and with tact. the one trait you
and time trying to figure out how However, where many marketers selected is the
to “play nice” online with our go wrong is trying to mimic these dominant one.
audiences. On the defensive from the cultures, forcing them if you will,
beginning (because we’ve watched by throwing a few common profile For example, say
many social media engagement characteristics together and your targeting
horror stories), we ask ourselves: “Can depending on an algorithm to birth group included
we say this? Can we do that? What a consumer unicorn that eats only me. However, auctions are simply a
backlash might this image cause?” your brand. passing interest to me – something I

We then attempt to employ analytics You can’t force culture – either in hardly ever think about as a consumer
other than my liking a television show
to insulate our message (and brand) force-creating it or attempting to that includes auction. So, you market
against backlash. We dump time force organic crowdcultures to love to me with ads about your auctions,
and money into negative keyword what you’re selling. Brands on all your company, etc. “Auction”
research and tools that build exact levels commit this folly and watch isn’t what drives me, so therefore,
audiences we believe would be the with frustration (and eventual it didn’t resonate, let alone drive the
most apt to play nice back. Or even disdain for social media marketing) audience to an action.
maybe someday they purchase as expensive campaigns fall flat or
our goods or services and become even result in diminished brand It isn’t enough to simply target those
brand loyalists and influencers. loyalty. Shocked, they wonder: groups and say “I have an auction!”

That’s the hope anyways, and many That campaign should have worked, or use Facebook targeting to
find a million people who indicate
brands are shocked when their right? After all, a targeted group – auction is an interest. You need
targeted audience instead jumps up one that had shown strong interests to research and think about the
to complain. What many marketers in, auctions, let’s say – should have driving factors in those cultures.
fail to understand is the essence of jumped at the chance to engage How do they talk? What do they
crowdcultures. with an auction company that offers value? How do they behave?
The internet and social media a logical connection point specific to You need to build the full profile.
that interest. Right?
have provided never-seen before Answer those questions and your
opportunities for large crowds Let’s assume the rest of the campaign marketing pieces, and your online
– based on anything from Ford was built soundly. The message, brand in general, will stand a much
Mustangs, conspiracy theories, the tone, ad copy, images – every- greater chance of resonating with
bird watching, or 18th-century thing was, on paper, a supposed the crowdcultures you target.
art – to assemble and exert “direct good fit for the target audience. Want to read more about how
and substantial” cultural influence, So, what could have happened? to build marketing personas and
according to Douglas Holt’s piece, The campaign didn’t tap into the target customers better?
“Branding in the Age of Social
Media,” which appeared in the March crowdculture’s soul. This is to say, Download the NAA white
2016 Harvard Business Review. yes, everyone in the group indicated paper “Profiling and Targeting
auctions as an interest. But, when
These cultures exist, and they can you’re in this forced group setting, Customers” at: http://auctioneers.
org/forms/view.php?id=29388.
be a rich place for connecting your you have to remember you are

www.texasauctioneers.org 4th Quarter • 2017 texasauctioneers.org

4th Quarter • 2017
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