With their content drowning in a sea of social media, brands should look to their users for the rescue

New startup allows brands to reward loyal users for engagement

Every brand on social media wants to find the best way to engage with consumers. But the reality is that with social media constantly evolving it is becoming more and more difficult.

A good example of the effect of the recent changes in social platforms is the Snickers World Cup campaign. Snickers published a photo on Facebook and Twitter simultaneously during a recent World Cup match. While the Twitter photo “blew up” with retweets and comments, the Facebook post generated very low traction again, suggesting that organic reach on Facebook is practically dead.

While Twitter can be an excellent tool for brands to generate real time organic reach, it is also a very limited medium. Communicating messages to an audience is tricky, and Twitter followers can’t interact with brands the same way they can on Facebook. After all, the 140 character limit is a marvelous tool, but may not be enough for brands to tell a complete story and paint a full picture on social media. The bottom line is that engagement with consumers is the true measure of the success of a social campaign of a brand, far more than its reach.

Currently brands are looking to advertising to boost engagement. The current business model used in social media marketing involves brands paying the social media giants thousands of dollars for media. Not only does this not guarantee higher engagement rates, but most brands are not even able to afford these large amounts of money required for boosting these posts. If all this money is poured into media without it leading to higher engagement rates, there must be something wrong.

But why should brands pay to promote their content, while their most loyal users are already uploading amazing content all the time? Just think of all the photos that are uploaded to social media every day – currently estimated at 350 million photos. Most of these photos also feature brand products ranging from food, to shoes and clothing.

Mobilizr turns social content into a promotional tool for brands

Mobilizr, a new mobile startup, saw all the content that was being uploaded and realized that this could be turned into a promotional tool for brands. (Disclosure: Mobilizr is a Blonde 2.0 client.) The network enables brands to prompt users to take part in a brand campaign by uploading photos to social media that feature their products. Each social like, share, or comment generated by these photos earns users money.

A successful social media campaign is one that not only plays on the emotional side of users, but one that turns them into part of the brand community. Mobilizr believes that the best way to shoot right into the heart of fans is inviting them to not only interact with a social campaign but to be the campaign. Social media campaigns on the mobile app are strictly composed of the views and perspectives of users.

The true magic in Mobilizr is that it taps into the way we discover and adopt new products.  Consumers tend to take advice from friends about what products they should buy more than they respond to traditional ads. Mobilizr campaigns feature fans using brand products as they normally would, depicting the highest level of authenticity. There are no lights, cameras, or a setting, just a fan and his or her smartphone. Considering the struggles of brands in the social media arena, Mobilizr might have just solved one of the biggest pain points for companies all over the world.Ayelet Noff is a partner in Socialmedia.biz and founder and Co-CEO of Blonde 2.0, an award winning digital PR agency with branches in Boston and Tel Aviv. Contact Ayelet via The Blonde 2.0 website , email, or follow her on Twitter and Google Plus.