The Next Move for Corporate Social Media Utilization: The Role of "Social Connect Group" in Connecting Paid and Owned Media (Part 2)

Launched in January 2023, Dentsu Digital Inc.'s "Social Connect Group" is a team that proposes and supports planning for corporate social media utilization, aiming for seamless integration from ads to owned content on social media. While many consulting firms design plans for SNS advertising and owned media separately, the Social Connect Group provides comprehensive support to strengthen branding and deliver consistent messages to users.

In "Transformation SHOWCASE," we interviewed Kentaro Matsuda and Kanae Egusa of Dentsu Digital Inc., who lead the "Social Connect Group." In this second part of the interview, we explore the unique characteristics of the "Social Connect Group" that set it apart from other SNS consulting firms, as well as its future outlook.

Proposing Valuable Plans While Monitoring Platform Trends

Q. The "Social Connect Group," launched in January 2023, will soon celebrate its first anniversary. What activities have you undertaken over this past year, and what kinds of consultations have you received from client companies?

Matsuda: Initially, we had more discussions within the Social Connect Group itself than with external companies. Since the Social Media Experience Division, where Egusa belongs, and platform producers like myself have different perspectives, we engaged in thorough dialogue to define what value the Social Connect Group should deliver. Thanks to that, by the second half of the year, we were able to smoothly handle inquiries, such as "How about starting with this initial implementation?" or "Let's propose this approach to client companies that already understand owned media." We're now becoming self-sufficient as a team. We're also seeing an increase in inquiries where clients specifically request the "Social Connect Group" when reaching out.

Egusa: Through repeated discussions with Matsuda, I came to feel that the value of the "Social Connect Group" lies in its "depth of understanding regarding platforms." Platform operators like Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and TikTok develop their operational policies and plans by considering users' lives and closely aligning with societal values. By deeply understanding the value these platforms aim to provide users, we can grasp each SNS's algorithm. This enables us to create social media plans for companies that lead to acquiring new fans.

Planners at Social Connect Group regularly visit platform companies like ByteDance, Meta, and X to participate in study sessions and collaborate on content creation. I believe these experiences contribute to our planners' unique expertise. Additionally, our value lies in co-creating Dentsu Group's proprietary solutions and planning theories through collaboration with these platform companies.

Q. Having the deepest understanding of platform operators is a key point. Are there other strengths unique to the Dentsu Group?

Matsuda: It's our ability to execute ad×owned initiatives with platform partners' cooperation. By combining domestic Dentsu Group solutions like data clean rooms (cloud environments provided by ad platform operators) and Cross Media Planner (a planning support tool for creating integrated TV and digital media plans and forecasts), we aim to realize our unique ad×owned approach.

Egusa: Another strength of Dentsu Digital Inc. is our ability to perform target analysis using data, not just intuition. Social media is an environment where it's easy to listen to understand who the users and fans of a given company are. We place great importance on properly identifying the attributes and interests of these fans before designing the right approach for owned media.

Developing solutions in collaboration with platform providers

Q. Please share your outlook for the second year and beyond.

Egusa: Currently, all platform providers are actively updating and evolving. We believe this stems from shifts in the times and changes in user consumption trends. Since SNS is a highly influential medium for consumers, we will continue to monitor these trends and make proposals that benefit our client companies.

The challenging part is "how to set KPIs." We need insights on how to link KPIs to marketing metrics by understanding organic (non-ad traffic from search results) and ad metrics, and how to implement PDCA cycles. Starting in the second year, we want to fully engage in this kind of collaboration.

Matsuda: From a business perspective, we have two goals. The first is developing solutions in collaboration with platform providers. We aim to leverage existing solutions developed by the Dentsu Group and platform providers not only for ads but also for organic traffic, creating a comprehensive support system for social media marketing. Expanding our client base is a key challenge moving forward. We want to convey the importance of this approach to companies currently only advertising on SNS and those struggling to integrate owned and paid media, thereby broadening the reach of the "Social Connect Group" activities.

Second, we want to encourage companies to pursue truly meaningful social media utilization through long-term planning spanning one year or several years. While we currently receive many one-off requests, we aim to broaden our client base and work closely with companies to help them achieve significant, lasting results.

Q. Finally, could you share specific examples of the types of consultations you're looking forward to?

Egusa: Whether it's creative, branding, strategy, or any other perspective, companies needing seamless design between paid and owned media, or paid and organic media, are welcome to consult with us anytime.

Matsuda: While this is a broad answer, we welcome any type of inquiry. For companies struggling with user communication, we believe we can offer solutions for addressing challenges through social media. Especially for companies wondering, "What should we do next?" regarding social media, please don't hesitate to reach out.

While many companies offer social media marketing consulting, Social Connect Group stands out for its cross-platform engagement with major social media platforms and deep understanding of their evolving dynamics. This unique perspective allows us to grasp each platform's distinct characteristics and propose effective communication strategies. Currently, the company is also focusing on developing new solutions and proprietary planning methodologies, suggesting exciting new developments are on the horizon.