IS2502 Social Media and Social Networks

Week 8
Social Media Strategy I

Ms Rupa
Department of Information Systems
Recap - Social Entertainment

‣ Social entertainment
− Encompasses events, performances, and activities,
which are experienced and shared using social media
− Designed to provide the audience with pleasure and
enjoyment

‣ Social branded entertainment

− When brands create owned vehicles of branded
content, in the form of games, music, or film, which is
participatory and shareable via digital connections

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Recap - Components of Social
Entertainment
Social games

Original digital video

Branded video

Social TV

Social music

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Recap - What is a Social Game?
• Social games are
multiplayer,
competitive, goal-
oriented activities with
defined rules of
engagement and online
connectivity among
players.

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Recap - Typical Elements of
Social Games

Leaderboards

Achievement badges

Friend lists

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 Recap - How Can We
Characterize Social Games?

Platform

Mode

Milieu

Genre

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 Recap - Genres

01 02 03 04

Simulation Action Role- Strategy

playing

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Recap - ARG: An Intensive Form
of Social Game
• An ARG is a cross-media genre of interactive
fiction using multiple delivery and
communications media, which may include
traditional media such as television, radio,
newspapers, and postal service and digital
media.

Social Media Marketing 4e | © Tracy L. Tuten

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2021 | SAGE Publishing
Recap - Business Opportunity in Game
‣ Stickiness
− Ability of a medium to attract an audience and keep that audience
− A ratio of daily to monthly game players

‣ Game design: compulsion loop

− Every action you experience produces a response that makes you
want to do it again

‣ Games meet the criteria for viable market segmentation

− Substantial, reachable, and measurable market
− Viable vehicles to reach women and older consumers as well as
young males
− Sufficient, dedicated time to achieve valuable ad impressions

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Recap - Game-Based Marketing
‣ Utilize social games for marketing
− Targeted audience, large reach, a high level of engagement, low
intrusion methods of promotion, and a way to interact with brand
fans

‣ Only 5% of social gamers actually pay for games

− Most of games play the free versions
− Viewing ads and interstitial videos, and completing lead
generation offers

‣ Promoting a grand’s message

− Around- and In-game advertising
− Product placement
− Brand integration

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Recap - Around- and In-Game Advertising

‣ Around-game advertising
− Shown while the game loads, during natural breaks in
gameplay between levels or round

‣ In-game advertising
− Promotion within a game that another company
develops and sells

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Recap - Around- and In-Game Advertising

‣ In-game advertising
− Static ads
• Hard-coded into the game and ensure that all players view the
advertising
• Does not require internet connection
• Allows for more customization
• Limited or no reporting capabilities
• Takes several months or even close to a year
− Dynamic ads
• Variable and changed based on specified criteria
• High degree of control and real-time measurement it offers
• Ease of planning and launching a campaign

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Recap - Gamification

‣ The use of game elements and game design

techniques in non-game contexts
− A set of activities and processes to solve problems by
using or applying the characteristics of game elements
− To improve user engagement, organizational
productivity, learning, employee evaluation, etc.

‣ Non-game contexts
− Business, CRM, school, social impact, personal
improvement, etc.

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Recap - Gamification Types
‣ External
− Marketing
− Sales
− Customer engagement

‣ Internal
− HR
− Productivity enhancement
− Crowdsourcing

‣ Behavior Change
− Health and wellness
− Sustainability
− Personal finance

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Recap - What Makes Games Intrinsically Fun

‣ Winning
‣ Problem-solving
‣ Exploring
‣ Teamwork
‣ Recognition
‣ Collecting
‣ Sharing
‣ Role playing
‣ Customization
‣ …

https://www.parentingforbrain.com/intrinsic-motivation/ 15
Recap - Social TV
‣ Social TV
− Technology that supports communication and social interaction in
either the context of watching television, or related to TV content
− Not only needs to be designed to meet marketing objectives, but also
must be participatory and shareable

‣ The experience of watching video is enhanced by social media

‣ Engage in social media conversation not only about programs,

but also about brands advertising during programs
− People who tweet about TV and brands are large
− People who tweet about both brands and TV account for an outsized
portion of all tweets about brands
− People who posted tweets about TV and brands sent three times as
many brand tweets as those Twitter authors who only posted tweets
about brands

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Social Media Strategy - Business Model
• To develop a social media strategy the Business Model
of the company needs to be understood.
• Describing, analyzing, and designing business models
• Business model: how an organization creates, delivers,
and captures value
– What does a company do?
– How does a company uniquely do it?
– In what way (or ways) does the company get paid for doing
it?
– What are the key resources and activities needed?
– What are the costs involved?
Social Media Strategy

When develop social media strategies, a business

needs to identify “social failure” and use social
media to provide solutions to the “social failure” to
create values.

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Social Failure

‣ Social failure are interactions that do not occur,

but would make two people better off if they did
− People’s unmet social needs

‣ Discussion questions
− What are some examples of social failure?
− What are the reasons for social failure?

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Why does Social Failure Occur?

‣ 4 barriers
− Breadth
• Restriction on access to other people
− Display
• Restriction on conveying personal information to others to
create value for both
− Search
• Restriction on obtaining personal information from others to
create value for both
− Communication
• Restriction on conveying personal information to each other to
create value for both
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Solutions to Social Failure

‣ Meet: meet stranger

‣ Friend: deepen existing friend relationship

Twitter MySpace

OkCupid LinkedIn

eHarmony Facebook
“Meet” solution “Friend” solution

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Solutions to Social Failure

‣ How social media provide solutions to social

failure

https://www.okcupid.com/
https://www.eharmony.com/ 23
Breadth Barrier

‣ OkCupid ‣ eHarmony
− 448 thousands − 81 thousands
monthly download in monthly download in
Jan. 2021 Jan. 2021
− Many countries − US, UK, Canada, and
including HK Australia
− For all different types − For mostly hetero &
of dating committed dating
− Younger users − 35-50 years typically

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Breadth Barrier

‣ Percentage of adults
− OkCupid − eHarmony

https://www.statista.com/ 25
Display Barrier

‣ OkCupid
− Users provide demographic information (e.g., age, location,
etc.) and answer several open-ended questions on a
voluntary basis

‣ eHarmony
− It is mandatory to provide demographic information and
answer a questionnaire contained 80 questions
− About 20% of the applicants are not offered membership
based on their answers

‣ Which one reduces the display barrier more

effectively?
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Display Barrier

https://www.eharmony.com/ 27
Search Barrier
‣ OkCupid & eHarmony
− Website provides a list of users who satisfies the criteria (e.g., age
range, location, etc.)
− User can view these people’s profile

‣ OkCupid
− One profile on the page
− Limited number of likes (free version)
− A user can search for other people based on self-defined criteria (e.g.,
age range, location, education etc.) (paid version)

‣ eHarmony
− Many profiles on the page
− Only paid membership allows to see matches’ photos and send
messages
− It does not allow user to freely search or browse other people’s
profile
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Search Barrier

‣ Which site reduces search barrier more

effectively?
− On both OkCupid and eHarmony, about 75% users
viewed more than one profile
− 50% of OkCupid users viewed only 3 profiles, 50% of
eHarmony users viewed at least 4 profiles
− 29% of OkCupid users viewed more than 5 profiles,
37% of eHarmony users viewed more than 6 profiles

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Communication Barrier

‣ OkCupid
− A user can send open-text messages to other people
− If a target send a reply message, the two parties can
further communicate

‣ eHarmony
− Members can only contact people who were chosen for
them by eHarmony
− They can select several questions from a list provided
by eHarmony, and send those questions to their match

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Communication Barrier
‣ Which site reduces communication barrier more
effectively?
− On OkCupid, women are less likely to initiate contact with
men
− So are the shorter, older, and overweight men.
OkCupid Number of profiles of Number of initial
opposite sex viewed messages to members
of opposite sex
Straight men 26 27
Straight women 35 21

− On eHarmony, older women are more likely than younger

women to message men
− On eHarmony, older, shorter, and overweight men are more
likely to message women
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Business Impact of Strategy

‣ Two types of business strategies in terms of

business impact
− Differentiated strategy
• Increase customers’ willingness to pay without a
commensurate increase in cost
− Low-cost
• Reduce its costs without a commensurate decline in its
customers’ willingness to pay

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Types of Social Media Strategy

Social Solution
“Meet” “Friend”

The differentiated The differentiated

Higher
“meet” social media “friend” social media
willingness to pay
Business strategy strategy
Impact
The low cost “meet” The low cost “friend”
Lower costs
social media strategy social media strategy

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Task in Social Media Strategy
‣ When you develop a social media strategy, you design
“tasks” for your target customers
− The tasks should create value for the company (e.g., free labor for
production, free marketing, sales, and after-sales support)
− The tasks should also meet people’s social needs (i.e., address
“social failure”) so that people are willing to undertake the tasks.

‣ Different types of “tasks”

− Tasks that reduce the “breadth” barrier (e.g., ask customers to
join a community)
− Tasks that reduce the “display” barrier (e.g., ask customers to
create certain contents – personal or otherwise)
− Tasks that reduce the “search” barrier (e.g., ask customers to
discover about others)
− Tasks that reduce the “communication” barrier (e.g., lead people
to interact with others)
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Social Media Strategy at Zynga

‣ The overall social media strategy statement

− (1) Zynga’s social strategy seeks to reduce customer
acquisition and retention costs
− (2) by allowing customers to reconnect with their
friends
− (3) if they ask their friends to join the game

‣ What type of social strategy is this?

− Low-cost “friend” strategy

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Social Media Strategy at Zynga

‣ Tasks that reduce “Display” barrier

− Post user status/achievements in the game on Facebook and
Twitter
− Send virtual gift (e.g., plants, cows) to others on Facebook
and Twitter
− Request others’ help

‣ Tasks that reduce “Search” barrier

− Allow Facebook users to visit friends’ virtual farm

‣ Tasks that reduce “Communication” barrier

− Allow users to collaborate in take caring of the virtual farm

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Steps to Describe Social Media Strategy

‣ Step 1: Make an overall strategic statement using

the following template:

− (1) [company name]’s social strategy seeks to [reduce

certain cost or increase customers’ willingness to pay]

− (2) by allowing [the target customers] to [address an

unmet social need]

− (3) if they [the tasks you want the target customers to

do]
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Steps to Describe Social Media Strategy

‣ Step 2: describe in detail the task you want the

customers to do and explain why the task you ask the
customers to do addresses their unmet social needs
(i.e., social failure)
− You need to identify your target customers
− You need to identify and understand your target customers’
unmet social needs (by doing marketing research such as
customer survey etc.)
− Customers’ unmet social needs could be (1) the need to
access others (breadth), (2) the need to display information
to others (display), (3) the need to get information about
others (search), and (4) the need to communicate with
others (communication).

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Steps to Describe Social Media Strategy

‣ Step 3: explain in detail why the task you ask the

customers to do benefits the company
− The task will reduce certain costs in the value chain
(e.g., the cost of obtaining raw materials, the cost of
production, the cost of advertising and marketing, the
cost of acquiring new customers, the cost of retaining
existing customers, etc.).
− The task will increase customers’ willingness to pay by
providing unique benefits to the customers.

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Important Questions for Social Media Strategy

‣ Does the task you ask your customers to do

create value for our company?
− Does task really help reduce some costs?
− Will customers be willing to pay more?

‣ Does the task you ask your customers to do

address their unmet social needs?

‣ If the answer to any of the above question is no,

then it is not a good social media strategy!

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Social Media Strategy at Zynga

‣ Step 1: the overall social media strategy

statement
− (1) Zynga’s social strategy seeks to reduce customer
acquisition and retention costs
− (2) by allowing customers to reconnect with their
friends
− (3) if they ask their friends to join the game

‣ What type of social strategy is this?

− Low-cost “friend” strategy

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Social Media Strategy at Zynga
‣ Step 2: how do the tasks address customers’ unmet social
needs
‣ Tasks that address “Display” barrier
− Post user status/achievements in the game on Facebook and
Twitter
− Send virtual gift (e.g., plants, cows) to others on Facebook and
Twitter
− Request others’ help
‣ Tasks that address “Search” barrier
− Allow Facebook users to visit friends’ virtual farm
‣ Tasks that address “Communication” barrier
− Allow users to collaborate in take caring of the virtual farm

‣ Step 3: Reduce customer acquisition and retention cost

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Social Media Strategy at Yelp

‣ Step1: The overall social media strategy

statement
− (1) Yelp’s social strategy seeks to reduce the cost of
acquiring inputs
− (2) by allowing reviewers to meet other reviewers in
the offline world
− (3) if they contribute high quality reviews for free

‣ Low-cost “meet” strategy

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Social Media Strategy at Yelp

‣ Step 2: how do the tasks address customers’

unmet social needs:
‣ Tasks that addresses “breadth” barrier
− “Good” reviewers are invited to the “Elite Squad”
program which invite them to parties and social events
− “Elite squad” program membership lasts only for a year

‣ Step 3: Create value for Yelp.

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 Social Media Research
• Social media research is the application of
scientific marketing research principles to the
collection and analysis of social media data
such that valid and reliable results are
produced.

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Social Monitoring and Listening
Proactive
Social listening identifies
and collects social data
for analysis to inform
strategic marketing
decisions.
Social monitoring tracks
mentions of specific
words or phrases on
social media sites and
triggers a company
response when
necessary.
Reactive
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 Uses of Social Listening
• Brand monitoring. • Gathering competitive
• Measuring campaign intelligence.
effectiveness. • Identifying ideas for
• Gathering customer new product
insights. development or
• Providing customer product improvements.
service. • Identifying risks that
• Gathering ideas for could lead to public
future campaigns. relations crises.

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 Social Customer Care
• 67% of social media users have used a company’s social media
channels to reach customer support. Of those, 84% expected
a response within the first 24 hours.
• Customers spend 20–40% more with companies that use
social media to service customer care requests.
• 71% of customers who experience a quick and effective brand
response to their support requests on social media are likely
to recommend that brand to others, compared to just 19% of
those that don’t receive any response.
• Sadly, only 1 in 10 customer care requests made on social
media get any response.

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 Social Media Listening and the
Research Process
• Software or service systematically searches and
scrapes data from social media channels.
• Data includes qualitative (e.g., verbatim comments)
and quantitative data (e.g., source, volume, unit
characteristics).
• Determining appropriate research design and setting
research protocols ensures data collected are
appropriate for research uses.

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A Model for Social Intelligence
in the Organization

Distribution of intelligence

Data analytics

Data management

Social listening and data capture

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Example: Social Listening Study
for Uber

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Insights for Uber

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Social Media and Netnography
Identify online communities

Select those with high traffic, high levels of activity

Learn about about the group’s culture

Select material for analysis

Classify material

Keep a journal of reflections about the data collection

Use member checks to assess accuracy of interpretation

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 Recap and Questions
• How do companies utilize social media data and
research to inform marketing decisions? What are
the primary approaches to social media research?
• What is the research process for collecting,
processing, and analyzing residual social media data
used in social listening and monitoring?
• What are the common errors and biases associated
with social media research?
• How do brands develop social intelligence systems?
• What is the process for netnographic research in
social media communities? 54
Quiz #2 – Week 10

• Online Quiz (Total 10 marks):

– 10 multiple choice questions. 1 mark each.
– 10 minutes.
– Covering Week 5 to Week 9

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