Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction
Social media is such an ever-present part of our
lives, that it is nearly impossible to engage in
online activity without coming into contact with it
at one point or another.
It is also becoming difficult to avoid social media
in offline channels as well – consider hashtags and
snapcodes on posters, or television shows and ads
sending viewers to their social media accounts.
We can now collaborate, publish, share content
and ideas much more easily than ever before, in
real time and with people all over the world. All
this online sharing and collaboration is facilitated
by social media.
It offers immediate content that is relevant to the
user, when and where they need it. With social,
the longer you take to post about an event or
trend the less relevant that content becomes.
This inter-connectedness and real-time nature of
social enables marketers to connect with their
audience in ways they never could have dreamed
of.
Social media also provides new ways to address
business challenges, such as awareness and
conversion and enables small and large
businesses alike to grow their business and
customer base.
Social media channels
Social networking- Facebook , Snapchat ,
LinkedIn
Content creation- YouTube , Instagram
Blogging - Twitter
Bookmarking & aggregating - Pinterest
Location & social media- Foursquare
Social Media vs. Traditional
Media
Cost
Social media marketing is far less
expensive. You’ll pay a fraction of the
traditional media price to reach the same
number of people
Accuracy
Traditional media uses a cannon to fire it’s
message hoping to hit anyone that will
listen (read, watch, etc.). Social media has
the ability to target with laser precision.
Trust
Social media marketing uses content to
cultivate trust over time. Traditional
marketing forces an opinion on a buyer in hopes
that it will take if repeated frequently enough.
Feedback
Social media marketing is a two-way street.
You get the added bonus of hearing back
from your customers.
You can use social media to gauge interest in
new geographic markets as well
Rules of engagement
Marketing to content creators
Marketing to content consumers
Marketing to content sharers
Advertise on social media platforms
Advantages
People are finding it easier to switch off or ignore
traditional advertising, particularly through
traditional media channels such as TV or radio.
Social media gives brands the opportunity to
interact with customers through relevant and
targeted communications that customers can
choose to engage with on their terms.
Social media’s potential share ability can be one of
its greatest benefits; if users like your content
enough, they may share it with their own
communities.
Social media allows you to engage with an online
community and connect your brand to the
appropriate audience.
The numerous interactions on social, allow
you to garner feedback from your
communities.
Such feedback helps drive future business
insights and innovation, as well as
marketing strategies.
Challenges
However, companies need also be aware that bad or
false messages spread as quickly as good ones. The
connectedness that can prove so useful can also be
a conduit for negative messages and brand attacks.
Social media facilitates a two-way conversation
between customer and company. This necessitates
that the company shifts approach from ‘deploy and
watch’ to one of constant involvement with the
audience.
This evolving landscape is one in which the customer
really is king and any attempt to dethrone the king
can have dire consequences. Efforts to control the
conversation in social media are soon found out and
can backfire horribly
Any company embarking on a social media
strategy needs to be sure to monitor their
reputation online regularly. It is crucial to
know what is being said about your brand
online and to respond timely when
communicating in the social media sphere.
Finally, never forget that special rules and
laws apply when you are dealing with
personal information provided by users so
be very careful how and where you use this
data.
Social media strategy
Introduction
Strategy is by far the most important, as it
informs what and how often you post and
how you choose to engage and relate to
your audience.
Strategy also informs how and what you will
analyse.
It is important that all these parameters are
clearly established in your strategy and that
your strategy is in turn informed by the
analytics you receive on your content and
style of engagement.
Using social media to solve
business challenges
Strategy is an important aspect of social
media planning. Part of that strategy is
identifying which business challenges, marketing
and communication challenges in particular, your
social media will address. These can include:
Communication and outreach
Community management
Support and customer service
Reputation management
Advertising and awareness
Sales and lead generation
Search engine optimisation
Insights and research
Step-by-step guide to creating a
social media strategy
Step 1. Get buy-in
A number of stakeholders will need to be
aware of your social media plans and these
may be both internal and external. And, of
course, you will need sign-off for any
budgeting or additional resourcing
requirements.
Addressing the various stakeholders will
also force you to do the necessary research
and planning to take the next steps
Step 2. Listen and understand the
landscape
understanding the full social media landscape is to listen
well to conversations your target market is already having
around your brand or industry.
Some important questions to answer include:
What conversation already exists around your brand, your
industry and your competitors?
Do they have the facts?
Where does it take place?
Who is doing most of the talking?
What are the emotions involved in conversations about your
brand?
What are the motivations of those that comment on your
brand online?
What can you, as a brand, add to this conversation? Is it
valuable?
Step 3. Analyse
Your outcomes here should include:
A list of the social channels and platforms your brand
should be on. This is based on who your customers
are, where they interact and where they expect to
interact with you.
Non-official groups or communities that already
exist, which may have been created by fans.
An overview of the existing conversation (volume,
frequency and sentiment), as well as any content or
conversation themes that occur.
An overview of what your competitors are doing in
this space.
A list of potential brand evangelists and influencers
in your industry.
Step 4. Set objectives
Step 5. Create an action plan