Social Media
Different forms of electronic communication through which users can create online communities to exchange:
Information
Ideas
Messages
Other content such as videos or music
Social media platform
Type of software or technology that allows users to build, integrate, or facilitate a community, interaction among users, and user-generated content
Social media tool
Enables users to communicate with each other online
Social-networking sites
Websites that provide virtual communities for people to:
Share daily activities
Post opinions on various topics
Increase their circle of online friends, and more
Bookmarking sites
These give people a place to save, organize, and manage links to:
Websites
Other resources on the Internet
Social news sites
People post news items or links to outside articles on such sites, then vote on which postings get the most prominent display�and viewed by the most readers
Online forums
Members hold conversations by posting messages
Blogging sites
Blog postings and comments are attached to such sites and typically focus on specific topics
Microblogs
Subscribers get a steady stream of brief updates from anyone ranging from a high-school friend to a celebrity
Social Media Tools
These make the conversation happen
Blogging allows people to
communicate in greater detail than microblogging does
Marketers use blog postings to:
Educate consumers and business customers about new products
Ask for feedback about particular goods and services
Notify the public about social responsibility initiatives
Manage public relations crises
Companies may
Designate certain staff members as bloggers
Hire professional bloggers either in-house or on a consulting basis
App
Short for application, it is a free or paid software download that links users to a wide range of goods and services, media and text content, social media platforms, search engines, and the like
With apps, marketers:
Know that potential and existing customers use all kinds of apps, and they want to tap into the opportunities created by this phenomenon
Must find ways to identify the apps that will support the goals of their social media marketing efforts
Need to choose
QR Codes
Short for quick response codes
Social media has quickly grown to be an important tool for marketers to:
Build relationships with customers
Strengthen brands
Launch new products
Enter new markets
Boost sales
The messages conveyed via social media wield
substantial power
Uses social media portals to create a positive influence on consumers or business customers toward an organization's:
Brand
Goods and services
Public image
Website
Marketers generally view the goal of social media marketing as developing a conversation with potential customers, resulting in a:
Purchase
Subscription to an email newsletter
Registration in an online community
Participation in an event
SMM contains three essential features:
It creates a buzz
It creates ways for customers or fans to engage in conversations with each other and the organization
It allows customers to promote the firm's messages themselves
Search engines help with comparison
shopping, particularly when it comes to price
Consumers rely on the communities created by social media for their buying decisions in order to:
Learn about new goods and services
Conduct research and share information
Make final purchase decisions
Businesses use social media to build
relationships, including partnerships with other companies
not for profit organizations Use social media to:
Market themselves
Generate donations or other types of funding
Spur action
Promote an event
Educate the public
Encourage and showcase partnerships with other organizations
Effective social media marketing requires:
Setting goals
Developing strategies to reach a target audience
Social media marketing (SMM) plan
Formal document that identifies and describes goals and strategies, targeted audience, budget, and implementation methods as well as tactics for monitoring, measuring, and managing the SMM effort
A well-written plan contains
clear, concise prose that covers the salient points and answers anticipated questions
Most SMM plans contain:
An executive summary
A brief overview
Analysis of the competition
The body of the plan
SMM actively solicits
the audience's participation in the message
Successful SMM efforts require the audience's
trust
Phases of developing an SMM campaign
Set goals
Target the audience
Develop strategies
Goals and Strategies of a Social Media Marketing Plan
Produce content
Implement the plan
Monitor
Measure
Influencers
Individuals with the capability of affecting the opinions or actions of others
Goals should be
felixble
Targeting the Audience
Marketers narrow this target further by determining which social media will be best suited to certain types of consumers
In order to pinpoint the audience for social media marketing, firms gather information on :
Demographics
What the group or organization needs or wants
targeting the audience:
Which of the firm's products and social media will meet the needs and wants of the particular groups of people
Every strategy in an effective social media marketing campaign traces back to the
campaign's goals�and ultimately links to a firm's overall strategic goals
Marketers decide:
Which social media platforms to use, and how to combine them to reach and engage with the audience
Developing Strategies and Choosing Tactics
Which social media tools should deliver the campaign's content, and how best to link them with the selected social media platforms
Who will participate in the conversation on behalf of the company
How to make it easy for potential customers to locate and
Content marketing
Creating and distributing relevant and targeted material to attract and engage an audience, with the goal of driving them to a desired action
In order for SMM to succeed...
the content of its messages must engage the target audience in the conversation
Content for an effective SMM campaign has:
A strong brand focus
A focus on the audience rather than the organization
Targeted keywords
Relevant information
Shareworthy text and images
Creating Content
Invitations to generate content via posts, shares, discussions, reviews, or other forms of dialogue with the organization as well as with fellow customers
Implementing the Plan
SMM plan requires a timeline for implementation
Marketers may decide to create separate schedules for the rollout onto each social media platform
SMM plan builds in a specified time period for engaging with the public, and offering special promotions
Implementing the Plan
Timeline includes managing, monitoring, and measuring the success of the effort
Experts recommend that marketers refrain from scheduling content more than a week away because:
Information can change
Consumer responses may shift
Events might occur that would change the content
Rules of Engagement for Social Marketing
Follow rules and guidelines
Use social media channels as they were intended
Think before posting�or deleting
Social media monitoring
Process of tracking, measuring, and evaluating a firm's social media marketing initiatives
Social media analytics
Tools that help marketers trace, measure, and interpret data related to social media marketing initiatives
Monitoring and measuring help marketers
understand what their customers need and want, ultimately making adjustments to SMM or product offerings to satisfy those customers
Firms calculate the return on investment of their social media marketing initiatives, using:
reach and frequency
reach
The percentage of people in a target market who are exposed to the marketing effort at least once
frequency
The number of times an individual is exposed to the marketing material during the campaign
Measuring the success of a social media marketing plan includes such factors as:
Share of voice
Awareness of the company or brand
Level of engagement by the targeted audience
Managing a social media marketing campaign or a company's overall social media efforts requires skill, expertise, and understanding of the company's:
Brand
Competitors
Social media environment
managing means:
Maintaining a grasp on the success or failure of previous strategies, knowledge of the benefits and drawbacks of the different social media platforms and tools, and an ability to interpret data without losing sight of the overall goal
Being flexible enoug
Social media marketers face ethical and legal issues, such as:
Privacy
Accountability
Well-written social media policies are:
Consistent with a firm's organizational culture and values
Explain why employees should take certain steps or actions or avoid them
Broad enough to cover the major points, but brief enough to fit onto two pages
Linked to other relevant company policies an
Postings, ads, comments, and even images come under intense scrutiny and must be checked for:
Accuracy
Fair and realistic claims or promises
Balance and objectivity
Potential for misinterpretation
Marketers must:
Not distribute any personal information without consent
Be vigilant about confidentiality
When mistakes happen, smart social media marketers:
Take action to solve the problem or resolve the issue
Acknowledge the problem and take responsibility for it
Communicate with the right people, via the most relevant channels
Promise to take steps necessary to correct the situation
Implement the agreed-up
Job Titles in Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing manager or digital marketing manager
Social media strategist
Brand manager
Online community manager
Influencer relations
Social media specialist
Social media analytics
Social media design
Social media developer
Content programmer
Bl
Tips for Landing a Job in Social Media Marketing
Land an internship
Take online courses that teach social media marketing skills
Highlight your own online social profile
Point out your personality