Multiple social platforms
Deciding which social platform/s to adopt is a key decision for companies in this age of content marketing. Analyzing objectives and goals is paramount for a company when deciding where to put its social ‘muscle’ and resources. Every marketer is different and so are most companies. While I think identifying one primary social platform can be strong and somewhat effective (depending on the goals of the business), I don’t think it is enough as the social media environment has changed for customers. The consumer expects more from a brand or company when going through the purchasing process. I think it is important for a company to identify and participate in at least three or four social platforms.
Choosing a social media platform
Companies should carefully research three to four (or more) social outlets and select particular platforms that meet their objectives and goals. The wide spread popularity of Facebook has been well chronicled throughout the past decade and should likely be choice for a brand to consider. It is the most popular social media site and it is where most companies have a presence in some form. While its growth has slowed, the level of user engagement with the platform has increased. For the first time, more than half of all online adults 65 and older (56%) use Facebook. This represents 31 percent of all seniors (Duggan).
There is no doubt Facebook is the most-used social outlet, but every person or company can utilize the site for different purposes. Striking a balance between posting updates about a brand and using Facebook Ads are strategies a business should consider when engaging their consumers. If you are a company looking to build your brand with a complimentary resource, Facebook the first place I would start. It offers the most visibility and provides many advertising opportunities to appear on consumers daily feed. Fifty two percent of online adults use multiple social media sites. Facebook acts as “home base” (Duggan).
Allocating money should always be considered when going to market on this popular social outlet. What and who are you targeting? What customers are going to help grow the brand? Gaining value with the ad spending and answering these questions is important when dividing resources. If I am a brand looking to grow, I want to use a healthy mix of dollars and organic growth. I want to build a community of brand ambassadors that will evangelize my brand. It is not always a perfect scenario, but a company needs goals and objectives from a strategy perspective. One of the great aspects of Facebook is it has the ability to target the specific audience for your particular brand. There is not a day that goes by where I do not see some form of advertising in my feed or on the right hand side of the screen. Many of the brands advertising are very familiar to me and that is not by accident. It is safe to say, companies ‘leaping’ into the social media arena should start with Facebook to help grow its business.
Twitter, Linkedin and more
In addition to Facebook, there are other social sites that can be just as effective while looking to increase a company’s social exposure. Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram are platforms brands select when deciding where to market themselves. In some cases, these social sites are where many businesses allocate most of their marketing resources. Twitter is a personal favorite of mine because of the ability to post ‘snack size’ messages to engage a consumer base. This content gets distributed through websites, RSS feed readers, aggregators, or desktop or mobile applications. Just imagine what this level of distribution does to our ability to measure (Kaushik). Twitter also can be cost effective when building a marketing campaign. Like many social outlets, a Twitter account is free. For specific targeting, small business owners can pay for Promoted Account on Twitter. This account provides access to Twitter’s geo-targeting and Promoted Tweets (Krow).
Linkedin also can provide special uses for small or large business owners. I use Linkedin and really enjoy its networking capabilities and social opportunities on a professional level. Linkedin is specifically viewed and used a social media platform for ‘professionals.’ This site is beneficial for business to business networking (B2B). Having a business profile is very important and Linkedin gives businesses a chance to be viewed by other owners and potential customers (Business to Consumer – B2C). By keeping active and posting often on the site, you can build your brand bit by bit, increasing likeability and gradually building the trust of our potential customer base through timely, relevant, and interesting posts (Hughes).
During the last few years, the use of Instagram has skyrocketed with customers. The two sites are similar because they thrive on the power of pictures. In the last few years, Instagram has proven to be an effective platform for marketers to reach a new audience in a way the audience wants to be marketed to: with visuals and short messages (Sprung). Below is an interesting graph that illustrates the power of images.
Content vs. Conversation
Content versus conversation certainly enters into the social media equation when trying to maximize and monetize a company’s efforts. It is very hard to drive a brand conversation without having engaging content. We have all heard it a million times, but it bears repeating, ‘Content is King.’ The best social marketers post great content which helps drive the conversation – which hopefully, drives sales, profits and more. Sending the correct message with the right tone also is important.
Once you start with a given cadence, you’ve made a content promise. If you can’t maintain that promise, it will quickly alienate your readers (Greenberg). This point is important for companies to realize. There are many companies that can create thought provoking content and spread their messages throughout various social media platforms. However, many of these same companies struggle to understand that the frequency by which they post content is crucial to building a loyal following.
I know of two companies that are fierce competitors and they both participate in at least four social media platforms. “Company A” has been around for at least eight more years than “Company B.” “Company A” has a more outside interest and has rested on its laurels for a fair amount of time. “Company B” is smaller and fights to play above its weight. The reason why “Company B” has gained ground on its competitor in market share and popularity is because it knows how to keep the ‘conversation’ going on multiple social platforms and captivates its audience with clear and interesting content. “Company B” is always posting content to keep the conversation going.
Our readings this week make a valid and great point about “Conversation is King,” rather than the popular phrase I mentioned above (“Content is King”). Content without conversation is just broadcasting, or just advertising (Novak). Many businesses think it is enough to simply post an interesting antidote on Facebook or Twitter and then hope millions of people will consume their message and spread it like wild fire. That is the wrong approach. Using the popular social media platforms I discussed is very important for a business to build brand loyalty and grow the overall company. However, unless a company is dedicated to keeping the conversation moving, the message (or short post) will fall on the proverbial ‘deaf ears.’
The goal of using content to drive the conversation is to inspire consumers to: share your content, create buzz, gain more visitors to your website and have people buy your products and services. Creating frequent conversations will hopefully compel a wide range of consumers to embrace and purchase the company products.
References
Duggan, M. (January 9, 2015), Social Media Update 2014, Retrieved from:
http://pewrsr.ch/1xPGzft
Kaushik, A. (2010), Web Analytics 2.0, Retrieved from: Chapter 9, page 247
Krow, S. (2014), The Advantage of Using Twitter for Business Marketing,
Retrieved from: http://bit.ly/1tLagOw
Hughes, B. (January 8, 2014), Five Benefits of Using Linkedin to Grow Your Business and
Your Career, Retrieved from: http://bit.ly/1v576Tz
Sprung, R. (January 23, 2013), 5 Ways Marketers Can Use Intagram, Retrieved from:
http://bit.ly/1lBt6h5
Greenberg, M. (October 20, 2009), Content is King of Social Marketing, Retrieved from:
Merchant – A Chief Marketer One-Stop (WVU Readings – Week 3)
Novak, C. (July 27, 2010), Why Conversation, not Content is King, Retrieved from:
Socialmediatoday.com (WVU IMC week 3 readings)
Such a great inforgraphic up top, it is a bit overwhelming but really shows how social media can be broken down into categories and easily managed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading my post, Sarah! You're right, the infographic does have a lot of information. Looking back it, I wish I could have made it bigger, but the it would have bled off the page. Thanks - Ryan
ReplyDeleteI love the infographic too! Thanks for sharing
ReplyDelete