Social
media is used by brands to drive engagement and interaction. The objective of
any social media strategy is to provide the right tools so that people can
engage with a brand, people, products, or service onsite and offsite. There are
many social media channels available to marketers and in order to optimize
engagement, brands should integrate multiple social media channels. Each
channel is unique and provides a different level of engagement to help
customers create lasting relationships with a brand. For example, Google
AdWords is a tool that allows brands to create sponsored links in Google search
results. These links are ads that an advertiser created and Google displays
based on the relevance of a search. Another platform that is completely different
is Twitter. This channel is a social networking and microblogging service that
enables users to send and read “tweets”, which are messages limited to 140
characters. Each of these platforms is different and both can be used to
optimize interaction between brands and consumers (Wells, 2014).
A key benefit of social media is
that content across multiple platforms can be integrated. For example Facebook
pages can be optimized to include widgets that display postings on other social
media accounts. Pins on Pinterest can be posted on Facebook pages as well as
YouTube videos to optimize interactions with consumers. Integrating platforms
allows brands to increase touchpoints with consumers which leaves a lasting
impression and helps create long-term relationships.
Choosing which platforms to
integrate is no easy task. Each platform is unique and serves a different
purpose for a brand. The best way to identify which platforms to use is to determine
the target market and then determine social media objectives. Once these two
tasks are completed, it will be easier to identify where and how to reach
customers. New social networking sites and applications are appearing on the
market constantly and brands cannot take them all on. Every site does not serve
the same crowd just like every business does not serve the same purpose. For
example, 82% of Pinterest users are women and 71% of Google+ users are men.
Brands like Martha Stewart have identified Pinterest as the best social media
platform to reach their target market and their Pinterest page drives more
traffic to the brand’s website than Facebook and Twitter combined. Knowing your
audience and where they interact on social media is essential to optimizing
engagement (“Battle of the sexes,” 2012).
There are a few social media
platforms that are popular among brands. The first is Facebook which is the
holy grail of social media. Facebook has many tools that help businesses target
their ideal audience and virtually anyone can benefit from their blog-like
format. It gives content more breathing room than other sites such as Twitter
and brands have access to over a billion users. Twitter is also a very popular
platform but unlike Facebook, it has a microblogging format. Users really
benefit from the real-time aspect of Twitter, since many news reporters and
leaders in the global economy are actively posting to the site. LinkedIn can be
considered as a Facebook for business owners and job seekers. The site serves
as a great connector, helping its users form professional connections and find
new clients. LinkedIn pages can be a great way of building a potential customer
base. Pinterest as discussed early is very popular among women. The platform
works well with businesses within the arts, fashion, and lifestyle industries.
Product images can be posted to brand’s pages under categorized albums and
shared with Twitter and Facebook easily. Instagram and Google+ are the newer
hybrids, both bearing characteristics of Twitter and Facebook. Google+ profiles
are beneficial to anyone who wants to enhance their SEO. Instagram is a way to
share experiences through pictures which can be categorized through hashtag
keywords (“How to find,” 2014).
In order to optimize engagement,
content needs to be spread out across multiple social media platforms. There is
much debate on whether content or conversation increases engagement. Based on personal experience, content drives
conversation. One does not trump another. They both need to be used in
conjunction to optimize social media. The right content posted on a regular
basis will drive conversation on and off social media networks. The hard part
is determining the right content to post that is relevant to the brand’s
strategy and cohesively integrating it across social media networks. As
discussed early social media networks are not created equal and based on
targeted customer groups, one platform might need to receive more attention
than others.
An example of content driving
conversation is with Nissan’s online newsroom space. Nissan sought to harness
the power of revamping its online newsroom space to create a “multi-market,
multi-language, hemisphere-wide news site with a goal of making journalist’s
life easier.” With the help of Wieck, a media relations agency, Nissan was able
to repurpose content in an attractive, fluid, and engaging way. They wanted to
create a more modern, eye-catching design and foster broader appeal. The
overall goal of the revamp was to build a hub of information to make it easy
for journalists to quickly gather videos, press releases, pictures, and other
data needed to inform stories. All the videos, posts, and images on the site
were shareable and downloadable to allow for WOM marketing. The site also
allows visitors to easily access Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Google+, and email
to share content. Nissan’s Facebook and Twitter accounts are regularly
populated with stories from the newsroom to integrate all three platforms.
Nissan’s site is clean, navigable, attractive, and informative and it is easy
to understand the message the car company wants to convey upon entering the
site. The revamped content on the site
helped grow from over 90,000 unique visitors each month per month to more than
300,000 visitors per month in a short amount of time (“Nissan drives the,”
2013).
Personal Case Study:
Ideal Image
Ideal Image is a small image
consulting company that was formerly one of my clients. Their target audience
is females between the ages of 35 and 49, who are transitioning in their lives.
The company wanted to use social media to establish an online presence and
consistent branding, increase website traffic, and create and maintain
relationships with clients and prospects. The social media plan created for the
company used multiple social media channels to optimize engagement. Facebook
was used to increase the brand’s awareness and engagement due to its wide
reach. It was also used because Facebook has been attracting an older
demographic as Millennials have gravitated to other channels. Facebook served
as the top platform for Ideal Image to engage their target market of Generation
Xers. The next channel used was Pinterest which worked as a way to increase
awareness, engagement, and solicit recommendations. Pinterest allowed the brand
to share items with followers in a creative and engaging way. The site is ideal
for recommendations and WOM marketing which is why it was incorporated into the
social marketing strategy. Ideal Image
also incorporated their blog into the social media strategy because it was a
way to increase awareness and engagement with prospective clients. The blog
worked well with current marketing efforts and was incorporated into the
company’s site. Integrating Facebook, Pinterest, and the blog served as a way
to achieve social media objectives for a small business owner.
References:
(2012). Battle of the Sexes [Web Graphic].
Retrieved from http://8.mshcdn.com/wp
content/uploads/2012/07/BattleofTheSexesSocialWeb.jpg
How
to find the right social media platform for your business?. (2014, January 04).
Retrieved from http://blog.macronimous.com/how-to-find-the-right-social-media-platform-for-your-business/
Nissan
drives the conversation with content marketing-focus website. (2013). Retrieved
from
http://www.prdaily.com/awards/specialedition/218.aspx
Wells, M. (2014). Lesson 3.
Retrieved from PI Reed School of Journalism, WVU. (2014).
Retrieved from
https://ecampus.wvu.edu/bbcswebdav/courses/star15879.201401/docs/lesson3.htm
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