Social Media Marketing
How do Kaplan & Haenlein (2010) define social media?
"a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content"
What is a viral coefficient? What is the benchmark level for our viral coefficient for a process to be considered viral?
-# of people who information is shared with , # of new users -probability of receivers adopting the info -viral coefficent to be greater than value of 1
What are major reasons that individuals will use social media?
-Identity building -social connection -infotainment
What do we mean by social connection? How does social media help people overcome meet failures and friend failures?
-People use SM to interact and connect with one another -helps avoid social failures -SM marketing implication= firms should identify solutions that enhance and facilitate social interactions between people and their networks
How can social media help us prepare a marketing program to satisfy consumer needs?
-Product, Promotion(awareness, desire, trial), Place, Price (estimate demand) *dynamic pricing (example: plane tickets)
What are some of the negative implications associated with social media use? For example, consider the results of the research done by Wilcox and Stephen.
-SM use impacts our ability to innact self control -strong ties increase self esteem but lowers self control
What are the four major zones of social media that we discussed?
-Social Community: Channels that focus on relationships and the common activities people participate in (same interests) Sharing, socializing, conversing (ex: facebook) -Social Publishing: Channels that aid in the dissemination of content to an audience Editorial, commercial, UGC (ex: blog) -Social Commerce: channels that assist in the buying of products/services Retail, sales, CRM (ex: yelp) -Social Entertainment: channels that offer opportunities for play and enjoyment Games, music, art (ex: steam)
What makes social media different than other non-social digital channels?
-Social interactivity Interact with people and companies -Openness and flexibility Anyone can use -Fast-paced flows of information
What factors (we discussed seven) highlighted by Tim O'Rielly (the guy who coined the term Web 2.0) differentiate Web 2.0 from Web 1.0?
-Web as a platform Cloud hosting services Online computing -User participation, UGC, Crown sourcing Levels the playing field between producers and consumers -User-defined content Relies on users to sort content (hashtags) -Network Effects: each additional user adds value for existing users Reviews -Scalability: ability to grow as needed without negatively affecting profit margins -Perpetual Beta Constantly changing/updating (never finished) -Reputation Economy Ex: verifield, helpful/unhelpful
What is an audience persona? Why would marketers create or focus on audience personas? What are some things we might consider when creating an audience persona?
-a model that describes our typical or target customer which is often based on detailed research -goal is to create a profile of our ideal customer so we can craft targeted SM content to these individuals -a detailed audience persona helps us to personalize our SM marketing by humanizing our target segments -consider age, household size, hobbies, career, financial
Why might an organization decide to buy a social media?
-data ownership & security -closed network -desired functionality
Why might an organization decide to rent a social media?
-follow the audience -low cost -leave with little consequence
What tools can we use to evaluate the audience on any particular social media platform?
-geographic, demographic, psychographic, influence -identity building, social connection, infotainment *not describing our own audience, but the audience who uses the platform
Why should social media marketers select platforms based upon goals not on popularity?
-not all platforms can be necessary to reach your goals, being on a platform with no purpose is an easy trap for marketers
What do we mean by infotainment?
-people use SM for information and entertainment -SM marketing implication= to compete successfully in the SM space, firms must consider creating infotainment content
What is market segmentation? Why do we use market segmentation?
-understanding the characteristics of our consumers -can focus on location, interests, behavioral, and influence
What do we mean by goals? What are some types of goals that a SM marketer may be interested in?
A broad primary outcome that we wish to achieve with social media (examples: brand awareness, product reputation, web traffic, sales leads)
What is an objective? How do objectives differ from goals? Understand the SMART framework for writing objectives.
A specific statement about a planned SM activity that will help us achieve our goal. We can have multiple objectives tied to a single goal. SMART Significant: a significant positive change in value must be attained Measurable: we must use one or several metrics Actionable: must have an action plan that will allow us to achieve objective Realistic: must be attainable given the current state of brand Time-Based: some kind of time table attached to objective (time line)
What are the four broad categories of goals that marketers can pursue via social media?
Brand: using SM to build stakeholder relationships (discover insights and increase awareness) Revenue: Using SM to generate income (increase sales, generate demand) Operational: Using SM to save time/money (lower costs, increase productivity) Cultural: Using SM to support firm development (hiring, employee engagement, retention rates)
What do we mean by goal alignment?
Can we achieve our business goals on this platform?
What do we mean by audience connection?
Can we reach and engage our target audience on the platform?
How has the evolution of the Internet created the right conditions for the rise of social media?
Changed how people communicate, share information, and behave. Drastically impacts how business interact with customers.
How did we define social media? (book)
Computer-mediated tools that allows people to create, share, or exchange information, ideas, pictures/videos, in virtual communities and networks.
How did the Melbourne Metro use social media goals and objectives? What did the Metro do with social media? Was the organization successful in meeting its objectives and goals?
Created Dumb ways to die game, purpose was to increase awareness of train safety. Very successful.
How can social media help us strengthen consumer relationships?
Customer relationship management (CRM) -focuses on what we do with customer after first sale -cementing brand loyalty (loyalty points) Service recovery -correct mishaps and win back dissatisfied customers -SM is also vital medium when things go wrong
According to Howe (2012), how has social media altered the power structure in the marketplace? What prescriptions does Howe have to help organizations deal with this shifting power structure (i.e. understand the three things we highlighted in class that can marketers do)?
Customers have more power now and can start a dialogue with the company which wasn't available to them before -consumers have more to offer than money (ex: P + G mommy bloggers) -focusing on customer service (ex: Zappos) -considering what can go wrong before a crisis occurs (ex: bank of america)
How might we measure the importance of nodes in a network?(multiple choice)
Degree Centrality: assigns an importance score based on the number of links held by each node. -good for finding very connected people -simplest measure of node connectivity Betweenness Centrality: measures the # of times a node lies on the shortest path between other nodes -indicates someone might hold authority over or controls collaboration between nodes in a network Closeness Centrality: scores nodes based on their closeness to all other nodes within the network -finding those who are best placed to influence the entire network most quickly -also useful to find influential nodes within smaller parts of a network
What is a situational analysis?
Detailed assessment of the environment, including an evaluation of the consumer, the competition, and other factors that may affect the program or business
What is a platform fit test?
Determines if we want to use the platform for our brand
What do we mean by brand association?
Does our brand align with the platforms brand and its user base?
After completing our platform audits and platform fit tests, why must we consider how our social media platforms will fit together?
Each platform should complement and extend one another IMC= integrated marketing communications → message is consistent on all platforms
How can social media help us understand the marketplace and consumer needs?
Environmental scanning and Market research -collecting insights for the discovery stage of the creative process -gathering ideas for a new product development (ex: lego ideas)
What do we mean by renting a presence on social media?
Establishing a presence on a third party SM platform (FB, Insta, Twitter)
In what ways can we form market segments for our social media marketing?
Geographic Segmentation: segmenting by region, country, market size (geofencing ex: snapchat) Demographic Segmentation: using common demographic characteristics to group similar consumers together Psychographic Segmentation: slices up the market based upon personality, motives, lifestyles, and attitudes or opinions Behavioral Segmentation: divides consumers into groups based upon how they act with regard to a brand or product category Influence segmentation: the degree to which a person influences decisions of others
What do we mean by brand integration on the platform? What kinds of ideas would we focus on during this part of the platform audit?
How do brands fit in on the platform? -assess # of brands that are using the platform -investigate successful brands and failed brands
What do we mean by hub-seeding? How have marketers used hub-seeding in their marketing (either online of offline)?
Hub Seeding: sending products to influential people example: influencers on instagram ford fiesta
What do we mean we say someone is a social hub in a network? What do we mean when we say someone is a social pump in a network?
Hub: large number of ties (connectors) Pumps: people in a network that are highly active
What does Gladwell (2002) mean when he says someone is a Maven? What characteristics make someone a Maven?
Information specialist, have lots of info on the marketplace. (products, pricing, distribution) -like to help others
What does Gladwell (2002) mean when he says someone is a Connector? What characteristics make someone a Connector?
Knows a lot of people, masters of the weak tie (acquaintances) -know different kinds of people -occupy many different worlds, subcultures
What is a viral marketing campaign (VMC)? How do VMCs differ from more traditional marketing campaigns?
Many organizations rely on viral processes to launch new products and generate WOM. -relies on concept of seeding -more authentic since its coming from another consumer tradition= company --> consumers viral= compant--> seeds--> masses
What is marketing?
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. Managing profitable customer relations
What does Gladwell (2002) mean when he says someone is a Salesperson? What characteristics make someone a Salesperson?
People who cant be resisted and build trust between others (very persuasive)
What do we mean by identity building? What kind of identities will people cultivate on social media?
Possible Selves Theory: individuals' ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become, and what they are afraid of becoming -on SM some people express who they actually are (current self) and/or who they want to be (possible self) -SM marketing implication = develop content and experiences that enable people toe xpress themselves and aspire to something they want to be or do -Life Mix: mash up of what we have on and offline
What is a primary audience? What is a secondary audience? What is a tertiary audience? How did Sony use these different audience types during the release of the PS4?
Primary Audience: our direct target. This is the audience that we will be designing SM campaign for. They are central to achieving our goals. Secondary Audience: Our indirect target. These consumers may share similarities with our primary audience but have their own differing characteristics. May be potential targets for future campaigns. Tertiary Audience: audiences that aren't direct or indirect targets, but can still impact the success of our SM marketing campaigns. (media, governmental organizations, citizen action groups, investors, competitors) PS4 = Primary - hardcore gamers Secondary- casual gamers Tertiary- investors, media outlets, competitors
Where does social media fit into the marketing process? (short answer)
Promotion: building brand awareness -engages customers to form relationships and builds loyalty Place: another platform to sell -ex: FB marketplace Price: comparing price of competitors Product: online specials, online exclusive
Which is better for transmission of information through a network, social hubs or social pumps? Why?
Pumps as they are better influencers due to their active status on SM
How does this differ from a social media audit?
SM audit evaluates brands current usage of the platform
How can social media help us design a customer-centric marketing strategy?
Segmentation and Targeting -creating segments based on SM usage -developing audience personas Positioning -highlighting point of differentiation -brand personality
What is a social graph? What is a node? What is a tie?
Social Graph: visual representation of a small portion of a network, represents relationships among entities Nodes= people, brands, organizations, products Ties= relationships(friends, romantic, professional, family)
What is virality?
Spreading widely and rapidly from consumer to consumer
What are the three major steps we must consider when evaluating social media audiences?
Step 1: defining stakeholders (primary, secondary, tertiary audience) -have to prioritize the groups that will be most valuable Step 2: what are the characteristics of the audience? -understanding this has been the cornerstone for marketing (segmentation) -can focus on location, interests, behavioral, and influence Step 3: What are the SM goals of our audience? -to accomplish our goals , we must help our audience to achieve their goals
What kind of content considerations would we evaluate for a platform audit?
Text, photo, videos, gif
What is strategic planning?
The process of identifying objectives to accomplish, deciding how to accomplish their objectives with specific strategies and tactics, implementing the actions that makes the plan come to life, and measuring how well the plan met the objectives
What is the small-world problem? How did Stanley Milgram investigate this "problem?" What did his results demonstrate (Hint: see Gladwell [2002])?
The small-world problem that Stanley Milgram investigates is the question of human connections. He looks into different social circles and the links between people that create a grand, interlocking web of people that then helps an idea, a trend, or a piece of news travel through a population. This study was tested with a chain letter; He mailed 160 people who lived in Omaha, Nebraska a packet with the name and address of a stockbroker who worked in Boston and lived in Sharon, Massachusetts. He included a set of simple instructions; to write their name on the packet and send to someone they knew who would get the packet closer to the stockbroker. The results were that most of the letters reached the stockbroker in 5 or 6 steps.
What is a seed in a VMC (hint: in the Ford example, seeds were called "agents")? - How did Ford implement a VMC campaign using social media to introduce their Ford Fiesta? Be able to discuss all three phases of the Ford VMC! Why did Ford have to make changes to the traditional VMC strategy?
They selected 100 "socially vibrant, [and] unique" individuals to serve as Ford Fiesta Agents, and let them use a new Fiesta car for six months. In exchange these individuals were asked to share their experiences on social media, "they were encouraged to post videos of their experiences on YouTube, regularly tweet about the car on Twitter, and blog about the car"(8). Ford also gave these agents "missions" where each month they were given a theme with a challenge to complete. This kept agents engaged in creating new content featuring the Ford Fiesta each month and also kept the buzz alive for consumers who followed these agents on social media. They also had test drives where they had agents come out and encourage people to test drive the car.
What is the difference between the trial, transition, and strategic phase of Social Media use?
Trial Phase → This entry stage is characterized by a scatter-shot approach to beginner use of channels like email, search and social, usually without good consistency or measurement/tracking in place. Companies in this stage typically do not have a strategy, process or orchestrated plan for digital marketing. They are learning and experimenting; trying things out to see which, if any, generate a boost in sales or enough traction to repeat the effort. Transition Phase → In this phase companies usually have a plan and process for deploying digital campaigns within or across channels, but haven't integrated efforts and often sporadically execute. Strategic Phase → The most mature stage is characterized by a well-thought out, intentional digital strategy that includes specific plans, goals and objectives for each channel to be used. Organizations in this stage have developed marketing campaign calendars, customer-lifestage-specific programs for both acquisition and retention marketing (such as lead nurturing, welcome, up-sell and loyalty programs), and have working analytics, performance tracking and accountability systems in place.
What do we mean by viral cycle time? How might this impact (in general) the viral nature of a campaign?
Viral Cycle Time: looks at how long it takes for an interaction to take place Shortening cycle time can make campaign more successful
What is the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0?
Web 1.0 = (static web) static web pages that did not provide interactive content Web 2.0 = (social web) Developments in online technology that enable interactive capabilities in an environment characterized by user control, freedom, and dialogue
How does Quesenberry (2015) recommend firms complete a social media audit? What are the major perspectives an organization will consider when completing a SM audit?
Who: categorizes data according to who is talking (company, consumer, competitor) Where: lists content by SM channels and environment (youtube, FB, twitter) What: lists type of content and reaction (article, photo, video) When: quantifies frequency of activity (# of post, views, shares, commentsO Why: determines purpose of messages from awareness and promotion
What is a platform audit? What kind of information will we consider when completing a platform audit?
a tool to help marketers understand the workings of a SM platform, its risks and benefits, and the complexities of adopting the platform. Type, audience, content, engagement, brand integration
content communities
based on sharing specific types of content (youtube, instagram)
Collaborative Networks:
created and maintained by and for the community (reddit, wiki)
What do we mean by buying a presence on social media?
creating own SM platform (sephora, playstation forums, lego ideas)
Macro-network
enable people to connect & communicate in many to many interactions. Often people use real identity (FB, Linkedin)
Social Broadcasters
enables one to many broadcasting but also have sharing capabilities (tumblr, twitter)
What is a social media audit?
examination of an organization's social media presence to help marketers discover, categorize, and evaluate all the social talk about a brand -captures what people are saying about a brand -what competitors are doing on social media -what the brand itself is doing
How do we calculate a viral coefficient? What two major considerations are used to calculate our viral coefficient? Be able to calculate a viral coefficient without having the formula in front of you!
k = (# of current consumers) x (# of invitations sent) x (conversion rate) / (# of current consumers aka # of invitations sent x conversion rate
Types of Social Media
macro-network, micro-network, content communities, social broadcasters, collaborative network
Micro-network
serve as messaging services connecting people within smaller networks (whatsapp)
What is social media marketing?
the utilization of social media technologies to create, communicate, deliver, and exchange offerings
What is user generated content?
the various forms of online media content that are publicly available and created by end users
What will we evaluate when we think about engagement on the platform?
we must understand actions (ways of endorsing or sharing content) and norms (rules that govern behavior on site) ex: likes, shares, follows, pins