Chapter 4
• Identify the four consumer rights.
As outlined by John F. Kennedy, the four consumer rights are the right to choose freely, the right to be informed, the right to be heard, and the right to be safe.
1. Choose one of the following and describe how you think social media marketing could help strengthen its brand: a. J.Crew b. Canon copiers c. Great Wolf Lodge resorts d. Nivea for Men skin care e. Rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars
E. Sharing concerts, meet and greets, promos and interacting with consumers.
• Identify the seven qualities of effective social media content and the rules of engagement with social media.
Effective content has the following qualities: a strong brand focus; emphasis on the audience instead of the organization; targeted keywords; relevant information; shareworthy text and images; invitations to the audience to generate its own content; and offers for discounts or deals. The rules of engagement include: follow site-specific rules and guidelines; use social media channels as they were intended; and think before posting—or deleting.
4. 4. Do you agree that companies should have formal, written policies regarding the use of social media by employees in the workplace? Why or why not?
Yes, social media can help or hurt your business. If an employee is posting then they aren't working and they are wasting your resources.
3. When designing a social media marketing plan, marketers must be sure to select and use channels as they were intended—or risk difficulties. For each of the following, state your choice of channel type (social-networking site, microblog, bookmarking site, and so forth) and explain why.
a. Discussion of product attributes ○ Microblog or forum, informative b. Opinion survey ○ Social news site, many users, platform interactive. Used for polls. c. Exchange of ideas for saving energy ○ Bookmarking sites forum d. Personal stories ○ Blog or microblog e. Video contest featuring pets Forum or social news site
• Define consumerism
• Consumerism is a social force within the environment that aids and protects the buyer by exerting legal, moral, and economic pressures on business.
• How does environmental scanning contribute to environmental management?
• Direct competition occurs among marketers of similar products, such as supermarkets or gas stations. Indirect competition involves products that are easily substituted. Fried chicken could compete with pizza or tacos. A baseball game could compete with a trip to a water park.
• Define environmental scanning.
• Environmental scanning is the process of collecting information about the external marketing environment to identify and interpret potential trends.
• What are the benefits of green marketing?
• Green marketing, which responds to consumers' growing concerns about ecological issues, offers consumers high-quality products without health risks or damage to the environment. Many industries, including appliances, consumer electronics, construction, hospitality, and more, are finding that incorporating green practices rejuvenates their business.
• Explain how inflation and income affect consumer buying decisions.
• Inflation devalues money and therefore may restrict some purchasing, particularly goods and services not considered necessary. Income also influences consumer buying power—the more discretionary income a household has, the more goods and services can be purchased.
• Why must marketers monitor the technological environment?
• Marketers need to monitor the technological environment to stay current with—and possibly ahead of—competitors. If they don't, they may wind up with obsolete offerings.
• Define marketing ethics.
• Marketing ethics refers to the marketer's standards of conduct and moral values.
• What are some of the consumer benefits of technology?
• Technology can lead to new or improved goods and services, offer better customer service, and reduce prices. It can also address social concerns.
• Which federal agency wields the broadest regulatory powers for influencing marketing activities?
• The Federal Trade Commission has the broadest regulatory authority.
• Identify the five areas in which ethics can be a problem.
• The five areas of ethical concern for marketers are marketing research, product strategy, distribution, promotion, and pricing.
• Identify the four levels of the social responsibility pyramid.
• The four levels of social responsibility are economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic.
• Identify the four phases of U.S. government regulation of business. What is the newest frontier?
• The four phases of government regulation of business are the antimonopoly period, protection of competitors, consumer protection, and industry regulation. The newest frontier is cyberspace.
• Identify and describe briefly the four stages of the business cycle.
• The four stages of the business cycle are prosperity, recession, depression, and recovery.
• What is time-based competition?
• Time-based competition is the strategy of developing and distributing goods and services more quickly than competitors.
Discuss the importance of setting goals and developing strategies, including targeting an audience, for a social media marketing initiative.
○ Clear goals help marketers set the SMM campaign in the right direction. Flexible goals enable firms to adapt to changing circumstances. Social media marketing efforts customize their approach to targeted audiences more than any other type of marketing because they are interactive, so it is important for marketers to link the targeted audience with the goals of the initiative. Once these decisions are made, marketers must develop strategies, such as which media platforms and tools to use, who will participate, and how to make it easy for customers to participate in the conversation—all within the parameters of the plan's goals.
• Describe the ways in which consumers and businesses use social media for their buying decisions.
○ Consumers use social media to learn about new goods and services, conduct research and share information, and make final purchase decisions. Businesses use social media to gather relevant market insights, improve search rankings, and form new business partnerships.
2. Log on to the Facebook, Tumblr, or Pinterest page of a company that you like or follow. What are people saying about the company, its goods and services, problems they would like solved, or new products they would like to see? How do they describe their experiences and their general views as consumers?
○ Good reviews, some late products. Fixed problem with good customer service or refunds.
• Describe the different means of monitoring, measuring, and managing the social media marketing campaign.
○ Marketers often use social media analytics tools to help them track, measure, and interpret data related to the SMM effort. They calculate the return on investment (ROI) of the marketing campaign, typically measuring success in terms of share of voice, awareness of company or brand, level of audience engagement, influence created, and popularity. Marketers follow keywords and use tools, such as Trendrr and Brandwatch, to measure and manage specific activities. Flexibility and quick response are also vital to the management of SMM.
• Explain the different types of positions in social media marketing and how to land an entry-level job.
○ SMM jobs include: social media marketing manager, social media strategist, brand manager, online community manager, influencer relations, social media analytics, social media design, content programmer, and blogger or copywriter. Candidates for entry-level positions in SMM may: land an internship; take online courses; highlight their social profiles; and point out their personality to prospective employers.
• Explain social media and the differences between social media platforms and social media tools.
○ Social media is defined collectively as the different forms of electronic communication through which users can create online communities to exchange information, ideas, messages, and other content such as videos and music. A social media platform is a type of software or technology that allows users to build, integrate, or facilitate a community, provide interaction among users, and generate user-authored content. Social-networking sites and bookmarking sites are social media platforms. Social media tools enable users to communicate with each other online. Examples include apps and QR codes.
• Discuss ethical and legal issues encountered by marketers in social media marketing.
○ Social media marketers face ethical and legal issues in their marketing efforts, as well as workplace ethics by employees. Social media marketing efforts should be honest, respect privacy (for example, when collecting data from users), and accountable. When mistakes happen, marketers must acknowledge the problems and take responsibility for fixing them.
5. How do you view the future of social media and social media marketing?Write a description citing three or four trends or developments you think may evolve over the next decade.
○ Social media will be around for a long time, it's popular and has a wide reach. § Media sharing, consumers share content and it can increase awareness of plenty of causes, it also captures the attention of many. It's a very useful platform. Grabs attention and keeps it. § Blog postings, are detailed about events, likes and dislikes. This gives businesses and idea of trends. § Apps, lets you stream content(enjoy services) or order products. This is very useful and used daily by many. § RQ codes, allow you to scan content such as barcodes, videos, promos, sales, coupons, etc.
• Outline the four key elements of a written social media marketing plan.
○ The formal social media marketing plan contains a. an executive summary explaining the "who, what, when, where, how, and why" of the plan; b. a brief overview of market conditions and other factors; c. a competitive analysis; and d. a body including goals and strategies, target audience, budget with expected returns, and methods for implementing and managing the effort.
