Marketing exam review

LinkedIn numbers by Age

18-29: 29%, 30-49: 37%, 50-64: 24%, 65+ 11%

What is integrated marketing communications?

involves integrating the promotional tools in the marketing mix around a single themed idea or "campaign."

What is social media crisis?

is any social media activity that can hurt a company's reputation or ability to conduct business.

What is Macro-Influencer mean?

500,000 to 1,000,000 followers. These influencers have a very large reach and use their influencer status to generate income. Macro influencers often warrant representation from a talent manager.

Youtube numbers of location

77% urban, 74% Suburban Rural 64%

Pinterest numbers by Income

<$30K 18% $30K-$74,999 27%, $75K+ 41%

Youtube numbers of gender

Female 68%, Male 78%

Pinterest numbers by education

High school degree or less 19%, some college 32%, College + 38%

Youtube numbers of education

High school degree or less 64%, some college 79%, college + 80%

LinkedIn numbers by Education

High school degree or less: 9%, Some college: 26%, College+: 51%

What des employee advocacy mean?

defined as the promotion of a company or brand by employees who share information about their company's brand, product, or services on their social media networks.

What does reach mean?

quantity of people to whom an influencer is able to deliver a message. A common misconception about social media influencers is that they need to have millions of followers in order to be an influencer.

How can your company respond effectively to a social media crisis?

Act, and Act Fast When responding to any social media crisis it is important to act quickly, but many companies are not prepared to do so. According to Sprout Social, 89 percent of social media messages are ignored by brands (Sprout Social). In addition, 28 percent of crises spread internationally within one hour, and yet, it takes an average of 21 hours before companies are able to respond to a social media crisis (Gallagher). With any social crisis, it is vital to act, and act fast before the issue becomes a media frenzy. If you need more time to craft your response, a simple message acknowledging the issue and letting followers know that more information will follow may help prevent the issue from escalating. Use All Means to Communicate In any crisis, companies should use all means to communicate what has happened and what is being done to correct the issue. This can include the company website, company blog, social media pages, email newsletter, and media outlets. Companies may want to consider creating a microsite or forum that will be activated during a crisis to provide answers to customers' questions. It may also be helpful to create a video or blog post directing everyone to one piece of content rather than trying to respond to questions on multiple platforms. Consumer goods company, The Honest Company leveraged its company blog site during the COVID-19 pandemic to serve as the official source of information as it navigated uncertain times. Acknowledge the Situation at Hand Ignoring a situation or pretending like something didn't happen can make a company seem out of touch and is not the best approach to winning customers over. Companies should followers know that they are listening and that they care. During COVID-19, for example, many companies used social media to update customers on how they were responding to the crisis, their abilities or lack of abilities to continue to service customers, and how they were ensuring the safety of their employees. Never Delete a Negative Comment Unless the comment is in violation of your social media policy (including profanity, hate speech, or disclosing confidential information), it is better to be transparent and let the comment stand. If you delete a comment or someone captures a screenshot, you risk making the problem worse. Validate In many cases, the customer is right, even when he or she is wrong. If you want to maintain a good customer relationship and protect your brand, put yourself in your customer's shoes. Was the complaint fair? Was the statement he or she made correct? If so, then recognize the commenter's experience and let him or her know that you will take action and rectify the situation. If the comment is misstated or inaccurate, correct the misinformation in a polite and informative way. Be Authentic and Empathetic If your responses are authentic and empathetic, your customer is more likely to walk away feeling good about how you addressed the problem. Don't let the computer screen impair your ability to be human. There is always a human on the other side of the screen, so treat your customer like he or she deserves to be treated: in a genuine and authentic way. If you sound like a corporate robot or use sarcasm and superiority, you will likely alienate your audience further. Encourage Dialogue Social media puts the power in the hands of the customers who are able to interact directly with brands and express their views. Companies should use social media to encourage dialog, whether it's positive or negative. If you give customers a public forum in which to direct their concerns, you'll be able to demonstrate the company's transparency, better control the conversation, and make good impressions. Don't Argue Have you ever heard the phrase, "Arguing will get you nowhere?" On social media you should let people express their opinions, but don't argue with them, especially if you are representing your brand or company online. Make sure to keep responses short, and avoid going back and forth; arguing will only escalate the issue. Know when to take the conversation offline. After all, crisis management is about damage control, not winning. Don't Insult Your Customers When food and drink company Nestlé posted a request on its Facebook page for fans not to use an altered version of the company logo on social media, the company received pushback from customers who felt Nestlé was acting like a big brother telling them what to do. Nestlé's response? The company went on the offensive, responding to every individual comment with a sarcastic tone. Turn Off Scheduled Posts If you're in the middle of a social media crisis, you don't want to be posting about your latest and greatest product. The social media team must remember to turn off any scheduled posts. This does not mean that you should not continue to post but that you should make sure your posts are appropriate given the circumstances.

What is employee advocacy?

Employee advocacy is defined as the promotion of a company or brand by employees who share information about their company's brand, product, or services on their social media networks. Employee advocacy is part of word-of-mouth marketing that leverages the trust that consumers have for family and friends. In fact, consumers feel more invested and connected to a brand or product when hearing from people who drive it. When companies are able to empower employees to share company messaging with their followers, they not only reach a wider audience, but will see higher engagement with the posts.

What is the 4:1 Rule?

rule states that for every single piece of self-promotional content a brand shares, that brand should share four pieces of content from others. suggests that you should post four pieces of new content, one repost and one self-serving post. When you follow this pattern, you will achieve the ideal ratio of original posts, engagement and self-serving posts.

What are the most important parts of creating a LinkedIn company page and why should you?

A LinkedIn Company Page is the first place that LinkedIn users will visit to learn about and interact with a company. Using a LinkedIn Company Page is a great way to build brand awareness, engage with employees and customers, foster engagement, and attract and interact with a target audience. A company page is also a great place for professionals to gain insights into life inside a company and to search for and apply for jobs posted directly to LinkedIn Company Pages. Once a company page has been created, the next step is to optimize the profile. A well-optimized profile can boost the visibility of a company in the search results of Google or other search engines. Companies can start by adding a cover image and profile picture to the page. Companies should choose their logo as their profile picture, as logo images receive six times more visits to company pages (LinkedIn), appear when users search for a company and are featured on employees' profiles. It is recommended to use the same cover photo as are used on other social media profiles to maintain brand consistency. Also, make sure that both the profile and cover images are properly formatted for mobile devices. The "about us" section of a LinkedIn company page is used to describe what the company does and its specialties. Add a detailed description to this section, and make sure to enter important information like the company website address, headquarters location, year founded, company type, company size, and specialties as seen in Apple's LinkedIn Page below. Make sure to use relevant industry-related keywords within the profile description to increase visibility through search engines and the LinkedIn search function. LinkedIn Showcase Pages — extensions of LinkedIn Company Pages — allow brands to create pages to promote specific business lines, products or company initiatives. For example, a large enterprise company may be made up of multiple business units with different target audiences for each. Instead of posting all company-related content on a single company page to a wide audience, brands can create showcase pages to target specific audiences with distinct messaging. Amazon has twelve LinkedIn Showcase pages, from Amazon Services, to Amazon Pay, Amazon Music, Amazon Education and more. Each showcase page features differentiated content targeted at a unique market segment for Amazon. A LinkedIn Career Page is a page embedded within a company page that allows companies to highlight job opportunities to potential candidates. LinkedIn Career Pages use intelligent targeting to help companies attract top talent by showing users personalized job recommendations based on interests, location and current job titles. Career pages provide candidates with authentic views into the culture of a company through videos, photos and custom messaging on the page. Prospect employees have the ability to connect with current employees who can share insights about what it's like to work at a company. Page analytics allow companies to understand how the page is performing and even benchmark it against competitors. Watch the below video to see how Uber and Undertone use LinkedIn Career Pages to attract the best talent in their industries. LinkedIn provides detailed analytics for company pages, including: Follower demographics and sources Reach and engagement metrics for posts Page traffic and sources Page views, unique visitors, page clicks Job views and number of job applications

What are best practices for marketers using blogs in their marketing strategy?

A good best practice is to have different writers or editors proofread all blog posts before they are published. Hubspot offers a fantastic editing, copywriting and proofreading checklist to use to make sure your next blog post is in top shape before it gets published.

How can you create an advocacy program at your company when you are a social media marketing manager?

Employee advocacy programs are becoming more and more prevalent in today's business climate. However, despite well-recognized benefits, nearly 60 percent of employees are not given enough guidance on how and when to advocate for their brand and more than half of people feel discouraged to use social media at work (Bambu by Sprout Social). Furthermore, 52 percent don't think that the marketing team makes it easy for them to advocate for the company on social media (Bambu by Sprout Social). Companies today are asking how they can turn their employees into brand advocates, but many do not have a proper strategy in place to do so. A proper strategy will help with organization and increasing chances of success. 1. Create an Advocacy Team Whether it's the social media team or high level executives, there must be a team of advocacy leaders within the organization whose role it is to run and promote the program. These leaders are responsible for setting goals, getting employee buy in, communicating the program, and recognizing and incentivizing employees to keep participating. This team is also responsible for creating social media content and disseminating it to employees to share on their social media networks. Without content curators the program will never succeed, as it will be difficult for employees to create their own content on a regular basis. This team must be proactive to avoid drop offs after the initial excitement of the program has worn off. Consistent reminders though weekly emails or training calls to keep employees engaged will be the key to success. 2. Set Goals The second step in creating an employee advocacy program is to set goals. What do you want to accomplish? Setting clear goals at the onset will allow companies to direct their strategies and see if their efforts are paying off. Here are a few goals to consider: Increase reach. Increase engagement. Increase website traffic from social media. Increase revenues/sales. Recruit and retain top talent. Reduce the cost of paid social advertising. 3. Educate and Train Employees Before launching an advocacy program, employees should be trained on the company social media policies and brand guidelines. They must have a clear understanding of what it means to represent the company online, including guidelines around expected online behavior and instruction concerning what information should and should not be shared on social media. Having employees trained on these guidelines will ensure consistency across social media and help protect the company against legal trouble or a social media crisis. It is likely that not all employees are digital natives like the Millennials and Generation Z. Social media skill sets will vary across the company, but employees of all generations should be educated on social media best practices. This can be as simple as conducting a webinar, holding an in-house training seminar, or having employees take readily available free social media courses online. Companies should also make social media education a part of the onboarding process for new employees. This training should include information on how individuals can leverage social media to engage with prospective and current customers and to accomplish the goals of the advocacy program. 4. Get Employee Buy-in Goals have been set, workplace culture has been established, and training has been initiated; now it is time to get employees to become brand advocates online. In order to build a company of brand advocates, it's important to show employees how being advocates will benefit them. Educate them on all of the benefits described earlier in this chapter, including career, network, and personal brand growth, as well as opportunities to become thought leaders in the industry. 5. Use Tools and Resources There are many tools and resources companies can use to help employees succeed. Resources can be as simple as written guidelines or training programs discussed earlier, while other companies may choose to implement sharing and collaboration tools specifically designed for employee advocacy. There are many apps and tools that make it easy for social media teams to curate great content that can be easily shared by employees with a few simple clicks. Employees can open their apps or log in on their desktops to see fresh content every day with pre-written text, images, and links ready to post. These tools also provide detailed analytics and reporting. The graph below outlines ways employers support the sharing of work-related content through various tools and resources. 6. Recognize and Incentivize In order for employee advocacy to succeed, you must incentivize a program and recognize participants. Harvard Business Review reports that 72 percent of executives rank recognition as having a significant impact on employee engagement. Recognition for participating in a program could include things as simple as a "thank-yous" by upper management, a company wide email newsletter highlighting the participants, or a social employee-of-the-month program. Companies can even take it a step further by organizing contests with prizes for the top sharers or top brand advocates for the company. Prizes could include monetary rewards or bonuses, gift cards, free vacation days, or company swag. 7. Track and Report Throughout the program it's important to continuously track and report its successes and/or failures. Think about the original goals set at the onset of the program, decide which social media metrics will be tracked, and create a report that demonstrates the ROI of the program. Reporting metrics may include: -Employee participation rate Active participation: This is shown in the percentage of employees sharing content each week. -Top contributors: Which employees are sharing the most content?• Most engaging posts: Which posts, topics or themes are receiving the most engagement (likes, comments & shares)? If you notice a high amount of engagement on a particular topic, you will want to provide employees with more content around that topic to share. -Average engagement rate for posts -Organic reach: How many people have seen the content shared by employees? Compare this to the reach received on the company social media accounts during the same timeframe. -Traffic: Has website traffic increased since the launch of the program? If so, how much web traffic is being driven by content shared by employees? -Sales: Is there an uptick since the advocacy program launch? Determine if any sales have resulted from employees being active on social media. Ask customers how they heard about the company, or have sales teams to provide information on how sales originated. -Audience Growth: Have company page views or followers increased since the program launch? -Earned media value: This is an important metric to use in proving the success of the program to top leadership within the company. Earned media value is the dollar amount that you may have paid via social media advertising for a given amount of exposure or reach on social media. For example, say that in a given month all of your employees' social media posts received 100,000 engagements (likes, comments, shares) on Facebook. You have noted that a recently placed ad on Facebook cost on average $0.50 per engagement. By multiplying 100,000 by $0.50, you determine an earned media value of $50,000, meaning it would have cost the company $50,000 to receive the same number of engagements if an ad had been placed on Facebook. If the company receives 100,000 engagements each month from employees posts, the projected annualized earned media would be $50,000 X 12 = $600,000. The company would have to pay $600,000 to receive that much engagement each year on the company Facebook page. Earned media value can also be calculated for the average cost per impression (reach), or cost per click on social media. Essentially, how much would the company have to pay to receive the same kind of exposure it is receiving by having employees share content on their networks for free? When reporting on the overall ROI of the employee advocacy program, companies should also consider factoring in the "in house" costs for the social program. Such costs could include training costs, advocacy tool costs, incentive costs and more.

How can you optimize your blog for SEO?

Optimize for SEO Optimizing blogs for SEO is a huge component of the blog's success on search engines. -Make sure that the blog includes popular industry keywords. -When uploading images, be sure to name the image with keywords and include a brief description with the photo. -Include at least three or more hyperlinks to external websites within the blog. Including hyperlinks not only provides more credibility by citing references or referring to another publication, they also increase blog views. When you link out to other popular pages, Google will increase the search ranking of your blog post, making it appear higher up in the Google search ranking. -Give readers an option to subscribe to your blog and share posts on social media through social sharing buttons.

What information should a social media policy have in it?

Rules and Regulations This section outlines expectations for appropriate employee behavior and conduct on social media. This section should spell out what employees can and cannot share on social media, and if employees need approval before posting certain types of information. You also want to highlight social media etiquette. For example, all employees should be polite and refrain from the use of profanities or controversial opinions when posting about the company. Confidentiality Define what company information should never be shared on social media. This could include financial figures, insider trading information, or plans for a rebrand or acquisition. Define what type of information is meant for internal versus external audiences. Legal Risks This section should discuss what is considered illegal and include guidelines on how to properly credit sources and respect copyright trademarks. For example, it is important that employees understand how to credit external sources. Employees may not be aware, for example, posting a photo on social media someone else created without permission could breach image copyright. This section should also require employees to include a disclaimer when publicly posting content related to the company. The disclaimer may read "my views are my own," or "my views do not reflect those of my employer." Companies may even require employees to add this type of disclaimer to their social media bios. Security Risks The last decade was full of data breaches, with Yahoo, Equifax, and other companies making headline news around the world. In fact, social media phishing and ransomware attacks are soaring, driven by fraudulent accounts and content that directs people to malicious websites. Cybercriminals are even exploiting Facebook messenger to send images that have the ability to download malicious files onto your computer or device. Companies must be wary when it comes to protecting themselves against such risks. Social media policies can help companies mitigate themselves against potential security risks by educating employees of the threats and actions they can take if an attack does occur. Social Media policies should provide employees with guidelines on how to create secure passwords, how to avoid threats, and how to respond to a security breach. Brand Guidelines This section should contain guidelines for visual content, voice and tone presented on social media. For example, you may want to include the types of images and videos that should be shared by employees on social media, the colors and font that should be used in social media images, specifications for logo use, and guidelines on the use of hashtags, including any company branded hashtags. You should include recommendations about the tone of voice that you want your employees to use on social media. For example, you may want your employees to be friendly, approachable, authentic, honest and conversational. Some companies may even provide employees with company branded cover photos they can use. Roles & Responsibilities This section outlines who is responsible for answering questions about your company on social media. It may be a good idea to select a trained company spokesperson. Make sure employees refer questions they receive online to the designated person. This section should also define who is responsible for brand guidelines in case employees have questions about posting content. Personnel can also be designated to oversee security and legal concerns, customer services, sales, employee social training and onboarding. Accountability This section will outline any consequences for employees if they do not abide by the social media policy. Explain that employees will be held responsible for the content that they post online, and define the consequences for their actions. When implementing a social media policy, it is important to seek input from employees to help ensure that everyone buys into the program. A company social media policy should encourage employees to be active on social media: it is important to not scare employees away or discourage social media use completely.

What are the main component parts of using YouTube?

The major key to success with YouTube is properly optimizing each video to gain the most views. If videos are not optimized properly, users will never be able to find them through the YouTube search engine. The first 24 hours a video is published is the most important for YouTube search rankings, so videos must be fully optimized before being published. Here are some tips to optimize videos on YouTube: Keywords Think about what the target market would enter into a Google or YouTube search. What keywords or phrases would be used to find your video? Add these keywords to the title and description of each video. Titles Video titles should immediately entice users to watch the video. Think of titles like a headline for a news article or blog post. Use relevant keywords and limit titles to no more than 70 characters or else the headline will be cut off in a Google search. Just as with Facebook, YouTube does not like clickbait headlines; avoid them at all costs. Consider using the word "video" in the title to generate outside traffic. When promoting products or services, include the product in the title of the video. How-to, advice, tips, numbered and list titles also perform well on YouTube. Descriptions Many companies devote their efforts to crafting good headlines but forget that the description is equally important for the video's success. In 5,000 characters or less, provide a clear overview of what a video is about. Include relevant keywords as well as call-to-action links to other YouTube videos or to a company website. Take a look at the description from Content Marketing Institute's documentary, The Story of Content: Rise of the New Marketing. Transcripts and Closed Captions Video transcripts and closed captions are the written text for videos containing audio. Transcripts and closed captions not only make YouTube videos accessible to deaf, hard of hearing viewers or those watching with no sound, they also increase the search ranking of videos. YouTube makes it very simple to add closed captions and transcripts to videos directly within their video editor. Tags Tags ensure that videos appear in the "related" video section of YouTube. Think of tags like keywords. When users type a keyword related to a tag in the YouTube search bar, the video is more likely to appear in the search results. Include tags related to the content of the video as shown in the image below. Brands can use as many characters as they want until they reach the 500-character limit, but it's important to focus on high-quality tags over quantity. Thumbnail The thumbnail image is the first element that catches the eye of potential viewers. By default, YouTube will allow you to choose among three thumbnails or to upload your own. A major mistake made by many brands is that they simply upload videos without changing the default thumbnail. An enticing thumbnail can make a difference between whether a video is watched or not. It's important to create and upload a unique thumbnail for each video to catch the eye of viewers. Many brands also choose to add company branding to each thumbnail for brand awareness and consistency, as seen in the image below from chef Jamie Olivier's YouTube channel. YouTube Cards YouTube cards are small rectangle notifications that appear in the top right-hand corner of a YouTube video when playing. They provide publishers with the ability to upload a custom image, title and call to action. Cards can point viewers to other videos, channels or a company website, and can be even used to run polls. Publishers can include up to five cards per video. Cards are a great way to keep viewers engaged in a brand's content, promote related material or drive website views. YouTube cards can be seen in the below video example from National Geographic. YouTube End Screens YouTube end screens are shown during the last 5-20 seconds of a video. Up to four elements can be added to direct viewers to a brand's content, channel or website and encourage viewers to continue engaging with the brand or content.

Pinterest numbers by location

Urban 30%, Suburban 30%, Rural 26%

LinkedIn numbers by Income

10% <$30k, 26% $30k-$74,999, 49% $75+

What are the steps involved in launching a social media campaign?

Before 1. Establish Goals Before launching a social media marketing campaign, establish what you want the campaign to accomplish. The campaign should be built around specific business goals such as increasing brand awareness, leads or sales; increasing web traffic; or generating email subscribers. The AIDA model described earlier is a useful way of organizing the goals of the campaign. 2. Choose a Campaign Idea, Theme and Type Every campaign must start with a big idea that strongly resonates with the target audience. Without a strong campaign idea, the campaign will not be memorable or effective. It's important for the campaign idea to be enticing enough to persuade individuals to take action. The most successful campaigns are simple, customer-centric, emotionally engaging and encourage social media users to interact directly with the brand. Once the campaign idea has been selected, choose a suitable campaign name and theme and write a detailed overview of the campaign, conveying all of the information about the campaign. Companies may want to entice fans to sign up for an email newsletter, enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win a prize, or challenge fans to enter a user-generated photo or video contest or even pitch ideas for the next product, packaging or ads. The type of campaign that is selected should be tied to the overall goals of the campaign. For example, if the campaign goal is to increase the number of email subscribers, then a sweepstakes or sign up campaign would be a good fit. 3. Identify the Target Audience Determine the target audience for the campaign. Include detailed information on the target audience, such as demographics, interests, location, most-used social media networks and more. 4. Determine a Campaign Budget and Resources Determine the total budget and the resources needed to run the campaign, remembering to allocate funds needed for social media ads promoting the campaign. Account for any costs associated with hiring additional employees or acquiring social media tools as campaign-building software. Assign responsibilities to social media team members for the campaign. 5. Outline the Campaign Parameters One example of a social media marketing campaign is a contest. For this type of campaign and others, campaign parameters should be included. Campaign parameters may include things like contest submission instructions for users, hashtag use, how personal data of participants will be collected and used, contest guidelines, rules and how winners are selected. 6. Choose Incentives Incentives should be provided to encourage campaign participation. Prizes, coupons, discounts or exclusive content should be given in exchange for action users take such as providing email addresses or uploading photos with a given hashtag. Prizes relevant to the brand or business can help to further promote the brand. 7. Determine Where the Campaign Will Live Depending on the campaign type, the campaign could live within the social media network itself (such as for a user-generated photo contest or hashtag contest), on a company website, on a microsite, on an app or on all of the above. If a campaign webpage or microsite is needed, build out the site prior to launching the campaign. 8. Select Social Networks Next, determine the social media networks the campaign will run on. Research the best social media network for the target market and the campaign goals. For example, for a user-generated photo contest campaign targeting a younger target market, Instagram may be the best platform. The campaign along with corresponding promotions can run on one or multiple social media networks. 9. Choose a Timeline Set a clear timeline for the campaign by including a start date and an end date. A timeline is important for a contest or giveaway, as participants will need to be notified of any deadlines to participate in the contest. 10. Develop the Campaign Assets and Content Calendar Choose a campaign hashtag and color scheme representing both the brand and the campaign. Design social media posts, header images, post images, videos, web page images and all of the assets needed to promote the campaign. Include terms and conditions and detailed instructions for participation within the post text, images or videos. Create a content calendar that accounts for all of the promotional tactics and social media posts to be used during the campaign. 11. Set up listening streams Listening, or monitoring streams will help social media managers track conversations around the campaign. Prior to launching the campaign, set up listening streams to track the campaign hashtag or mentions of the brand/ promotion in order to monitor submissions and engage with followers.

Pinterest numbers in age

18-29 34%, 30-49 35%, 50-64 27%, 65+ 15%

LinkedIn numbers by Location

33% Urban, 30% Suburban 10% Rural

Pinterest numbers in gender

42% Female, 15% Male

How can you use YouTube in your strategy for your company (in the simulation)?

Include a Channel Trailer A channel trailer is the first video that users will see when visiting a channel. This is a great place for brands to showcase their most important video from the channel. Consider featuring a company story video to introduce viewers to the brand, a popular product, customer story or the most viewed YouTube video from the channel. Wayfair's YouTube channel trailer shown below provides viewers with all of the information they will find on their channel, including handy how-tos, expert styling tips and ideas for everything home. Experiment with Different Video Content Types When trying to decide the type and kind of video to create, it's important to think about the brand's target market. Fifty-three percent of shoppers watch product videos to increase their confidence in making a purchase (Kar). Create videos that speak to the interests and passions of the brand's audience members. On YouTube, 70 percent of people are looking for educational content like tips and tricks and tutorials; 67 percent are looking for reviews of products they are interested in; and 53 percent are looking for inspirational or entertaining content (Kar). Experiment with various video content types to discover which work best for the brand's target audience. Such videos can include: -Product reviews -Customer testimonials -Interviews -Event videos -How-to videos -Vlogs (video blogs) -Gaming videos -Comedy/skit video -Best-of videos -Educational videos -Product demonstrations -Q&A videos -Unboxing videos -Prank videos -Customer stories -Documentaries Searches of "how-to" videos on YouTube are growing 70 percent year over year (Kumar). Many brands have also achieved great success producing non-branded YouTube-specific content such as documentaries and mini-series. For example, Starbucks launched its own YouTube original series called "Upstanders," sharing stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things to create positive change. Publish Videos Regularly and at Optimal Times The top 100 brands on YouTube are collectively uploading a video every 18.5 minutes (Kumar). Publishing YouTube videos on specific days and times of the week and maintaining a consistent video cadence will not only grow followers, it will give subscribers a reason to keep coming back for more. Avoid uploading batches of videos at once: instead spread them out over multiple days or weeks. Publishing regular weekly content will ensure that the brands' videos are consistently ranked higher in search. Generally, the best hours to publish videos each day of the week are as follows: The best days of the week to post are Thursday and Friday, with weekends performing well also. The beginning of the week is the worst time to publish videos. YouTube Live Live streaming has increased in popularity over the past few years on a number of social media networks. YouTube has its own livestream feature, which allows users to broadcast live content to viewers. Brands can use YouTube Live to share unfiltered behind-the-scenes content, events, product releases, guest speakers, influencer talks and more, allowing viewers to interact with the brand in real-time through comments. The key to success with YouTube Live is to plan ahead, create high-quality videos using the right equipment, try creative and engaging approaches and interact with audience members during the livestream. Embed YouTube Videos on Websites, Blogs and in Emails If you visit the blogs or web pages of many popular brands, you will likely see embedded YouTube videos. The inclusion of these videos increases the exposure of a brand's YouTube videos to an audience who may not visit the YouTube channel directly. Embedded YouTube videos in company pages will not only increase the overall customer experience, they will help increase watch time, boosting the ranking of videos in the YouTube search. The Starbucks Channel is "a place for inspiring, original stories about community, innovation and all things coffee" (Starbucks). The Starbucks Channel website features blog posts, videos and stories about Starbucks and its employees and community. Many of the stories on the company website feature YouTube videos embedded directly into the header of each story. Viewers can watch the video story directly in the page or scroll further down the page to read the full article. Keep Viewers Engaged Twenty percent of the people who start a video will leave after the first 10 seconds (Fortune Lords). The longer the video, the shorter the retention, so only include what is needed to drive home the message. The most viewed brand videos on YouTube are on average 31-60 seconds (Kumar). The following tactics can help to keep viewers engaged: -Keep videos short and concise. -Avoid long, branded introductions before the content of the video begins. Keep branded bumpers short or move them to the end of the video. -Explain the benefits of watching the video in the first few seconds. -Tease viewers with content that they can find later in the video. -Include a call to action at the end of the video (subscribe to our channel, like, comment, share, visit our website, watch another video). -Avoid rambling; get to the point right away. -Split longer videos into multiple shorter videos. -Add background music. Engage with Viewers. YouTube may be different than other social media channels, but not when it comes to engaging with viewers. Here are ways brands should engage with viewers on YouTube: -Respond to questions and comments quickly and with great detail. -Subscribe to others' YouTube channels, comment and leave positive feedback. -Create new videos based off of users' questions or requests. -Collaborate with other brands and influencers to cross promote videos or to create new ones. -Ask questions, run polls and surveys, provide giveaways, and run contests. Create Playlists A YouTube playlist is a collection of YouTube videos organized by category. Playlists have been proven to drive higher video consumption, generate longer watch times and keep viewers hooked as videos in the playlist are served one after another without users ever having to leave the YouTube channel. Playlists also appear in YouTube search results, which helps with the discoverability of a channel's content. Brands may choose to organize videos by type, popular topics, lines of business, products or services, target customers, and more. When creating playlists, make sure to add relevant titles with focused keywords, include a detailed playlist description, choose a playlist thumbnail from the top performing video and arrange the videos in order, sorted by popularity or from newest to oldest. Marketing YouTube Videos A disappointing truth for many brands and markers today is that they spend a lot of time and money producing great videos for YouTube that receive little to no views. Many brands focus all of their efforts on the production of videos,and not enough on the marketing of the video. In fact, over 50 percent of videos produced by the top 100 brands have less than 1,000 views (Robertson). An equal amount of time and money must be devoted to promoting the video in order for it to reach people. Once a video is published, brands must use all marketing tactics at their disposal to ensure its success. Engage with Influencers YouTube is one of the top platforms for influencer marketing. Eighteen percent of consumers are influenced by YouTube before making a purchase (Barker), and 62 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds would purchase a product endorsed by a YouTuber. In fact, teens consider YouTube influencers as more engaging and relatable than traditional celebrities (Mediakix). Today, YouTube is a great place for brands to collaborate with influencers in promoting their products and services. The key is partnering with the right influencer at the right time with the right message. YouTube star "Dude Perfect" has been making trick shot videos on YouTube since 2009. He has over 42 million channel subscribers and had one of the top 10 subscribed channels in 2017. In that year, Oreo partnered with Dude Perfect to create a video featuring ping-pong ball trick shots with various branded Oreo items, such as real Oreo cookies. The video, with over 198 million views, was the third most watched video of 2017 and was later used by Oreo for sponsored advertisements. Utilize YouTube Analytics YouTube Analytics provides many details on the performance of videos, playlists and channels that can help marketers understand which video types and topics perform best among viewers. With YouTube Analytics, brands can view audience retention data, demographics, playback locations, watch time, traffic sources, devices, subscribers, likes, comments, shares and more. Businesses should remove very old videos or those that are not performing well and replace them with new content since poor performing videos can reduce the ranking of a YouTube channel. The demographics tab will show brands' key information, such as age group, location and gender, that can be used to tailor future videos. Advertising YouTube ads can help marketers reach potential customers who search for and watch videos on YouTube. YouTube offers a variety of ad types, such as display ads, overlay ads, skippable and non-skippable video ads, bumper ads and sponsored cards. We will cover advertising with YouTube in more detail later in this textbook, but it will be important for brands who want to capitalize on the second largest search engine in the world to incorporate YouTube advertising into their social media marketing strategies.

What are the steps involved in working with SM influencers on a marketing campaign?

Step 1 Before engaging with influencers, it is essential to establish goals for your influencer marketing strategy. These goals should be tied to the objectives set for your social media marketing strategies and should always tie to the goals for the business. Examples of goals can include brand awareness, reach, brand reputation/perception in the market, increased post engagement, increased website traffic, lead generation, lead conversion, increased sales, and more. It is important to establish specific key performance indicators (KPIs) for each goal so that you are able to measure the success of the influencer marketing strategy. For example, a specific KPI for website traffic could be to increase website traffic by 20 percent. Step 2 Once goals and specific KPIs are established, the next step is to determine who you are trying to influence and the social media channels they interact with. The target market could include a company's customers or prospects who work in a specific job function or industry. Conduct research to determine social media use by the target market. The guide below should serve as a reference when trying to identify the social media channels to use for influencer marketing: Instagram and YouTube are among the most popular channels for influencer marketing. LinkedIn is a good platform for B2B influencers, while Twitter is an effective channel to influence the news media. High volume community engagement easily allows for immersing yourself in conversations in real time. Step 3 After determining the right target market and social media channels to use, the next step is to try to identify and find influencers that this target market will trust. The target audience must trust and respect the opinion of the influencer in order for the strategy to be successful. It's important to keep in mind that different demographics may prefer different types of influencers over others. For example, YouTube stars demonstrate more influence over teenagers when compared to mainstream household celebrities like Taylor Swift. (O'Neil-Hart & Blumenstein). Data from Twitter show that people aged 45 and up prefer celebrities as influencers. Business budgets and goals will also play a big role in determining the type of influencer to work with. If the business goals are for a brand message to reach the largest audience possible, a big name celebrity influencer like DJ Khaled may be the right fit, but these influencers can be very costly. Brands that would like a more targeted approach may choose to work with micro influencers who can be more cost-effective and achieve similar results. A large quantity of followers can be meaningless if those followers are not engaged. In fact, a study from Markerly analyzing over 800,000 Instagram users found that as an influencer's follower total rises, the rate of engagement with follower's decreases. Users with less than 1,000 followers generally received likes on their posts 8 percent of the time, while users with 10 million+ followers only received likes 1.6 percent of the time. The study found that influencers in the 10k-100k follower range offer the best combination of engagement and broad reach, exceeding influencers with higher followers (Markerly). Brands should also consider influencer demographics, influencer location, other qualities like personal values, and any affiliations with competitors before deciding to partner with them. Amidst COVID-19, there was a reported pause in 58 percent of influencer campaigns, and 18 percent were cancelled (Fohr.co). Due to the reduced demand during the crisis, many influencers reduced their rates, leading to an average savings of over 30 percent for brands (Fohr.co). With an increase in the amount of time spent and engagement rates on social media during COVID-19, many brands were able to invest in influencer marketing at a reduced rate during those times. Step 4 Before reaching out to a potential influencer, set up monitoring and listening streams so that you can track what he or she is saying, and decide how to best engage with him or her. You will want to start engaging and interacting with a targeted influencer on social media to develop a relationship before reaching out to him or her directly. Share, like or reply to an article or blog he or she has written. Provide feedback or praise on a blog or social media post with a comment. Recommend an article or social media post he or she may like by your company. Step 5 After listening and engaging with a potential influencer, it is now time to reach out to discuss a potential partnership. Influencers derive value from partnering with brands. Brands will need to define specific benefits for working with influencers. Benefits could include: -Financial compensation -Free products or services -Free products or services to give away to his or her audience -A sponsorship -Exposure to your brand's audience -Increased exposure to a broader community It's important to keep in mind some of the pros and cons of offering financial compensation for influencers to work with the brand. Some of the pros include: Makes a larger impact Delivers results quickly Greater reach by partnering with influencers with more followers Some of the cons include: No long term relationship between the brand and the influencer High costs- may not be sustainable over the long term Can provide great results (clicks, engagements etc.), but not true customers. Step 6 Once a partnership has been established, it's time to harness the power of the influencer by incorporating influencer marketing into your social media strategy. You can utilize influencers to interact with your brand by: Using influencers to promote a brand's content by posting on their own social media channels Use influencers to share content from company social media channels Inviting influencers to be guest bloggers Inviting influencers to speak at events, streaming the speech on social media to both the influencers' and the company's followers Giving influencers free products to try in exchange for a review or a mention on social media Step 7 One of the benefits of social media is that you can easily view detailed analytics on performance. Social media influencers should be able to provide the companies they are working with detailed results for engagements, impressions, followers, and more from their social media accounts. It's important to take a look at the specific KPIs and goals set at the onset of the influencer program and to measure successes and/or failures. In order to measure the success of the influencer program, it's important to measure both quantitative and qualitative results such as the following: -Was the target audience reached? If so what was the total audience reach? -Was there an increase in post engagement? -Was there an increase in website visits, inquiries or sales? -How did the brand share of voice change compared to competitors'? -How many positive brand references and mentions were there on social media during the program? -How many influencers posted about the brand? -How many influencers are talking positively about the brand compared to before the program was in place? -How has brand perception changed? The industry measurement framework below is a guide for brands to measure the success of their influencer marketing along different stages of their program. For example, for a brand wishing to increase sales and revenue, they may want to measure the site traffic or the number of sales that were redeemed through a coupon code provided by the influencer in the social media post.

What should a social media crisis response plan include?

any social media activity that can hurt a company's reputation or ability to conduct business. On January 15, 2009, when Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger and his crew successfully landed US Airways Flight 1549 in New York City's Hudson River, witnesses started posting photos on social media before the US Airways even knew what had happened. Today, with the click of a button, social media gives media power to anyone, anywhere at any time. It's critical for companies to be able to monitor the social environment and quickly take control of a situation before it gets out of hand. In 2009, two Domino's employees posted videos of themselves online performing unsanitary acts with customers' food while on the job. After the video went viral, the two employees were fired and ended up with felony charges for delivering prohibited foods. Domino's faced a major public relations crisis as references to the video were in five of the 12 results on the first page of Google searches for "Domino's," and discussions about Domino's were trending throughout Twitter (Clifford). In just days, Domino's reputation had been damaged; the company quickly learned the reach and power that social media has to turn an incident into a major crisis. And in 2019 and 2020, with the business and economic climate changing daily due to COVID-19, it was very difficult for companies to understand how, when, and what to communicate on social media. Many brands had to completely rethink their social media strategies by limiting promotional posts and focusing on how they could provide value to their customers during those times. Take Google and Loom for example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, their CEOs posted about the ways they were helping businesses and schools to stay connected through free access to advanced Google Hangouts and Loom. Many companies, like those in the airline industry for example, leveraged social media to offer customer service, communicate about changing company policies, and educate their customers about how air filtration works. Whether it's an employee gone wild, an upset customer posting about a bad experience, or a real-world crisis like COVID-19, it's important for companies to develop a social media crisis response plan before one is actually needed. In fact, 65 percent of consumers anticipate company actions during times of crisis having an impact on the brands they purchase from in the future (Carufel). A social media crisis response plan outlines the steps a company should take when a crisis occurs. By acting irresponsibly or responding incorrectly to a crisis, a company could damage its brand and long-term reputation. Having a companywide plan in place will help ensure that a company responds quickly and appropriately to any issue that could arise. It's important for a company to take action before a crisis gets out of hand. A social media crisis response plan should include: -A social media crisis team with roles and responsibilities -Up-to-date contact information for critical employees -Guidelines for identifying the type and magnitude of a crisis (code yellow, code red) -A document with pre-approved messages for code yellow issues -Escalation and approval processes for code red issues -A social media response flowchart -An internal communication plan -A copy of the company social media policy The first part of any social media crisis response plan should identify the social media crisis team. This team may include your primary social media manager, department managers, the press relations team, legal team, and sometimes even the CEO. You should list roles and responsibilities as well as up-to-date contact information for every member of the response team. It's likely that a company will face the same types of negative comments on social media over time. Such comments can help the company identify the variety and magnitude of potential crises. Code yellow issues are those that do not escalate beyond the attention of the social media or customer service team. These issues could include a negative review, a complaint about a product not working, or a report of a poor user experience. Every crisis response plan should include a document with common responses to code yellow issues so that the social media team can quickly and easily address these issues without having to involve anyone else. The plan should also include a timeline for how quickly the team needs to respond. Code red, on the other hand, signals a more problematic issue that may require the assistance of the entire crisis response team. The section of the crisis response plan for code red concerns should include the escalation and approval process with guidelines on how the social media team can reach the crisis response team; who should be involved in crafting a response; who will actually respond to the issue, and in what manner; and who has final approval of the response. Some issues are better addressed directly with a comment or video, while other issues are better suited to offline responses. Communicating internally with employees is just as critical as communicating externally. Effective internal communication will help prevent the spread of misinformation or rumors from employees who are not properly educated on a matter. It is imperative that when a crisis occurs everyone in the organization knows exactly what he or she should or should not say about the crisis. The company social media policy should serve as governance to employees as well as the crisis response team for how to conduct responses online. It is vital to make sure that each and every employee knows the ins and outs of the social media policy.

What is home feed?

shows the Pins saved by people you follow on Pinterest as well as topics and boards you follow

Youtube numbers of age

13-17 85%, 18-29 91%, 30-49 87%, 50-64 70%, 65+ 38%

How did Pinterest's grow over time?

Pinterest's growth was slow, with only a few thousand users within months of being launched; however, by 2011 the platform grew to one of the top 10 largest social networking sites. Today, Pinterest boasts more than 335 million monthly users, with over 175 billion Pins (Pinterest).

What does AIDA?

Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. model to drive their promotions. It describes the steps that occur from when a consumer first becomes aware of a product or brand to when the consumer makes a purchase decision

What campaign does our textbook argue is the most successful challenge ever?

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is arguably the most famous social media challenge ever. The challenge was started by a man named Pete Frates who was working with the ALS Association to raise money and awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The challenge encouraged people to pour a bucket of ice-cold water over their heads and challenge others to do the same. With every completion of the challenge, participants were asked to donate to the ALS Association. The campaign went viral, with many social media influencers and celebrities supporting the cause by accepting the challenge. Watch the below video to see Microsoft founder Bill Gates accept the challenge: The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was a tremendous success, raising $115 million in the summer of 2014 (ALS Association), bringing widespread awareness to the disease and prompting an increase in the ALS Association research budget. As you can see from the above examples, social media campaigns that are unique, emotionally engaging, visually captivating and customer-centric are very successful. Each of these campaigns revolved around a clear set of goals and achieved these goals by moving the consumer through the stages of the AIDA model. Can you identify how each of these campaigns' goals were met through the models' stages: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action?

5. What influencer campaign is Chipotle known for?

After a video of a Chipotle employee performing a burrito bowl lid-flipping trick went viral, Chipotle Mexcian Grill took a big bet on TikTok by leveraging YouTube influencer David Dobrik to celebrate National Burrito Day. Dobrik took to TikTok to challenge viewers to create their own TikTok videos showing themselves flipping burrito bowls with the #ChipotleLidFlip challenge. The campaign received 110,000 submissions within six days and over 230 million views in one month (Chipotle). Watch the video here. The challenge was so successful that on National Avocado Day in 2019, Chipotle launched another TikTok challenge #GuacDance inspired by Dr. Jean's viral song about guacamole, generating 430 million video starts and 250,000 submissions in six days, becoming TikTok's best performing branded challenge in the United States (Chipotle). The campaign also drove a record day of sales for guacamole with over 802,000 sides served, using 420,000 pounds of avocados to meet the demand (chipotle).

What are the best practices for titling your blogs?

Before writing, come up with a few working titles for the blog post. The working title will help focus the blog post content into something more specific than what would fit into a general topic. For example, if your topic is "blogging," then a good working title would be "How to Write a Great Blog Post" or "10 Tips to Perfect Your Next Blog Post." Once the blog is complete, finalize the title based on the content that was actually written in the post. The final title may end up being "New to Blogging? Here Are 10 Writing Tips for Your First Blog". Blog post titles should: -Convey what the article is going to be about -Be catchy and engaging, pulling the reader to learn more -Use words the audiences use -Contain power and emotion words, like jaw-dropping, greatest, fascinating, risky, dangerous, staggering -Ask questions -Use numbers and facts: titles with numbers and facts receive 206 percent higher traffic than those that don't (Ellering) -Include at least one industry or popular keyword based on prior keyword research -Be short and to-the-point: titles that are under 70 characters will not get cut off in search results

What about Best Buy? Adidas? Gap?

Best Buy Best Buy's social media policy is clear and concise. The policy mandates that employees disclose their affiliation with Best Buy and include the disclaimer "my views are expressed as my own" when commenting on behalf of the business. The policy outlines the type of information employees should never disclose, such as non-public financial information and internal promotional activities including advance ads, personal information about customers, legal information, or information that is considered confidential. The policy also includes ramifications if employees do not abide by the social media policy: -Get fired -Get Best Buy in legal trouble with customers or investors -Cost Best Buy the ability to get and keep customers (Best Buy) Adidas Adidas takes a strict approach to its social media policy, stating that employees must identify themselves with their names and roles when discussing brand-related matters on the internet. Only a few people in the company are official spokespeople, so like Best Buy, employees must include a disclaimer stating that views do not represent the opinions of Adidas and its brands. Messages from the CEO or financial or confidential information is not meant to be shared online, no exceptions. Employees are not allowed to comment on work-related legal matters unless they have legal approval. Employees should not use ethnic slurs, personal insults or obscenity online. Lastly, copyright and reference laws should be observed when posting online (Adidas Group). Gap Gap's social media policy is full of personality. Here are some excerpts from the policy: -These guidelines are important because if you don't follow them a few things could happen: your posts can get deleted, we could lose customers and investors, we could get in trouble, or, worst of all, you could even lose your job ... So do the right thing, stick to the guidelines (Brynley-Jones). -Some subjects can invite a flame war. Be careful discussing things where emotions run high (e.g. politics and religion) and show respect for others' opinions (Brynley-Jones). -Don't even think about it... Talking about financial information, sales trends, strategies, forecasts, legal issues, future promotional activities. Giving out personal information about customers or employees. Posting confidential or non-public information. Responding to an offensive or negative post by a customer. There's no winner in that game (Brynley-Jones).

Explain YouTube demographics.

YouTube reaches more 18- to 34- and 18- to 49-year-olds than any cable network in the United States (YouTube). Of those online, 78 percent of YouTube users are male, and 68 percent are female (Chen). Over 1 billion hours of video are watched on YouTube each day (Hootsuite).

What is Pin?

includes an image or video, a description, and a link back to an online source. You can even add a text overlay or include a logo on an image

What does earned media value?

is the dollar amount that you may have paid via social media advertising for a given amount of exposure or reach on social media.

What are the different types of influencers?

-Nano-influencers: 1 to 1,000 followers. These influencers are typically among the average social media user who can use their power to influence their close knit followers like family and friends. -Micro-influencers: 10,000 to 50,000 followers. These influencers hold a smaller reach with very high levels of influencer and engagements among their followers. -Mid-tier influencers: 50,000 to 500,000 followers. These influencers are between a micro and macro influencer, and is looked upon as an industry expert in their niche category. Macro-influencers: 500,000 to 1,000,000 followers. These influencers have a very large reach and use their influencer status to generate income. -Macro influencers often warrant representation from a talent manager. -Mega-influencers: 1,000,000+ followers. These influencers are typically celebrity influencers with a very large following. They often collaborate with brands on a paid per post basis.

What does Nano-influencer mean?

1 to 1,000 followers. These influencers are typically among the average social media user who can use their power to influence their close knit followers like family and friends.

Why is it a good idea for a company to have a social media policy?

1.Protects a company's reputation 2.Helps employees understand how to use social media to promote the brand and company messaging 3.Creates brand consistency online by outing brand standards regarding the appearance and tone for social media posts, and the proper use of images, video and other media 4.Prevents companies from being held liable for what employees say and do on social media 5.Helps to manage employee conduct by ensuring that the company has the right to remove posts or take recourse against employees who do not abide by the policy

What does Micro-influencer mean?

10,000 to 50,000 followers. These influencers hold a smaller reach with very high levels of influencer and engagements among their followers.

LinkedIn numbers by Gender

29% Male, 24% Female

What does Mid-tier influencer mean?

50,000 to 500,000 followers. These influencers are between a micro and macro influencer, and is looked upon as an industry expert in their niche category.

Youtube numbers of income

<$30K 68%, $30K-$74,999 75%, $75k+ 83%

What are the top benefits to blogging for marketers ?

Blogging has many benefits for marketers: -Increases brand awareness by reaching a large audience -Humanizes the brand -Facilitates word-of-mouth marketing -Provides an easy way to keep customers up-to-date on industry trends and company products/services -Creates meaningful and shareable conversations with customers -Ranks well: Search engines rank blog posts higher in search results, making a brands blog content more discoverable than other content -Helps brands establish credibility and trust with customers by showing industry expertise: In fact, blogs are the fifth most trusted source for accurate online information (Hubspot). -Increases web traffic: companies that publish 11+ blog posts per month receive 3X more web traffic, and 97 percent more links to their webpage (Hubspot). -Helps brands get discovered on social media through social sharing of blog posts -Generates leads: B2B marketers who use blogs receive 67 percent more leads (Hubspot), and small businesses generate 126 percent more leads -Additional business benefits of blogging are featured in the below infographic:

How do employees benefit through their own advocacy?

Employee advocacy is not a one-way street. Employees must be able to receive benefits for participating in the program, or else employee advocacy will never succeed. Once employees start to realize the benefits of becoming advocates, they will be much more enthusiastic about participating. Career Growth 86 percent of employee advocates say being involved in social media has positively impacted their career (Jackson). Thought Leaders Sharing industry-related content on social media can help employees be seen as true thought leaders and experts in their fields. Employees are also able to use employee advocacy to stay up-to-date on the latest industry trends and topics. Network Growth On LinkedIn, people who share content regularly grow their networks four times faster than those who do not (LinkedIn). Employees who participate in employee advocacy programs also report increased profile views. Employees are also able to better connect with colleagues at work through employee advocacy. Incentives Employee advocacy programs can be more successful if companies offer incentives for employees to participate. Incentives may include anything from showing appreciation to providing company outings, gift cards, a bonus or other rewards. Grow Personal Brand Employee advocacy provides opportunity for employees to grow their personal brands through social media. Increased Employee Engagement Employees who participate in employee advocacy programs also report feeling more connected and enthusiastic about the company they work for (Terpening).

What is the main goal of Johns Hopkins's social media policy?

Its policy includes that employees must not share patient information, create branded pages, or misrepresent the Johns Hopkins brand. This social media policy was especially vital for employees to adhere to during COVID-19.

What are the benefits of employee advocacy to businesses?

Greater Reach The average company's employees have 10x as many connections as a company has followers (Callahan). People are 16x more likely to read a social media post from a friend than from a brand (Bambu by Sprout Social). 81 percent of people would rather see a friend's social post than a brand's (Bambu by Sprout Social). Increased Brand Engagement Employees get 2x higher click-through rates from their shares compared to company shares of the same content (Levinson). Brand messages get re-shared 24x more frequently when shared by employees vs the brand (Jackson). Increased Business Leads from employee advocacy are 7x more likely to close than other forms of leads (Jackson). Companies with good engagement can generate 2.5x more revenue than their disengaged counterparts (Levinson). 64 percent of companies with formal employee advocacy programs credit advocacy with attracting new business (Jackson). 45 percent of companies attribute new revenue streams to employee advocacy (Jackson). Higher Customer Retention Rates Customers referred by an advocate have a 37 percent higher retention rate (Jackson). Attract Top Talent and Retain Employees Social enterprises are 58 percent more likely to attract top talent, and 20 percent more likely to retain them (LinkedIn). Trust in Employees as Thought Leaders Using employees as advocates can demonstrate to customers that the company employs intelligent employees who are knowledgeable about the industry and are ready and able to answer customer questions at any time.

Why was Starbucks' #WhiteCupContest so successful?

In 2014, Starbucks launched its #WhiteCupContest for which it invited customers to decorate a Starbucks cup with customized art, take a photo of it, and post the photo on social media using the hashtag #WhiteCupContest. The winning design would be printed on a limited edition Starbucks reusable cup. In three weeks, the contest received about 4,000 entries. Many of the submissions can be seen on the Starbucks Pinterest page here. The winning design came from Brita Lynn Thompson. The cup became so popular it was made available for purchase in Starbucks stores a year later (Starbucks). After winning the contest, Brita created her own Esty business ZenspireDesigns. The campaign was successful for Starbucks due to a few factors: 1.Starbucks capitalized on an existing consumer behavior after noticing customers would often doodle on their white cups and post them on social media. 2.The contest rules were simple and easy to follow. 3.Starbucks was able to boost brand awareness by leveraging the creativity of its own customers. At the same time, the competition drew attention to the company's reusable cups, which supported its goal to promote sustainability. A win-win.

What successful influencer campaign did Frito Lay do?

In 2018, Frito Lay partnered with celebrity influencers, including Jordin Sparks and Derek Hough to launch the Smiles Campaign with the goal of targeting Millennials. The campaign involved putting the smiles of real people on more than 60 new bags of its snack foods. The campaign featured 31 people, including influencers who were doing extraordinary things to benefit their communities. The campaign encouraged followers to take selfies of themselves with Lay's Smile bags and share them on social media. Through sales from the campaign, $1 million was donated to Operation Smile, an international medical charity dedicated to helping those who suffer from cleft conditions. The campaign strongly resonated with consumers, generating high levels of engagement with over 700 selfies shared each day and over 17,500 total shares on Instagram (Frito Lay). PepsiCo, the parent company of Frito Lay also reported a 4.5 percent year-over-year increase of its revenues in the United States from Frito Lay in Q2 2019. The campaign was so successful that it was continued in 2020, and Frito Lay committed to donating another $1 million from the sales of the campaign (Forbes).

What benefits can be gained for your brand through influencer marketing?

Increased Exposure When companies or brands partner with influencers, they are increasing the exposure of their brands to the influencers' larger audiences. Brand Awareness Increased exposure and reach ultimately boosts visibility, which ultimately leads to increased brand awareness. Social media followers will start to recognize and know more about brands, and the products and solutions that they offer. Improved Search Ranking Google ranks high-quality organic links higher in search rankings. Incorporating company page URLs into Influencer blog and social media posts will help drive traffic and improve search engine ranking. More Credibility Great influencers have earned the trust of their follower base. Partnering with an influencer to favorably promote a product or brand will provide the brand with instant credibility with the influencer's audience. Effectively Reach a Target Market Social media analytics allow for an influencer to provide detailed information to brands about follower demographics and interests. With the right influencer, a brand's content is placed in front of the desirable target market already interested in the brand's niche. New Leads If a brand's products are directly related to an influencer's target market, brands can generate more relevant, high-quality business leads. Conversions Social influencer marketing also drives conversions. In order to do so, businesses must include a call to action in an influencer's post. Providing a discount code or giveaway is a good way to increase conversations. As presented earlier in the chapter, businesses generate on average $6.50 for every $1 invested in influencer marketing (Foster).

Discuss the YouTube algorithm.

Like other social media networks, the YouTube algorithm uses artificial intelligence to recommend videos to users. The algorithm uses data such as video relevance, video quality, watch time (views, view duration, session starts, upload frequency, session duration, session ends), the number of video likes and dislikes and more to determine which videos show up higher in search results and recommendations. The algorithm prioritizes watch time and time spent on the platform over views. High-quality videos with longer watch times are more likely to be recommended to YouTube users. YouTube's strategy involves promoting channels and videos that make people come back to YouTube and that keep them on the platform for a longer period of time. YouTube will even promote videos even if they are older since much of the content on the platform is evergreen.

What is unique about LinkedIn compared to other SM platforms?

LinkedIn is not only a platform for personal branding and networking, but also a great platform for brands to build deep relationship with employees and customers and to even gain valuable sales leads. With over 30 million company pages on LinkedIn, the platform is the number one channel for B2B marketers to distribute content (LinkedIn). In fact, 92% of B2B marketers leverage LinkedIn over all other social platforms (LinkedIn). 77% of professionals expect to engage directly with others to find professional content on LinkedIn, and brands are taking full advantage of this mindset.

What is AIDA and how does it integrate into SMM?

Marketers often rely on the classic AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) model to drive their promotions. It describes the steps that occur from when a consumer first becomes aware of a product or brand to when the consumer makes a purchase decision The concept of AIDA as a model for marketing success has been around for over a hundred years. Despite its age, AIDA is one of those timeless strategies—it has served marketers as an enduring process for years and has demonstrated wide applicability in everything from constructing advertisements to social media. Since its inception, this concept has been applied in various new ways. This model should be adapted for every social media campaign. In fact, unlike most traditional methods, social media seems to be a space where all the stages of the process can be naturally integrated. Marketers should use the AIDA model when a creating social media campaign in efforts to: -Grab the attention of a social media audience with an enticing campaign idea, intriguing copy and eye-catching social media graphics or videos -Spark interest in the campaign through likes, comments and shares on campaign-related social media posts or with new followers to the brand's social media page -Create desire to participate in the campaign -Persuade users to action through participating in the campaign and recommending it to friends and other social media followers

What makes Pinterest different from other social media?

People use Pinterest to search for things they're interested in, to browse their home feeds for new ideas or to look at other Pinners' boards for interesting things. A home feed shows the Pins saved by people you follow on Pinterest as well as topics and boards you follow. Pinterest will also show its users Pins in the home feed inspired by users' boards or recent activity. Each Pin includes an image or video, a description, and a link back to an online source. You can even add a text overlay or include a logo on an image. When users click on Pins, they can save, comment, share, add a photo to the pin, or click on the call to action URL to find out more. Pins can be added from websites using the Pinterest browser extension.

How did Disney use a social media campaign to raise money?

Not all social media campaigns are focused on promoting a brand's product or service. Disney proved just that with its #ShareYourEars campaign. To raise awareness and funds for terminally ill children, Disney partnered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in a social media marketing campaign that involved images of people wearing Mickey Mouse ears. The images were shared on Twitter and Instagram and included the campaign hashtag, with Disney donating $5 to the Make-A-Wish foundation for every image uploaded. The campaign received overwhelming support and became a trending topic on social media, resulting in a $2 million donation from Disney to Make-A-Wish.

Discuss Pinterest's algorithm.

Pin Quality Higher quality Pins will be ranked higher in the Pinterest home feed. High-quality Pins are based on the amount of interactions or number of repins. Source Quality The source quality is determined by how often people pin content from the website or blog, so it's important that brands add the "Pin it" button to company websites. Each Pin should link to a reputable website, so the source should match the content. Pinterest Rating Lastly, the Pinterest rating is based on a number of criteria from Pinterest's smart feed content generator. The content generator decides the quantity, composition, and arrangement of Pins to place on the home feed. The best content will be served first, not chronologically from the time it is pinned. The best Pins are those with high-quality images and great descriptions. First Five Pins In 2018 Pinterest announced that the first five pins of the day (after midnight) are now prioritized for distribution, giving those give pins the best chance to be seen in the home feed. For brands, this means that they should prioritize pinning their top five pieces of content first each day.

Discuss Pinterest's business account benefits for SMM.

Product Pins Product Pins allow inclusion of pricing information for products. Recipe Pins These allow for ingredients, cooking times and serving sizes to be included in the Pin. Article Pins Article Pins include a headline, author and story description, allowing Pinners to share and save stories. App Pins These Pins show an install button so Pinners can download an app without leaving Pinterest. Carousel Pins A Carousel Pin is a Pin with multiple images which allows Pinners to showcase different features of a product, advertise multiple products at once, or tell a brand story in chapters. Buyable Pins Buyable Pins allow for Pinners to purchase products without leaving the Pinterest app or website (see the below video). In fact, brands can now upload their full catalog of products to Pinterest. Shop the Look Pins These allow Pinners to find and buy products inside fashion and home decor Pins.

What makes a good influencer?

Reach Reach is the quantity of people to whom an influencer is able to deliver a message. A common misconception about social media influencers is that they need to have millions of followers in order to be an influencer. Reach alone is not a requirement of being an influencer. In fact, there are many micro influencers who have fewer followers but who have tapped into a highly credible niche audience. Credibility Credibility is the level of trust given by followers based on the perceived knowledge or expertise of the influencer. Credibility is considered more important than reach. Influencers must have the ability to explain things in a clear and convincing way to an audience so that the influencer is perceived as trustworthy. Authenticity Good influencers genuinely believe in the brand that they are promoting, and what it stands for. If influencers are not sincere, they risk alienating their audiences. Former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning received backlash on social media when he plugged one of his sponsors, Budweiser, in one of his post-game speeches, leaving those who questioned his authenticity. Scott Disick, an American television personality best known for being the boyfriend of Kourtney Kardashian, made a mistake that went viral when he posted a photo of himself with a Bootea shake on his Instagram page. He included not only the caption the company told him to paste but also the instructions telling him to paste it. The post caused backlash with his followers as none of them believed that he was being authentic, or had ever even used the product. Activity Influencers must be active on social media, publishing content daily or weekly to their platforms. The best social media influencers are publishing content often so that they stay fresh in their followers' minds. Engaging Social media is not a one-way street. Influencers must engage with their followers. When followers mention the influencer or ask questions, it's important to acknowledge followers by liking, or commenting back. No one illustrates the concept of a great social media influencer more than the king of Snapchat, DJ Khaled. Khaled is a record producer, radio personality, DJ, record label executive and author. He has more than 19 million followers on Instagram, 5 million on Twitter, 7 million on Facebook, and he receives between 3 to 4 million views on each of his Snaps. It all started when in December of 2015 Khaled got lost on his jet ski and took to Snapchat to document his journey back to safety, sending the footage viral. Today, he has turned social media into a powerful marketing force with his authentic, motivational, and positive posts. Hear from Khaled in the below video as he explains how he has used the power of social media to turn himself into a major mogul.

How did Starbucks and Zappo successfully create employee advocacy programs?

Starbucks Starbucks refers to their employees as "partners," creating a culture of belonging within the organization. As part of its partner advocacy program, Starbucks has comprehensive social media guidelines as well as specific social media profiles dedicated to showcasing photos and videos of their employees across the world. The company's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram partner pages feature funny videos of employees. Starbucks also encourages employees to share their personal stories with the hashtag #tobeapartner. This is employee advocacy at its finest. Watch the video below to see how Starbucks is leveraging their employees as advocates through social media content. Zappos Zappos has become a model for employee satisfaction and engagement and takes pride in having a tight-knit company culture. Employees are referred to as "Zapponians" and are encouraged to post on social media about their day-to-day work lives and duties. The posts can include anything from company parties to behind-the-scenes pictures of daily work. Great posts are then promoted on the Zappos' social media accounts for employee advocates with #insidezappos. There are also specific Facebook and Instagram pages dedicated to Inside Zappos where there may be an employee account takeover from time to time. The company's CEO even puts together an annual Zappos culture book in which he showcases what it really means to be a part of the culture and provides a glimpse of what working at Zappos is like.

Explain how to market with videos.

Think back to the last time you watched a video online. Was it last week, yesterday, today even? If you had the choice between reading a how-to article or watching a how-to video, which would you choose? With shorter attention spans, the number of mobile device users, increasing video consumption online and declining engagement rates for other social media content types, marketers who are not focused on creating video content will be left behind. In fact, 81 percent of businesses use video in their marketing strategies, and 93 percent of businesses gain a new customer after publishing a video on social media (Social Media Today). Social media networks are also prioritizing video, changing their algorithms and incorporating new features such as live video, 360 video, virtual reality, disappearing video content and video advertising. Take a look at how brands leveraged video in 2018: Today, one of the top channels for video marketing is YouTube. Brands are creating made-for-YouTube content, driving increased engagement and investing in video ads to promote their content. In fact, 90 percent of the world's top 500 brands have at least one YouTube channel (Weiss). Out of all business categories, media brands have the most subscribers on YouTube, followed by technology, food and beverage, automobile and apparel (Weiss). T-Series, Pewdiepie, Cocomelon and 5-minute Crafts are among the top brands whose channels have the most video views on YouTube in 2020 (Hootsuite). What makes these brands so successful on YouTube? For starters, they consistently post content catered to their target audiences, and they also pursue a strong YouTube content strategy.

Discuss LinkedIn by the numbers.

Today there are over 60 million senior-level influencers, 40 million decision makers, 10.7 million opinion leaders, and 6.8 million c-level executives on LinkedIn Due to the professional nature of the platform, many think that age demographic will be older for LinkedIn: However, of those online, 28 percent to 18-29 year-olds and 37 percent of 30 to 49 year-olds use the platform. 51 percent of college graduates who are online use LinkedIn Of those online, 29 percent of men and 24 percent of women use LinkedIn. 49 percent of interent users who earn over $75,000 per year are on the platform 70 percent LinkedIn users reside outside of the United States (West)

Why have blogs become so popular?

Today, blogging has exploded in popularity. With a simple online search, it's possible to find blogs and bloggers from nearly every industry and category imaginable: from mommy bloggers to foodies, cooking enthusiasts, fitness experts, fashion bloggers, crafting connoisseurs and more. Which blog category do you think is the most popular? If you guessed fashion, you are correct! Fashion, food, travel, beauty and music all top the list of the most popular blogs. Take a look at the image below to see the other popular blog categories. Today, there are a variety of blog platforms available, each with its own unique capabilities. From business and personal blog sites like WordPress, Wix and Blogger, to community blog sites like Medium.com and Tumblr that are open to all publishers. Today, microblogging site Tumblr has over 465 million blog accounts (Statista), while on WordPress, 76.3 million blog posts are published each month and viewed by over 409 million people each month (Mediakix). But why are blogs so popular? Well, for starters, they give everyday people a voice. They provide an easy way for anyone from around the world to share opinions and ideas with a large audience. They also help readers keep up-to-date on trends and topics they are interested in. And lastly, they are a great marketing tool for many businesses.

Discuss Pinterest by the numbers.

Today, more than 335 million monthly users go to Pinterest looking for ideas (Pinterest). Of those online, 34 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds and 35 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds use Pinterest (Chen). Of those online, 42 percent of women and 15 percent of men use Pinterest (Chen). 60 percent of Pinterest households have children under the age of 5 (Pinterest). More than 50 percent of Pinterest users live outside of the United States (West). Pinterest users are doers: 93 percent of Pinners (those who use the social media site) use Pinterest to plan purchases. 67 percent of Pinners have discovered a new brand or product from Pinterest. 87 percent of Pinners purchased something because of Pinterest. Pinners spend 45 percent more on gifts, 30 percent more on fashion, 27 percent more on home decor, and 5 percent more on groceries than people not on Pinterest. (Pinterest)

What is IMC is and how does it work?

Traditionally, marketers have stressed the importance of "Integrated Marketing Communication" (IMC). IMC involves integrating the promotional tools in the marketing mix around a single themed idea or "campaign." IMC results in a synergistic effect, ensuring that all promotional elements are carefully linked together. These linked elements include advertising, personal selling, public relations, SEO, television, radio, email, direct mail, events, web and, more recently, social media. IMC integrates social media with other promotional mix elements to achieve specific goals. These goals may include increasing brand awareness, cultivating interest or encouraging contacts to respond to a specific call to action. The promotional mix elements used and the amount of emphasis on each depends on multiple factors including the audience being targeted. Today, many brands do not succeed with IMC because they are applying tactics that don't correlate with where their target audience members spend the majority of their time and what their audience wants. All too often social media as part of the IMC is an afterthought composed of one-way communication that is nothing more than a promotional message. It is imperative for marketers to consider the social media element of the IMC mix as a major component. In fact, for some brands today, it can be the only element! Like a marketing or IMC campaign, a social media marketing campaign is a coordinated social media marketing effort to communicate with a target audience to achieve a marketing or business goal. Social media campaigns are built on big ideas that persuade action among followers. Typically, social media campaigns have specific start and end dates. The campaign strategy, goals and specific time frame are what distinguish the campaign from day-to-day social media activities. Campaigns can be used to promote a product or service, an event or a company milestone; they can also be used to build brand awareness or to create a community of brand advocates. Social media-only campaigns are on the rise and are proving to be very effective. In fact, a majority of today's audiences expect and respond to social media-only campaigns and ignore the rest. Nearly 59 percent of people follow a brand on social media profiles for deals and promotions, while just over 42 percent follow for incentives (Sprout Social). Social media-only campaigns have great influence on consumer purchase decisions, consumer brand perception and consumer likelihood to recommend a brand to family and friends. In order to keep fans coming back for more, many brands today are implementing social-only marketing campaigns.

Explain the impact YouTube has had on the way people interact with brands.

With over 2 billion monthly active users (almost one-third of the entire internet) watching over 5 billion videos on the platform every single day, YouTube is the world's most popular online video sharing site (Fortune Lords), and the second most visited site in the world, second to Google (Hootsuite). Today, there is a wide array of video content available on YouTube, from short clips to music videos, documentaries, movie trailers, films, audio recordings, educational videos, corporate videos and more. YouTube users (individuals, media organizations, corporations, etc.) can upload their own videos and interact with other users' videos on the platform free of charge. The idea for a video sharing site was influenced by Janet Jackson's 2004 Super Bowl incident and from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami after former PayPal employees Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim could not find video clips of the events online. In 2005, Hurley, Chen and Karim founded YouTube after they had difficulty sharing a video they had created at a dinner party. The first YouTube video, entitled "Me at the Zoo," was published on April 23, 2005, by Karim. Today, the video has over 68 million views! Making a big bet on the future of the internet, Google acquired YouTube for over $1.65 billion in 2006. YouTube is transforming the way people consume and produce content. The video sharing site has created a society of "prosumers," or producing consumers, who no longer have a barrier to distributing media content to the world. YouTube can also be credited for creating a platform for the early self-made social media influencers, who are among the richest social media influencers in the world today. YouTube has changed the way people listen to music, watch television, interact with brands and the way that brands interact with customers. The company launched YouTube TV which is a low cost, no contract replacement to cable television for mobile devices, tablets and TVs. In fact, by 2025, it is expected that half of viewers under the age 32 will not even subscribe to a paid television service (Kumar). There is no doubt that YouTube is here to stay, and one can only imagine what the future of video sharing sites like YouTube could look like.

What does credibility mean?

is the level of trust given by followers based on the perceived knowledge or expertise of the influencer.