Marketing Strategy & Social Media
KU Leuven @ Thomas More Tim Smits @timsmitstim Tim.smits@soc.kuleuven.be
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction & definitions 2. A list of social media 3. Strategy rules 4. Reach, reach, and reach 5. Besides reach 6. Solving a case 7. The personal brand 8. Social seeding 9. B2C cases 10. B2B cases Strategy & Social
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1. Introduction
Social media have seen a rapid growth in their short history. Facebook being the biggest, most Top-Of-Mind, and one of the oldest in its kind of social media, recently celebrated its tenth birthday. From a media and marketing perspective, that still makes social media very recent phenomena though they are said to have created a radical (modal) shift in advertising. In these introductory classes on marketing strategy and social media, we will reflect on the status of this shift and on the different current uses of social media as adaptive marketing strategies.
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A Definition
What are social media? How can we discern social media from other media? What is a medium? Let’s define this as a set of similarly organised communication platforms that fit the classic communication triangle. They contain messages for which the sender is identifiable to a large extent. And, of course, there is a set of human receivers of these messages. Mind you: we talk about a set of platforms because, for instance TV is a medium that has a set of different channels. However, for social media, we often say of each instance that it is a medium on its own. So, Facebook is a social medium, just like Twitter, etc. Strategy & Social
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Now, what would make a medium a social one? Many of the classic media have some social dimension as well. Even though TV and newspapers, for instance, can easily be consumed privately, they can spur conversations (online or offline, for instance the day after), they socialize all consumers of those media etc. Why we label social media as social is because they are fundamentally interactive in their stream of communication and thus fit a web 2.0 idea of usergenerated content. The most basic version is still predominantly unidirectional but with a comment section (e.g. Youtube vs. classic TV) Strategy & Social
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Old channels versus new media
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When we talk about social media we intend to only think of web-based media channels. Indeed, in technical terms, the internet is the medium in which different channels could exist. It then follows that there are at least two types of definitions one could give here. The safe bet is a definition that is sure to include all proper social media, but it risks being too wide, thus including different types of media that we would actually refrain from labelling as social media. Social media could then be defined as “those web based communication platforms that allow for some form of interaction between sender and receiver�
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The second, more narrow, definition would only include “true” social media where the focus would also be on the user-generated aspect or genuineness of the content. This, however, would neglect the professionalisation of applications within these media. The definition would be “web-based platforms that are interactive in nature, make use of networked accounts and where the stream of content is delivered by its users”. Also fitting with this type of definition is the more academic label for social media: social network(ing) (web)sites. Some also call them new media, but this term is of course bound to its own expiry date
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2. A List of Social Media?
The list of social media is almost endless and continuously growing. See wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites
Many of the marketing activities focus on the larger social media because of a traditional reach-based media planning. Platforms such as Facebook are very appealing because of both the number of users and the time they spent on the media. However, marketing is not restricted to the reach strategy. Strategy & Social
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An open list of potentially interesting social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, LinkedIn, Issuu, Blogger (blogspot.com), Wordpress, SoundCloud, Delicious, Pinterest, Google+, Slideshare, Flickr, … But, from a global perspective one should not forget the international players in “new” markets: e.g., Sina Weibo as the Chinese alternative to Twitter For further insight in the marketing benefits of these, consult http://mashable.com/category/social-media-marketing/ http://www.toprankblog.com/2013/05/top-5-social-media-questions-answers/
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3. Social Media Strategy Rules?
Is there a cookbook for social media marketing? Answer: No! Is there a fixed set of KPIs for social media marketing? Answer: No! Set your own rules http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/marketing-agencies-association-partner-zone/social-media-rules
Since the early success of social media, we have also witnessed diverse examples of social network sites trying to explore new marketing possibilities. Instagram is a recent addition to that http://www.adformatie.nl/blog/dit-zijn-de-monetizing-opties-van-instagram-naast-advertising
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Social media are continuously trying to optimize the way they deal with advertising and their user base. Google has done quite some work with the Google+ integration (even in Youtube), Google’s Youtube often changes ad formats, Facebook experiments with automatic video ads, ‌ But brands and marketers too are questioning the exact relevance, benefit, or adaptive uses of social media. Many brands plan their own strategy and a key to success often seems to imply that one has to have a clear strategy (vs prudent steps) and stick to it (to build a solid identity)
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For a short presentation on why blogs and Twitter are the prime social media “marketing� media for academics:
Such specific cases demonstrate the adaptibility of social media marketing to different circumstances. Strategy & Social
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4. Reach, Reach, and Reach
From an advertising perspective, web 2.0 seemed very promising, with the idea of opening new avenues of interactive and relevant marketing to specific users. Still, in recent years we witness the same reach fetish in digital advertising as in the classic above-the-line media. Popular media such as Facebook and Youtube mostly transformed to the usual type of unidirectional push advertising media like other mass media. We have witnessed the same with banner advertising on the internet that first was interactive whereas click-throughs nowadays are so low that they are mostly “just� screen ads. Strategy & Social
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A benefit that these social media still have, even within a narrow reach objective, is the strong segmentation they can apply. Given the account-based consumption of many of the social media and the reasonable profiling of internet users, advertisers can focus on particular segments. Many of these segments, such as youngsters, are also harder to reach in traditional mass media, thus creating even more reasons to advertise on these social media.
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Demographics for some major social media
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For Belgian demographics: check the Belgian Social Media Monitor (@bvlg)
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Currently, we are experiencing the pitfalls of this reach fetish with the first social media reaching or surpassing their saturation point. From a user perspective, an increasing percentage of users have indeed expanded some of their social media to such an extent that they are not longer relevant enough. Many users feel there are too many posts in their Facebook or Twitter timeline (or ‌ whatever medium). This negative user experience is one of the reasons for declining numbers of hours spent on those websites. The Facebook experiment has failed.; Facebook fatigue Facebook cuts down organic reach. Implications for small business and content marketing; Organic reach plummeting
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Native Advertising
Old form of editorial advertising, cf. above-the-line media Main persuasive principle = transference of trust in medium; misleading authorship Social media have another type of “trusted� messages Social media thus ideally suited for native advertising. Legislation or self regulation lags behind.
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Case of buzz marketing as a “native ad” in nonsponsored timelines: Katie Price’s Snickers tweets (#sponsored)
See also: @CainRansbottyn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v6LKRJE7so&index=37&list=PL418C6AFB653C6353
SoLoMo
Social, Local, Mobile. http://socialmediatoday.com/chris-horton/2157801/marketing-goes-solomo http://www.slideshare.net/FormicMedia/social-local-and-mobile-solomo-marketing
Hyped keywords for digital advertising, supposed to be persuasive triggers. They are but relate to the more abstract persuasive principle of relevance. Social media marketing has a high SoLoMo potential, thus making it an interesting alternative to traditional advertising. Still, this can easily be trapped in the classic reach idea of a mass medium where users experience fatigue. Strategy & Social
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From a mass medium advertising perspective, this fatigue is problematic for social media as channels of mass advertising reach. One can perceive two major reactions to this threat. First, the social network sites try to improve user experience. They do this with improved features and with improved mobile accessibility. We’ve been going back to large mobile devices with big screens that can easily accomodate ads next to actual content. Thus, we can see a spur for the homescreen, next to other efforts to engage mobile users.
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Second, one can also notice the appeal of genuineness, both among users and companies. Small platforms generate a lot of traffic among a small user base. Vice versa, we’ve seen some large social network sites engaging in efforts to re-invent the relevance of their network. Google+ is specifically construed as a multilayered network that can be very genuine in a small circle of friends. Facebook’s WhatsApp deal could be considered (just like it’s Messenger application) as a way to install a smaller, more relevant timeline of events within the larger ecosystem of the social medium. http://persuasivemark.blogspot.be/2014/02/facebooks-whatsapp-deal-might-all-be.html
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5. Besides Reach ‌
There is a whole list of priorities one can set as a social media or digital marketer
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From a medium perspective three currencies currently dominate online advertising: – CPM = Cost Per Mille (Thousand) – CPC = Cost Per Click – CPE = Cost Per Engagement
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Leverage sponsorship
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Social media also provide a platform to get feedback on products and interaction with users. This is a whole different type of currency and distinct from advertising
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“Social media is often tracked in volume and valence, such as Facebook Likes or positive versus negative Tweets. New monitoring tools also allow marketers to track the content of social media conversations, for example, consumers’ responses to the brand’s marketing, their emotional attachment to the brand or product, or their reports of purchase behaviour related to the brand” @koenhpauwels http://www.msi.org/reports/beyond-likes-and-tweets-marketing-social-media-content-and-store-performanc/
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User feedback can both be gathered on the individual level or on an aggregate level. • On the individual level, communication managers engage in scanning social media for particular messages (e.g., a filter in Tweetdeck.com) and interacting with the audience. For a Belgian case, see Mobile Vikings; For a general framework, check @StevenVBE’s Conversation Company
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Crowd sourcing (and crowd funding) is one specific version of the personal feedback idea. Nowadays, with social media, it is easy to crowd source innovative ideas. This either occurs through personal networks (people with a large enough follower base) or through specific platforms to do so. See https://www.kickstarter.com/
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• On the aggregate level, for brands generating a lot of social media traffic, sentiment scores can be monitored and acted upon. Different companies monetise such brand monitoring tools. See, for instance:
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Monitoring of mentions, hashtags, keywords ‌ & managing (multiple) accounts: Tweetdeck, Hootsuite etc. More professional alternatives: For example
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In the end, the result of these conversation management efforts aim to increase the online brand love. This sentiment is often summarized with the Net Promoter Score (NPS) that Fred Reichheld invented. It is based on one single question (most have answered this question at least for some brand). The NPS is the relative percentage of a brands promotors compared to the group that does not think positive about the brand (the detractors). Also mind the middle group of “fence sitters�.
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6. A Case to solve
The primary function of social media for brands nowadays (B2C as well as B2B) entails communication about the brand. In contrast to classic above-the-line media, social media allow for interactive communication rather than unidirectional push messages. Still, a lot of social media messages have a strong push typology. This contrasts with content marketing strategies (see e.g., CMI; Social media content strategy) that have a clear pull rationale. A secondary function of social media for brand marketers is the one you will use to solve the case: social media make up a networked repository of insights
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• A network: Social media are a prime networking tool for (aspiring) professionals. You, as a student, should think of yourself as a brand and barring a huge advertising budget, the best platform to build your brand is the social web. Personal branding is one of the only things you can do to offset your diploma to that of others (and some even succeed based on only their social media portfolio). It is said that 93% of marketers use social media for business. Use it as a way to rapidly connect with and brain-pick those with a lot of experience in the field. Strategy & Social
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• A repository: Many marketers are proud to share their work as well, hence making these social media a true repository to find crucial insights. One can learn from other marketers both on the creative aspect as well as on the strategic part of their projects. You should especially be looking for content on LinkedIn, Slideshare, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr. These are platforms for explicit content on projects. In blogs you will also find insights that could even be more worthwile. The insights you’ll find in these media often go beyond the advertising of their own work in case papers or case movies (see Youtube and Vimeo)
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7. Your Own Case = Yourself
As a first actual case, YOU will be the brand we are talking about. This paragraph is about personal branding. What are you selling? Your future employment. How? (Why?) To whom? Where? These are the basic marketing questions and the answer will both affect yourself and your communication. Strategy & Social
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As defined in the course syllabus, strategic marketing is also an introspective activity. From a brand management point of view, this is summarized as
v io eh a IM PL IC IT B
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PERSONALITY How I truly am
h Be IT IC PL EX
r
PERCEIVED PERSONALITY How you see me (“REPUTATION”)
DESIRED PERSONALITY How I try to present myself 48
Most brand managers think about the personalityreputation relation but forget the discrepancy between the “actual self” and the “ideal self”; or the “true personality” and the “desired personality” Think about it for a minute concerning your own “brand” Also think about your brand from a “reputation” perspective. How would you stand out today if you were to apply for a job?
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• “Ideal self”
• “Actual self”
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Who are you? Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): –
Extraversion – Introversion
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Sensing – INtuition
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Thinking – Feeling
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Judging - Perception
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• Grades? • Something extra? • Facebook? Control your brand behavior, reduce the discrepancy between actual and desired self, and position yourself relative to others. Media to use: LinkedIn, Slideshare, Twitter, Issuu, Google+, a blog, Pinterest, … Nothing to share? Think again (or do better) Strategy & Social
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Sharing approaches: Considerate, but low frequency: Everything you share is 98% the brand “You”, thought-over –
+
Little chance of f*cking up
–
- Could be perveived as too considerate, too much of an “ideal self” and too little “actual self”
High frequency, but intuitive: You share a lot, which gives a general picture of the brand “you” though not every share is –
+
High frequency covers up you mistakes; Actual self
–
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High likelihood of hindsight regret for mistakes
Social media differ in suitability of these approaches Strategy & Social
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Targets or objectives?  Reach? Expand your network. Interact, share, become an online professionally social hub. Focus on quantity of shares and interactions.  Niche? Interaction? Be specific, targeted on a unique profile showing your interests and motivations. Focus on quality of shares and interactions.
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What is your target audience? Think about the world before narrowing down your segment.
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Professional network; keep things professional Easily linked with other media (Twitter, Slideshare) Share your motivation; share interesting talks or links … Connect with professionals, e.g. by praising them or showing genuine interest in the invite Upload your (good) work
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Ask for recommendations (e.g. internships, student projects, bachelor or master paper): it is the only currency to use for a non-paid intern Connect with others and pay them with appraisal (e.g. guest lecturers, mentors) It is an online resume Regular, but modest time investment; Low discrepancy between ideal and actual self
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LinkedIn: Get a head start relative to your peers!
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Twitter (& Pinterest)
Think about your profile/identity (both the bio & your activity) – can be changed, but gradually What to share? Your own story Other’s story, but annotate. Pictures (for higher RT rate) Mention others, make lists, reply Surf on relevant hashtags Substantial time investment Potential discrepancy between actual and ideal self Strategy & Social
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Slideshare (& Issuu)
Online repositories Two uses Passive: gather knowledge. Do so in a visible way: favoriting and following relevant others. Active: share your own papers (!) and presentations if they are innovative and/or highly academic … Low time investment to share, high to create something worthwile
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Google+ - Google - (Google Scholar)
 Despite its great architecture traffic is still lacking on Google+, though integration with other Google sites such as Youtube could spur G+ use (see success in younger age groups)  Completing your CV and list of social accounts on G+ will increase your search engine identity and searchability
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 Google Scholar is basically an academic repository, but acts as a (basic) social network for academics as well  For students and aspiring professionals, it has a neat feature of alerts: transform your search string in a permanent search with daily email alerts
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Blogs
Active, self-paced use Content repository, specific Exercise in writing clearly and audience-targeted How long should a blog post be? http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/03/31/how-long-should-each-blog-post-be-a-data-driven-answer/
Portfolio Linking with other influentials Strategy & Social
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Content Strategy vs Content Marketing
http://csforum.eu/articles/relationship-between-cs-and-cm -> Great read and specification of tasks
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Content Marketing
Don’t forget to audit your efforts. Case: Belgian political parties and their G+ pages http://bvlg.blogspot.be/2014/04/google-brand-page-audit.html
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8. Social Seeding
Information on the social web doesn’t get out there on itself. Apart from the publisher actively disseminating, more views can be generated when a circle of people (re)shares the same content. Actively working towards such social sharing is called social seeding http://www.dearmedia.be/2013/05/06/setting-up-a-social-seeding-strategy-dearmedia-can-help/ http://www.socialseeder.com/ http://www.internetmarketingninjas.com/blog/social-media/seeding-content-social-media-biggest-impact/
This should be discerned from the mere act of sharing content which is sometimes referred to as content seeding http://www.slideshare.net/RebeccaHesilrige/a-guide-to-content-seeding
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Virals & Social Seeding
A viral is rapidly spreading (cf. a virus) piece of marketing content where users rather than media itself are the (main) source of dissemination. Benefit: Even non-customers can like the content so much they will share it to their friends Video is a good format for viral marketing: if entertaining, it can give a brand a long viewing time (up to 2 to 3 minutes) http://adage.com/article/the-viral-video-chart/dearfuturemom-s-syndrome-awareness-ad-wins-hearts/292324/
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/10/30/case-study-how-gangnam-style-went-viral-campaign-yg-entertainment
Duval Guillaume! https://www.youtube.com/user/DuvalGuillaume http://www.businessinsider.com/the-24-most-creative-people-in-advertising-2013-10?op=1
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301+ views on Youtube
Sign of rapidly growing viewer numbers on Youtube. Probably, the video is either socially seeded or there is a paid clicking farm at work‌
http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-why-all-new-youtube-videos-get-exactly
Clicking farm? Numbers attract numbers: likeability inference from perceived popularity (cf. social psychology: socially normative influence)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIwH7ptHCWc&index=38&list=PL418C6AFB6
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9. B2C Cases
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acStWxi2E5w Strategy & Social
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Cf. Real-time marketing (<> conversation management) http://www.amazon.com/In-The-Moment-Campaigning-Real-Time/dp/9401413193
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http://wearesocial.net/blog/2010/07/social-media-buzz-advantage-spice/ http://wearesocial.net/blog/2010/08/wieden-kennedys-spice-case-study/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS-4WxmKBNI
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Social Marketing – Case Stop DarmKanker
@OlafMeuleman (10.be) & @LucColemont – Letter To Brad Pitt (StopDarmkanker-actie) http://www.dearbradpitt.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqRKPppjATw
http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/colon-cancer-group-raises-314-goal-public-letter-brad-pitt-15 https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/7629-help-us-save-brad-pitt?locale=en
Social seeding (2nd order) through Thunderclap: https://www.thunderclap.it/?locale=en
Ook: #saveyourselfie http://www.stopdarmkanker.be/saveyourselfie/
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Social Media Leveraging
Leveraging of other campaign elements: -Local/personal actions leveraged to the world through social media cf. “random act of kindness” marketing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIEIvi2MuEk
-Leveraging traditional media campaigns cf. posting ad clips, extended clips, games, … related to ad campaign http://www.iab-community.be/cases/jupiler-facebook-page/
-Leveraging sponsorship Strategy & Social
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10. B2B Cases
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Reach is not the ultimate goal for most B2B Other social media marketing goals, relevant to B2B -Generate leads -Community -SEO -Campaign support -CRM -â&#x20AC;Ś http://mashable.com/2010/11/04/b2b-social-marketing-strategies/ Strategy & Social
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Maersk using online presence as a content marketing and lead generating tool
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Think out-of-the-box: Constant Contact uses Pinterest to engage their non-visual B2B services
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Liked it? Comments? Let me know and/or Link up
Tim Smits Assistant professor in persuasive and marketing communications Institute for Media Studies @ KU Leuven
email: tim.smits@soc.kuleuven.be Twitter: @timsmitstim LinkedIn: tim smits Blog: Persuasive Mark Corporate Blog: Institute for Media Studies Google+: +TimSmits
Academic work: Google Scholar, Researchgate
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