2.1 Social Media Strategy
While social media has its benefits, it is important that businesses are acutely aware of their own social media strategies. One faux-pas might prove to be detrimental to brand image and performance. For example, an indepth study conducted by BusinessWeek (2009) discusses social media hype and the disadvantages it may have on a business. For instance, the potential risks social media marketing poses if employees waste their time on social networking sites instead of on productive tasks in the interests of the organisation. It also forewarns of blunders that could have a profound negative impact on the business itself. This statement is supported by providing evidence in the study that many social media campaigns fail and it sites the example of one such campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi's campaign for Toyota Matrix, which led to a lawsuit of $10 million (Groth, 2011). If this happens with a small and medium enterprise, it may reap havoc on the business. The study by BusinessWeek (2009) also says that it is hard to quantify the outcomes that social media creates, such as trust and loyalty kat.
Hence it is important to have a good and well thought out social media strategy tailored to the organisation's needs. For example, selecting which social networking sites to subscribe to and what kind of content should be posted, and how frequently, are a key areas of a social media strategy.
One global organisation that appears to have mastered its social media strategy is car manufacturer, Ford. In a recent case study the researcher explains how Ford has included the key success elements in its strategy including customised posts, user connectivity through tone of voice and perhaps most importantly, a social media team that reads and responds to every single comment made by followers (Ratcliff, 2014). However, it is worth noting that Ford has worked out what works for its own business, and this exact strategy may not necessarily drive the same achievement for different organisations.
Social media is not the responsibility of one single person within the organisation, rather a collective responsibility of all employees. Social media policies and ‘etiquette' guidelines need to be developed and strictly adhered to, in order to prevent the risk of employees wasting time and also to clearly define who owns the communication/conversation, the level of transparency in communications, the tone and frequency of messages, building trusting and long-lasting customer relationships etc. The social media strategy should also specifically define the outcomes, the ways in which to measure these outcomes and the total spend on social media activities along with dedicated resources.
For a social media strategy to work, it is important that the communication is two-way and that customer opinion is valued. Similarly, it is pivotal to integrate social media marketing with the overall online marketing strategy and share contents with the users in a social media-friendly ‘pressroom'. Effective collaboration and providing value content plays a major role in determining the success of a social media marketing strategy (Evans, 2010).
A good social media marketing model should be adopted in order to target the right customers, engage with them, constantly work towards attracting more potential customers and building a good brand image. Figure 2 (Appendix) depicts a three-phased approach in the social media marketing model. Firstly, customers need to be understood - from what they perceive about the brand and also their networks. Secondly, the key influencers are analysed to assess what interests customers. The third and final phase is engagement and interaction with the customers. This model gives a broad overview of the social media engagement phases. There are various models in vogue today and each model can work well for a specific business or sector. Depending on the requirements of the business, it is essential to work on a model that would add value to the business and also act as a powerful tool to facilitate the achievement of social media goals for the business. Social media marketing model should be aligned to the social media strategy of the business.
Return on Investment
Drury (2008) discusses how marketers of various industries and businesses can effectively engage in social media marketing. The paper gives a fairly comprehensive view on what social media is and the role of marketing within it. It discusses how social media can be monetised by the marketers and the researcher talks about how marketing is no longer one-dimensional and it is therefore essential for businesses to engage with consumers to build stronger and lasting relationships. It also suggests that the key to a successful relationship would be to provide consumers with tailor-made promotions and messages that would bring various elements together to reach a larger percentage of the audience. The researcher does however state that it is essential for businesses to benchmark success and to effectively measure return on investment (ROI), otherwise it could become very challenging and difficult to drive growth.
Measuring ROI can however be challenging. A recent white paper by Adobe revealed that 88% of the marketers surveyed didn't feel they could truly quantify the success of their social media efforts (Adobe Digital Index, 2012). Some logical starting points would be to use metric tools, measure interactions such as ‘likes' and ‘shares' and measure traffic to the sites (Burg, 2013 imei
There is a lot of literature on various aspects including, but not limited to, the effects of social media on small and medium scale enterprises, identification of skill gaps in social media with specific emphasis to certain industries, general studies on implementation challenges, perception of social media on businesses, and barriers to adaptation of social media by businesses etc. Each researcher, however, talks about the importance of measuring the success of the social media activities on the business to enable further growth. They also discuss the importance of being able to fully understand the paradigm shift and having to constantly engage in effective ways of using social media and how any mistakes might jeopardise the business, its image and the reputation that has been built.
While social media has its benefits, it is important that businesses are acutely aware of their own social media strategies. One faux-pas might prove to be detrimental to brand image and performance. For example, an indepth study conducted by BusinessWeek (2009) discusses social media hype and the disadvantages it may have on a business. For instance, the potential risks social media marketing poses if employees waste their time on social networking sites instead of on productive tasks in the interests of the organisation. It also forewarns of blunders that could have a profound negative impact on the business itself. This statement is supported by providing evidence in the study that many social media campaigns fail and it sites the example of one such campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi's campaign for Toyota Matrix, which led to a lawsuit of $10 million (Groth, 2011). If this happens with a small and medium enterprise, it may reap havoc on the business. The study by BusinessWeek (2009) also says that it is hard to quantify the outcomes that social media creates, such as trust and loyalty kat.
Hence it is important to have a good and well thought out social media strategy tailored to the organisation's needs. For example, selecting which social networking sites to subscribe to and what kind of content should be posted, and how frequently, are a key areas of a social media strategy.
One global organisation that appears to have mastered its social media strategy is car manufacturer, Ford. In a recent case study the researcher explains how Ford has included the key success elements in its strategy including customised posts, user connectivity through tone of voice and perhaps most importantly, a social media team that reads and responds to every single comment made by followers (Ratcliff, 2014). However, it is worth noting that Ford has worked out what works for its own business, and this exact strategy may not necessarily drive the same achievement for different organisations.
Social media is not the responsibility of one single person within the organisation, rather a collective responsibility of all employees. Social media policies and ‘etiquette' guidelines need to be developed and strictly adhered to, in order to prevent the risk of employees wasting time and also to clearly define who owns the communication/conversation, the level of transparency in communications, the tone and frequency of messages, building trusting and long-lasting customer relationships etc. The social media strategy should also specifically define the outcomes, the ways in which to measure these outcomes and the total spend on social media activities along with dedicated resources.
For a social media strategy to work, it is important that the communication is two-way and that customer opinion is valued. Similarly, it is pivotal to integrate social media marketing with the overall online marketing strategy and share contents with the users in a social media-friendly ‘pressroom'. Effective collaboration and providing value content plays a major role in determining the success of a social media marketing strategy (Evans, 2010).
A good social media marketing model should be adopted in order to target the right customers, engage with them, constantly work towards attracting more potential customers and building a good brand image. Figure 2 (Appendix) depicts a three-phased approach in the social media marketing model. Firstly, customers need to be understood - from what they perceive about the brand and also their networks. Secondly, the key influencers are analysed to assess what interests customers. The third and final phase is engagement and interaction with the customers. This model gives a broad overview of the social media engagement phases. There are various models in vogue today and each model can work well for a specific business or sector. Depending on the requirements of the business, it is essential to work on a model that would add value to the business and also act as a powerful tool to facilitate the achievement of social media goals for the business. Social media marketing model should be aligned to the social media strategy of the business.
Return on Investment
Drury (2008) discusses how marketers of various industries and businesses can effectively engage in social media marketing. The paper gives a fairly comprehensive view on what social media is and the role of marketing within it. It discusses how social media can be monetised by the marketers and the researcher talks about how marketing is no longer one-dimensional and it is therefore essential for businesses to engage with consumers to build stronger and lasting relationships. It also suggests that the key to a successful relationship would be to provide consumers with tailor-made promotions and messages that would bring various elements together to reach a larger percentage of the audience. The researcher does however state that it is essential for businesses to benchmark success and to effectively measure return on investment (ROI), otherwise it could become very challenging and difficult to drive growth.
Measuring ROI can however be challenging. A recent white paper by Adobe revealed that 88% of the marketers surveyed didn't feel they could truly quantify the success of their social media efforts (Adobe Digital Index, 2012). Some logical starting points would be to use metric tools, measure interactions such as ‘likes' and ‘shares' and measure traffic to the sites (Burg, 2013 imei
There is a lot of literature on various aspects including, but not limited to, the effects of social media on small and medium scale enterprises, identification of skill gaps in social media with specific emphasis to certain industries, general studies on implementation challenges, perception of social media on businesses, and barriers to adaptation of social media by businesses etc. Each researcher, however, talks about the importance of measuring the success of the social media activities on the business to enable further growth. They also discuss the importance of being able to fully understand the paradigm shift and having to constantly engage in effective ways of using social media and how any mistakes might jeopardise the business, its image and the reputation that has been built.
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