Social media plays an important role in a company’s marketing campaign, this is how businesses find and communicate with their audiences. However, a company must keep their audience engaged. With social media ever changing and moving at leaps and bounds….hang on tight or lose your audience!

While social media is continuously evolving, so does the company’s social media landscape, in which they share content, publish and exchange messages.  If a company does not stay ahead of the changes, it can seriously impact their social media strategies and marketing campaign.

A company’s must consistently posts snappy updates to keep their audience engaged. In planning out the social media piece of the marketing plan, a company should take the necessary time to carefully plan out a schedule of posts and what social media platforms the post will appear on to effectively reach their audience.  This can be difficult with social media ever-changing.  

While Facebook is still the most widely used platform on the market, with video marketing on the rise, younger consumers are seeking a more specialize video content experience ~ they are flocking to YouTube and Instagram. 

Your website and Facebook pages are great and is chock full of valuable information about your product or service with pretty pictures….however, by the  time your audience filter through all the information, you may have lost their attention mid-way.  The advancement of social media birthed the popularity of video marketing.

Live videos are knocking social media marketing out of the ballpark, with the level of engagement and ability to pull in new customers.

Know your audience and adapt with changes in social media. Generation Zers opt for Snapchat because they prefer visual communication to textual and want a private community experience.  Baby boomers rely on Facebook to chat, read news, and share media, while millennials tend to divide their time across multiple platforms.

Both the human behavior of a consumer and the advancement of technology, have implications on a company’s social media landscape ~ Human behavior changes the more we dabble with technology!  We are a product of our environment and with the internet an essential tool that we use in our daily lives, it’s a no brainer that a consumer changing behaviors will have an impact on a company’s social media strategy.

Living in the digital era, almost everything can be done online~more and more of our lives depend on digital services.  The change in social media behaviors is evolving with the change in modern technology. Linking your business strategy to your IT strategy, is essential for success to ensure both strategies work in unison and harmony.

No matter which way we cut it social media landscape is changing and moving toward the future with current technology.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Marketing initiatives are the soul of a marketing plan~A marketing plan must have thoughtful planned out initiatives with engaging content to be effective in promoting your business products or services.  It is not only crucial to ensure that your initiatives are engaging, you must also develop a plan to execute these initiatives.   

With Social Media on the rise, viral marketing has become the go to vehicle in spreading the information about a product of service from person to person.  The goal is to inspire individuals to share a marketing message with friends, family and other individuals to create exponential growth in numbers.   So what makes marketing initiative go Viral….Let’s take a look at an initiative that took social media hostage!

ALS ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALS), is the only national non-profit organization fighting ALS. The Association builds hope and enhances quality of life while aggressively searching for new treatments and a cure.  Finding new treatments and cures, require research and research require donations. Which birth the Ice Bucket Challenge as a means to raise research funds.  

This ALS Ice Bucket Challenge started in 2014 and generated more than $100 million in donations in a single month and get this…The Ice Bucket Challenge went virial raising millions without spending a penny on marketing!   Can you say VIRIAL SUCCESS!!!   

What characteristics made this initiative such a success?

Good Content – Your initiative must have good content~ content the grabs your audience attention that entices them to want to share it with someone. The Ice Bucket challenge, was intriguing, speaks to the audience and employed a call-to-action.

Creativity – What says creativity, like pouring a bucket of ice water over your head?  Your content must catch the attention of your audience, with something they have never seen before.  I would say the Ice Bucket Challenged nailed this one! With its creativity, this campaign not only raised money, it created competition ~ no one wants to be left out!

Social Currency – The Ice Bucket Challenge benefits a worthy cause – which make is hard to say “No”.  The content of the campaign was so outstanding that people were willing to share on their social media platforms.

Relevant – Your audience must feel your content is relevant.  I would say raising funds for research and treatment cures for a neurodegenerative disease qualifies as relevant.  ALS affects as many as 30,000 in the United States, with 5,000 new cases diagnosed each year.  Without a cure, ALS can eventually lead to death.

Play on Emotion – People share content that makes them feel a certain kind of way~usually spark positive emotions, such as amusement, joy, hope, surprise, nostalgia, affection, or excitement. It feels to good to give, especially to a worthy cause, where you know you are helping someone and giving them hope.  The ALS Association builds hope and enhances the quality of life while aggressively searching for new treatments and a cure.

Many business moguls and celebrities also got in on this challenge – with his well-designed DIY, ice bucket contraption, business magnate and philanthropist, Bill Gates accepted the challenge – Take a look!

There is no doubt that ALS Ice Bucket Challenged was done right.  Just between June 1- August 13, 2014, the campaign was mentioned on Twitter 2.2 million times, viewed on Facebook 1.2 million times, and was commented or liked 15 million times~ can you say cha-ching!

In conclusion, viral marketing is an invaluable marketing strategy, if used correctly to create viral success.

Please follow ALS:

• https://alsadotorg.wordpress.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/alsassociation
• http://www.twitter.com/alsassociation

Let’s talk about two social media fashion successes~ Fashion Nova and Asos.  Just mentioning the top social media channels, combined they have over 1.1 million Twitter followers, 9 million Facebook followers, and 28.4 million Instagram followers.  These two online fashion apparel companies have a massive social media presence and have gained much success from their social media marketing campaign.  Although Fashion Nova has 5 brick and mortar stores scattered across Southern California, its global popularity can be attributed to its strong social media presence, that has connected the clothing brand to consumers all over the world.  This massive presence is contributed to not only to consumer engagement, but to celebrity and social media influences.  Fashion Nova is known for their eye-catching fashions and low price point.  Despite its low price point, Fashion Nova is still endorsed and promoted by major superstars such as Klyie Jenner, Khole Kardashian and Blac Chyna.  A brand having a celebrity to endorse  and promote their product is a huge win for the brand and company…when it comes to fashion, consumers admire celebrities and often want to imitate their style ~ they also trust their judgement…. So, it goes without saying that celebrity influencers play a major part in the level of social media presence a brand carrier!  

Asos, is also a popular in the online fashion world.  This London eCommerce company, was launched in 2000 and gained major social media success, not from celebrity endorsement but from  their combining technology, cutting-edge designs and content.   There is more than one way to get notice!  

Recognizing that they had very little mobile traffic, and knew it would be a great way to communicate with customers,  Asos, may a leap and launched their mobile app in 2010. This major change into their social media marketing plan, grew their social media followers and made them the beating heart of social fashion!

MANAGING THREATS & CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

During the recent crisis with the Covid-19 pandemic, Fashion Nova, did a complete NO-NO in the marketing world, with their latest marketing move.  They made a huge mistake by using this pandemic for capital gain.  A text message went out  to their subscribers that read “When That Stimulus Deposit Hits, Save up to 80% OFF STATEWIDE” .  This did not go over well with their Twitter followers ~ they were very unhappy and felt Fashion Nova was insensitive.  Tweets in response to the text message went out with remarks that their checks were earmarked for essentials.

In response to this negative feedback, Fashion Nova is engaging in a give-back campaign through Fashion Nova Cares with Cardi B initiative, the company is donating $1 million, with $1,000 to be given away each hour to an individual struggling to pay for essentials such as rent, food and medicine.

Asos, have not had a social media fashion blunder, such as Fashion Nova, but doing business completely online comes with inherent threats, with fraudsters attempting to steal information.  Due to the multiple attacks on their website and mobile app, Asos, has up the ante and spend millions each year on enhancing their defenses.

There is no doubt or argument, that having a successful social media marketing campaign contributes to the growth and success of brand – there are several different approaches a company can take to gain this success – this depends on YOU!  

Where communities came together

Orkut.com, created by Google’s engineer, Orkut Büyükkökten, was a social networking site, where communities came together to network, meet new friends, to date and even a little friendly competition amongst the users on how sexy, cool or trustworthy one another is.  Orkut launched in 2004 and was very popular amongst the Brazilian market.  

Prior to Facebook, there was Orkut, with very similar functionalities ~ every now and then we all yearn to find that long lost classmate, an old boyfriend/girlfriend or to network with an old coworker.  Orkut was successful as it spoke to the need for community involvement and engagement with like minded people.  Unlike Facebook, Orkut was an invite-only membership, which made the users feel a sense of prestige ~ who doesn’t want to feel like they are a part of secret club? Invited to join Orkut, was sending a message that you were well connected! This invite-only membership, also spoke to the users need for privacy, which also contributed to its popularity.  

This community of social network and technology enthusiasts, along with the growing community of Brazilians, became digital consumers ~ Brazil was a community where there were more cell phones than people. With the growth of Brazil, also bought the growth of online shopping.  Brazilians were not accustomed to doing their shopping online ~ believe it or not, this just became a reality seven years ago.  One of the main reasons was the major concern regarding the protection of personal information used online ~ Orkut put a ease to that fear, with the introduction of the privacy levels with their technology and changing the role and mindset of the community~ Orkut was falling in line with the digital trends and creating digital consumers.  

Unfortunately, with the surge of online shopping and the need for brands to engage their audience through blogs and online video marketing campaigns, put the nail in Orkut coffin!  They struggled with this functionality and with the blockage and limited acceptance to their site, Orkut stop meeting the demands of the culture and Brazilians were flocking to other social media platforms for community involvement.

Brazilians are fun-loving and sociable, which speaks to the brand experience of organizations and communities of Orkut.  This community love social media and spend an average of 3 hrs and 40 minutes each day on social media. Brazil has emerged to be one of the strongest markets for online retailers, with most of their purchasing power via the internet, companies advertising via the digital platforms  

Brazil is a great opportunity for brand to gain more ground. If I had to give me two cents to businesses about their future social media strategy, it would be think beyond Facebook and Twitter and explore YouTube and WhatsApp to drive success in connecting with Brazilian consumers on social media.

~Know Your Audience~

As social media practitioners, our campaign design should be based on an audience analysis. An audience analysis allows brands to gain a deeper understanding of the current and potential customer experience, and brand perception. Before a company begins to draft an effective social media campaign, it would be wise to first get an insight into the consumers interests, preferences, demographics, location and other aspects of a the group.

Tencent, a Chinese social media company, did just this before the launch of Weixin. Tencent conducted an analysis of its audience, grasp an understanding of their behaviors and came up with a product that would fit right into their audience everyday routines and habits ~ A social media platform that performs multiple tasks from an app.   The world globally has become addicted to their smart phones. Let’s face it, whether we like it or not, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, inability to focus, zero peace of mine are just a few effects from the smartphone addiction and unhealthy social media activity. As our digital world evolves, our smart phones have become a part of our wardrobe.  Regardless if we are at work, school, doctor’s appointment or getting take-out food, our cell phone is attached to us! Smart phones have become an imminent part of our lives today and has brought a whole new meaning to the term multi-tasking

For any product to be successful, a company needs to identify the needs of their audience and fulfill that need ~ Tencent did a great job with fulfilling this need with the launch with Weixin.

Tencent has created a product that fulfill both the addition of the smart phone and social media appetite of its audience. Weixin also has the capabilities to limit the number of social media sites a user visit and in turn reduce its “search cost” ~ who doesn’t want to make their lives easier, with a one stop shop social media site, when you’re a social media junkie 😊.  Weixin, has the ability to allow its users to send message, share news and pictures or even make a purchase~ of course this platform would be attractive for anyone on the go.  With social media being a part of our daily lives, Tencent hit the lottery with this idea!

Tencent also made the technology of Weixin more attractive to it users.  To save the users time, by eliminating the trouble of typing Chinese character, they can record messages, by simply holding down one button ~ Whoohoo! Our lives are busy enough, so whatever saves us time, is a WINNER!

The simplicity and ease that Weixin creates for its user, this platform, with undoubtedly be a hit globally.  

Offering designer eyeware at an affordable price, Warby Parker, has mastered this by learning the behaviors of its customers and capaturing their loyalty.  

Like many professionals with families, I’m super busy with work, family and school – convenience in my everyday tasks is a must!  Shopping online is no longer just for purchasing  clothing items. It has been the norm for consumers such as myself to purchase groceries and household items offline, so why not the more important items? such as glasses?  Will my glasses fit correctly, will the frames be correct?  If I can’t see, I can’t do much else.

I know, I know…this is something that must be done in person OR is it? 

Well, the founders of Warby Parker, figured it out.  You can now purchase eyeware offline, without the fear of receiving a poor fit or unsatisfactory frames.   Their “Home Try On” option, allows you to choose (5) pairs of glasses, which will be shipped to you free of charge….WHOA!  How Awesome is that.  You can now try on the glasses of your choosing, pick the best pair and send the others back free of charge. Glasses & Prescription Eyeglasses | Warby Parker

Getting the word out about this revolutionary convenience in eyeware, while mitigating consumers concerns about purchasing eyeware offline was little tricky.  Hang on a sec….aren’t we in the digital age?  Or are we still moving as cave men…

Through social media technology, Wabry Parker was able to promote it’s business model for selling prescription glasses online.  They effectively reduced the dissonance and capture the loyalty of its customers.

At the launch of this company, Warby Parker, was working with limited budget.

Traditional marketing would have not only been too broad of a campaign, but also costly.  An enhanced digital social media marketing plan, targeting a narrow target audience, was to way to promote this brand successfully.

Communication is the key to most everything, Warby Parker, has used their social media platform to keep an open dialogue with its customers and create direct communication, to provide valuable information and advise.

Warby Parker is not only making our lives easier, by producing a product – a necessity, that we can purchase online with ease and convenience, they are also making us feel better by donating a pair of glasses for everyone that is purchased…..Wowzzee….we are bettering our eye sight and contributing to society in one fail keystroke.

Let’s face it, as we continue to evolve into the digital age, everything we need and want will be a keystroke away.  Social medial is growing by leaps and bounds…if you don’t have a social media presence your not likely to stay in business long.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.