-Social media tools

-Mobile technology and social media

-The social media marketing plan

[SLIDE 1]

Given social media’s importance, it is important to understand the key social media tools that marketing can leverage:

-Blogs
-Microblogs
-Social Networks
-Media sharing
-Social news
-Location-based social networking
-Review sites
-Virtual worlds and online games

[SLIDE 2]

Blogs have become the norm in many social media strategies, enhancing and sometimes replacing the “press” segment of a company’s web site. A blog is a publicly available set of web pages that functions as an interactive journal, whereby readers can post comments on the authors’ entries.

Blogs allow a company to create articles around themes that support corporate, brand, and product messages. Articles can be posted and then publicized, allowing stakeholders outside of the company to comment directly on the individual blog posts.

There are two primary types of blogs:

-Corporate: sponsored by the company, usually on its own site, and maintained by corporate employees.

-Noncorporate: independent blogs that are not associated with the marketing efforts of a particular company, where outside sources discuss the company or allow guest articles from the company.

Food blogs are a popular example of noncorporate blogs, where an individual can describe experiences with restaurants, food products, and recipes -- mentioning brands -- and visitors to the blog sites can add their comments to the articles.

[SLIDE 3]

Microblogs serve a similar purpose to blogs but are strictly limited as to the length of the post. Twitter and Tumblr are two major examples of microblogs. Due to the limits, messages are often images, short ideas, or links to longer articles on blogs and elsewhere. 

Microblogs are excellent for beginning conversations, for creating exposure and then having initial responses that lead to longer or more detailed conversations on other social media sources or with sales.

[SLIDE 4]

Social networks are websites that allow individuals to connect with friends, peers, and business associates. The most well-known networks are Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn and a few others.

The key to marketing is to understand the audience in each network and decide where to best leverage resources. For instance, Facebook is an excellent way to reach consumers, so B2C marketers usually include it in programs. However, because of the use of Facebook by primarily individual consumers, many B2B companies have not found it to provide a strong ROI. 

On the other hand, LinkedIn is a professional network. While the first corporate segment that leveraged LinkedIn was HR, it is being used more and more by marketing to host blogs and post other articles. 

While Instagram and Snapchat started for individuals and was leveraged more by B2C, the younger segment of the business audience use those platforms. As a result, a number of marketers have used them for microblogging to gain exposure.

The ease of creating a social network site means that many exist for tightly-defined demographics. Twitch was created for computer gamers but is starting to be used for other technology exposure. SoundCloud, BlackPlanet, and ChristianMingle are the bare tip of the iceberg in showing the wide variety of social networking sites. Marketing needs to do due diligence to find networks that can help publicize and sell their products.

[SLIDE 5]

Media sharing sites are websites which allow users to upload and distribute multimedia content such as videos and photos.

While YouTube is the most well-known site, Flickr, Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat are some more popular sites, with many others as options. The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words drives the growth of media sharing. Images and videos can be powerful marketing tools.

YouTube has a very wide demographic base, attracting people of all ages, races, and genders. Some of the others skew towards a younger demographic. People looking for information on those sites fit many target audiences.

Another advantage of media-sharing sites such as YouTube is as a single resource of media. Many companies have created their own YouTube channels that are linked back to their websites, removing the need to maintain media libraries on multiple sites.

Podcasts are longer format programs similar to radio shows. They can be voice only or have video. The ability to provide people informational talks and interviews that can be downloaded to computers, smart phones, and other media devices to listen during commutes or at other times is a slowly-growing option.

[SLIDE 6]

Social news sites publish news articles and allow their members to also publish stories. Users then decide which content is promoted or demoted based on votes for and against each article.

The largest site is Reddit. Slashdot primarily covers technology and gaming. Fark has submitted news displayed in chronological order but also has a community where articles are voted upon.

[SLIDE 7]

Combining social networking with GPS information, location-based sites help link people to other people and to businesses. People can organize meetups. From a business point of view, it is even more important.

Companies such as Foursquare City Guide can help businesses offer coupons and other incentives to get Foursquare users to visit their sites. Consumers can then provide reviews and opinions about the businesses.

[SLIDE 8]

Review sites allow consumers to post, read, rate, and comment on opinions regarding all kinds of goods and services. Yelp is one of the oldest such sites. Google Maps has extended the ability to add reviews to sites displayed on the maps. Other companies are also working to provide similar services.

Social media allows end-customers to share information about sites to help other people make buying decisions. One issue of concern is the unknown volume of false reviews. Competitors can provide false negative reviews while some companies pay people to write false positive reviews. There has been some recent talk about potential regulations, and even industry self-regulation, to minimize false reviews.

[SLIDE 9]

In 2018, an estimated 67% of Americans were found to play online games. Most of those are playing on smart phones.

There are multiple types of online games, each with different marketing opportunities. The three main classifications are MMOs, interactive, and single player.

Massively multiplayer online (MMO) games such as World of Warcraft and EVE Online have a large number of people playing within a virtual world. As those worlds are usually fantasy or science fiction, placing a logo inside the game would be jarring. The marketing opportunity with MMO’s tends to be in hosting local events, sweepstakes, and other promotions where the brand becomes recognized as related to the game.

Multiplayer games have a smaller number of people playing, often two to four. Think of Madden NFL. While it can also be played with one person against the computer, it is often played with two people each picking a side. Games can have ads placed inside, but also live tournaments and other events can be held as with MMOs.

Single player games are the usual on smart phones. The games are downloaded from the app stores and then played during a person’s spare time. Ads are a normal part of the free versions of the games, with companies paying for basic payment and more money for each click-through – similar to the way ads are used on social media and web sites.

[SLIDE 10]

Social media have been growing on the Internet for a couple of decades. Laptops and tablets changed things slightly, but they have not had a major marketing impact. The growth of smartphones in the 2010s has meant a major transition in marketing technology, and that includes social media options.

As the immediacy of smartphones has shown mobile marketing as having a higher response rate than traditional methods, a number of mobile tools have evolved:

-SMS (short message service): text messages sent to and from mobile phones, often integrated with other tools.

-MMS (multimedia messaging service): similar to SMS but allowing attachment of images, videos, ringtones, and other multimedia content.

-Mobile website: optimizing alternate website page views to appear appropriately on smartphones.

-Mobile ads: visual advertisements integrated into text messages, applications, and mobile websites, often sold on a cost-per-click basis.

-Bluetooth marketing: signals sent to Bluetooth enabled devices, allowing marketers to sent targeted messaged to users based on their geographic locations.

-Smartphone apps: software designed specifically for mobile and tablet devices.

-Bar code / QR code: apps on mobile phones allow customers to read bar codes and quick response (QR) codes to provide instant discounts, further information, and other marketing content.

Mobile applications (apps) deserve additional discussion. Games providing advertising opportunities are apps. An airline’s reservation and check-in service is an app. Bank access is provided through an app. App stores on both iOS and Android phones provide a plethora of apps that can be loaded. Brands can create their own apps or advertise on other apps. 

Widgets, also known as badges and gadgets, are similar to apps but are added to standard websites and within apps as they are far simpler. They allow developers to add simple functionality to sites and apps -- things such as weather reports, stock tickers, and other basic information. Marketers can use widgets to provide promotions, coupons, and other company information and offers more economically than developing apps.

[SLIDE 11]

Just as with other areas of marketing, and in business, a clearly outlined social media plan is required. While social media is relatively new to marketing, it is important to realize that the plan must be integrated with the rest of the marketing business and share consistent messaging.

The six stages of a social marketing plan are similar to the stages mentioned previously for other marketing channels:

1.-Listen to customers: covered in the previous lesson and others.

2.-Set social media objectives: set channel-specific objectives, with special attention to how to measure results.

3.-Define strategies: include examination of trends and industry best practices.

4.-Identify the target audience: just as with other channels, understand how the target audience uses social media.

5.-Select the tools and platforms: Select the appropriate social media tools and platforms most relative to the target market.

6.-Implement and monitor the strategy: as with every other process facing markets, campaigns must be monitored and adjusted to continue to address changing market needs and interests.