The Social Media Marketing Experience

BACKGROUND

This Storify curation describes my first hands-on experience in social media marketing. Through my Social Media Strategies and Tactics class at Marist College, I created my own blog and learned to optimize and track visitation and engagement with the use of Blogger, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and SEO.  What follows is an explanation of this journey.

INTRODUCTION   

I have been a manager of direct marketing for 22 years.  Given the rapidly evolving environment of Internet marketing, I felt I was falling behind the times.  So, I decided to enroll in Marist College’sMaster’s Program in Integrated Marketing Communications.  I enjoy the analytical and strategic facets of business and believe my choice in blog topics reflect these interests.  While I am a lover of the arts and design, I wanted my blog to have a professional, business feel.

PLANS & POLICIES

Goals

My broad overall goals for this course in social media management were to commit myself to the study of social media while mastering the best practices as described by Scott (2013) and Qualman (2013).   This involved developing “relationships directly with consumers like you and me” (Scott, 2013, p. 15) with authenticity and truth.  In this endeavor, my intention was to encourage “interaction, information, education and choice” (Scott, 2013, p. 18).

 

The fundamental goal for my blog was to optimize true engagement.  In order to do so, I had to first understand my blog readers and speak their language.  What were they interested in and why did they come to my blog?  The next aim was to “identify the best way to reach my buyer personas and develop compelling information” (Scott, 2013, p. 169) to attract them.  

 

Ultimately, I wanted my followers to believe in me as a credible source of social media information. To accomplish this I had to truly commit to my blog and its followers, developing a close relationship with readers, informing and educating them to the best of my ability.  I aimed to interact with those who followed my blog in a constructive and respectful way that enhanced learning and encouraged feedback, whether comments agreed or disagreed with my perspective. As in all social media undertakings, the intent was to establish the above with transparency and openness.

 

Objectives

My primary objective was to increase visitation and engagement, more specifically, on my blog through the use of Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, SEO, and best social media practices as recommended by Scott (2013) and Qualman (2013).  “You have got to engage with your customers on a human level” (Scott, 2013, p. 266). 

 

On a statistical level, the following are the objectives I set for my blog:

 

• Increase page views originating from Twitter to 20 total.  
• Increase page views originating from Pinterest to 4 total. 
• Increase page views originating from G+ to 15 total and Google search to 12 total. 
• Increase page views originating from Facebook to 25 total.
• Increase followers to 13 total
• Average 22 comments per blog per week. 
• Increase page views to main page to 95 per week
• Maintain average visit duration of 6 min. 
• Increase return followers to 5 per week. 

Strategies

In creating content, I focused on my “buyers’” needs, as Scott (2013) suggested. “You should develop an editorial plan to reach your buyers with focused content in the media they prefer” (Scott, 2013, p. 174).  I constructed compelling, transparent, and easy-to-read content while simultaneously applying suggested methods for optimizing performance.

 

Define Audiences

“Building buyer personas is the first step and probably the single most important thing that you will do in creating your marketing and PR plan” (Scott, 2013, p. 164).  Because my main audience consisted of such a small group, I did not feel the need to create buyer personas per se, but I did do research into my readers’ demographics and interests.

Since we were able to comment on any blogs from within our group, I considered my primary audience to be all 14 other individuals within Group A.  Ultimately, I wanted to “know as much as [I] could about this group of people” (Scott, 2013, p.166).

Group A

• Ages: ranged from 20’s – 40’s.
• Sex: 10 women (apart from myself) and 4 men.
• Marital status: at least 7 are married.
• Geographic location: all from the New York/New Jersey area.
• 6 Marist graduates of bachelor program.
• Interests: communications, PR, marketing, sports, cooking, family, pets, the outdoors. “We want to know, in detail, the things that are important for each buyer persona” (Scott, 2013, p. 166).
• Professions: from daycare worker, restaurant manager and politician to PR representatives and communications managers. Organizations represented: Guess, BMW, P&G, and Marist College.
• Social media sites frequented: Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Blogger

 

Additional Audiences:

• Bloggers and other professionals outside of our class.
• Other students and professors outside of our class.

      Content

In order to encourage true engagement, it was essential to “create compelling content” (Qualman p. 224).  I aimed to be concise yet informative. Fostering the two-way exchange of ideas, I remained open to suggestions and ideas other than my own.

             Applications

I promoted by blog through the use of various techniques available from Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and Blogger. 

Through Twitter I tweeted with hashtags accompanying relevant keywords, addressed potentially interested parties directly and followed my classmates and others in pertinent Marist groups to encourage reciprocity.  By shortening the URL link to my post in with Bitly, I was able to maximize use of my 140 characters.  

I pinned images from my blog to both my personal and our class’ Pinterest board.  I then used permalinks to connect all of the images (on both Pinterest sites) back to my posts.

I commented on both my personal Facebook account as well as the class Facebook group with each blog post. 

In Blogger I applied various techniques to increase integrity, drive traffic and encourage sharing. This began with creating an “about me” page, adding my g+ profile and widgets like g+ follow, g+ recommend, email this, Twitter share, and blog this.

I chose titles and headers carefully, embedded videos and provided links to outside sources.  Images and color were used to add interest, improve comprehension and increase traffic.  “Photos can drive a tremendous amount of traffic by people looking for images via search engines” (Qualman, 2013, p. 221).

By allowing comments on my blog, I was able to shape conversation and foster the open exchange of ideas.  The goal was to keep the conversation relevant and focused.

 

Policy Directly from My Blog

I welcome and encourage constructive feedback and questions in the form of comments.  I will moderate these comments to ensure that they remain appropriate.  I will not reject comments simply because an author's opinions differ from my opinions. In fact, I believe opinions that differ from my own will enrich the content of my blog.  However, please ensure that comments are ethical and respectful of others by avoiding:

• vulgar language.
• personal attacks or inappropriate remarks 
• material that is unrelated to social media.
• spam, commercial solicitations, or promotion of commercial services and products, political agendas, etc.
• links to sites that contain material that could offend readers of this site.
• information that is factually incorrect.

• any form of discriminatory language

I reserve the right to remove or block authors who violate this policy.

Comments left by others on this site do not necessarily reflect my own views or policies.

This site may discuss matters related to student work and interests. Therefore, site authors must exercise care to ensure that posts and comments on this site comply with FERPA. Refer to the U.S. Department of Education's FERPA website for guidelines.

This site may discuss matters related to student work and interests. Therefore, site authors must exercise care to ensure that posts and comments on this site comply with COPPA. Refer to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's website for COPPA for more information. Site authors must also ensure compliance with COPPA guidelines published by the Federal Trade Commission (click here for guidelines).

 

ACTIVITIES

First Blog Post

In the first week of posting to our blogs, I had my reservations.  Blogging, tweeting and pinning were all new experiences.  Following recommendations, I included links, images and video on my post.  I sought to keep it simple and incorporated color to aid in guiding the reader.   I added an “about me” page and a Google + profile to increase credibility.

Images used on my blog were pinned to my Pinterest board and our class board as well.  Permalinks were added to the pinned images, linking them back to my post.

Tweeting was a new endeavor.  I applied the basics of hashtags and tweeted directly to

our class, linking every tweet back to my blog with a shortened URL from Bitly.

 

Second Blog Post

By the time I presented my second post, I had gained some confidence.  I provided more links on my blog and embedded the video of buyer persona expert Adele Revella.  Again, I aimed for simplicity and used color and imagery to guide my readers.  I chose appropriate titles to increase the blog’s SEO.

I pinned images from my blog to my own Pinterest board and that of our class as well.  Once again I linked these images back to my corresponding blog post.

On Twitter, I took advantage of Adele Revella’s fame and tagged her name in my tweet.  I was sure to tweet MaristCom610 directly.

In the week of my second blog post, I message “friends” in Facebook regarding my new blog post in addition to our Facebook class group.

Third Blog Post

In my third post, I felt I had finally mastered the art of simplicity.  I kept the concepts basic yet thorough.  I wanted my blog to look clean and professional without being dull.  I again increased the number of links in my post including one to the National Labor Relations Act and one to the NLRB policy template.
 

I once again pinned the images from my post to both Pinterest boards and linked  them to my blog.

 

In this third blog post week, I started tweeting more conscientiously.  I tweeted at different points in the week, became more creative with tags and addressed classmates directly who had not yet followed my blog.  I also tweeted to Steve Lohr, whom I had quoted in my post.

 

ANALYSIS

Followers

I created a spreadsheet in Excel to track followers of my blog.   I had the most followers (eight) in my first blog post, although one was from outside of my group.  In both the second and third weeks, I had six followers.  Team one ceased to follow me after the first post.  Although this was a bit disappointing, there were only two return followers from week one to week two, but five from week two to week three, indicating an increase in engagement.  There were 12 total unique followers from week one to week three.

 

Visit Duration

Average visit duration (tracked through Google Analytics) was five minutes fifty-five seconds. This reflects a considerable degree of engagement in my blog.





Page views

By the end of the third week of blog posts, there were a total of 508 page views.



Referring Sites

Top referring sites were Facebook and Facebook mobile with a total of 42 page views. Runner-up went to Twitter with 24.  G+ came in third place with 16 page views.

Comments

I had 27 comments on my blog in the first week, followed by 24 in the third week and 19 in the second. The average number of comments on my blog per week were therefore 23.33.

 

CONCLUSION

I met or exceeded my targets in 6 areas.  Page views from Twitter, G+, and Facebook surpassed expectations.  Average weekly views to the main page were nine percent higher than projected.

Average comments per week were greater than anticipated and return followers met my expectations. The average visit duration missed the mark by just a hair.

I attribute this accomplishment to my active posting on Twitter and Facebook and the G+ “follow” button on my homepage.  The success in terms of the number of comments per week, return followers and average visit duration was a reflection of my blog content and ability to engage the reader.

 

Total followers missed the mark by just one person.  I overestimated the page views that would be directed from Google but the biggest disappointment was in my Pinterest results. 

If I were to attempt this exercise again, I would be certain to post early in the week.  I would continue my approach on Facebook and Twitter but would make a much stronger effort on Pinterest.  Better educating myself on search engine optimization and targeting those who are not participating in my blog more directly would surely improve my blog statistics.

Lessons Learned

I learned a tremendous amount about social media through this practical experience.  I believe the hands-on application of social media concepts was much more fruitful than a text-only lesson plan would have been.

 
I was able to appreciate the value of simplicity, transparency and credibility in blogging.  Through the coordinated use of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Blogger I personally witnessed the positive results of integrated social media marketing.  Exposure to Google Analytics and Blogger Stats allowed me to appreciate the tools available to statistically prove a blog’s effectiveness.  As a result of this class, I am now confident in my ability to succeed in social media marketing.  References:

Scott, D. M. (2013). The new rules of marketing & pr. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

 

Qualman, E. (2013). Socialnomics. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley And Sons, Inc.

 

 

 

 

Social Media Security

Social media security is of utmost importance.  In his article,  “How Privacy Vanishes Online”, Steve Lohr  stresses that “seemingly innocuous bits of self-revelation can increasingly be collected and reassembled by computers to help create a picture of a person’s identity, sometimes down to the Social Security number” (2013).  Precautions must be taken to prevent the theft of identity, funds, and personal property. 

Businesses should establish employee social media policies.  The National Labor Relations Board’s policy template warns that “social media also presents certain risks and carries with it certain responsibilities” (Herrin, 2012).  Conduct that adversely affects job performance of employees or customers may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.

9 Steps to Social Media Security

Think before posting images:  Avoid posting pictures of expensive personal items.  Never share images that may reveal your personal address.

Don’t broadcast outings:  Announcing on Twitter or Facebook that you are away is an open invitation for burglars.  Geolocation apps like Foursquare share your exact location, which lets criminals know you are not at home.

Use strict privacy settings:  View privacy policies on all social networking sites and choose the highest settings.  Only allow your actual friends into your network.

Avoid giving too much detail:  Hackers commonly enter personal accounts through the “forgot password” link.  If your mother’s maiden name, your hometown, birth date and pet’s name are all readily available on your Facebook, you may have handed out the key to your account.

Be aware:  Make sure a link looks legitimate before clicking.  Be wary of suspiciously vague posts like “look at the picture I found of you.” 

Use secure passwords:  Chose strong, complex, unique passwords and never share them.  

Update your security software:  Make sure your security suite is up to date and includes antivirus, antispyware, antis-spam, a firewall and a website safety advisor.

Train yourself and your family:  Make the above practices part of your family’s social networking routine. 

Establish a workplace social media policy:  Promote honesty and respect and warn against the use of material that may constitute bullying or harassment.  Adhere strictly to Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. 

In their article, “Predicting Social Security Numbers from Public Data”, Alessandro Aquisti and Ralph Gross reported that they could accurately predict the full, nine-digit Social Security numbers for 8.5 percent of the people born in the United States between 1989 and 2003 – nearly five million individuals” (2009).  This eye-opening statistic forced me to take precautionary steps in securing my information shared on social media networks. I advise you to do the same.   

Watch this video from Susan Rink on Social Media Policy:

References:

Aquisti, A., & Gross, R. (2009). Predicting social security numbers from public data. PNAS, 106(27). Retrieved from http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/07/02/0904891106.full.pdf+html

Herrin, B. (2012, June). National labor relations board posts template social media policy. Retrieved from Legal HIMformation website: http://www.legalhimformation.com/articles/2012/201206.asp

Lohr, S. (2010, March 16). How privacy vanishes online. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/technology/17privacy.html?_r=1&

Buyer Personas 101

Organizational Goals

A business must have defined and detailed organizational goals before marketing plans can begin. Once these objectives are established, companies should put their products aside for a moment and focus completely on the customers who are intrinsically tied to these goals.  Serious efforts are required to uncover deeply hidden buyer insights. 

What is a Buyer Persona? 

Marketers must learn as much as possible about their customers and segment them into buyer personas.  Each group is “representative of a type of buyer that you have identified as having a specific interest in your organization or product or having a market problem that your product or service solves” (Scott, 2013, p.164).  A buyer persona is a bibliography of sorts, characterizing customers much beyond simple demographic information to reveal deep consumer insights.
 

Examples of Buyer Personas

In the U.S. presidential elections of 2004, marketers for the two candidates segmented voters into dozens of distinct buyer personas in order to appeal to them more effectively.  Two such groups were NASCAR Dads (rural working class males, many of whom were NASCAR fans) and Security Moms (mothers concerned about terrorism and national security).  Later in 2008 and 2011, Sarah Palin targeted Mama Grizzlies (independent, conservative women) and Walmart Moms (female Walmart shoppers with children 18 or younger).

Defining Buyer Personas

Marketers should learn as much as possible about buyer behaviors.  Why are customers buying the product?  What are they actually buying?  Is it the product alone, a service or an emotion?  What is important to each consumer?  What criteria do they use to compare products?  What barriers do they perceive in purchasing?  What is their buying process?  What media do they use in researching products?  Those consumers who share similar characteristics will fall into the same buyer persona group.

Research

“Buyer personas can be created with tremendous meaning when they are grounded in qualitative and experiential analysis that is focused on buyer goals” (Zambito, 2010).  Interviews are the best method for collecting buyer persona information.  Marketers should familiarize themselves with the publications and websites that their customers read to gain an understanding their rationale and language.  This awareness of buyer diction is important for the purpose of search engine optimization.

The Goal of Buyer Personas

The goal of creating buyer personas is to “see through the buyer’s eyes the circumstances that drive the decision making process” (Scott, 2013, p.167).  For internal use only, they are designed to help marketers develop a deep understanding of the real people to whom they sell.  Ultimately, buyer personas allow marketers the ability to better target and identify with their customers.

See this informative video from buyer persona expert Adele Revella:

 

References:

Scott, D. M. (2013). The new rules of marketing & pr. Hoboken, NJ:  John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Zambito, T. (2010). 10 rules for buyer persona development. Retrieved February 11, 2014,  from http://www.slideshare.net/tzambito/10-rules-for-buyer-persona-development

 

Communications and Corporate Strategies

Business Strategy - Communications = Failure

Most companies that have a strategic business plan in place fail to realize that without an integrated communications procedure, the business strategy will likely fail.  There is an increasingly urgent need for executives to ensure that their communications practices contribute directly to corporate strategy implementation (Argenti, Howell, & Beck, 2005, p.83).

Short term approach

Many companies take a short term, reactive approach to communicating with key constituencies.  

Communication tactics are only implemented once the crisis has presented itself.  “Corporate crisis, both internal and external, also can drive companies to reconsider how they communicate” (Argenti et al., 2005, p. 86).  A prime example is the Exxon Valdez fiasco.  This approach to communications is not only ineffective, but might actually inhibit corporate strategy.

As Argenti, Howell and Beck suggest in their article, “The Strategic Communication Imperative”, these outdated practices must change, for a number of reasons.

Six "Musts" of Corporate Communications

• Corporations must take a more proactive, long- term approach to communications.  Strategic plans should be implemented to prepare for, or even prevent the disaster. 
• “Executives in large companies are among the lowest rated in terms of credibility, ranking below even lawyers and government officials” (Argenti et al., 2005, p. 86).  Communications strategies must be employed to provide transparency and truth. 
• Business communications must be two-way.  “Communications are an essential part of what you have to offer to customers and shareholders” (Argenti et al., 2005, p. 85). 
• Businesses have multiple publics and their communications must be responsive to them all.  Each public must be targeted with unique customized messaging.  Business units can no longer function as independent, disparate parts.   They have to participate in a consistent, streamlined communications flow. 
• Senior managers must understand the importance of communication and become the voice of the company.  They should possess a deep understanding of the business and manage with integrity and strong leadership skills. 
• Most importantly, “communications must be integrated and aligned with corporate strategy” (Argenti et al., 2005, p. 87).  They are both vital functions which are interconnected and dependent on one another for success.

Ultimately, as T. Michael Glenn, president and CEO of FedEx explained, “Communication is at the center of everything.  You can’t execute strategy if you can’t communicate about it” (as cited in Argenti et al., 2005, p. 84).

Marketing, Advertising and Social Media

Of course this concept of integrating communications with overall business strategies applies to marketing, advertising and social media tactics as well.  Efforts should be planned, proactive, and harmonious across all fronts.  Managers must address each public with customized communications and then listen and learn from their feedback.

Social media’s role in an organization’s overall strategy

Social media at its heart is about communicating.  Communications and organizational strategy go hand-in-hand.  Therefore, social media is logically an integral part of business strategy.  The growing popularity of social media makes it an increasingly relevant aspect of corporate tactics.  "As the time we spend on social media websites increases, the time we spend reading newspapers, listening to the radio and watching television decreases" ("Top Ten Reasons", 2013).

Align each of IMC’s elements to enhance strategic positioning

All of the IMC elements and social media channels must align to reflect business objectives.  Messaging should be consistent, transparent and informative across all platforms.  Communications should be customized and targeted to specific publics, encouraging the two-way flow of information.  Communications managers must keep their ears to the ground and listen to valuable feedback from all constituents.

Additional Information:
 "Top Ten Reasons Why Social Media Needs to be Part of Your Marketing Strategy"

  

References:

Argenti, P., Howell, R., & Beck, K. (2005). The strategic communication imperative. MIT Sloan Management Review, 46(3), 83-89. Retrieved from https://www.dartmouth.edu/~opa/communicators/fall08/reading/Sloan_MIT_Strat_Comm_Imp.pdf

Top 10 reasons why social media needs to be part of your marketing strategy. (n.d.). Retrieved  2013, from http://www.localorganicrankings.com/top-10-reasons-why-social-media-needs-to-be-part-of-your-2013-marketing-strategy/