Week 7: Social Media Analytics

Discussion leader this week is Kate. Here's her question:

Seven weeks ago,  I sat here struggling to keep track of my new passwords and logins to all these new social media cites required by class. Anxiety ridden over fear of monitoring and managing more than a personal, work and school email,  and wondering why number signs were everywhere (#), I envisioned the weeks ahead. Not only were we supposed to preform class readings, papers and midterms, but we were also expected to practice different social media skills. Over the past few weeks we have liked, tweeted, posted, blogged, replied, #hashtaged, and @'ed.  Not only did we need to figure all these hip newer communication trends, but we also had to envision the best way to communicate with a target audience in a way that increases brand loyalty.

As Professor Stevens notes, there are many different philosophies on social media analytic. As your read this week, I was wondering if you see strengths or weaknesses in different methods. Is there one you use at work? If you are not using one at work, is there a way your organization could benefit from the using them?

and/or

In honor of the final go around, how has your perspective, use, and or understanding of social media as a marketing/ communication tool has evolved.

My response:

Hi Kate,

I also had great anxiety at the prospect of having to keep up with the ongoing discussions on blogs and tracking the different social media sites. However, after these last several weeks, I discovered it wasn't so bad - with the goal of having all the social media sites point to our blogs. Learning about social media strategy and tactics really helped make the experience less daunting. I almost wish I could go back and apply what we've learned over the course of the class, so I could implement a better strategy right from the start ;)

I was also very skeptical of using social media as a marketing tool. The company I work for doesn't put much effort into social media, as it is an engineering company, working in the private sector. However, with the right goals, strategies, and policies in place, social media would be very beneficial, both internally and with current/potential clients.

Of the different analytics methods, the one I feel would provide more valuable information for upper management in an organization would be the ROI method, using CLV and CAC calculations presented by 60 Second Marketer (2013). The other analytics tools mainly focus on comments, tweets, mentions, likes, etc., but don't translate into dollars and cents - which is what managers want to see. That may be the most likely factor of why my work doesn't put much effort into social media. 

60 Second Marketer. (17 November 2013). An in-depth guide on how to calculate the ROI of a social media campaign [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://60secondmarketer.com/blog/2013/11/17/in-depth-guide-calculating-social-media-roi/ 

Week 6: How Concerned Are You About Social Media Privacy?

This week in class we read about protecting privacy, security and safety on social media networks. With cyber crime growing and identity theft on the rise, this raises major concern for social media users and companies alike. But not all social media users feel concerned about their privacy and providing personal information, and government cannot pass legislation fast enough to keep up with advances in social networking.

In the below infographic by MDG Advertising (2012), you can see that 2/3 of social media users don't trust social media companies, and active social media users are less concerned with privacy. Even though the majority of users distrust social media companies, they will continue to use social media despite the risks of having their identity stolen, their accounts hacked, or their personal information sold to third parties.

In “A Wider World,” Tracy Mitrano (2006) provides three principles to using social media safely: (1) maintain personal safety, (2) explore all the opportunities [social media has] to offer, and (3) remember the golden rule—treat others how you want to be treated (para. 30). Mitrano argues, “Might not the same three principles serve national law and policy on communications technologies as well? Criminals will always appropriate technology for their misbegotten purposes. That pattern, as old as civilization itself, is no reason to quash innovation. Why deprive law-abiding people of socially advantageous uses of technology? Law enforcement must get smarter, on a continuing basis, about investigating the criminal uses of technology, but no new legislation may even be needed” (2006, para. 31).

Questions to consider this week:

1. After reading about the risks of using social media, do you feel more or less concerned about your own use of social media?
2. Do you agree that Mitrano's principles for using social media would be enough to protect social media users, or do you believe there should be more laws passed to restrict social media companies and the information they collect/use/sell?

References:

Mitrano, T. (January 1, 2006). A wider world: Youth, privacy, and social networking technologies. Educause Review. Retrieved from http://er.educause.edu/articles/2006/1/a-wider-world-youth-privacy-and-social-networking-technologies

MDG Advertising. (February 21, 2012). [Graphic illustration]. The Sad State of Social Media Privacy. Retrieved from http://www.mdgadvertising.com/blog/the-sad-state-of-soial-media-privacy-infographic/

Week 4 - Digital Learning Experience

This week's team leader is Sandy. Here's her question:

Super Bowl 50 is the one of the most advertised sporting events throughout the entire year. The #SB50 certainly falls into Kerpen's definition of hypertargeting from Chapter 2 to reach those who are online during and after the game (Kerpen, 2015, p.25).

For this week's blog assignment:

• Please post what your favorite traditional commercial was during the football game and why?
• Did the company tie in any social media campaign for the same commercial? 
• If so, then what tactics were used to reach it's targeted audience to keep the buzz going online? 
• Did you participate with any of the online events hosted by the NFL or it's sponsors? 
• Was it in the company's best interest to spend $5 million dollars for 30 seconds television ad as the right advertising approach or should the business have spent the funds differently? 

References:

Kerpen, D. (2 015). Likeable social media (2nd ed.). New York : McGraw Hill Education
Super Bowl 50 Ads 2016 Sneak Peek

Week 3 Discussion - Digital Leadership Experience

This week's team leader is Shelby. Here's her question for our team:

This week I found Ch. 14, Integrate Social Media into the Entire Customer Experience particular interesting and wanted to know if you guys had agreed with Kerpen’s statement that some companies only ‘website’ is their Facebook/Twitter and blog pages and if you felt there is a disadvantage to using social media as the only source of information or would the company benefit better from having a website and using the social media as a promotion tool?  Do you see a future of “no websites” and only social media taking charge?

-----

Kerpen seems to argue that it would be better for companies to make their "official website" their Facebook page, Twitter profile and blog (2015, p. 175).  There are some cases where small, local businesses can perform well and benefit from only using social media, as social media pages are free and websites cost more to maintain. While Kerpen makes a valid point that social media is where the consumers are spending most of their time, if consumers don't make it to a website or store to make purchases, it doesn't matter how many followers or likes you have on your social media pages.

Dianne Buzzeo, CEO of Ability Commerce, an ecommerce service provider, says "I think social media is unbelievably valuable with a huge potential for getting information and advertising value in social media, but then you need to bring people back to the store to place the order" (Beal, 2012, para. 14).

As of now, it is best for companies to have a website with integrated social media. One of the biggest advantages to having a website is that the company can boost its brand image by having online real estate, with a platform/design that is unique to the company's brand. Social media sites act as a "middleman," and companies have no say about the platform or policy changes.

Companies would benefit most from having a website and using social media, not only as a promotional tool, but as an ongoing conversation with consumers. Websites should provide easy access to social media pages and vice versa, for consumers to navigate seamlessly across platforms. While I do not see a future of "no websites," I do see websites and social media continuing to integrate.

References

Kerpen, D. (2015). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be amazing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and more (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Beal, V. (February 1, 2012). Can Facebook replace traditional business websites? CIO.com. Retrieved from http://www.cio.com/article/2399845/software-as-a-service/can-facebook-replace-traditional-business-websites-.html

Week 2 Discussion - Orientation and Introduction to Social Media

In this week's readings, Scott (2013) seemed to "toss the baby out with the bath water" in terms of getting rid of the "old" ways of practicing public relations and marketing. Please respond to the following questions:

1. Explain why you agree or disagree with Scott's proposal, in general.
2. Pick two of the "old" rules of public relations and two of the "old" rules of marketing identified by Scott and justify, given today's social media and Web 2.0 context, why we should either keep or throw out these two rules. 

-----

I agree with Scott's proposal, to get rid of the old ways of practicing public relations and marketing. With the rise of social media, people are seeking relationships. They still have a need to buy things, but they don't want to be sold to. The old rules of marketing and PR focus on selling products or services to people, not on understanding and interacting with them to build a reputable, genuine relationship. As Scott (2015) says, "The web has changed the rules. The web is not TV. Organizations that understand the New Rules of Marketing and PR develop relationships directly with consumers like you and me" (p. 17).

 

Advertising was one-way: company to consumer. This rule should be thrown out, for the most part. Advertising has its place in a marketing strategy plan, however social media and Web 2.0 allow for companies to receive feedback from consumers. Scott (2015) explains, "Instead of one-way interruption, web marketing is about delivering useful content at just the precise moment a buyer needs it. It’s about interaction, information, education, and choice" (p. 17). The company also has the opportunity to actually communicate with consumers through social media, rather than wasting resources on costly research/survey methods. Companies can effectively build relationships and improve consumer loyalty.

 

Advertising needed to appeal to the masses. Advertising used to be about sending a great, creative advertisement to everyone and see who would bite. This rule has to go, as Web 2.0 and social media allow for companies to target specific consumer groups that would be most interested in their products/services.

 

Companies had to have significant news before they were allowed to write a press release. This rule cuts out smaller businesses, who never had a chance to compete with larger companies. Small businesses were limited to local areas and generally couldn't afford advertising. As we've seen with the growth of social media, smaller businesses are able to get news out about their company through social media. There's also more news for companies to communicate to consumers, not just related to major news about the company's brand and products.

 

Companies communicated to journalists via press releases. This rule is largely outdated. Not only did companies have to seek out journalists, but their press releases would only be released if the media deemed the news interesting or newsworthy. Social media and Web 2.0 allow companies to continuously provide updates to consumers and keep the conversation going, not just wait for the media to maybe pick up on a press release. Organizations are now communicating directly with buyers (Scott, 2015, p. 22).

 

Reference

Scott, D. M. (2015). The new rules of marketing and PR (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Marist Spring 2016 Social Media

Marist Spring 2016 COMI 610
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