MODULE 22

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

We’re excited about the potential of social media marketing!
It’s one of the biggest opportunities in marketing we’ve seen
for years. But, if it’s ad hoc or unmanaged, it won’t be fully
effective and can even be damaging. It definitely cannot be
ignored and warrants its own strategy. That’s why we’ve
devoted a separate chapter showing you how to create a
structured plan for social media marketing.

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1. What is social media marketing

Social media is the term commonly given to Internet

and mobile-based channels and tools that allow
users to interact with each other and share opinions
and content. As the name implies, social media
involves the building of communities or networks
and encouraging participation and engagement.

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 Encourages audience
participation
Social
Encourages interaction
Media

Encourages sharing
Focus of social media marketing

Focuses on social media to achieve

marketing objectives

Protecting and extending the brand

of a company
Social Media
Marketing Radar

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 Developing a social media strategy for
businesses
Understanding the adoption of social media by an
People audience.

Setting goals for different options to engage customers

Objectives across the customer lifecycle from customer acquisition to
conversion to retention

Strategy How to achieve your goals.

Technology Decide on the best platform to achieve your goals.

The Forrester POST methodology (2007)

 SELL
Set
SPEAK
business
goals for
SERVE
social media
using the SAVE
5Ss
SIZZLE
2. Benchmarking and setting goals for social
media marketing

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 Review consumer demand and engagement for
social media marketing

• Alternative approach to the

Ladder of Engagement

Figure 5.1 Social technographics for US and EU, 2011 Source: Forrester (2012)
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 Share of Voice

Sentiments
Benchmark
competitor
use of social
Network size and growth media

Social Sharing

Engagement
3 Create a strategy and plan to manage social media

Listen and manage reputation

Transform the brand through social media

Acquire new customers

Deliver customer service

Harness insights to develop the brand using social media

optimization (SMO)

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5.4 Social listening and online reputation management
• Market understanding
• Brand mentions
• Influencer identification
Social monitoring • Partner development
• Content and campaign ideas
Social research • Negative comments
• Sale opportunities
• Product and service development

Listen to… With…

Brand conversations about you Search engines
Competitors conversations Specialist social monitoring
Market conversations and analysis
Customer communities
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 5.5 Develop the content marketing and engagement
strategy for your brand
Key content marketing principles (Pulizzi and Barrett, 2010)
1. Content must have intrinsic value
2. Understand what content customers value
3. Content marketing strategy may completely or partially replace traditional advertising and
marketing
4. Get your customers to participate
5. Make it easy to buy
Chaffey and Bosomworth (2012)
• Do we have an overriding purpose for our content to deliver commercial goals through delivering
relevance for the audience?
• How do we differentiate from the bland pack by having a perspective, a position, or if appropriate, a
real attitude?
• Can we develop a personality that can shine through our online content, but really irrespective of the
media?
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5.6 Define social media communications strategy
Structuring your social media communication strategy around PRACE
Chaffey and Bosomworth (2012)

Management of social media marketing including reputation management and

Plan defining a content strategy.

Reach How to increase the reach of your content that is shared.

Encouraging interaction and participation within our own blogs and sites and
Act within social outposts.

How to make the transition from customer brand engagement with social media
Convert to generating more leads and sales.

Engage Ongoing communications with consumers

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5.6 Define social media communications strategy

When new content is created,

it should be automatically
syndicated to the different
social channels using these
tools.

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5.6 Define social media communications strategy

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5.7 Define approaches for the core social media platforms

• Review your strategy for brand-related communications

across social platforms
• Select the social media platforms to prioritize on/find
Developing customer interaction preferences
independent • Profiling the audience for different social platforms
communities • Define the proposition for your social outposts
• Getting the sell-inform-entertain balance right
• Don’t forget the other popular social networks

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5.7 Define approaches for the core social media platforms
• Do our social messaged add value to the audience?
• Is each channel offering its own unique value?
• Are our profile pages communicating this value?
• Is our profile findable?
Creating an • How valuable are our messages compared to competitors?
editorial plan for • Are we interacting?
• Is the frequency right?
social channel • Is the timing right?
communications •
•
Do we send reminders about the good/important stuff?
Are we using the facilities of the network for a viral effect?
• Are we integrating channels?
• Are we using the right tools to make us efficient?
• Are we using the wrong tools/approach?
• Are we responding to customer comments?

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5.8 Social media optimization (SMO)
SMO Structured approach to improving social media through a ‘test-learn-refine’ approach

A/B testing
Five rules 1. Test effectiveness of sharing and content types on
Bhargava (2010) business outcomes
1. Create shareable content 2. Review how well your content marketing supports SEO
2. Reward engagement 3. Review preferences of different audiences using different
3. Proactively share content social media platforms to convert and share different
types of content and offers
4. Encourage the ‘mashup’ 4. Optimum frequency for initiating sharing
5. Best methods for identifying influencers and seeding
content
6. Approaches to integrate sharing of content through
different social platforms, web, mobile, and email
channels

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Chapter summary
• Social media encourage audience participation, interaction and sharing.
• Social media marketing can be defined as “Monitoring and facilitating customer interaction, participation and
sharing through digital media to encourage positive engagement with a company and its brand leading to
commercial value. Interactions may occur on a company site, social networks and other third-party sites” (CIPR,
2011)
• Social media marketing should start by listening to online conversations and should be driven by customer needs
and business goals rather than the social platforms. The Forrester POST mnemonic emphasizes this.

• The Forrester Social Technographics Ladder suggests you should develop strategies to engage users according to
their level of interaction with social media.
• Social media marketing, social business and social CRM require a transformation in many staff.
• Ensure appropriate tools are in place to listen to and follow up on different ‘social mentions’.
• Social media engagement should be based on a sound content strategy
• Use the PRACE framework to help develop a social media strategy.
• Success in engaging an audience on each social network involves finding the best range of content and frequency
for each network.
• SMO is a structured approach to increasing engagement and sharing within social media marketing.
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END