According to social network findings
from Statista (2016), 78 percent of people in the United States have at least
one social network profile. As noted in the graphic below, this trend continues
to move upward year over year.
(“Percentage of,” 2016)
From a global perspective, there are currently 2.22 billion social
network users, with a projected growth to 2.72 billion by 2019. (As a side
note, when I was working with refugees in Africa, many of them had lost their homes,
but still continued to have social media.)
(“Number of,” 2016)
Furthermore, according to the Social Media Marketing Report
(2015), businesses that are already using social networks as a marketing tool
agreed on the following benefits:
(Stelzner, 2015)
Based on the information gleaned in the charts above, businesses
must figure out where and how they should be communicating with their customers
on social media networks if they want to remain relevant.
Understanding this
information, companies find themselves asking: should there be an implementation
of every social media channel, and if not, which ones are best for the
business?
The answer, however, should involve an analysis of a few,
very important items:
·
What are the demographics for each site? Do they
align with the businesses target audience?
·
What is the businesses overall goal and
objective as compared to the purpose of the social network site? Are the
businesses able to accomplish their goal and objectives through each social
network channel?
·
Is there an internal content and analytics team
that is capable of managing each outlet? If not, what is feasible, and which
channel is the most important?
Companies have a tendency to jump head first into all
channels feeling as if they should be involved in everything based on their
lack of understanding on the purpose for each site. This is, however, very
misleading as each particular social network site shares specific content and is
geared to a defined target audience.
With that in mind, let’s look at the general purpose for
each of the main social networks:
Facebook: “[Facebook] builds
tools to help people connect with the people they want and share what they
want, and by doing this [Facebook is] extending people’s capacity to build and
maintain relationships. People sharing more — even if just with their close
friends or families — creates a more open culture and leads to a better
understanding of the lives and perspectives of others. [Facebook] believes that
this creates a greater number of stronger relationships between people, and
that it helps people get exposed to a greater number of diverse perspectives.”
(Zukerberg, 2012)
Twitter: Twitter is “[a place] to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.” In addition, Twitter allows for continual status updates, 140 characters at a time. It’s meant to be a sharing of stories, events, opinions, etc. (“Our mission,” 2016)
Pinterest: Pinterest is a “visual bookmarking
tool that helps [consumers] discover and save creative ideas.” It is a creative
tool that helps with home remodels, do it yourself projects, recipes, etc. (“About
Pinterest,” 2016)
You
Tube: You Tube is a tool that allows “fast
and easy video access and the ability to share videos frequently.” (Hamilton,
2011)
LinkedIn:
LinkedIn has a goal “to connect the world's professionals to make them more
productive and successful. [Consumers] get access to people, jobs, news,
updates, and insights that help [them] be great at what [they] do.” (“About us,”
2016)
Instagram:
“Instagram is a fun and quirky way to share life with friends through a series
of pictures.” Instagram is being built “to allow [consumers] to experience
moments in [their] friends' lives through pictures as they happen. [Instagram]
imagines a world more connected through photos.” (“FAQ,” 2016)
With the general purpose and mission
for each of the main social network sites in mind, now consider the target
breakdown for each. As shown in the chart below, the demographic profile ranges
for each of the sites. Furthermore, the purpose and goal is shown to help
businesses understand where they should land. For instance, a consumer good’s
product like Chaco should consider Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram
(and YouTube if they have the social media team in place). The content,
however, should differ based on each site.
(“Choosing the,” 2015)
Consider the following platforms for
Chaco’s:
Facebook:
Content for brand page:
outdoor adventures, with possible real life stories of consumers on their
journeys that are links directing to the Pinterest page. There should also be
ongoing consumer engagement asking about their favorite outdoor activity.
Consumers like to engage with brands when the brand isn’t constantly pushing
the product in their face.
Ads: Retargeted shoe ads
that leads consumers direct to a landing page within the Chaco web site where
they are able to purchase the shoes.
Twitter:
Content for brand page: A
mixture of product promotions and links to outdoor adventure guides. The adventure
guides could be links to the Pinterest page to promote both social networks.
Ads: Targeted ads to
consumers who follow any outdoor like page that direct to a landing page within
the Chaco web site where they are able to purchase the shoes.
Pinterest:
Content for brand page:
A mixture of product promotions (in context – shown in outdoor environments)
with adventure guides to various parks, trails, etc.
Ads: Targeted ads to
consumers who follow any outdoor like page or have shown interest in outdoor activities
that direct to a landing page within the site where they are able to purchase
the shoes.
Instagram:
Content for brand page:
Product promotion in context – shown in outdoor environments.
In contrast, however, a business-to-business brand would not
benefit from using most of the above tools (more specifically, Facebook,
Instagram and Pinterest). They would be better served using LinkedIn, Blogs and
Twitter to push out relevant content and generate leads for potential business.
Social media networks are not a one size fits all. Each business must figure
out where they are best suited and focus their efforts on those sites.
References
About Pinterest. (n.d.). Retrieved June
5, 2016, from https://about.pinterest.com/en
About us. (n.d.). Retrieved June 5,
2016, from https://www.linkedin.com/about-us
Choosing the Right Social Media
Platform for Your Business. (2015, February 9). Retrieved from http://us.accion.org/business-resources/articles-videos/choosing-right-social-media-platform-your-business
FAQ. (n.d.). Retrieved June 5, 2016,
from https://www.instagram.com/about/faq/
Hamilton, D. (2011, January 13). Top 10
company mission statements. Retrieved from
https://drdianehamilton.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/top-10-company-mission-statements-in-2011/
Holmes, R. (2015, November 18). Why
businesses can’t survive without social media. Retrieved from
http://fortune.com/2015/11/18/businesses-cant-survive-social-media/
Number of social network users
worldwide from 2010 to 2019 (in billions). (n.d.). Retrieved June 5, 2016, from
http://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/
Our mission. (n.d.). Retrieved June 5,
2016, from https://about.twitter.com/company
Percentage of U.S. population with a
social network profile from 2008 to 2016. (n.d.). Retrieved June 5, 2016, from http://www.statista.com/statistics/273476/percentage-of-us-population-with-a-social-network-profile/
Stelzner, M. (2015, May). 2015 social
media marketing industry report. Retrieved from
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/SocialMediaMarketingIndustryReport2015.pdf
Zukerberg,
M. (2012, February 5). Mark Zukerberg’s IPO Letter Describing Facebook’s
purpose, values & social mission. Retrieved from
http://prosperosworld.com/mark-zukerbergs-ipo-letter-describing-facebooks-purpose-values-social-mission/2012/
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