Social Media's Strategic Uses by Businesses

In today’s theme, I would like to focus on different kinds of social media outlets and their strategic use by marketers. As we know, businesses are utilizing many different features of social media available in this day and age, as social media marketing has become an essential part of our lives. In a Forbes article, Jayson DeMers denotes, “Facebook is the #1 social media platform used by businesses. In fact, according to eMarketer, 41% of US small businesses now use Facebook as part of their online marketing strategy” (DeMers, 2015). Many scholarly articles and books have been written to address the prominence social media brings to the table and how businesses are trying to understand consumers behavior when they search for items to purchase. Following are just a few examples of major social media platforms being utilized by massive amounts of businesses:

1.     Facebook

2.     Google Plus

3.     YouTube

4.     Twitter

5.     Instagram

6.     Pinterest 



Social media has become part of globalization by connecting businesses to people in real-time. As a case study, today I’m going to explore how Facebook is being used by many businesses to expand their market value and some of the tips shared by experts to utilize Facebook to its full potential. There is no doubt, Facebook is an extremely effective platform for marketers to engage and target consumers, which explains tremendous amount of research being done about this platform. Following are just a handful of examples of books I found simply by searching on Google:

Many businesses are taking Facebook marketing seriously, as connecting to the world can impact one’s revenues. Just to demonstrate the importance of the Facebook platform, Qatar Airways selected by Skytrax as one of the top ten airlines of 2016 around the world has a homepage on Facebook and it is one of the most active companies on the social media platform (Skytrax). According to Facebook on Saturday, 11/26/2016, at 2:40 PM, a total of 12,183,563 have liked Qatar Airways’ Facebook page. Andrea Vahl praises Qatar Airways’ Facebook strategy of updating its page on a frequent basis and actively posting to its viewers. Vahl transcribes, “Qatar posts a number of pictures about football (soccer in America), which is what their fans care about. Fans are very responsive to questions and posts on the company’s page, as well. Qatar also changes their cover photo often, which is a great way to promote something new. Key Takeaways: Post what engages your audience and change your cover photo often” (Vahl, 2014). Qatar Airways was launched on November 22, 1993 and has written the following mission statement on its Facebook page:

Facebook is a place where fans of Qatar Airways can come together to ask questions, tell stories and share advice regarding travel and our airline. We understand that posts are subject to personal opinion; however, we ask that as a user, you show dignity and respect towards the Airline and its Facebook community. Any post that is found to be offensive, off-topic, or considered SPAM, will be taken down in accordance with Facebook’s Terms of Service (www.facebook.com/terms.php). If any single post is deemed grossly negligent, or any individual repeatedly posts inappropriate material, we will have no choice but to block those users from participating in the community. We thank you for becoming a fan and look forward to hearing from you on our page. (Qatar Airways on Facebook)

To illustrate Qatar Airways’ tactics, please watch the following two clips posted on Facebook and retrieved from YouTube:

The Qatar Airways A350 - A Closer Look

Going Places with Young Travelers and friends from Hasbro

As one can notice, Qatar Airways is using smart social media tactics to engage its followers and increase its customer base.

Another company using smart marketing on the Facebook platform is Dove. Dove is encouraging its followers to utilizing the tagging feature on Facebook. Vahl renders, “Dove also encourages tagging by asking their fans to tell a story about someone who means something to them. Tagging someone else in a post can also be a great way to help get the word out about a timeline contest. Key Takeaway: Post a video that will help your fans or inspire them” (Vahl, 2014). According to Facebook on Saturday, 11/26/2016, at 3:00 PM, a total of 26,689,065

have liked Dove on Facebook. Dove was founded in 1957 and following is the mission statement it has posed on its Facebook page:

Dove is committed to help all women realize their personal beauty potential by creating products that deliver genuine improvement to the condition of your skin and hair. Dove believes that beauty should be for everyone, because when you look and feel your best, you feel better about yourself. As part of this commitment, the brand created the Campaign for Real Beauty and the Dove Self-Esteem Fund to educate and inspire girls and women to embrace a wider definition of beauty. (Dove on Facebook)

Following are two videos Dove posted on its Facebook page and retrieved from YouTube:

Dove | Beauty on your own terms #MyBeautyMySay

 Dove Choose Beautiful | Women all over the world make a choice

As illustrated again, Facebook is helping businesses connect to its consumers and help spread word-of-mouth to help generate further revenue.

Many other companies from an array of marketing backgrounds are also utilizing platforms like Facebook to gain popularity and customers at a global front. To learn more about Facebook for businesses, join the Facebook Webinar to take your business to the next level: Facebook Blueprint Webinar. Lastly, I want to leave you today with the following 7 page posting tips and a clip for the holidays provided by Facebook on how businesses can boost their sales:

https://www.facebook.com/433382740093484/videos/635321109899645/

1.     Boost important posts

2.     Boost exclusive discounts and promotions

3.     Connect with words and pictures

4.     Keep your creative refreshed

5.     Post consistently

6.     Target your posts

7.     Review post performance

References:

DeMers, J. (2015, August 20). The Definitive Guide to Marketing Your Business On Facebook. Retrieved November 23, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2015/08/20/the-definitive-guide-to-marketing-your-business-on-facebook/.

Dove Facebook. (n.d.). Facebook - About | Facebook. Retrieved November 26, 2016, from https://www.facebook.com/pg/facebook/about/?ref=page_internal.

Qatar Airways Facebook. (n.d.). Facebook - About | Facebook. Retrieved November 26, 2016, from https://www.facebook.com/pg/qatarairways/about/?ref=page_internal.

Skytrax. (n.d.). The world's Best Airlines announced at the 2016 World Airline Awards. Retrieved November 26, 2016, from http://www.worldairlineawards.com/.

Vahl, A. (2014, December 15). 10 Successful Facebook Marketing Examples: Social Media Examiner. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/10-successful-facebook-marketing-examples/.

Food Industry's use of Social Media

Today, I want to focus on how social media has revolutionized the food industry with the overabundance of platforms that are present, as well as newcomers that are entering on a regular basis. Social media websites like, Yelp, Urbanspoon, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Online review sites, Snapchat, Twitter, and Blogging websites are all part of this sensation. Restaurants are realizing the benefits of social media marketing are voluminous to ignore. The following graph depicts the importance of social media marketing:

(Source: Amore Social, 2014)

Social media websites are being utilized to rate the food industry, particularly restaurants and the trend has caught on. A correlation is eminent from a restaurant’s proceeds and its social media reviews. Let us just focus on Coca-Cola as an example. In 2014, on Twitter alone, Coca-Cola had 2.4 million followers worldwide. It utilizes variety of tactics to engage and achieve its mission. During the 2014 World Cup Season, Kevin Shively, writes, “Over the last month, @cocacola has Tweeted 1,994 times. That’s over 60 Tweets a day, which has generated 81,925 engagements that created over 1 BILLION potential impressions during the last 30 days” (Shively, 2014). The following graph depicts how Twitter engagement was utilized by Coca-Cola:

(Source: Shively, 2014)

Restaurants not utilizing social media are in harm’s way, as they will be dominated by smart food and beverages marketers who are obviously reaping the benefits due to their presence online. According to the BrightLocal survey, restaurants and cafés rank the highest when it comes to customers reading business reviews. Since social media is the new phenomenon of the era, word-of-mouth marketing has hit home. Online reviews can literally make or break a business and restaurants are predominantly vulnerable in this respect.

(Source: Thomas, 2016)

The social media sensation is not only beneficial to consumers but also to marketers. John Scelfo rationalizes, for the food industry social media serves as a platform to take advantage of by managing some of the following points:

·      Monitor – Owners need to monitor niche-specific review websites, as it gives an aggregate view of how healthy the business is running or not. Some tools available, include but are not limited to, Raven Tools (www.raventools.com), Trackur (www.Trackur.com), Radian6 (www.Radian6.com), and Lithium (www.Lithium.com).

·      Listen – If as a business owner you notice a complaint from a customer, it is your opportunity to fix the problem from its root. Too often owners take criticism personally and dramatize, but the smart owners really listen and fix the issue so it does not cause loss in revenue.

·      Respond & React – If you witness a problem, respond and react to it immediately. Ignoring a complaints will only haunt you later and devastate your business. A rational response to the matter will show ownership and accountability to a consumer, where he/she may want to revisit your business.

·      Amplify the message – This point is prevalent for when you get nice reviews. You need to spread the message around. “However, if you want to be really smart and proactive, ask your customers for permission to republish the testimonials. Then set up satellite websites to do proactive reputation management and point some targeted anchor text at them.” (Scelfo, 2016)

Likewise, food businesses should analyze and divide customers’ groups based on preferences and then target using marketing tactics as appropriate.

The Hartman Group conducted an eye-opening study which highlights the impact of social technology on food culture. The full study can be accessed here: http://www.unitedfreshshow.org/files/clicks_and_craving.june_lee.pdf. Based on this study, statistics show:

Social Media Is the Other Food Broadcasting Network:

v 54% use social media to discover and share food experiences.

v 42% use social media to get advice about food.

v 39% use social media when eating alone. (Hartman Group, 2012)

Hartman Group shares the following graph to show consumers’ food-related behavior on social media:

(Source: Hartman Group, 2012)

Even more mindboggling is the following picture of how social media influences the entire lifecycle of a meal:

(Source: Hartman Group, 2012)

In 2014, fine dining followed by quick service had the most activity on social media. The transformation of technology should not come to any business owner as a surprise.

(Source: Thomas, 2016)

It is prevalent no food business should be dumbfounded when it comes to social media’s impact on people’s decision making. Social media is becoming a trusted source of information for vast majority of individuals. As we witness, social media used to be a business option but now it is a business essential. Businesses who are ignoring the phenomenon will slowly become obsolete while their competitors who were smart to utilize social media sites will cherish the gains. It sums down to, businesses must recognize the ways buyers utilize social media to learn, interrelate and forward communication across digital platforms.

References:

Amore Social. (2014, May 19). 2014 Social Media Industry Report: Key Facts. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from http://amoresocial.com/2014/05/2014-social-media-industry-report-key-facts/.

Hartman Group. (2012). A Hartman Group & Publicis Consultants Syndicated Study. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from http://www.unitedfreshshow.org/files/clicks_and_craving.june_lee.pdf.

Scelfo, J. (2016). The Social Media Impact on Restaurants. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from https://performancefoodservice.com/Your-Operation/Build-Your-Business/The-Social-Media-Impact-on-Restaurants.aspx.

Shively, K. (2014, May 22). Lessons from Coca-Cola’s Social Media Strategy: Cohesive Campaigns and Creative Content. Retrieved November 12, 2016, from http://simplymeasured.com/blog/lessons-from-coca-colas-social-media-strategy-cohesive-campaigns-and-creative-content/#sm.00016jz1jkrnpd6itkw1mfxe7sy8l.

Thomas, A. (2016, April 12). 7 Tips for Restaurant Search Marketing. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from http://www.octos.com.au/blog/2016/04/7-tips-restaurant-search-marketing/.