PBL TASK 8 : SOCIAL MEDIA

Problem

                 What is the return on investment of Social Media ?

Learning objectives

1. How can the different social media platforms be used ?

2. How to measure ROI in Social Media ?

3. What is the role of Social Media in the communication in general ? 

  

 1. How can the different social media platforms be used ?

Each platform has different benefits that can help extend brand awareness. Being aware of how to use each platform, along with knowing each benefit and shortfall will allow you and your business to create the largest impact on social media.

1. TWITTER

Twitter is great for networking with press and staying up-to-date
It allows users to exchange small amounts content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links. When you “tweet” you are creating a micro-blog post of 140 characters or less. It’s the closest to “real time” social media as you can get, which can be very beneficial when trying to create a trending topic or have a micro-post go viral quickly.  

Twitter has a tweet life of about an hour. So it’s good to remember that this medium is less about social connections and more about staying informed. Twitter’s main benefit for marketers is that it is home to many writers, bloggers, and thought leaders that use it as a work-related networking platform.

2. FACEBOOK

 

Facebook differs by offering an inside look at the more personal side of the company. Facebook is beneficial for businesses as it acts more like a “social friendship”, giving companies a path to create a more personal relationship with consumers through posts about events, employees and workplace situations. It also works as a great customer relationship management system by publically interacting with “fans” on a one-to-one basis. 

Another benefit to Facebook is that the content is less time sensitive as compared to Twitter. The life of a Facebook post can last hours, even days, which gives amount of views/shares/likes time to rise, so it doesn’t have to be the most current information.  If your target demographic is the teenage population, being active on sites other than Facebook might be a better fit for your marketing initiatives.

 3. GOOGLE+

 

Google+ is a relatively new social media form when compared to the stand-alone platforms
It is an integrated platform, connecting into every Google service, including gMail, YouTube, Google Drive and Google Search. Google+ also has a unique feature called Hangouts on Air, which is free video conferencing with an unlimited number of people who can join in. These hangouts are great for when a company wants to stream a live event or to make an announcement. 

The communities on Google+ are also very active, as sharing within your “circles” of friends and acquaintances is simple, fast and precise. According to Searchmetrics sharing on Google+ is poised to surpass sharing on Facebook by 2016. As a newer form of social media, Google+ does not have the brand saturation that Facebook and Twitter have, which means it’s easier to make your brand noticeable on this platform. 

On the other hand, it doesn’t have as large of a fan base as more established social media networks. One considerable plus is that Google+’s integration into all other services means that special hashtags that you use, or posts that do well, will actually show up on Google Search, thus increasing the amount of views you receive and extending your brand reach to people outside of your communities and circles.

http://www.liveyourmessage.com/web-presence-services/business-blogging-social-media-branding

2. How to measure ROI in Social Media ?

http://digitalpopmarketing.com/report-37-businesses-can-measure-social-media-roi/

Businesses that practice social media marketing have to determine the ROI of their campaign. The problem is that there is no standard when it comes to calculating ROI in social media marketing. 

Because of this, many businesses skip over this step altogether.

ROI is so important because it shows whether or not your strategy is working. If you have a negative ROI, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should drop social media marketing altogether. On the other hand, it may signal that it’s time to reevaluate your strategy and come up with a new plan. 

At least if businesses have access to this metric, they’ll know where they stand on social media. If businesses don’t know their ROI, they’re essentially just gambling money away. Even if they have a positive ROI and their strategy is working, they’re still not investing their money efficiently. 

If they have a very high ROI, they should probably be investing even more.

http://bisculm.com/social-media-roi-ist-er-berechenbar-oder-nicht--6719/

 ROI can be measure following different steps :

1. Set Social Media Goals

You need to determine your goals so you know which factors you’re measuring and what success looks like.

2. Determine the Right Platforms

Find where your audience spends their time so you can position your plan to be successful.
When determining your target market, you must figure out who they are, what platforms they prefer and how much time they spend there. They you can find platforms that are the right fit.

3. Track Campaigns

You need to track the time spent, cost of ads, etc., as well as the activities and campaigns you launch as part of your social media marketing.  

4. Review Results and Reset Goals
Once you have your stats in front of you, you can calculate your ROI and review the results of your marketing to see what worked and didn’t work. If you did paid advertising, that’s important to measure as well, because it relates to a specific cost.

3. What is the role of Social Media in the communication in general ?

http://www.frostbox.com/blog/9-tips-on-creating-your-social-media-marketing-plan-to-increase-roi

Communicating via social media allows you to enjoy very large audiences of these materials and thus to reach a very large amount of people.

In addition, social networks offer businesses a free space they can use to establish conversations with people interested in their brand or industry. Traditionally, advertising is limited in terms of available space and expensive to buy. On the contrary, social networks allow for a brand to deploy a real content strategy and build a lasting relationship with users. It should be noted however that each network takes advantage of the hearing given to brands by providing paid services. Facebook flange brought the message to push brands to pay for the purchase of visibility of their messages.

Finally, social networks can benefit from viral marketing effect through interconnections between their members. If you post interesting content, they will be taken up by the people who read you, and by those who read them and so on ....

http://ocbizblog.com/social-media-now-a-must-for-small-business/

The era of mass communication is over! Today, communication is targeted (one to one communication), it is giving the impression to the target that it is intended only for her to be contacted about their needs, expectations, his desires. Internet complicated the traditional pattern of communication by multiplying the sources of information.  

More than ever, thanks to the internet (or because of the internet) each distributor's information and receiving information. The information coming loose, and other hand; they circulate more quickly and do not come from official sources. The Jasmine Revolution is part of Facebook as the tsunami in Japan was announced on Twitter by fellows who were there ... Finally, the trend makes internet, it has become an area of considerable influence.

http://www.digitalsherpa.com/blog/social-media-advice-for-small-business-owners/

 

Sources

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/how-use-different-social-media-platforms-your-business

http://www.forbes.com/social-media/

http://www.entrepreneur.com/socialmedia/index.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneywisewomen/2012/08/08/the-developing-role-of-social-media-in-the-modern-business-world/ 

http://www.academia.edu/5382715/SOCIAL_MEDIA_AND_ITS_ROLE_IN_MARKETING

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/role-social-media-your-content-marketing-strategy

http://www.wordstream.com/social-media-marketing

http://www.qoorts.nl/2011/09/social-media-roi-statistieken/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/capitalonespark/2013/04/25/how-to-measure-your-social-media-return-on-investment/

http://www.anthedesign.fr/sociaux/reseaux-sociaux/

http://acta-diurna.over-blog.com/article-medias-sociaux-et-communication-71112225.html

Books

Social Media 101 by Chris Brogan

The new rules of marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott