Question

Using your textbook, JSTOR.org, and the Internet, develop an APA formatted 2 - 3 page paper that discusses and provides analysis and research on the following topics:

Best practices for SMM

SMM planning cycle

SMM strategies

Targeting Branded Posts

Rules of Engagement for SMM

Answer 1

Social Media Marketing

1.Social Media Marketing Planning Cycle

The Social Media Marketing Planning Cycle is an nine-step model for developing a social media marketing plan through a continuous process of listening, setting goals, defining strategies, identifying the target audience (market), selecting tools, selecting platforms and channels, implementing, monitoring & Tuning

1.1.Listening

Listening to what people are saying about a company enables the organization to determine its current social media presence, which in turn guides the setting of social media goals and strategies to achieve them.

1.2.Goals Setting

Setting goals is done by pinpointing the location, behavior, tastes, and needs of the target audience and conducting a competitive analysis to determine an organization's strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities and threats in the environment.

1.3.Define Strategies

Defining strategies must be done on a case-by-case basis, using all available pertinent information.

1.4.Identifying the target audience (market)

Identifying the target audience (market) enables a company to organize its marketing strategies to efficiently reach those most receptive and likely to become customers and even brand advocates.

1.5.Selecting Tools

Selecting tools is accomplished by finding the social media sites where the target audience resides and then focusing the company's social media efforts on those platforms.

1.6.Selecting Platforms and Channels

Selecting platforms and channels identifies the paths by which content will be transmitted to the target audience. Social media platforms are the websites on which social media communications take place (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, others). Channels are broader entities composed of multiple platforms and other technologies (i.e., mobile).)

1.7.Implementing

Implementing is the process whereby the goals, strategies, target market, and tools are taken into consideration in creating actionable social media platform-specific marketing tactics.

1.8.Monitoring

Monitoring is the process of tracking, measuring, and evaluating an organization's social media marketing initiatives.

1.9.Tuning

Tuning is the constant and continuous process of adjusting and improving the elements of the plan to maximize the chances of success.

Listen and Observe: Five Stages

During the listening and observing stage, marketers should follow conversations about a particular brand and company, its competitors, and the relevant industry on as many social media platforms as possible.

1: Listen to conversations about a brand or company.
2: Listen to what people say about the competitors.
3: Listening to what people say about the industry or category.
4: Listening for the tone of the community.
5: Listening to different social media platforms and channels.

2.Social Media Marketing Strategies:

Social media marketing should not be an isolated part of the marketing strategy; rather, it should link into a broader marketing plan.

The building of social media marketing strategies that support the overall strategic goals of a company will also make it easier for the strategies to win support within the company.

The eight C's of strategy development are intended as broad guidelines for marketers as follows:

Categorize social media platforms by target market relevancy.

2. Comprehend the rules of the road on the platform by listening and learning how to behave, successfully spark conversation, and engage and energize the participants.

3. Converse by acknowledging and responding to other users of the platform, always remembering to be a contributor, not a promoter.

4. Collaborate with platform members as a means of establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with the platform participants.

5. Contribute content to build reputation and become a valued member, helping to improve the community.

6. Connect with the influencers so that you can enlist them to help shape opinions about your product or service.

7. Community participation (and creation) can elicit valuable consumer suggestions for improving products and innovative suggestions for new products or service.

8. Convert strategy execution into desired outcomes such as brand building, increasing customer satisfaction, driving word-of-mouth recommendations, producing new product ideas, generating leads, handling crisis reputation management, integrating social media marketing with PR and advertising, and increasing search engine ranking and site traffic.

2.1.Essential Elements of a Social Media Marketing Strategy

2.1.1. Identify Business Goals

Every piece of your social media strategy serves the goals you set. Look closely at our company’s overall needs and decide how you want to use social media to contribute to reaching them.

We should choose two primary goals and two secondary goals to focus on. Having too many goals distracts you and you’ll end up achieving none

2.1.2.Set Marketing Objectives

Goals aren’t terribly useful if we don’t have specific parameters that define when each is achieved. For example, if one of our primary goals is generating leads and sales, how many leads and sales do we have to generate before our consider that goal a success?

Marketing objectives define how you get from Point A (an unfulfilled goal) to Point B (a successfully fulfilled goal). We can determine your objectives with the S-M-A-R-T approach: Make your objectives specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

2.1.3.Identify Ideal Customers

Buyer personas help you define and target the right people, in the right places, at the right times with the right messages.

If a business is suffering from low engagement on their social profiles, it’s usually because they don’t have an accurate ideal customer profile.

When you know your target audience’s age, occupation, income, interests, pains, problems, obstacles, habits, likes, dislikes, motivations and objections, then it’s easier and cheaper to target them on social or any other media.

The more specific we are, the more conversions you’re going to get out of every channel you use to promote your business.

2.1.4.Research Competition

Start by compiling a list of at least 3-5 main competitors. Search which social networks they’re using and analyze their content strategy. Look at their number of fans or followers, posting frequency and time of day

When it comes to social media marketing, researching your competition not only keeps you apprised of their activity, it gives you an idea of what’s working so you can integrate those successful tactics into your own efforts.

Also pay attention to the type of content they’re posting and its context (humorous, promotional, etc.) and how they’re responding to their fans.

The most important activity to look at is engagement. Even though page admins are the only ones who can calculate engagement rate on a particular update, you can get a good idea of what they’re seeing.

2.1.5.Choose Channels and Tactics

Many businesses create accounts on every popular social network without researching which platform will bring the most return. You can avoid wasting your time in the wrong place by using the information from your buyer personas to determine which platform is best.

When our customers are using a specific network, that’s where we need to be—not everywhere else.

Your tactics for each social channel rely on your goals and objectives, as well as the best practices of each platform.

2.1.6.Create a Content Strategy

Content and social media have a symbiotic relationship: Without great content social media is meaningless and without social media nobody will know about your content. Use them together to reach and convert your prospects.

There are three main components to any successful social media content strategy: type of content, time of posting and frequency of posting.

2.1.7.Allocate Budget and Resources

To budget for social media marketing, look at the tactics we have chosen to achieve our business goals and objectives.

Make a comprehensive list of the tools we need (e.g., social media monitoring, email marketing and CRM), services we will outsource (e.g., graphic design or video production) and any advertising we will purchase. Next to each, include the annual projected cost so we can have a high-level view of what we are investing in and how it affects our marketing budget.

Many businesses establish their budget first, and then select which tactics fit that budget. I take the opposite approach. I establish a strategy first, and then determine the budget that fits that strategy.

If your strategy execution fees exceed your budget estimate, prioritize your tactics according to their ROI timeframe.

2.1.8. Assign Roles

When everyone knows his or her role, it’s time to start planning the execution process.. Knowing who’s responsible for what increases productivity and avoids confusion and overlapping efforts. Things may be a bit messy in the beginning, but with time team members will know their roles and what daily tasks they’re responsible for. We should either plan daily or weekly

We can use tools like Basecamp or ActiveCollab to manage your team and assign tasks to each member. These tools save time and help to stay organized.

3.Targeting Branded Posts

Buyer personas help you define and target the right people, in the right places, at the right times with the right messages.

If a business is suffering from low engagement on their social profiles, it’s usually because they don’t have an accurate ideal customer profile.

When you know your target audience’s age, occupation, income, interests, pains, problems, obstacles, habits, likes, dislikes, motivations and objections, then it’s easier and cheaper to target them on social or any other media.

The more specific we are, the more conversions we are going to get out of every channel we use to promote our business.

·Choose The Right Networks

If you’re not gaining any traction on some of the social media platforms you’re active on, it may not entirely be your fault. With hundreds of social media apps out there, and new ones popping up every day, it’s tempting to jump into all of them. However, every social network might not be the right fit for your company. Your job is to find the networks that align with your brand’s image and goals. Otherwise, you’ll struggle to make progress.

For instance, if your company is a steel manufacturer, then Tumblr probably isn’t the best option for you. Tumblr’s primary demographic is teens and people in their early twenties. A better option would be LinkedIn since it’s a B2B network that attracts business owners.

If you’re struggling to find out which social networks your target audience is most active on, take a look at these social media demographics to get the perfect starting point.

· Don’t Overlook Visual Branding

Visuals play an important part in social media branding. If each of your profiles looks like they’re owned by a different company, it creates a disconnect for your users. You want your branding to be consistent across all channels. This will help people immediately recognize your company no matter which site or app they’re using

·Develop Your Voice

Your brand’s personality should be reflected in your social media posts. That means developing a social media voice. This is the way your brand communicates in Tweets, Facebook posts and Snaps. Finding your voice can take some time, but you’ll settle into it eventually. To find your social media voice, consider these three main elements:

Your company culture: What is the culture like at your company? Your culture is what you stand for, what your company is about and what makes you special. For example, Under Armour’s culture is all about performing to the highest level and being innovative. The use of hashtags like #IWILL in social media posts shows that the company’s social media voice is a direct reflection of its culture.

4.Rules of Engagement for SMM

4.1.Start with a road map.

That is SMM plan and it should specify below :
a. Who target audience is and the audience characteristics
b. how you plan to interact with the audience
c. How you will measure the success or failure of your activities
d. how you will adjust to stay on track to meet your objectives.

4.2. Listen before you start interacting.

We must listen strategically before we engage with our audience. Then offer respect, empathy, and content of value before we ask anything of them.

4.3. Welcome audience participation, feedback and collaboration, and use these conversations to locate and nurture brand advocates.

4.4.A successful social media strategy or execution is not built overnight. We should give it an adequate amount of time and resources to become successful.

4.5. Be flexible. Social media itself is constantly evolving.