Considering it’s almost the end of the fall term and my time in COMM 464 – E-Marketing, I think it only makes sense that my final blog brings together all of the things I’ve learned throughout the term. Here is a summary of what knowledge I’ve gained and how it will help me next year when I’m in the real world.

1. Hootsuite: Arguably one of the most valuable things I learned this term, Hootsuite’s ability to manage multiple social media platforms while also providing insight into consumer trends and customer communications is one tool that I will surely use going forward. The majority of businesses use social media to enhance their brand image but managing these social platforms can be difficult, Hootsuite is the tool to help with this and many company’s are looking for candidates who are proficient in the software.

2. Adwords: If there was one thing that I knew absolutely nothing about prior to taking COMM 464, it was AdWords. I knew that it was owned by Google but that’s about it! Thanks to working with my group’s client, Ultrafit, I now understand the power of AdWords and how it can be used to draw consumers to your company’s webpage. Whether it be a company I work for or a company I start, I’m sure at some point I will need to run an AdWords campaign, luckily, I can now say I am able to.

3. Social Media Triage: Many of us use social media as a way to stay connected, get informed and of course, share our opinions. As a business it is important to acknowledge the latter of these three as it can be detrimental to a brand’s image. We learned how to properly identify influencers so that we can properly deal with customer complaints and enquiries in order to strengthen these relationships and prevent negativity.

4. Ethics: My last major takeaway from COMM 464 is the ethical component of social media and online privacy. This is something that every company should be aware of as many of the restrictions pose major concern to consumers. Customer’s are becoming increasingly aware of the multiple uses their personal information have to company’s and it’s therefore essential that company’s have a good level of transparency in order to ease this concern.

Overall, I’ve learned some amazing skills this past term that will carry me to social media success in whatever job I acquire. I’m excited to put this knowledge to use!

It’s funny, if I were to peg any social media platform as being beneficial for businesses, Instagram would certainly be a top contender. Visuals can enhance a message to a great extent. Adoption of this platform may be halted due to the overwhelming number of platforms that already cluster company’s digital portfolios. It may also be due to the fact that there are definitely some downsides to the platform such as the inability to share posts and restrictions as to how many comments one can see. This hasn’t stopped some of the world’s largest brands from joining the instagram frenzy however, as household names such as Nike, Starbucks and Apple all utilize the platform to propel their brand. They acknowledge the numerous benefits the app has to businesses such as:

1. Videos: In a modern world of constant visual stimuli, text can often go unnoticed by consumers. Instagram not only gives the ability to post photos, but also allows brands to post videos. Some brands have been known to use this to show consumers how their product is made. Alternatively, it can be a great tool to remedy bad press by releasing short statements or to announce a new product.

2. Hashtags are actually useful!: Unlike other social media platforms such as twitter where hashtags can overwhelm a consumer, Instagram statistics have shown that multiple hashtags actually increase the amount of likes a post will get. This is largely due to the explore function on Instagram.

3. Connectivity: Instagram connects with most other platforms, and very easily I might add. When posting all you need to do is tap the Facebook or Twitter icon and instantly your post is now shared across all platforms. This can be especially useful for small business owners who may not have the time to constantly be updating and monitoring their social media accounts.

4. 24/7: Instagram users are on the app all the time. It is easy to browse on the bus or waiting in line and therefore consumers are constantly liking, viewing and commenting on posts. This offers great versatility to businesses as it means they don’t need to follow the traditionally strict social media timing that other platforms seem to follow.

Well there you have it, I’d say the Pros outweigh the Cons on this one. Instagram can be a great tool to really enhance a brand’s image!

Sources Used: http://bit.ly/1h863Z6

For our project in COMM 464, we had to run an AdWords campaign for our client. Having had very little knowledge of AdWords and how it operated, this was definitely a steep learning curve. That being said, I thought I’d share my new wisdom with everyone so that your campaigns can be more successful than ours was! Follow these tips and I’m sure you’ll be rolling in the clicks and impressions in no time!

1. Keywords: Relevancy is key. Keeping keywords connected with the benefit the consumer will gain from this product/service and relevant information is key to a good keyword.. Terms must not be too specific nor too broad. For example, “restaurant” is too broad of a term but “spaghetti and meatballs restaurant” is too specific. Terms that are too broad generally also require a higher bid price.

2. Bid Strategy: Google suggestions of autobid prices is a good place to start. In general, it at least allows your ad to compete for a display position. However, if you identify keywords that may be worth further investigation and are really targeted to the audience you want, manually setting bid prices will help gain clicks. This increase in bid price can be based upon the average CPC that is displayed in the AdWords dashboard. Make sure to set a maximum/day so that you don’t run the wallet dry!

3. Ad Design: Designing the ad itself is one of the most important parts of a successful AdWords campaign. First of all, it is important that the headline is company specific and contains relevant terms. The details below should offer insight into the product or service offered and how it can benefit the consumer. Finally, the link should be short and link directly to the page that is most relevant to the description.

Remember these tips when planning your next AdWords campaign. Run successfully, they can provide great ROI, run unsuccessfully, they can be a royal waste of money! 

In my COMM 388 class – Design Strategies for Business Innovation, we are working with Lululemon on various projects within the company. One really cool aspect of the class is we are regularly visited by Lululemon employees from various functions within the business.

The day that Lululemon’s founder, Chip Wilson, made a statement regarding the size of some women and them not being able to wear the brand’s clothes, we were lucky enough to have the head of Lululemon’s social media come in and speak with us. She outlined the various measures the company was taking to try remedy the situation and maintain loyalty with their guests.

I thought it would be neat to take some of her advice as well as what I have learned thus far in COMM 464 – E-Marketing and use a few real examples of criticism and analyze them through the social media triage model.

EXAMPLE #1

“Dear lululemon,
I had heard such good things about lulu that I was thinking of moving away.from my favorite workout gear company. However after hearing the very judgmental comments made by Chip to try and defend poor quality I guess I’m going to stick with my current brand. It doesn’t pill I had to look up what that meant and it isn’t so sheer that its see through. I’m kinda bummed really because you guys have so many color options but I can’t afford to spend 100 dollars on poor quality and then get told its my fault when I do have a perfectly good quality brand just not a wide array of color options.
Sincerely
The customer that never was”

This comment is negative. Moving forward through the triage chart, this person is not a customer but is a dedicated complainer. The facts are not all correct and I would suggest gently clarifying that the quality of Lululemon pants is high by outlining the release of their latest fabric called Full-On Luon.

EXAMPLE #2

“I just have to jump in here as a 28 year old guy weighing about 220 I routinely wear leggings from your competitors ( GAP Nike UA) under my jeans to keep warm as I work outside. When the spirit moves me I’ll wear just them. I wear a L of XL XL is a little loose and the L works better. Despite the fact they were designed for girls they hide my (Bulge) and are not in the least see through. Remind me not to buy your pants I might end up showing “too Much.”

This comment is negative. Again, moving forward through the triage chart, this person is not a customer and I would classify this post as a comedian want-to-be. Therefore I would suggest not replying to this comment.

Why is it that some of the largest companies can spend millions of dollars creating content that will go viral with no avail, but your average man or woman can stick a pair of tights on their household feline and all of a sudden it’s a worldwide phenomenon? Virality is a concept that defines a photo, post or video that gains popularity quickly among multiple social mediums.

When analyzing what makes something go viral, it’s important to note what emotions it provokes in a consumer to make them want to share it. I’ve broken down the emotions of vitality to the following:

I found it first!: People like to be the first, they like to share stories, pictures, videos with friends that they have never seen. It’s funny because the reality is they had nothing to do with the making of this content, but being the first to share it comes as rewarding to the consumer. By creating content that sparks this feeling of wanting to share in order to be the first to do so, virality will come easier.

Nostalgia: Back in my day, cats in tights was the hip, viral thing. I sure hope I’m not telling my grandchildren this but nostalgia really is a driving force in virality. Memories from our past are much easier to share as they will likely spark conversation among friends and family who lived through the same times.

Entertaining: Finally, what would seem to be the most obvious, entertainment value. People aren’t going to share something that didn’t get them talking. Whether it’s funny, shocking or informative, there needs to be that sense of urgency to share.

Going viral is every brands desire, but getting there is the hard part. Unfortunately, triggering emotions alone is often not enough and a little bit of luck is needed in order to propel a post from zero to hero.

Source Used: http://mashable.com/2013/07/09/jonah-berger-viral-content/

Wendy’s has lucked out lately with a social media campaign that not only has consumers in stitches, but also leveraged their social media following. This was all due to a series of youtube videos released in the past week that humourize the brands new Pretzel Pub Chicken burger. The commercials show various situations where consumers fall in love with the burger in absurd circumstances.

Hilarity is seemingly important in the fast food industry to leverage campaigns. A&W had similar success with a campaign they ran earlier in the year promoting their legendary root beer. So why is this the case? It’s no secret that humour sells, but above this, why are these campaigns so successful, and why have they proven to decrease the amount of backlash these companies receive?

First off, it’s much more difficult to criticize a brand, that, in a sense makes fun of themselves. The Wendy’s campaign is a perfect example of how a joke can mask negativity. Except for some of the regular critics, they received outstanding reviews of their videos and have even engaged twitter followers by encouraging them to use their #PretzelLoveStories hashtag to potentially get their story acted out.

Another aspect that I think is key to note is the industry. If a more serious industry such as financial institutions tried to implement comical campaigns to this extent, I don’t think they would obtain the same kind of buzz that Wendy’s or A&W created. Fast food isn’t traditionally associated with quality and therefore humour provides a nice barrier against the health criticism these brands are used to.

Lastly, these ads are targeted. They deal with one product offering, and in Wendy’s case, this new product is not your usual burger. The fact that it has a pretzel bun and even the name itself: “Pretzel Pub Chicken” allows for some imagination. I think the way they managed to market a new product offering in a cluttered market is a perfect example of knowing your audience. Wendy’s saw the potential to use humour to engage consumers because this was appropriate based on their industry.

Article Referenced: http://www.forbes.com/sites/caroltice/2013/10/28/wendys-social-media-success-secretmassive-stupidity/

As discussed in class, sometimes the easiest way to create a viral, lasting social media campaign is by identifying consumer trends and capitalizing on them. Jell-O, everyone’s childhood friend, has done just that. Through their analysis of trending hashtags on twitter they discovered that “#FML” was one of the most commonly used. The hashtag generally followed either an embarrassing or non-ideal moment so Jell-O decided to try and turn this negative term into a positive one by switching the first word from “F@&$” to “Fun.”

Is this creative enough to actually have an impact? That was surely one of the questions Jell-O’s social media team considered prior to the launch of the campaign. As their consumer base is largely families, one could see how this play on a negative term could potentially offend this key demographic. Unfortunately, the campaign did just that… and much more. A large part of their campaign revolved around replying to random users who used the #FML hashtag. The majority of these users were not following twitter and were confused when Jell-O tried to cheer them up by offering a free Jell-O coupon through a tweeted reply. Jell-O ended up annoying more consumers than they pleased and received much backlash in form of tweets that criticized their social media skills and the quality of their product.

The reason I am posting about this campaign is because, in my opinion, it’s hard to identify a “right way” to create a social media campaign. Some would argue that Jell-O followed all of the right steps: They found a trending topic, developed a creative campaign around it and actively engaged with consumers. This is where I feel they went wrong:

1. Know your demographic!: I’ve spoken about this in past posts and here it is again. Jell-O spent their time talking to people who weren’t necessarily their consumers. This created backlash and shows that the social media team didn’t consider who they actually wanted to target with this campaign.

2. Know your material: Jell-O saw an opportunity and went for it. Unfortunately, they failed to recognize that the term they were trying to flip is vulgar in nature and by trying to make it positive, all they did was anger those who used it in the first place.

3. Testing 1,2,3: We are constantly taught to test our campaigns before implementation. This step was definitely missed while developing this campaign as the campaign was no where near as popular as they had expected.

Creating an effective social media campaign really comes down to knowing your audience and doing the research necessary to properly implement the plan. Although there are definitely steps to take, it is important to understand that each campaign is different and requires a good amount of planning for it to be a success!

Site Referenced: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/24/jello-fun-my-life-twitter_n_3332230.html

In COMM 464 we have been discussing the never-ending debate regarding privacy and social media. With social media sites changing their privacy settings constantly, it’s sometimes difficult to know what, if anything you post is truly private. For a marketing student like myself, this is a fairly easy concept to understand as companies like Facebook and Twitter are constantly evolving to increase revenues and to find new ways to allow businesses to target key consumers. For people like my parents however, this can be a difficult concept to grasp as they explore the latest and greatest technologies and platforms.

I decided to do a little more research into the subject and found a really interesting post on Mashable.com called “Can Facebook Predict Suicide Risks?” Up until now we’ve only discussed how privacy regulations have a negative resonance with consumers, but what if our information from Facebook and social media could actually help us save lives and gain valuable insights for progressive projects?

The article tells of a company called the Durkheim Project which acts as an opt-in program for veterans. When a veteran opts-in they install an app onto their computers, tablets and phones which has an algorithm that detects when the user posts, comments or mentions key phrases and words that may signify them being suicidal. Security is key for the company as they offer complete confidentiality of information and use a firewall to protect the users usage. Why should the loved ones of veterans care if they are posting key words on their social media? Because Dartmouth University, the host institution for this project, conducted research that found “more than 65 percent of users who went on to commit suicide employed key words or phrases on a regular basis on their social media accounts.”

Now this project is opt-in, meaning that the veterans themselves have to decide to sign up for the program once returning from their duty, but what if the information from our social media account could have other societal benefits? For example, cyber-bullying is one of the largest problems facing youth today – often resulting in suicide. What if, like the Durkheim Project, we could use user data to formulate a list of keywords that may signal to a child being cyber bullied? This could help friends and family identify these victims at an earlier stage and help them before it’s too late.

One of my classmates said that because social media is free, we are technically the product. I think this is absolutely true and something we all need to consider when posting and commenting. Because privacy concerns will likely always be present, I think we should focus on how social media can help society, like how the Durkheim Project did. As Michael Jordon said: “Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.”

I had so much fun writing my last Social Media for Dummies that I thought I’d give it another stab. This time, I’ll be talking about demographics in social media and the common misconceptions that occur.

My dad was telling me how he wanted to get a Facebook page set up White Rock based real estate company. My dad thinks of himself as extremely technological, always bragging about his new devices or ways he has found to make his life easier, that being said, for a man who provides himself on being “tech-saavy,” his social media skills are non existent.

This got me thinking… would social media be beneficial in a market such as White Rock where the average age of residents is 54 years old. Well… I was definitely mistaken as it turns out that there is DEFINITELY an advantage of setting up social media for older demographics. In fact, according to a GlobalWebIndex study: “Twitter’s fastest growing age demographic is 55 to 64 year olds, registering an increase in active users of 79%”. The reality is, most youth have been using social media and networking sites for several years now, most with great competency meaning that less time is spent navigating and more communicating. This emerging demographic, however, is excited and ready to learn about how Twitter, Facebook or Instagram can help their lives, or even their careers.

It’s based on this knowledge that I made a set of recommendations to my dad, based on some research but also on topics discussed in class. These recommendations are beneficial however to all small businesses looking to increase clientele through social media.

1. Know your demographics!

My dad sure did and he saw the opportunity that social media presents. Older demographics are often more likely to post about things they like or repost things that interest them. Therefore, it is important to understand your target demographic. As you can see by the infographic below, adults tend to use more visual social media sites such as Pinterest and Instagram but also have a strong, and improving presence on some of the bigger sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

2. Cater your content to these demographics! 

What my great aunt cares about and what I care about are two very different subjects. It is important to understand and respect this when advertising via social media. Listening can be one of the easiest ways to identify what information your target audience is looking for! When you post about your business or something related to it, see what people reply, or if they reply at all! Identify which posts are often shared and liked.

3. Create a plan.

One of the biggest things my dad said was that he didn’t have time to constantly be updating statuses and trying to find content that would engage consumers. This seems to be a common problem but one that can be easily overcome. Create a plan! By knowing what you want to talk about and who you want to engage, you’re already one step ahead of the rest. Now it’s time to create a viable itinerary that shows what kind of content you are going to post when. There are tools out there to help with this, Hootsuite can be a great tool for managing your time and monitoring social media, but there are also some free frameworks to help identify how to start such as The Altimeter Approach .

4. Put the plan into action!

It may seem like a basic last step, but if you don’t try – you won’t succeed! My dad created his Facebook account months ago and has yet to try post anything. By having a plan, you eliminate some of the trial and error you will have to go through in order to achieve an optimal social media campaign. So get out there and do it! You might be surprised as to how much “buzz” you can create!

Social media can be a company’s best friend yet can turn into an unmerciful enemy within seconds. One of the easiest ways to offend the greater population is to publicly criticize your competitor in a Youtube video. Microsoft’s current social media strategy seems to be following this recipe for disaster quite nicely. The company released seven videos, including this one, last week following the launch of  Apple’s new iPhones.

The ads were quickly taken down by Microsoft following much criticism, leaving the question: Why, Microsoft, Why? This isn’t the first time that Microsoft has tried to take down its competitors with publically-made accusations of comparably weak products. Back in 2012, Microsoft’s Bing search engine released an aray of ad campaigns claiming that Google was “Scroogling” people due to a lack of accuracy in search results. This, too, resulted in backlash.

I hope it is becoming obvious that I disagree with Microsofts tactic of “putting down their competitors,” however, by scrutinizing Microsoft, I’m no better that the culprit itself! Therefore, I have decided to create a “Social Media for Dummies” guide, with my first installation being: “Bashing the Competitor!” I’ve outlined why this marketing technique proves to be inefficient and more damaging to your brand than your competitors’.

1. Insecurities: Whether it’s relationships or marketing, confidence is key. By bashing your competitor, not only do you tick off anyone who is loyal to that brand but you also demonstrate your lack of confidence in your own. The way I see it, if you need to put down your competitor to make me buy your product, it’s probably not that great! Whether or not this is true is up for debate but it certainly creates a feeling of desperation.

2. Tell me about YOUR brand: One common theme I have noticed in all of the comparative advertising I’ve seen, is that the emphasis is never on their OWN brand. We spend 30 seconds watching a youtube clip of them telling me about their competitors brand and why I shouldn’t buy it. A better technique is to create something buzz worthy that shines a positive light on your brand and helps identify key strengths.

3. Bad PR: Yes, there is such a thing as too far. When we were in kindergarten we were told that it is fine to play games with our friends but you can go too far. Yes, I am comparing one of the worlds leading electronics companies to a kindergarten student. Poking fun at the competitor can be funny, but to an extent. When it starts to become spiteful and out of good taste, this sheds a negative light on your own brand creating bad PR.

4. Eliminating Opportunity: In a world where companies so often merge or come to strategic agreements, the marketing tactic of bashing competitors can eliminate opportunities. If I were the CEO of an emerging company and had bids to either enter a business venture or to be bought out, I would go with the brand that is reputable because of their innovative and respected culture rather than one of negativity. Never burn bridges!

I hope I have provided insight into the world of comparative advertising and how damaging it can be to your brand. Let’s be real, there’s enough negativity in the world as it is, the last thing I want to do is create a negative brand image for my company! Cater to your strengths and improve on your weaknesses, but for goodness sake, don’t waste your money indirectly marketing your competitors brand!