SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:FIFTY100.COM

By: Meredith Boling, Jake Curtis, & Elise Lowerison

About Fifty100.com

Fifty100 utilizes the concept from trust agents: “Make Your Own Game” A new online music website offers independent artists the chance to sell

their music, and music fans the chance to find something different from mainstream.

Independent artists and music fans can control how their music is purchased—artists are guaranteed royalties from the songs purchased; iTunes only gives out a percentage of royalties earned.

Fans can get store credit when a song is purchased from their page or recommendations.

Offers a weekly online magazine highlighting artists on the site. Open interactivity with the artists and fans Fans can personally promote artists they like, while building a music profile

to fit their tastes. The fan is truly engaged in their musical searches. Main competitor in the digital music industry is iTunes . Targets independent rather than commercial artists

SCREEN SHOT OF FIFTY100.COM’S WEBSITE

The Media and How We Used Them

First Medium:

Facebook

Facebook is an exceptional tools to use when launching a brand, a product, or a service.

Facebook acts as a launch pad for blogging, communicating, and connecting online for Fifty100 promotion—reaches a wide audience

Facebook puts Fifty100 into the limelight—more coverage than iTunes by having a presence

Allows pre-existing Facebook users to discuss with their peers about the website and its features, as well as granting them access to explore the site, watch YouTube videos about the site, and stay updated on the sites changes, upgrades, and announcements.

We created a fan page for the Fifty100 site and were able to reach out to over 350 people across the globe

Media Continued…

Second Medium:

YouTube

Viral Videos create buzz about Fifty100.com The views, recommendations, and word-of-mouth

spread about Fifty100 through YouTube’s viewership Updates consumers about happenings on the site

through a more interactive and interesting medium Helps promotion by having different channels for

certain websites On these channels, websites can group all of their videos

together in one location, provide links to their website and blogs, and receive comments about the site in general

Created a short video on the different music that is available on the site to draw in diverse crowds

A YouTube video appeals to the emotions that a person experiences while listening to music

Uses emotional appeal via images and music fused into an interactive video

Curiosity created the “story” behind the video, in other words, what’s Fifty100.com all about?

Media Concluded

Third Medium:

Music Forums

Blogging has quickly become one of the best ways to communicate to mass audiences.

In our link-building efforts, we strayed from the spammer persona and did not link drop.

Took on a personal approach, posing as music fans looking for a good site to download music.

Popularity of these blogs was determined from a Google search. Fifty100 focuses on underground or independent

artists; therefore we chose blogs that catered to this category.

More specifically, we chose 2 blogs that offered public forums for comments: one for Indie Rock and another for Urban Alternative and Hip-Hop.

We chose to Tweet to 2 other music blogs that did not offer a forum section.

FACEBOOK FIFTY100

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MUSIC FORUMPAGE

FIFTY100 AND INTERACTIVITY

•One of the most valued tools that social media marketing can bring is the concept of interactivity. •Through Facebook, members can become a fan and member of the website. •From there, they can access the Fifty100 website, and begin exploring their options of musical genres.•Can post any tips for the website and start discussions about whether they prefer iTunes or the Fifty100 website. •Facebook fan page can be sent to friends and start a snowball effect of spreading the website around.

FIFTY100 AND INTERACTIVITY

•YouTube uses interactivity through channels. •Under the Channels heading, websites can group all of their videos together for easy access by fans on the page.•Fans can view all of the videos uploaded by the site and post comments about the site in general, instead of on each individual video. •The YouTube videos allow for a different form of interaction between the fans and artists because artists are able to help promote the website by uploading music videos and directing fans to Fifty100 to purchase their songs.

FIFTY100 AND INTERACTIVITY•Online music forums allow for the most interaction possible by providing direct, true conversation with potential customers. •It also allows direct links to our target market and the ability to form a relationship with them as the book Trust Agents emphasizes. • We encountered one problem: too new to the blogging scene without rapport as an avid blogger. •The feedback generated by interaction allows Fifty100 to progress in better serving its clientele: artists and fans. Artists can see how their fans react to their music and can chat with them about what they like or dislike about the site as well.

FIFTY100 AND INDIVIDUALIZATION

Through social media, members submit their own advice and opinions about Fifty100 with freedom of individual presence on the Internet.

Presence on Fifty100’s Facebook page is more than becoming a fan of the site, but it links personal information from private profiles with their image on Fifty100.

Fans of Fifty100 are not lost in the mix of a giant conglomerate of fans just looking for an easier way to find new music.

YouTube lets fans promote and highlight specific videos that appeal to them the most. Fans can express their opinions about the website and artists by uploading their own

videos and when time is taken to create a video, the artists are often listened to and taken more seriously.

People have successfully created brands for themselves using YouTube videos because of the ability to browse all videos uploaded by a specific person. They are able to express themselves and their opinions freely

With the freedom to post on sites about diverse opinions, we are able to start conversations about the website to spark interest and form a virtual focus group about the website.

These users can interact with each other, but have the opportunity to speak freely about the efficiency of the website, its music library, and what they find important about the artist, song, or genre itself.

Members maintain their individuality, while still building on the discussions that administrators begin: whether iTunes or Fifty100 is preferred for music downloads.

Conclusion and Results•Facebook allowed for direct connection to large numbers of people and the ability to easily share the website with hundreds more people—most effective •YouTube expressed the soul of the site, instead of just using word descriptions; received a small, but significant number of views on the video—allows for user interactivity •The online music forums were the best way to reach consumers who avoid mainstream medias, similar to Fifty100 avoiding mainstream artists. •Although we didn’t get any definite responses, there were a some reviews of the posts that could have generated customers—created trust in blogging and customize the media experience•Facebook allows users to stay informed, like how to stay informed; this gives them the ability to start getting involved and really gain a presence on Fifty100’s site.