Social Media Research

Bus468:Social Media

Chloé

Matt

Dickson

Ashleigh

Agenda

Introduction - Social Media 101

Methodology - What we did, how we did it

Analysis - What we found

Risks – Dangers of Social Media for businesses

Conclusion

Recommendations – Best practices

Intro Methodology Analysis Risks Recommendations Conclusion

What is Social Media?

Safko and Brake (2009): “Refers to activities, practices and behaviours

among communities of people who gather online to share information, knowledge, and opinions using conversational media.”

“Conversational media are web-based applications that make it possible to create and easily transmit content in the form of words, pictures, videos and audios.”

Extensive, wide-reaching, enabling.

About people



5 Ways of Using Social Media

Social Media

Community Building

Transparency

Marketing and PromotionProject Research

Customer Service


Our Research Question

How can organizations use and get the most of

Social Media and what are the impacts to be

expected, on an individual, company-wide and

industry level, when these organizations

incorporate Social Media into their

marketing plan?


Methodology

Theoretical research: Blogs, leading to books and articles

Practical research: Interview with two different companies


Companies We Interviewed

Hurray! Solutions (fictive name)Electronic Components4 employees, home officeUse SM to educate consumers, drive traffic to

website, build a network, hopefully increase sales

Acme Design Inc. (fictive name)Digital agencyBig International clientsUse SM to have an online presence & to drive traffic

to their website


Costs & Risks of Social Media

Time required (cost) Initial implementationOngoing

Difficulty of measuring ROICan track website traffic, and traffic to sales. But

cannot track Social Media Company Website Sales


Benefits of Social Media

Cost-effective TV ads vs Youtube

Feedback mechanism Blog comments, criticism

Recruitment drive Attract employees through LinkedIn

Build brand awareness Increased search engine rankings, exposure

Targeted marketing More effective for small companies


What We Found at Hurray! Solutions

Individual Level Need to be professional all the time Feedback mechanism

Company-wide level Three people involved in blogging process (out of 5

staff) Social media still has to go through the website Attract early adopters (target market), users of SM

Industry-wide level Does not help them keep tabs on competitors, but may

in the future (when they catch up!) Market research tool


What we found at Acme Design Inc.

Individual Level The VP of digital strategy responsible for SM Every employee is allowed to blog, as long as it is not about a

client

Company-wide level They only hire people that they trust Goal is still to drive people to their website Wikis for knowledge-sharing, internal communications

Industry-wide level B2C company, so SM is not a main priority Many competitors use SM, able to monitor them Generate authority, credibility and transparency in the long

run


Summary of Observations

Things that companies did wellAdopting the latest technology, embracing itCreating communitiesMarket research, addressing customer needs quickly

Things that need improvementTracking (SM traffic SALES)Tracking time spent on social media, then doing ROI

analysis


The Tools and their UseINTERNAL• Share knowledge by collaboration• Boosts innovation• Keep knowledge within the company

INTERNAL & EXTERNAL• Share ideas• Communicate about projects• Get quick answers by connecting employees

• Promote blogs• Create a trusted relationship


The Tools and their Use (con’t)

(BLOGS) INTERNAL & EXTERNAL• Internal use only- designed to inform employees

• Also-external use. Generates authority/credibility

EXTERNAL• Promote company’s culture• Marketing tool to get feedback

EXTERNAL• All Fortune 500 utilize it• Connect with experts• Background checks on employees


Business Risks

Productivity losses

• Addictive and time consuming• Average of 40 minutes per week at work

Legal risks

• Privacy issues with employees and customers

Reputation risks

• Mistakes will be made and hard to remove

Release of critical information

• Intentional or unintentional leak of information

Intro Methodology Analysis RisksRecommendati

onsConclusion

Solutions to Business Risks

Productivity losses

• 9% increase in productivity if used within a reasonable limit of less than 20% of total time in the office

Legal risks

• Being transparent with stakeholders

Reputation risks

• Mistakes will be made, it cannot be avoided• Have a clear policy on how to deal with Social Media

Release of critical information

• A well defined corporate policy regarding Social Media• Monitor employees


onsConclusion

Damage Control

Respond

quickly

Don’t delete anythin

g

Acknowledge

mistakes

Apologize

Take correcti

ve measur

es


onsConclusion

Recommendations

Social media marketing should be utilized by B2C companies more than B2B

Must have a well defined SM policy

As with all marketing, should have a clear idea of who your market is. Maintain an overall marketing strategy.

Should be mindful of the ‘hidden costs’ of SM

Pay attention to associated risks.


onsConclusion

Conclusion

There are proven benefits in using Social Media as a marketing tool

Transparency Service Marketing and promotion Feedback and market research Community building

Still difficult to demonstrate direct results on a P&L statement


onsConclusion

Thank You for Listening!

Are there any questions?

Documents

Social Media Research