The age of social media: consumer’s power to influence brands

Social media has increase the power of consumers in business, much greater than we can expect.

In the past, consumers did have power by recommendation and feedback, they were able to communicate with the brands. However, with the age of social media, communication is faster and broader. Consumers now can talk, in real time, with brands and with other consumers. This is something that have never happened before.

As a modern girl, I would buy a lot of beauty products for myself and my friends. As in the traditional way, I would go to a store finding for advices from shop assistant to find a product that is good for me and fit with my budget. The shop assistant can tell the truth or she can lie, I have no way to find out about that. Nowadays, I can check several product reviews before I make my own decision to buy something therefore, I don’t even need to hear from the shop assistant. It is clearly to see how one customer can affect the shopping behaviour of other customers. Before the existence of social media, big brands could pretty much say anything to their customers without much consideration of something bad would happen in written or if there is something, it could be easily fix or sway around. It is not the story of today, since social media has enabled people around the world to connect with each other much faster and broader with the “share” button.

Image: Cosmetic review from Kjagger

Consumers are the content creator of today’s world. Even there are so many debates over whether tools like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube could be huge distraction from is one big example, which enable it’s user to create media content and publish and they can even earn money from that, which create a whole new job that we call “Youtuber”. Let’s look back to the beauty product purchasing example (yes, cause it is the easiest to understand and connect with). The review that I read or watch online are usually from other consumers that had already use the products or they could be asked to do a review by recommendation, which normally are from personal point of view, but many people seem to enjoy them better than reading the product description. 

On the other hand, consumers are moving toward the companies with the higher frequency using level of social media to communicate about current social issues, which has proven that value creation and generation for any business is now a bigger deal. 

Image: Facebook safety check

First steps to start with planning a content marketing strategy

What you should do first? I think this is a good summary of tips and questions and the first steps to take when planning a content marketing strategy. Thoughts are by Sarita Harbour. It's important to figure out and understand to whom you are creating content, where they hang out and what are their interests. With these Sarita’s thoughts and 4 questions is easy to realize where to start and what you should take in consideration in minimum related to content marketing for your target groups. These questions are understandable even for beginners. Important first steps for all companies, the big and small. 

1. What are the demographics of our target audience? Pinpointing the age, sex, marital status and other key demographic information of your customers will help streamline data-gathering for the remaining questions. It may be that you have two or three different customer profiles within a larger group, and this knowledge is helpful when developing customized content and developing different product lines or services.
2. Where does my target audience hang out? This is one of the most important questions to ask when working on the social media aspect of your content marketing strategy. The most cleverly written web content including articles, blog posts, white papers, and tutorials are wasted if they don't reach your target audience.
   
   Which social media platforms do they use and what activities does they participate in when they are on these sites? Are your typical clients or customers Facebook enthusiasts, LinkedIn members, Twitter aficionados or do they prefer Pinterest? Where do they get their news - the Internet, the radio, television, or print media? Gain a clear understanding of where your audience spends their time and focus your social media interactions and content marketing there. Tip: if you don't know where to start, try Facebook. With approximately 1 billion users, chances are your typical customer is among them.
3. What are their day-to-day concerns? Identify the main concerns of your target audience. Look at the big picture, and don't limit this information to just the problems your business can help them solve. For example, a skin care business targeting middle aged women may discover that their target customers are concerned about aging parents, college-aged children, and finding time to exercise. Using this knowledge can help flesh out a profile of your typical customer, and direct content creation on websites and social media communities built around these concerns. Demonstrating your empathy and understanding of what their lives are like can go a long way to building long-term relationships with your target audience.
4. How can we help? Online consumers have questions that need answers and problems that need solving.They want help to do something (often to save time and/or money), to buy something, or to be entertained. Once you answer their questions concisely, help with problem solving or providing useful or entertaining information, they are more likely to share your content with others, bookmark your site, subscribe to your newsfeeds, friend you, pin you, retweet you and connect with you. Ultimately, they will either purchase from you online or visit your store.
   http://www.zerys.com/content-marketing-blog-1/bid/87029/4-Questions-That-Help-Define-Your-Target-Audience

Content marketing on Instagram

Instagram is a free, online platform for sharing images and videos and social networking. Instagram has over 300 million monthly active users and there is more than 70 million published image per day. Instagram has founded five years ago and it’s been growing very fast, it has become one of the most valuable social media platforms. Many companies have realized that this kind of visual storytelling grows their following, engage customers, and boost their brands. In last few years, Instagram has grown into an effective platform for marketers.

A few examples of companies that have succeed in Instagram and managed to take advantage of content marketing in Instagram. One of the most succeed companies in Instagram are Nike, GoPro, Levi’s and Ben and Jerry’s. They have used visual storytelling to building their brands.

                                                                           

I found two interesting articles about “How to use Instagram for content marketing”

(http://www.onlinemarketinginstitute.org/blog/2013/09/how-to-use-instagram-for-content-marketing/ and http://www.scribblelive.com/blog/2015/06/22/use-instagram-content-marketing/ )

Best tips from the articles:

      1. Use Instagram to Tell Your Brand’s Story

Storytelling is one of the most important thing on Instagram marketing. Storytelling evokes people's emotions and creates engagement. 

      2. Practice Good Instagram Habits

Practice the good habits that will improve your marketing efforts. One of the most important is writing captions. Even if a picture is worth of thousand words, the good caption improves communication. Captions helps to understand the meanings of the picture.

      3. Use hashtags. 

Users can find your company more easily by using the right hashtags. Using a relevant hashtag will help expand your reach beyond your current followers and increase your chances of engagement.

      4. Post the best pictures you can. 

      Don’t use only Instagram own photo-editing tools. Use the apps which helps you to make your pictures look even better. There is a wide range of applications that helps you to take your pictures to the next level. Images need to be high quality and interesting.

     




5. Post often

Posting often is a prerequisite for getting new followers. Regular posts will hold consumers intrests. It’s good to set targets and make a timetable for posting.

       

      6. Creating engagement 

This is the most important target. The better you build a network on Instagram, the more opportunities you create to promote your products and brand—and with an audience receptive to what you have to say. 

      7. Involve your brand community

      Building a successful Instagram campaign does not end with the content you post. It is equally important to involve yourself and your followers in the community your brand is trying to build. This can be done easily by responding to follower comments, following relevant influencers and mentioning them in posts.


      
      And last.. Watch this short video about doing business on Instagram! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYmEdUrH8YY

-Petra Forsius-

How to create engaging social media content?

Every company in social media wants to create engaging content and that could be challenge. For the the first you have to know your own company well and for the second you have to know your audience well.

So first define what are the major demographic groups that are engaged in each platform. In every platform - Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube - you probably have different audience or in other words people search different kind of posts from different platforms. 

For second you take under consider posting type and time. Timing really matters in this also. Do a research on the times that your audience is most likely to interact. For in general Thursday and Friday are best posting days for Facebook and Monday to Thursday best for Twitter. And the best posting type for Facebook are something visual and interactive. In Twitter question and answer type content works best. Look the best timing from the nest picture. 

http://marinemarketingtools.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/best-days-times-social-media-chart.jpg

Third thing to do is to be current. Follow current trends and news and relate your post to them. And always be a few steps ahead that you are not so predictable. 

For the Fourth try to make your audience feel comfortable and familiar with your brand. This might lead to interaction and it usually leads. This makes it easier for your audience to relate. Also be consistent!

Fifth, encourage your employees to interact with current and potential customers. Just them to be present and engaged. 

(sorce used: http://www.webseoanalytics.com/blog/5-tips-for-creating-engaging-content-on-social-media-platforms/)

Some tips and examples for engaging:

For fist the most important thing is to use quality pictures and videos and so on when ever it is possible. But also art and science works almost always for engaging posts. 

Other good things you can use are funny or inspirational images, product photos and for deeper you can have photos of how the product is done. 

You can also use photos or videos that have nothing to do with your product to break you're offering for example, it can be thought provoking. 

Also day in life -posts are good for creating transparency. You let people know how things are done in your company and thus increase interest from your audience. 

To interact your audience you can also ask questions and hold a contest in your social media site. Or many people always participate when there are product give away. 

Good things to share are videos that inspires you and your company, industry news and company news. 

For the one of the most captivating thing is to share stories because people really love stories. Especially in Facebook stories are a hit. For example Facebook site - Humans of New York, has almost 16 million likes of the pages and the only thing is that they share people stories. Check the site from this link!

(sorce used: http://www.business2community.com/social-media/35-engaging-social-media-post-ideas-for-businesses-01319116#MYSPIKhq8HZ9yAwA.97)

-Mira Niemi-

Five steps of target market analysis

Why should companies write a target market analysis? The most important thing is that is can help you use your marketing funds more effectively. You can identify the most important characteristics about them. Then it is easier to promote your product or service directly to them. This can really increase sales. 

STEP 1: Identify your target market

Identifying your target market will help you use your resources more wisely when you market to a specific group of people. 

• List all potential customers. Individual buyers, other businesses and middlemen who re-sell your product
• Segment your audience and then split them up into different groups of customers

Determine who will benefit from your product the most. This is your company's target audience. Focus your campaign on this group.

Image (c) Alex Slobodkin / Getty Images

STEP 2: Describe your target market demographically

Demographic characteristics can be age, gender, maritial status etc.. 

• This kind of information can be often found online 
• For businesses can this kind of information can be where the business is located, their annual revenue, industry and so on

http://combatarms.wikia.com/wiki/File:Globe.svg

STEP 3: Describe your target market psycho-graphically

Psycho graphic information tells you information about you audience's attitudes, beliefs, emotions and values. 

• This kind of information can be found through surveys or focus groups. It would be beneficial to hire a marketing research team to help you
• Businesses' psycho graphic information can include for example company's values or motto

http://induxtree.com/content-marketing/psychographic-segmentation-in-b2b-marketing/

 STEP 4: Describe your target market behavioristically

It helps you to understand why someone purchases something over another. It includes how often target market buy the product, how much or how many they buy and so on.

• Determine how important brand or company loyalty is to your target market
• Ask if your customers prefer face-to-face interaction or an online store
• How do your target market pay for your product?
• Do your audience most heavily value convenience, a good price or quality?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2013/01/07/is-brand-loyalty-dying-a-slow-and-painful-death/

STEP 5: Compile your results 

This is your target market analysis, an in-depth look at the lifestyle and the characteristics of your customers.

• Consider using graphics! It helps your organization visualize different numbers and percentages.

http://www.target-a-market.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/target-markets.jpg

- Tanja Heikkinen

 

Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Target-Market-Analysis

Marketing in Social Media

Nowadays pretty much all companies are somehow linked to social media. And probably the simplest reason for that is visibility and publicity companies acquire through different social media channels. Of course other benefits follow visibility and publicity, and these are only for the good of the company. Sometimes though, marketing can go wrong and news, good and bad travel like a flash through the internet. So there are a lot of opportunities and benefits within social media, but also it can bring bad publicity in some cases. Unlike often said, all publicity isn't necessarily good.

Improved audience insights

- Businesses should understand their customers. Therefore in social media, listening to your customers and finding our their needs is the most important thing. Content is then built on according to the demand.

Improved customer service

- Being there for your customer is extremely important, and a lot of people use social media to find solutions to their problems. Companies should keep customers updated in social media as they would in any other place. Good service all in all keeps the customers satisfied.

Content is easily distributed

- As we all know, internet is a wondrous place and data can be shared easily with just one click of a button. This helps the distribution of various things. This is also a great way for companies to share their content around the Globe in a blink of an eye.

Become an influencer in your industry

- Influence grows together with popularity. This way you gain more visibility. To get more visibility it is essential to be connected to other companies, because it will increase the amount of people seeing your company's name or logo. And that's what companies want. Awareness.

Increased Traffic

- Companies can provide links to, for example their websites and to different products. Through social media this is very efficient and a good way of advertising your products more specifically for those who are interested.

Enhanced SEO rankings

- Social media enables the possibility of having better visibility in search engines. If a company wishes to be found with specific keywords, they should put more emphasis on those topics in their content.

"Businesses sharing their content on social media are sending out a “brand-signal” to search engines that speak of your brands legitimacy, credibility, and trustworthiness." -What are the Benefits of Social Media Marketing? , Lexie Carbone, Feb 1st 2015

Save Money

- Social media tools are free.

Here are some of the benefits social media tools provide, and to read more check this article

References: http://www.business2community.com/social-media/benefits-social-media-marketing-01140985#Zg6yZGZ0QlpKdrzk.97

How customers, clients and other individuals believe in the popularity of your account

What I have personally learned by following and reading different blogs, and following the process is that in the beginning it can be very difficult to get some followers. At that time it is very important to just believe in yourself and not to give up. It will take months, for some it might take even years until it hits. People and individuals with the same kind of interests will find you. Not through a friend in common, but through a business partner à who has a friend à who is following an interesting source à who gives examples on products à which are marketing by à and used by à and who actually comment in an interesting point of view why to choose this product.

See, to find followers and customers you first have to believe in yourself and get those few followers (probably your friends or acquaintances) who will share your opinions and posts to their connections where all the fun starts.

But we live in a world where a lot of us believes in what other people think and say, and to get reliable for individuals they usually want to see the huge amount of other people who likes your opinions and ways to think, the followers. This is why, some very smart companies, has launched a way to get hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of followers to like and follow your page.  This will be possible by paying just a small amount of money for the service, and suddenly you will have hundreds of thousands of followers, and individuals who believe in you more. But is this right and fair to do so?

There have been so many different discussions about these topics lately on the Internet and at different sites and apps. There are many opinions saying that you as a blogger, “Instagrammer” or “Twitterer” shouldn’t worry too much about these topics. But is this really reliable and worth it? Will people trust and believe in you in the future?

Please feel free to comment on what you think about how important it is to have the followers and popularity. This time I got my inspiration from another, interesting blogger named Ian Andersson Gray.

How to become a Social Media Guru in 20 Steps

Social Media Strategy in 8 steps

Hi!

I found this great social media strategy in 8 steps article in Convince and Convert. You can read it yourself HERE. But I will go trough it briefly step by step, so you get the idea.

(http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-strategy/social-media-strategy-in-8-steps/)

1. Build an ark - everyone in the company should involve in social media, it should be everywhere.

2. Listen and compare - listen to your customers and competitors, they will lead you in the right direction when it comes to social media marketing

3. What's the point? - What do you specifically wan't to use social media for? Awareness? Sales?

4. Success metrics - how get likes and engagement? Think of the tools how to measure those things.

5. Analyze audience - always know your target customer, think of the demographic and psychographic characteristics.

6. What's your one thing? - How can you impact your customers heart instead of the head?

7. Engagement & humanization - act like a person, not a entity.

8. Channel plan - how and where? This is something you should consider after knowing the answers to the previous ones.

Personally I think the most important steps of these are to getting to know your target group and how to engage them. There is no point in doing social media marketing, if you don't know who you are trying to convince. Companies must know what their customers wan't to read and more importantly where  to reach them. Step 2 helps with this, let the customers tell you what they really wan't. Listen to them and compare your own needs with competitors.

In the article there was a really good allegory for step 6. "Disney isn't about movies, it's about magic." I liked that phrase so much, and actually every company should think of something similar suiting their vision the most.

Social media provides lots of opportunities, we just need to know how to benefit it. The best way is just to start exploring!

(http://4b9cae461ny22p1bzoeb3tg1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/MG-soc-media-strategy.jpg)

Content strategy and process

Content strategy and process

I found this website https://vimeo.com/136770404 where is a video lesson from webinar and webinar material is about How to Create a Social Media Content Strategy Your Board, Execs AND Audience Love. This video is made by Filene Research Institute and the lecturer talks about North-American markets.. Unfortunately this video doesn´t exist on YouTube.

A solid content strategy that integrates multiple channels, capitalizes on the interactive nature of social media, and aligns with overall corporate objectives is the most important key to success, according to our research findings.

This webinar will give you essential elements for building a solid content strategy that meets the goals of your board and executive teams, while delivering value to your audience.

This video lesson tells about business goals and content focus, corporal laws, how to prioritize the content and understand the channels. Video tells also about budgeting and all the process about getting business alive.

This next photo is taken from the webinar material. It shows you what you have to do properly to get your business working success.

This next photo is taken also from webinar material. The lecturer thinks that its very important to know your tools so that you get your marketing target strategy alive.

I think this webinar and the material is really good and educational. The lecturer knows what she´s talking about. 

7 Content Strategy Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Content marketing is a strong tool for brand marketing, and looking at the brands that are succeeding at it one might think "how hard can it be?". Here are some content strategy mistakes to avoid when getting into content marketing.

1. Trying to go full speed from the start

Creating content takes time and effort. Trying to go big in the very beginning without the necessary resources will only overwhelm you. Instead of going pedal to the metal start slow, examine the content and feedback, learn from mistakes and tweak your approach based on what you've learned.

2. No workflow

 A big mistake is to think that the work is done when the content is ready. Sure the hard part might be over but what next? Who is going to review the content so that it is on point with the brand image? Who decides on which platforms the content is published? Make sure you establish a workflow before creating content so that you know what to publish, when, and on which platforms.

3. Underestimating the amout of work

Creating quality content takes a lot of work. Neglecting this fact and trying to produce content by yourself can result in some costly failures. So make sure you have a professional team around you to whom you can distribute the workload, or if possible consider hiring an expert to create the content.

4. Underestimating the competition

Generally companies compete with other companies from the same market sector, but when it comes to content marketing you are not just competing with that other brand for customers, you are competing with established content creators.

5. Lack of goals

1. Publish content
2. ?
3. Profit!

A crucial mistake is to think that just by publishing something somewhere will result in worldwide publicity and loads of new customers. Before creating and publishing content, it is important to identify the goals and then measure the performance in relation to those goals.

6. Forgetting distribution

Many brands are lacking in distributing their content. They think that promoting their content in social media is all it takes to spread their stories. Strategic distribution of content is what will set businesses apart in content marketing. Optimizing for search engines and mobile, promoting in branded publications, and using influencers from the field are few ways of making sure the content reaches the target market.

7. Mentioning the brand name at every possible turn

This is a sure way to drive away those few loyal followers that you have managed to obtain. If you want your brand to be seen as a trusted source of information, expertise, or entertainment be sure to create meaningful, genuine, and engaging content. Don't fill the content with brand mentions and sales pitches otherwise it will only feel like you are desperately trying to sell your product.

Source

Lead nurturing and content marketing

What is lead nurturing?

Lead nurturing is the process of building effective relationships with potential customers throughout the buying process. It’s purpose is to create automated and ongoing communication with your potential customer throughout the sales cycle, maximizing results and revenue for your company.

Because of technology like marketing automation, modern day lead nurturing is personalized, adaptive, and can listen and react to buyer behavior in real-time. Modern lead nurturing enables you to listen and respond to buyers on multiple channels.

Nurturing leads with content marketing

If lead nurturing is the backbone of a successful online marketing strategy, then content marketing is the muscle. In a market where customers are increasingly wary of ads and increasing self-educating through the funnel, content marketing has stepped up to the place to give brands a voice

Content marketing is the process of creating relevant and valuable content, from blog posts to infographics to video, which attracts, engages, and serves your audience. Customers are already scouring the web for answers to their questions and solutions for their problems that brands are uniquely positioned to provide. Content marketing welcomes them at every stage of the buyer’s journey, and helps move them through the funnel.

The buyers new funnel

How marketing automation helps nurture leads

Marketing automation is a technology solution that allows brands to automate their marketing efforts across various channels, to improve efficiency and drive more sales.

Automating a workflow helps align all of your marketing efforts and messages, and makes sure that each lead receives the most relevant messages at the most opportune times.

How marketing automation works

Source: http://www.marketo.com/lead-nurturing/

Aim to high quality in your content strategy

Content marketing, as Ville Tolvanen said in one of the chapter 2.1 video, is much more long-term oriented or even eternal while traditional marketing campaigns are on display only some period at a time and then they are over. If the content is well made, consumers might find it again after a while it was posted the first time and repost it and then the company will get more visibility. That is one reason why the content should be well-planned, executed and high quality.

Other reason is of course that no one is interested in the content that is poorly made and have nothing to give to the consumers. It is important to know the audience and understand them, solve their problem and in that way give them value. We all know that we can’t consume everything, watch every video, read every blog post etc. so we decide what content is the most interesting, helpful and relevant to us, and that is what we utilize.

Because there is more and more content everywhere these days, there is quite a lot of poor content as well. It is important to really focus on the quality of the content. Content marketing agency Velocity tells in their presentation in SlideShare why the biggest threat to content marketing is content marketing and how to survive the content deluge with building a Great Content Brand: http://www.slideshare.net/dougkessler/crap-the-content-marketing-deluge

Click the picture to see it bigger

Like Velocity states the bottom line is:

“The Content Deluge is approaching.
Raise your game, build a great content brand or prepare to get soaked.”