Social media-strategy-3-main-principals-web bizideas

WEBBIZIDEAS ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT

The Core Steps a Business Can Take to Engage Social Media

Get

This report will give you the main steps to successfully
marketing within social media.
This report is designed to give you a foundation approach to the steps necessary for a
successful social media engagement strategy. It is not designed to delve into what social media
is, the benefit, or why social media is should be one aspect of your overall marketing strategy.

CONTENTS
Social Media Engagement............................................................................................................... 4
Setting Goals ................................................................................................................................... 4
Family, Friends and Fun .............................................................................................................. 4
Intent and Selling ........................................................................................................................ 5
I Don’t Have the Time ..................................................................................................................... 5
Who Owns Social Media? ............................................................................................................... 5
3 Core Elements of a successful social media engagement ........................................................... 6
Acquisition ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Segmentation .............................................................................................................................. 7
Key Questions for Acquisition: .................................................................................................... 8
Examples of Acquisition .............................................................................................................. 8
Ford Went Social for Release of New Explorer ....................................................................... 8
A Whole Strategy for Twitter .................................................................................................. 8
Engagement .................................................................................................................................... 9
Key Questions for Engagement .................................................................................................. 9
Engagement Examples ................................................................................................................ 9
Steel Buildings are Social?..................................................................................................... 10
Watch a Video Get a Free Night ........................................................................................... 10
Even Paint Can Engage? ........................................................................................................ 11
Wait a Refrigerator? ............................................................................................................. 11
Monetization ................................................................................................................................. 12
Key Questions for Monetization: .............................................................................................. 12

Get Started with Social Engagement Page |2 WebBizIdeas.com – (800) 993-2249

Examples of Monetization ........................................................................................................ 12
Rite Aid Video to Coupon...................................................................................................... 13
Social Coupons for a Mexican Grill ....................................................................................... 13
Create a store right on Facebook.......................................................................................... 13
Target On Tea........................................................................................................................ 13
Putting it Together ........................................................................................................................ 14
Tax Service and All 3 Elements ................................................................................................. 14
What to Do Now? ......................................................................................................................... 15
Fast Track your Social Engagement .............................................................................................. 15
Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 16

About WebBizIdeas:
Ideas—Our MISSION is to help startup and established businesses build better websites,
marketing online, and engage effectively in digital media.

WebBizIdeas.com is a new media development firm based in Minneapolis Minnesota. We offer
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(CMS), SEO, Mobile Apps, Business Planning, Website Prototyping, and Business Consulting.

Our consultants work with any business to develop an idea, create the blueprint, produce the
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OUR PROCESS: Learn more about our web development process.


SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT
Social media is a new paradigm of marketing, it’s requires a different approach to marketing.
It’s ‘always on’ and contains elements of instantaneous communication. What we call social
media should be more accurately termed social communication. Humans are social animals but
what changes is how we communicate with each other. Social networking allows us to
communicate instantaneously across the world in a matter of seconds. It also offers a direct
one on one or one to many connections that has never existed before.

SETTING GOALS
Before embarking on any social media marketing campaigns, it is essential to set your goals and
define your prospects or target audience. Without a
clear understanding of what you want to achieve and
who you want to reach, your promotional campaigns The companies that harness
will not be focused and the results may be fragmented social best look at it as
and weak. part of a loyalty program
program.
What are the goals of your organization? Do you want They use social to manage
to build your brand and increase the number of and build better relationships
targeted visitors to your website?
with their most profitable
Do you want to improve communication among customers.
customers, employees and other stakeholders? Do you
want to strengthen your relationships and increase profitability?

Determining exactly what you want to accomplish through a social media strategy will drive
prioritization of your actions.

FAMILY, FRIENDS AND FUN
If there was one thing that is important to know about social media it is this--the core reason
most people spend time within social media is to connect with friends
and family.

Consumers put social media squarely in the entertainment column.
The old interruption approach to marketing simply does not work
within this channel of communication.

This means that people spend time to talk to friends, family,
associates and have fun. Knowing this one element will ensure that


you have success in your efforts with social engagement. Keeping this in front of your mind and
interactions will be the key to making sure your communication, updates, and messages
resonate with your audience.

INTENT AND SELLING
create interest in our product or service. Very few people log into a social network to
purchase something. The purchase or decision to purchase or even consider a product is a
byproduct of the activity.

I DON’T HAVE THE TIME
This is the number #1 item of feedback I get when I present the best practices
to marketing in social media. It usually goes something like… “I’m already busy
enough” or “we are bogged down with day to day stuff already, how do we add
this on top of it?”.

Here is my quick and easy answer…
First, just like everything else in your business if you find it worthwhile and it generates results
you will find time. What we really are talking about is
priorities. The second thing is focusing on getting strong
foundation in place. What follow below is the core When you have any amount
elements to a successful social engagement plan. Also of people connected to your
some examples on how other companies are making it page, it becomes your own
work for them. private network that you can
prime any way you want. You
WHO OWNS SOCIAL MEDIA? can, as a brand, bypass
The short answer is every department in your organization traditional media companies
can benefit from social engagement. Depending on the size and activate those people
of your organization different departments or people will
for free.
play a more central role. Collaboration is the key. When
the IT department can talk to the PR department and when
the R&D side learns that they can access the vast element of general knowledge, real time
conversations, and actual thoughts of the target market that’s when the proverbial light bulb
flips on.

Shoving marketing messages down people's throat doesn't make much sense, so you have to
jump in and accept the good with the bad. Things may blow up, as they did with Southwest and


Nestle recently, but the two-way communication channel you can build up far outweighs [the
way
potential for negative consequences]. Social is not just a marketing channel - it's PR, product
development, customer service and even HR.

3 CORE ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL MEDIA
SUCCESSFUL
ENGAGEMENT
There are 3 core elements of s successful social media engagement campaign. I use campaign
loosely but these elements are each in action at the same time but have to be siloed off to be
effective. These three elements are Acquisition, Engagement, and Monetization.
e ,

Quick note: Please not that there is overlap between these three elements. For instance
something you do for primarily engagement might drive acquisition, or a monetization strategy
might also double as an engagement element.
ble


ACQUISITION
THE THINGS YOU DO TO ACQUIRE A FAN,
FOLLOWER, SUBSCRIBER, READER, ETC.
It’s important to define what you acquisition strategy per social channel.
Your acquisition strategy for Facebook, Your Blog, Twitter, or LinkedIn will each have its own
strategy and pull points.

When amassing fans I always say go with quality over quantity. Your social presence should be an
extension of your brand's voice. To build that
foundation, establish and invite your core customers. Tell Them What They Get

Begin by communicating to your existing database A great illustration of this concept comes
and announcing your brand's places of contact from a radio commercial I hear from time
(Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Etc.) via e-mail. In to time. This commercial is about a chain of
addition, link to your profiles and pages on your weight loss centers. Towards the end of
website at every opportunity. the commercial you hear the announcer
say…
At retail, include the URL on receipts and checkout
counter cards. Provide an incentive for your current “you can now find us on Facebook
customers to "follow" your brand, such as exclusive and Twitter”.
content, discounts or sweepstakes.
What would be more effective and still fit
within the space available is something
SEGMENTATION along the lines of “find us on Facebook and
An important point when engaging within the social Twitter for exclusive weight loss advice”.
space is asking whether or not you need an
It’s not enough to state that you can be
inherent segmentation strategy.
found within social media—you have to go
For instance, Apple has an Itunes Facebook page that extra step and clearly state the benefit
and an AppStore Facebook page. When you someone gets for following you.
segment out your product bases like this it allows
you to easily craft messages and follow the three core steps we outline below.

It also does another very important thing. It allows your audience and customer to segment
themselves out. If someone is just a fan of one of your products then they only care about that
product. With Apple if you only care about Itunes and Music you join the Itunes page where
you get special music related content. If you care about applications you join the AppStore
Facebook page.


KEY QUESTIONS FOR ACQUISITION:
• Why should someone follow you or your company?
• Intimately know your target market—then ask yourself how does social media play
a role into my target markets life?
• What can you offer or what are their expectations from you?
• What are the acceptable offers within this channel (think Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn as channels)
• Is this channel strictly inbound or outbound?
• How do I integrate my other marketing channels to support and acquire an
audience within the social space?

EXAMPLES OF ACQUISITION
The examples of acquisition strategies provided below contain main elements that drive
obtaining an audience. Remember the most effective strategy for acquisition contains large
elements of integration. You integrate you message, your drivers to content, and the key
reason why someone should follow you.

FORD WENT SOCIAL FOR RELEASE OF NEW EXPLORER
Ford Motor Company released the 2011 Ford Explorer to Fans of the Ford Explorer Facebook
page. Starting mid-June Ford slowly released news, pictures, and content with the final reveal in
July. This was only available to Facebook fans. (htt). This campaign not only resulted in higher
fan acquisition but received press throughout the media as well.

A WHOLE STRATEGY FOR TWITTER
Wholefoods goes farther with Twitter and segmentation. They have a @WholeFoods where
you get global updates, or three topical accounts @WFMCheese (about cheese),
@WFMWineGuys (wine and beer experts), @WholeRecipes (an automated recipe feed). They
go beyond that as well each major metro area has it’s own twitter account such as Chicago at
@WholeFoodsCHI but each store has it’s own Twitter account as well.


ENGAGEMENT
THE THINGS YOU DO ONCE YOU HAVE AN
AUDIENCE.
This is actually the step where you get permission to move to the next
step. First and foremost you must ensure that you deliver on what you promised in your
acquisition strategy. If once someone has started to engage with you and they do not get what
they expected they will leave or worse yet tune out. Just as the advent of timeshifted TV has
allowed consumers to skip commercials if you don’t deliver value your audience will abandon
you as well.

KEY QUESTIONS FOR ENGAGEMENT
• How can I add value to people that follow me or the audience that I gain in the
permission marketing space? (email in addition to social is permission based)
• What are the acceptable forms of engagement in this channel?
• What is my engagement schedule?
• Who is responsible for engagement items?
• What are the unique ways I can engagement this channel that will set me or my
company apart?
• What does my target market expect from me?
• What are my competitors doing?

ENGAGEMENT EXAMPLES
Engagement can arguably be the most important step. Without proper engagement you simply
would not be effective when moving onto the next element—monetization. The people and
companies that successfully engage can then prime their audience towards offers, purchasing,
and other elements of the sales funnel. Below I’ve included a few great examples of companies
that are engaging within social media.


STEEL BUILDINGS ARE SOCIAL?
SteelMaster a manufacturer of prefabricated steel buildings engages Facebook in an unusual
way. You wouldn’t guess that there would be much affinity to a steel building. First they found
that Facebook is a great place to post pictures of customer’s buildings.
ook

These pictures not only engage existing customers they also tell a story to potential customers
customers—they
what is possible. Since the backbone of Facebook is pictures this plays well in this platform.

They also use Twitter to get exposure and create demand in vertical markets they had little
traction in, such as chicken farmers and woodworkers.

WATCH A VIDEO GET A FREE NIGHT
Rogers Smith Hotel uses twitter to give away free nights of stay (
(click to see tweet below).

Get Started with Social Engagement P a g e | 10 WebBizIdeas.com – (800) 993-2249

EVEN PAINT CAN ENGAGE?
IdeaPaint does a great job with their blog. This is the launching pad of their engagement plan.
IdeaPaint turns virtually anything you can paint into a high-performance dry-erase surface—
every 3 year olds fantasy.

Their outreach typically starts with a great video post that shows the product in action. Telling a
story each time it also gives potential customers what is possible with their unique product.
From there they engage within YouTube, Twitter and Facebook connecting with their core
market.

WAIT A REFRIGERATOR?
Subzero (maker of appliances and high end refrigerators) whose core customer is a woman age
45 or older focuses on the essential element of adding value to its affluent customers’ busy
lives. They do this by sharing seasonal recipes, wine pairings, and cooking tips. They also
spotlight hot kitchen designers. Facebook is the third-top-referring site to SubZero.com.

Sub-Zero then engages their audience rewarding their affluent followers with exclusive news,
discounts, videos, and pictures. This gave the follower the feeling of being on the inside. One
recent question posed by SubZero has garnered over 200 responses or close to a hundred for
the simply question what’s for dinner tonight?


MONETIZATION
HOW YOU MAKE ROI ON TIME AND
RESOURCES
It’s important to note here that monetization in social media is vastly
different for each company or individual. For some companies it will
be very apparent—such as a T-Shirt company it would be acceptable to put a store on Facebook
Shirt
page.

Also we mentioned this before but understanding how your product, brand, or serservice falls in
relation to intent. Remember that people do not fire up a social network with the intent on
purchasing something. Will your followers tolerate your monetization strategy?

The good news is that for certain verticals special offers and coupons (one of the best
monetization strategies) is the number one reason people follow a company or brand.

KEY QUESTIONS FOR MONETIZATION:
• What does you target market expect?
• Is there purchase intent?
• How often are you able to monetize your audience?
• Are you able to monetize your audience in the network or does it require you
driving them off the channel? (on channel is best).
• How can you create a monetization strategy that involves Acquisition and
Engagement?

EXAMPLES OF MONETIZATION
Remember more than one department owns social media and when we give examples of
specific monetization items the first two steps of acquisition and engagement came first.


RITE AID VIDEO TO COUPON
At the same time, Rite Aid unveiled its Video Values program, featuring informative,
educational and, in some cases, entertaining videos. By watching videos, customers earn video
credits for savings on products.

For example, viewers of a clip for a Brita Water Filtration product earn a $2 coupon off one of
the Brita items offered. They must print the coupon and present it at the store.

When they rack up 20 video credits, they receive a $5 Rite Aid Bonus Coupon. Rite Aid reports
that it is averaging between 500,000 and 600,000 video views each month. Redemption rates
average nearly 20%, depending on the coupon. (Fredricksen, 2010)

SOCIAL COUPONS FOR A MEXICAN GRILL
Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill, a West Coast chain of 195 restaurants, started placing coupons on
Yowza this summer to reach people searching for a lunch spot. Larry Rusinko, the chain's senior
vice president of marketing and product development, saw a 4 percent redemption rate on
coupons offered through Yowza, four times what he was getting through direct mail or ads in
the Sunday paper. (Tiku, 2009)

CREATE A STORE RIGHT ON FACEBOOK
Storefront with Payvment: Payvment is an e-commerce application that allows for the
development of a retail store on Facebook. Using the PayPal X global open payments platform,
customers can shop from multiple vendors in a single shopper cart, turning FB into what could
be considered the ultimate shopping mall.

The application uses PayPal’s new Adaptive Payments APIs and is built on the company’s
existing shopping cart Web service that turns any online page into an e-commerce page with a
single line of code. Another e-commerce app that lets users post products on FB is My Merch
Store from Zazzle. Create and post products for sale on Zazzle and share them with people
visiting your pages on FB.

TARGET ON TEA
Organic tea brand Steaz needed to generate nation-wide awareness and drive sales at Target
stores -- and quickly. The brand felt that if it could get moms talking about Steaz in social media,
the sales would follow. The campaign generated interest and results above expectations,
thanks to blogs, email, and social media activity.


We were confident that we would generate 50,000 coupon downloads, 1,000 new
fans/followers. Our goal was to get Target to notice the little tea brand it had just adopted.

Actual results were 250,000 coupon downloads (with a 20+ percent redemption rate), 6,000
blog and social network mentions, and more than 3,000 new fans/followers. Steaz's December
sales were double its previous best month ever. And Steaz shelves in Target stores nationwide
were emptied. (Magnani, 2010)

PUTTING IT TOGETHER
As with any framework of marketing creating a plan and an
implementation strategy are the keys to success. The power of social
engagement is it allows instant feedback. Often times you can see
immediate results and get immediate market intelligence.

The most effective campaigns contain not only specific elements of
each step but also mingle the three elements together. Campaigns that
create an incentive for your audience to help you acquire and thus drive engagement.

Most of the examples given in this paper do cover all three elements here is a more illustrative
example of putting this into practice…

TAX SERVICE AND ALL 3 ELEMENTS
A few weeks before taxes were due (right in the middle of tax season) Jackson Hewitt Tax
Service ran a ‘Big Check’ contest where people would submit their plans for how they will put
their income tax refund to use. The contest winner would be awarded $3,000 and selected by
votes from visitors to the contest page on Facebook.

Let’s dissect this a bit and see why it was effective. First it drove Acquisition because in order to
submit a story you had to ‘Like’ the company. It also provided a strong incentive for people who
submitted a story to go to their social circle. Imagine that you submitted a story and you
wanted to win, would you go to your friends on Facebook and ask for their votes?

The key elements of the contest, entering a story, plus voting all drive Acquisition and
Engagement. The monetization came in by pushing traffic and supporting page copy to landing
page on the corporate website. With this campaign being ran in the middle of tax season it also
fit into the front of mind model. (PRNewsWire)


WHAT TO DO NOW?
The steps we covered should be elements that are in place for each vertical market you intend
to engage.

1. Segment out these steps for you and your business.
2. Plan how each one of these plays a role both in your existing marketing plan but in your
daily business activities
3. Plan each step individually (Acquisition, Engagement, Monetization) per channel and
integrate this into your marketing
4. Take each network and plan them individually

Also use this platform to truly know your target market. Once you understand your target
market its needs, wants, and how social media plays a role in their daily lives you can then start
creating specific strategies to acquire, engage, and monetize.

FAST TRACK YOUR SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
One of the things WebBizIdeas can help you with is coming up with a rock solid engagement
plan that gets to the heart of your target market. Not only do we help you with ideation and
creative concepts we also know how to implement and put into practice all the step necessary
to have a successful social engagement plan.

We focus on results and what is going to make a difference for your business. We follow and
have created a four phase process to social engagement. To learn more about our social
engagement strategies visit our Social Media Engagement Page.

To Get Started Contact WebBizIdeas:
To get started now fill out our Contact WebBizIdeas Form

Or give us a call directly: 952-935-4852 - Toll Free: 800-993-2249


BIBLIOGRAPHY
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/06/09/ford-will-give-facebook-
fans-the-first-look-at-the-2011-explorer/

Fredricksen, C. (2010, 06 16). Rite Aid Case Study: Using Video to Drive Loyalty and Sales.
Retrieved from EMarketer: http://www.emarketer.com/blog/index.php/rite-aid-case-study-
video-drive-loyalty-sales/

Magnani, P. (2010, 04 30). Case study: Doubling sales through social me. Retrieved from
IMediaConnections.com: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/26634.asp

PRNewsWire. (n.d.). PRNewsWire. Retrieved from Final Days To Enter Jackson Hewitt(R) 'Big
Check' Tax Refund Tale Contest: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/final-days-to-
enter-jackson-hewittr-big-check-tax-refund-tale-contest-90363329.html

Tiku, N. (2009, 12 01). How to Boost Sales with Mobile Coupons. Retrieved from Inc.com:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20091201/how-to-boost-sales-with-mobile-coupons.html


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