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Car Buyers Are More Pragmatic On Social Media

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When it comes to social media related to auto buying, carmakers should not put too much emphasis on “all the feels” as most demographic groups are looking more for facts.

The days of social as an optional marketing channel are over. Now that social has its rightful place at the table, it is vital to understand where in the funnel social efforts should be targeted, according to Spout Social.

Per its 47-page annual social index, the top consumer content preference is for product information (48%), followed by promotions and deals (46%), education content (18%), news (17%), business updates (12%) and entertaining content (9%). Only 8% want to see “inspirational content” and only 4% want to see content including celebrities or other influencers they follow.

“Consumers want brand awareness and consideration stage content from brands on social,” according to the report. “But 80% of social marketers are hyper-focused on awareness activities, leaving out the consideration piece of the puzzle. The social marketer’s No. 1 challenge is still ROI. Return on investment is the top concern for 55% of social marketers. This makes sense for two reasons: They aren’t meeting the full needs of their social audience with both brand awareness and consideration content and they’re defining ROI incorrectly to begin with.

Facebook remains a dominant force in marketing strategies and consumer behavior. A whopping 97% of social marketers list Facebook as their most used and useful social network, and Instagram blows Snapchat out of the water by social marketer usership and consumer adoption. In fact, 83% of marketers use Instagram and 13% use Snapchat; 51% of consumers use Instagram and 30% use Snapchat.

The automotive industry-specific data provides a pulse on effective social media marketing strategies to note for 2018.

“As marketers, we hear about ROI every single day—and social marketers remain anxious about it,” according to the report. “To truly understand what ROI means in the social marketing industry, and how social marketers are aligning with consumer preferences, we asked more than 2,000 social marketers how they approach structure, goals and content. We asked about their priorities and what they need to do their best work. Then we cross-referenced their reports against what consumers actually want. “

Millennials and Gex X differ in that Millennials prefer inspirational and entertaining content and business updates more than Gex X. Gen X prefer product information and news more than Millennials.

A recent Pew Study differentiated between Millennials (ages 22-37) and Generation X (ages 38-53) and their media consumption patterns. Sprout wanted to see how this differentiation translates to social.

As it turns out, Millennials are twice as likely to use Snapchat as Generation X. Millennials want to see only friends’ content on social 52% more than Gen X Millennials and Gen X prefer the same content from companies: Discounts or sales, posts that showcase products or services and educational posts.

“We found that social is still very much a personal platform,” according to the report. “People spend time on social, first and foremost, to interact with family and friends. As brands put together campaigns and messaging, they must remember that they are guests at dinner, not members of the nuclear family: their role in user feeds is delicate, valuable and should be treated with great care.:

So how can brands disrupt the user experience in the least intrusive and most relevant way? Data shows the answer: with awareness and consideration stage content. Think long-term, not quick fix. Think relationships, not attribution, per Sprout.

“Where there is alignment (is) customer service,” according to the report. “On the front lines with customers and prospects everyday, an overwhelming majority (88%) of social marketers understand the importance of customer service on social; nearly half (45%)
of consumer respondents have reached out to a company on social.”

Employee advocacy is the new influencer marketing. Social marketers in 2018 see the value in employee advocacy as a cost-effective, scalable alternative to influencer marketing. Seventy-one percent of social marketers use employees as influencers or advocates today or want to in the future, while only 19% of marketers surveyed had the budget for an influencer program. This shift reflects consumer tastes: 61% of consumers said they would be more likely to research a product or service recommended on social by a friend vs. 36% for influencers/celebrities.

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What Parents Need To Know About Social Media And Anxiety

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By Caroline Knorr

Unfortunately, simply cutting off social media isn’t necessarily the answer.

From cyberbullying to FOMO to cruel comments, social media can be a land mine for kids. Issues we parents never had to worry about, such as an intimate photo texted to the entire school or Instagram videos of a birthday party we weren’t invited to, are now a risk for many tweens and teens. With kids’ digital well-being a concern, researchers are exploring potential links between social media and the rise in teen suicide rates, tech addiction, and loss of real-life social skills. And many parents are wondering: Is social media causing my kid to have anxiety?

It’s an important question ― and one that makes for compelling headlines for worried parents. While it’s too early to say with certainty (this is, after all, the first generation of “digital natives”), the reality is somewhat nuanced. Some research has observed a relationship between social media use and anxiety in kids, but it’s difficult to know if and when social media is causing anxiety or whether kids who are anxious are turning to social media as a way to soothe themselves or seek support. How kids use social media matters, too: Social comparison and feedback-seeking behaviors have been associated with depressive symptoms, which often co-occur with anxiety.

Of course, it’s common for kids to feel anxious sometimes. But there’s a big difference between occasional anxiety and an anxiety disorder that requires professional care. If your kid is overly self-conscious, has uncontrollable and unrealistic anxiety, is unable to make it go away, and avoids things, you may want to seek help. (Learn more about anxiety in kids at the Child Mind Institute.) For these kids, social media may act as a trigger for ― though not the root cause of ― their anxious feelings. There are also kids, who, for a variety of reasons, may be more sensitive to the anxiety-producing effects of social media. For example, kids with social anxiety disorder may prefer online interactions over face-to-face interactions. Bottom line: You may not know the impact of social media on your kid until issues surface.

Unfortunately, simply cutting off social media isn’t necessarily the answer. It’s such a huge part of many kids’ lives that not having access to social media could take a toll. In fact, being connected to friends through social media may counterbalance some of its negative effects.

Without conclusive research to back up claims that social media causes anxiety ― and some evidence to show it’s beneficial ― it’s up to you to keep tabs on how your kid’s doing. Though it adds an extra layer to your parenting duties, it’s a good idea to get a good sense of your kid’s online life. Ask kids to give you a tour of their social media world. As they’re showing you around, you might hear some of the positive stuff you weren’t expecting, as well as some of the problem areas your kid could use help with. Also, add social media to the “wellness checks” that you already do. For example, when you ask how they slept and what they ate, ask how they’re feeling about social media. Is it mostly positive, helpful, and supportive, or do they want to step back but aren’t sure how? Here are some more tips for keeping social media a positive for kids:

Encourage self-care. Seeing photos of a trip to the beach your friends didn’t invite you to can really sting. If your kid is super bummed or tired of digital drama, suggest they take a break from social media for a while. In fact, if they post a status update that they’re taking a break, their friends might be very accepting because they’ve had similar feelings.

Help kids put social media in perspective. People post stuff that makes their lives look perfect ― not the homework struggles, or the fight they had with their dad, or the hours it took to look as good as possible for the camera. Remind kids that social media leaves the messy stuff out ― and that everyone has ups and downs.

Encourage offline activities. In a world where kids could spend their days lying around looking at Instagram, it’s doubly important for them to feel as though they’re cultivating their inner lives. Prompt them to balance social media with soul-nourishing activities such as hobbies, exercise, reading, and helping others. Otherwise, what are they going to brag about on social media?

Talk about their feelings. Ask them what it feels like to look at other kids’ feeds. Is there a tipping point from when they feel OK to when they start to feel bad about their own lives? Encourage them to stop before that feeling sets in and do something good for themselves instead.

Let them know you’re there for them. You may not understand everything about your kid’s online social life. But recognizing it’s important to them makes your kid feel valued ― and more likely to come to you when they encounter problems.

Get help. If you see any cause for concern, including mood swings that seem to result from social media, not taking pleasure in activities he or she used to enjoy, and having accompanying symptoms such as headaches and stomachaches, visit your kid’s pediatrician for a professional opinion.

The Child Mind Institute contributed to this article. Learn more at childmind.org.

Feature Image Credit: Photo by Kev Costello, Unsplash

By Caroline Knorr, Common Sense Media

Sourced from HUFFPOST

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4 Ways Social Media Can Boost Your Lead Generation

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By Lora Kellogg

As any franchise leader knows, developing and expanding your brand isn’t easy. Traditional methods of franchise development, such as working with franchise brokers and using public relations, can be successful. But they’re much more effective when paired with newer methods, such as digital marketing.

Social media platforms provide great lead generation options for advertising. Consumers already feel comfortable engaging on social platforms, and platforms such as Facebook have lead generation-specific ads that provide outstanding targeting options. Users can submit their information on Facebook or Instagram without having to leave the app or website, which makes the process easier for mobile users and delivers more leads to your franchise development team’s inbox.

Brands with an active social media presence already understand the benefits of social platforms. Users interacting with brands on social media aren’t looking only for promotions and discounts; they also are looking for business opportunities.

Brands hoping to interact with potential franchisees should take note. Leads generated through social media are highly motivated. Here are four ways your franchise can increase leads generated from social media platforms.

1. Increase overall brand awareness

Want more consumer interaction on social media? Start by telling your brand story. Tell customers what your company stands for and what it has to offer through articles, videos, and other posts on social media. Seize this opportunity to introduce your brand to potential franchisees on platforms where they’re already comfortable engaging.

Approximately 68 percent of American adults use Facebook — which towers above adult user statistics for other platforms. YouTube takes second place, with 40 percent of adults using it regularly. Talk to your franchisee candidates on the platform or platforms of their choice.

2. Develop lookalike audiences on Facebook

Facebook engagement reigns supreme among adults on social media platforms, so take advantage. Develop new leads by uploading an existing email leads list and using Facebook to create a target “lookalike” audience based on common characteristics shared by members of your email list.

Similarly, you can develop an audience by examining which people have visited your franchise development website. These potential franchisees have shown a clear interest in your brand and already are being served your remarketing ads. Create a lookalike audience based on these users to find similar leads to add to your remarketing list.

3. Create personas among your target demographic

Even among your target demographic, there are a lot of variations. Millennials, for example, share similarities, but they can be subgrouped into young married people with kids, young married people without kids, single college graduates in their first jobs, and other categories. Develop personas within your preferred demographic to more clearly define your target audiences.

Take inventory of the traits you look for in new franchisees to divide your target demographic into desirable categories, then take advantage of hypertargeted social media ads to talk to each persona differently. Recent college graduates are looking for something different from young married people with children. Provide messaging that forges authentic connections with each persona in your audience.

4. Take advantage of Facebook’s new lead-gen ads

Using Facebook’s hypertargeted lead ads can point your qualified audience members to a landing page. This page should offer relevant gated content in exchange for an email address. The content could include an e-book, webinar, or promotional offer.

Once you have collected this email list of qualified leads, target them with remarketing ads. This list also can be used in an email drip campaign. Despite all of Facebook’s offerings, don’t forget to follow up in real life. Digital platforms can’t replace the personal touch, after all.

Growing a franchise is a challenge every franchisor must meet. But in this digital-first world, social media provides a strong tool for lead generation. Follow these four simple tips to ensure your team is getting the most out of its social endeavors.

By Lora Kellogg

Lora Kellogg is president and CEO of Curious Jane, an ad agency specializing in franchises. With nearly 15 years of experience and a portfolio of top brands, she and her team work with established and emerging franchises to grow sales, increase traffic, build brand awareness, and generate leads.

Sourced from Franchising.com

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Up Your Social Media Game By Answering These 8 Branding Questions

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Don’t put the social media cart before the brand strategy horse.

To excel at social media, you must be a social media expert, right? While this is true in some respects, having narrow social media knowledge can also be limiting. A social media-only focus can actually hold back your social media strategy from reaching its full potential. You are building more than a social media presence — you are building a brand. Social media is not an end unto itself. Vanity metrics — followers and likes — may be early indicators of good content, but the true test of social media is business impact. Management will eventually stop paying for social media activity that doesn’t lead to bottom line action.

Despite the hype, spending on social media has failed to live up to expectations. In 2017, actual social media spending was nearly half of predicted levels. This stems from a continued struggle to show the real impact of social media and to integrate social media with wider marketing strategy. CMO Survey results indicate marketers still rank social media low in its contribution to company performance (46 percent) and low in how well it is integrated with the wider marketing strategy (59 percent). Social media actions, and even plans can exist on their own, but without having an understanding of the larger marketing and business strategy behind them, they could be acting in vain. Are you putting the social media cart before the brand strategy horse?

To help understand how social media fits into the bigger picture of marketing and business, consider the following key questions to help develop a basic brand understanding of your business or organization. The questions emphasize the consumer perspective which is especially important in social media. Answering these questions can help create a broader understanding of a business, its marketing and how social media contributes. They can help you gain more of a branding perspective, speak the language of business and move towards integration and improving ROI.

1. Why does the business exist?

Vision and mission matter to today’s consumers. To make money is not a sustainable answer for customers or employees. What does the company behind the product or service stand for, and where is it headed? This could be a focus on solving a greater problem or spreading a bigger message. Maybe the business supports a cause, community or the environment. Perhaps the mission is simply being the absolute best at something specific.

2. How did the business get started?

A brand’s backstory is important. People buy for rational and emotional reasons that can come from an organization’s origin story. Show the human side of the business starting in a garage, the founders investing their last five dollars or making a childhood dream come true. Perhaps an event put the cause on their heart, or something they couldn’t get as a customer motivated the creation of the company. Even large corporations can benefit by showcasing their humble roots.

3. How does the business measure success?

Business objectives are where the rubber meets the road. All marketing action, including social media, must help support business needs such as sales, average spend, market share, leads, contracts, awareness, customer satisfaction, retention, referrals, volunteer, or donations. To do this, brand building must start with specific objectives clearly defined. Make sure they are SMART:

  • Specific (quantified such as XX percent or $XX)
  • Measurable (data you can access)
  • Achievable (not too high)
  • Relevant (support vision/mission)
  • Timely (deadline like X months or X years)

4. What does the business sell?

Don’t take knowledge of the brand’s products and services for granted. Start by literally listing every product and service offering, lines and versions. But then go further to describe each from the consumer’s perspective. What is the real value to the customer? Turn product and service features into consumer benefits. Then look for gaps in product lines and offerings from the company, but also its competitors. This can uncover key messages to emphasize and may uncover key opportunities for growth.

5. What is happening in the industry?

An industry overview provides valuable context. Is the industry and category growing or declining? What innovations and trends are important? Are there gaps in offerings? What do consumers care about most? What are their pain points, threats and opportunities? What are the consumer’s unmet needs? Once identified, clearly communicate how the brand meets these needs.

6. Who is the business trying to reach?

Be clear on the overall market and ensure you have the right target market. Don’t merely identify everyone who could possibly use the product or service. Focus limited resources on the segment with greatest possibility of return. Narrowly define the group most likely to have the unmet needs the business provides. Be specific with demographic (gender, age, income, education), psychographic (attitudes, values, lifestyle) and behavioral (products used, brand loyalty, usage) bases. Who needs the solutions the brand offers the most?

7. Who else targets this market?

Brands are evaluated by consumers against key competitors. Identify several top competitors by market share and sales in same industry and/or by replacement products and services outside the category. What do you offer that is different? Why should they pick you? With this understanding summarize the main distinctions of the brand.

8. How can you sum up your branding strategy?

Understanding your main message focuses effort, ensures consistency and improves integration. Summarize all the answers above into a positioning statement written to the target market. Boil it all down to a main overall message. What is the essence of what the brand means to the target audience?

Now that you have a larger brand understanding, take that knowledge and apply it to current social media presence and actions. Where is the target market active in social media? Look at social networks, messaging apps, blogs/forums, ratings/reviews and podcasts. Look for ways to leverage geosocial, crowdsourcing, influencer marketing, social care, user generated content and paid social media. Identify the top social platforms for the target and then compare to the current business social media accounts. Do you need to make some adjustments based on the target market?

What about messages and content? Are you talking about the right things based on your products and services, industry and competitors? Look at business objectives. Are you driving to the right places and actions that matter? Are you telling the complete brand story? Don’t miss out on parts of the mission, vision and backstory that could drive consumer action. Finally, ensure that all social media is integrated in message, tone and look with other forms of digital and traditional marketing communication to optimize efforts. It could be a good time to perform a social media audit.

Being a better social media professional can start with improving your business intelligence and gaining a better understanding of overall branding. Having a strong foundation in branding will lead your social media activities in the right business building direction. The latest CMO Survey results indicate that the top use of social media by companies is for brand awareness and brand building. Answering these questions will increase your brand knowledge and help improve your social media strategy.

Feature Image Credit: Kelvin Murray | Getty Images 

By 

Associate professor Messiah College, social & digital marketing expert

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

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Up Your Social Media Game By Answering These 8 Branding Questions

No Comments

By 

Don’t put the social media cart before the brand strategy horse.

To excel at social media, you must be a social media expert, right? While this is true in some respects, having narrow social media knowledge can also be limiting. A social media-only focus can actually hold back your social media strategy from reaching its full potential. You are building more than a social media presence — you are building a brand. Social media is not an end unto itself. Vanity metrics — followers and likes — may be early indicators of good content, but the true test of social media is business impact. Management will eventually stop paying for social media activity that doesn’t lead to bottom line action.

Despite the hype, spending on social media has failed to live up to expectations. In 2017, actual social media spending was nearly half of predicted levels. This stems from a continued struggle to show the real impact of social media and to integrate social media with wider marketing strategy. CMO Survey results indicate marketers still rank social media low in its contribution to company performance (46 percent) and low in how well it is integrated with the wider marketing strategy (59 percent). Social media actions, and even plans can exist on their own, but without having an understanding of the larger marketing and business strategy behind them, they could be acting in vain. Are you putting the social media cart before the brand strategy horse?

To help understand how social media fits into the bigger picture of marketing and business, consider the following key questions to help develop a basic brand understanding of your business or organization. The questions emphasize the consumer perspective which is especially important in social media. Answering these questions can help create a broader understanding of a business, its marketing and how social media contributes. They can help you gain more of a branding perspective, speak the language of business and move towards integration and improving ROI.

1. Why does the business exist?

Vision and mission matter to today’s consumers. To make money is not a sustainable answer for customers or employees. What does the company behind the product or service stand for, and where is it headed? This could be a focus on solving a greater problem or spreading a bigger message. Maybe the business supports a cause, community or the environment. Perhaps the mission is simply being the absolute best at something specific.

2. How did the business get started?

A brand’s backstory is important. People buy for rational and emotional reasons that can come from an organization’s origin story. Show the human side of the business starting in a garage, the founders investing their last five dollars or making a childhood dream come true. Perhaps an event put the cause on their heart, or something they couldn’t get as a customer motivated the creation of the company. Even large corporations can benefit by showcasing their humble roots.

3. How does the business measure success?

Business objectives are where the rubber meets the road. All marketing action, including social media, must help support business needs such as sales, average spend, market share, leads, contracts, awareness, customer satisfaction, retention, referrals, volunteer, or donations. To do this, brand building must start with specific objectives clearly defined. Make sure they are SMART:

  • Specific (quantified such as XX percent or $XX)
  • Measurable (data you can access)
  • Achievable (not too high)
  • Relevant (support vision/mission)
  • Timely (deadline like X months or X years)

4. What does the business sell?

Don’t take knowledge of the brand’s products and services for granted. Start by literally listing every product and service offering, lines and versions. But then go further to describe each from the consumer’s perspective. What is the real value to the customer? Turn product and service features into consumer benefits. Then look for gaps in product lines and offerings from the company, but also its competitors. This can uncover key messages to emphasize and may uncover key opportunities for growth.

5. What is happening in the industry?

An industry overview provides valuable context. Is the industry and category growing or declining? What innovations and trends are important? Are there gaps in offerings? What do consumers care about most? What are their pain points, threats and opportunities? What are the consumer’s unmet needs? Once identified, clearly communicate how the brand meets these needs.

6. Who is the business trying to reach?

Be clear on the overall market and ensure you have the right target market. Don’t merely identify everyone who could possibly use the product or service. Focus limited resources on the segment with greatest possibility of return. Narrowly define the group most likely to have the unmet needs the business provides. Be specific with demographic (gender, age, income, education), psychographic (attitudes, values, lifestyle) and behavioral (products used, brand loyalty, usage) bases. Who needs the solutions the brand offers the most?

7. Who else targets this market?

Brands are evaluated by consumers against key competitors. Identify several top competitors by market share and sales in same industry and/or by replacement products and services outside the category. What do you offer that is different? Why should they pick you? With this understanding summarize the main distinctions of the brand.

8. How can you sum up your branding strategy?

Understanding your main message focuses effort, ensures consistency and improves integration. Summarize all the answers above into a positioning statement written to the target market. Boil it all down to a main overall message. What is the essence of what the brand means to the target audience?

Now that you have a larger brand understanding, take that knowledge and apply it to current social media presence and actions. Where is the target market active in social media? Look at social networks, messaging apps, blogs/forums, ratings/reviews and podcasts. Look for ways to leverage geosocial, crowdsourcing, influencer marketing, social care, user generated content and paid social media. Identify the top social platforms for the target and then compare to the current business social media accounts. Do you need to make some adjustments based on the target market?

What about messages and content? Are you talking about the right things based on your products and services, industry and competitors? Look at business objectives. Are you driving to the right places and actions that matter? Are you telling the complete brand story? Don’t miss out on parts of the mission, vision and backstory that could drive consumer action. Finally, ensure that all social media is integrated in message, tone and look with other forms of digital and traditional marketing communication to optimize efforts. It could be a good time to perform a social media audit.

Being a better social media professional can start with improving your business intelligence and gaining a better understanding of overall branding. Having a strong foundation in branding will lead your social media activities in the right business building direction. The latest CMO Survey results indicate that the top use of social media by companies is for brand awareness and brand building. Answering these questions will increase your brand knowledge and help improve your social media strategy.

By 

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

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Winning the social media marketing game

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Contributor Peter Minium explains how connections are formed on social media, the purpose of these connections and how they can be leveraged to win the social media marketing game.

Thousands of years ago, clans gathered around fires to share their day’s experiences and to tell stories that established group norms and shaped social organization. Today, the fire’s embers have been replaced by the glow of internet-connected devices, but the communal exchange of stories and perspectives remains a fundamental force in social development.

From a business standpoint, a few important differences emerge from this evolution. Social media users can now publicly discuss their experiences with brands or products, forming large coalitions of interest that exert vast social pressure on brands and other organizations. From the presidential election to the newest cereal, everything is now a matter of public interest.

The essential principle, however, of shaping our world by sharing stories remains the same. The connections we build with others around us are the infrastructure of social change. Understanding how these connections are formed on social media, the purpose of these connections and how they can be leveraged is foundational to social media marketing.

Understanding social mechanics with game theory

Though the need to participate in social exchange is obvious, it has proved challenging to effectively model how social systems work, especially when considering the impact of new media and technology on societal discourse. Game theory, a mathematical evaluation of competition and cooperation between interested actors, is a promising solution.

Despite what its name may suggest, game theory has little to do with “games” as we might typically think of them. It seeks instead to understand how rational participants, bound by a set of rules, respond to different stimuli. The application of game theory to social media can help us identify the objectives of social media users, and how they work to achieve them.

The “players” of the social media “game” are clearly the users — brands and consumers alike. Brands use social media to reach new customers, build a loyal audience and respond to consumer reviews, while the private social media user wants to keep up with friends, stay current and participate in social conversations about matters large and small.

Gaining powerful allies in the social media status game

Brands and consumers have different objectives, but how they achieve their ends is the same: social influence. All social media users compete for a limited supply of influence, clamoring for their voice to be heard. The mistake that many brands make is to see consumers as targets, or even enemies, instead of the powerful allies they can be.

If brands cooperate with consumers, assisting them in achieving their objectives, both can win the social media game. Above all, this means brands must provide social media users with the tools they need to increase their status, and thereby their influence on the conversation. By doing so, brands can proliferate their messaging and gain the vocal support of a vast audience.

Social status is at the core of every human interaction, and one of our most central drives. Its significance has recently been underlined by the discovery that changes in status are processed by the striatum, the same part of the brain that processes money. Researchers found that an increase in social status triggers a definite and quantifiable neurological reward.

Increasing and measuring status with game mechanics

In conversation, we largely seek to increase our prestige, which can be done in one of three ways:

  • Creating new content.
  • Sharing content.
  • Challenging content.

Each of these adds value to the conversation, introducing a new perspective, supporting, or critiquing an existing perspective, which in turn increases our status.

These avenues are built into most social media platforms, with “likes,” “shares” and “comments” all enabling us to quantifiably assign status to others and evaluate our own. Like points and levels in a video game, these features allow us to measure how popular we are in a community, and our brain rewards us each time we win a point — or punishes us if we lose.

In terms of game theory, these features should be thought of as game mechanics, which leverage our:

  • Desire to accumulate.
  • Preoccupation with social standing.
  • Appreciation of feedback.
  • Interest in connecting.
  • Enjoyment of personalization.

By tapping into deeply embedded psychological drives, these mechanics make social media engaging and rewarding.

Brands help themselves by giving consumers a voice

Each time brands elicit feedback from consumers or release content that is exciting or interesting, they give social media users another opportunity to score social points.  Making a witty comment or sharing a fun video will increase a user’s status in their community. This is clearly a win for the brand, just as much as it is for the consumer.

It is equally important to avoid disapproval as it is to build support. Social media can magnify consumer condemnation as easily as it can bolster approval. Many brands have found themselves the targets of social media callouts when consumers chastise brands for an unsatisfying product, an ill-phrased comment or a poorly timed campaign.

Game mechanics are only part of the picture

The dangers of social media are exemplified in Pepsi’s 2017 ad featuring model Kendall Jenner, which referred to recent protests against police brutality. Though it portrayed Pepsi as a reconciliatory force, bridging the gap between opposing factions through the unifying power of its product, an irate public condemned the ad as tone deaf on social media.

Pepsi’s ad failed for two important reasons. Despite the brand’s intentions, audiences found the ad inauthentic, feeling it did not align with the brand’s purpose. More importantly, the ad did not respect the seriousness of the conflict, whose racial overtones and mortal significance demanded a great degree of sensitivity in the eyes of the public.

A winning application of game theory

In stark contrast, Heineken’s Worlds Apart ad won widespread acclaim the same year. The ad depicted ideologically opposed pairs working together to build a bar, before electing to share a beer and discuss their differences.  Though Heineken’s ad responded to the same social climate and expressed a similar theme of unity, it could not have been more differently received.

It is possible that the public saw beer as a more genuine point of unison over such serious issues, but the real difference lies in Heineken’s treatment of social concerns. Rather than positioning itself as a heroic savior in a trivialized conflict, it showed itself facilitating participants in their individual struggle to have their voice heard and to improve their world.

We can look at Heineken’s ad not only as a case study in sensitive and authentic messaging, but also an effective example of game theory in action. Heineken allied itself with social media users, providing them a platform from which to express themselves. In doing so, it enabled them to become heroes in their own story, winning likes, comments, and shares in their own networks.

Winning the social media marketing game

To win the social media marketing game, brands are increasingly using the behavioral insights offered by game theory to craft effective social media strategies.

While brands and consumers have seemingly different objectives, they share the same drive for social influence. By recognizing this and enabling buyers and prospects to enhance their social status, brands can create a win-win situation for consumers and shareholders alike.

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Peter Minnium is President of Ipsos Connect, where he leads the US team in helping companies measure and amplify how media, brands, and consumers connect through compelling content and great communications. Prior to his switch to market research, Peter was Head of Brand Initiatives at the IAB focused on addressing the under-representation of creative brand advertising online.

Sourced from Marketing Land

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Unilever CMO Keith Weed applauds Twitter for cracking down on fake followers

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By Minda Smiley

Unilever’s chief marketing and communications officer Keith Weed has commended Twitter for taking steps to eliminate fake accounts on the social platform.

On Wednesday, he tweeted that he is pleased to see Twitter “taking a big stand against the fake followers polluting the digital ecosystem.”

His comments are in response to Twitter’s recent decision to remove locked accounts from follower counts across profiles globally. Twitter locks accounts when it detects sudden changes in account behavior, like tweeting a large volume of unsolicited replies or mentions. Until now, those locked accounts remained in follower counts, but moving forward they will be removed.

“Most people will see a change of four followers or fewer; others with larger follower counts will experience a more significant drop,” wrote Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s legal, policy, and trust & safety lead, in a blog post. “We understand this may be hard for some, but we believe accuracy and transparency make Twitter a more trusted service for public conversation.”

The move comes one month after Weed expressed his concern over the issue of follower fraud at Cannes Lions. At the festival, Weed said Unilever will no longer work with influencers who buy followers and encouraged the industry as a whole to do more to curb the issue.

“The key to improving the situation is three-fold: cleaning up the influencer ecosystem by removing misleading engagement; making brands and influencers more aware of the use of dishonest practices; and improving transparency from social platforms to help brands measure impact,” Weed said at the time.

Feature Image: Keith Weed

By Minda Smiley

Sourced from The Drum

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Social media is making you miserable. Here’s how to delete your accounts.

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By David Nield

In theory, social media promises to connect you with the world. In practice, it compromises your personal privacy, puts you at risk of online abuse, and makes you unsatisfied and unhappy with your real life. If you’re irritated by Twitter or depressed by Facebook, you don’t have to stick around.

We’ve previously discussed a few methods to help you avoid social media for limited periods of time. When you’re ready to say goodbye for good, it’s time to delete those social apps from your phone—and shut down your accounts entirely. Here’s how to do it, one network at a time.

First steps

Before you start erasing all of your content, you might want to download some or all of it. This will let you preserve a personal copy for posterity. To do this for the biggest social networks—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat—follow our guide to saving social media posts.

Next, make sure you’re deleting your account for the right reason. If you’re ready to bid farewell to the whirlwind of social media, that’s fine. But if you’re only closing down your current social media account so you can create a new one for a fresh start, hit pause. Your first step should be to check the do-over options the network gives you. On Instagram, for instance, you can change your username without shutting down your existing account. Once you’ve exhausted the existing options, you can move on to deactivating or deleting your account.

Facebook

When you get fed up with Facebook, you have two ways to remove yourself from the giant network: deactivation or deletion.

Let’s start with the less extreme option. If you deactivate your account, it will disappear from Facebook, but you can bring it back at any time: The network retains all of your data, which will be waiting for you if you decide to go back. Simply log in to your account again, and Facebook will reactivate it.

To deactivate your account from a web browser, visit the site and click the drop-down arrow on the top right of the screen. Choose Settings, then General, and look for the Manage account category. Next to it, you should see an Edit option. Click Edit and choose Deactivate your account. Next, Facebook will prompt you for your password and ask you to give a reason for leaving, such as privacy concerns or wasted time. Make your choice, click Deactivate, and you’re done.

You can also deactivate your account through a mobile app. On iOS, open the app and hit the menu button—a grid icon—in the lower right corner. Then tap Settings, Account Settings, General, Manage account, and Deactivate. On Android, you follow the same process, but the menu button looks like three horizontal lines and you can reach Account Settings from the first submenu.

Deactivation is a good way of testing the waters to see if you can live without Facebook. Give it a few months and see how you feel. When you’re ready to say goodbye to your account forever, it’s time to delete it. To do so, you have to visit this page in a web browser and click Delete my account. As far as your friends are concerned, you will disappear immediately. However, Facebook may take up to 90 days to fully erase all of your data. Once you do that, there’s no going back.

Twitter

If you’ve had all you can take of hashtags and tweetstorms, you can deactivate your Twitter account. For a set period, the social network will hang on to your data, but after that, it will permanently get rid of your account.

To get rid of Twitter, you need to visit this page in a web browser and scroll down to the Deactivate your account option. Read the information that Twitter provides, then click Deactivate. You’ll receive a prompt to enter your password and to confirm that yes, you really do want to deactivate your account.

Once you do so, the process of erasing your Twitter presence starts. As far as other users can see, your profile and tweets will vanish immediately. However, Twitter hangs on to your data for a grace period of 30 days (verified users get a full 12 months) to make sure you don’t change your mind. During this time, you can still log back into the site, an act that will restore your profile and all of your tweets from the digital grave.

After that 30- to 365-day period ends, Twitter will officially delete your data and you will lose it forever. So if you repent your decision and decide to return to Twitter, you’ll need to sign up for a brand new account.

Instagram

Nothing instills FOMO quite like your friends’ smug Instagram photos. Remove them from your life by either deactivating or deleting your account.

To deactivate, you have to go through the Instagram website rather than the mobile apps. Log in, click your profile icon on the top right, choose Edit Profile, and select Temporarily disable my account. Once you do that, you have to decide on a reason why you no longer feel the Instagram love—options range from Just need a break to Too many ads. Finally, enter your account password and click Temporarily Disable Account.

Much like Facebook’s deactivation option, this choice will put your account on hold. As far as other users know, your Instagram page is gone, but the social network will hang on to your photos, comments, and other data. Log into the site again, and it will instantly restore your account.

For a more permanent fix, you need to go to the dedicated Delete Your Account page online. Log in, give a reason for your defection, and enter your password. Finally, click Permanently delete my account. This will wipe all traces of your Instagram life from the network’s servers, including the likes and instant messages. If you decide to come back, you’ll have to start again from scratch.

Snapchat

If Snapchat loses its appeal, have your account disappear like the vanishing photos that made the social network a hit.

To do that, you need to open your web browser and head to this page (yes, Snapchat has a website too). Sign into your account if necessary, then enter your username and password again on the subsequent screen. (Why sign in twice? You have to prove that it really is you and express your determination to get rid of Snapchat.) Click Continue, and the process of removing you from Snapchat begins.

From this point on, your friends won’t be able to contact you on Snapchat, but as with Twitter, you get a grace period before permanent deletion occurs. Over the next 30 days, you can decide whether you really do want to depart from the world of Snapchat or not. If you log back into the network before that time is up, your account will reappear and you can carry on as before with the same username and contacts list.

After the 30 days pass, Snapchat will permanently erase your account from its network. To come back from that, you’ll have to start adding friends and collecting Snaps all over again.

Other networks

Although Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat currently dominate the app charts, they’re not the only social networks out there. Still, you can always find the option to close your account.

While these networks will let you delete your account, they won’t always make that option easy to find. So if you get stuck, check the support pages for that network, which should point you in the right direction. (To deactivate Tumblr, for example, you simply scroll down to the bottom of the settings page.) Support pages should also provide details about exactly what happens to your data when you click “delete” and how quickly it disappears from existence.

Feature Image Credit: Ditch your social apps—for good. Rahul Chakraborty via Unsplash

By David Nield

Sourced from Popular Science

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How to Use Facebook Advertising to Beat the Algorithm and Ensure Your Posts Are Seen

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By Kate Peers

Facebook has been experiencing a lot of bad press. Some even say that users are gravitating away from Facebook and towards other platforms.

The current statistics disagree with this assessment, however. There are still one billion active users on Facebook, which means that Facebook is still a strong place to find potential customers for your business. If you use Facebook ads efficiently, you can precisely target your audience and effectively spend for a strong return.

In this article, we examine how and when to use Facebook ads for your business.

Can I reach people without ads?

Facebook are using an algorithm which makes it more and more difficult to reach people organically through posting direct to your page. On average your posts will reach 1–3% of your audience without any ad spend. So, while can you interact with customers without ads, spending money on ads will help you reach more people, as well as more relevant people.

Should I boost a post?

Facebook is very clever. If you have ever posted anything on a business page, you’ll be familiar with the constant suggestions to “boost” your post. You may see a message that says something along the lines of, “This post is performing well, boost it now for more people to view it.”

While boosting a post can increase your customer reach, the most efficient way to interact with customers is by creating an ad from scratch.

How do I create an ad?

Before you make a start with Facebook ads, think hard about your objective. What would you like to achieve with your ad? Do you want to drive traffic to your blog? Would you like people to purchase an e-book? Are you hoping to get more page likes on Facebook and increase your followers?

All of these objectives can be achieved with Facebook ads, but make sure you have them clear before you begin, otherwise your spend will be directed towards the wrong outcome.

Target your audience

Take time to consider your dream client. Who is he or she? Do you want to target women in New York, aged between 30–45 with a high disposable income? You can do this.

Facebook has different targeting options divided into general demographics, interests, behaviors and connections. The real power of Facebook ads lies in interest and behavioral targeting. As we now know all too well, Facebook has tons of data on everyone’s interests, page likes and groups joined. If you know your audience, then you can reach them by creating an audience on Facebook.

Create a strong visual

A strong visual image is key to grab your customer’s attention. You only have one shot to make a first impression — you want to be sure that your images are clear, bright, and convey your message appropriately.

You should also be mindful about the fact that Facebook has very strict guidelines for ad creation, which tend to change a lot. You can only have text covering 20% of your image for instance, or your ad won’t deliver. Ensure your image meets these guidelines before you spend unnecessary time and money on an ad that doesn’t work.

Test, trial and respond to each ad

Facebook insights allow you to track how well an ad has performed. Price per click, number of times the ad was seen and adding URL tags to your ads mean that with a combination of Google analytics and Facebook insights you can play around with a small budget.

It is important to test to see what your audience responds to and ensure you are spending your money to achieve good results. If you notice that no one’s clicking on an ad, you may want to pause it. But, if you notice that hundreds of people are responding, you may want to add more spend and reach more people.

Once you get it right, the results will be mind blowing.

Final thoughts

There are few ways to reach your audience that are as direct and effective as Facebook advertising. If you’ve been hesitant to try out Facebook ads, now’s the time to give it a go.

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Originally published at prowritingaid.com.

Feature Image Source: Shutterstock

By Kate Peers

Kate Peers is the writer of the Mad About The Boys blog. A social media and marketing manager, she secretly wants to write a book one day. She is the a contributing author of Walking In The Rain and Washing Up Is Good For You, curated books by Department Store For The Mind. Her work can also be found on Metro online.

Sourced from The Writing Cooperative

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Social CRM: Top Three Business Benefits

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By Emma James

These days, it seems like an increasing number of people are using social media for one reason or another. Is your business taking the best advantage of social media to promote company products and services? No? Then, it’s time to take the best advantage of social media with the help of social customer relationship management tool.

Use social CRM tools for a better customer engagement, monitor and track the conversations of your customers’ and clients on social media platforms in real-time, respond quickly to customer complaints and queries, identify industry trends through real-time social monitoring, actively analyse the social media data to make well informed business decisions, as well as  enhance your brand image.

Social CRM software is helpful for your business to provide personalized customer service in real-time as well as to improve customer loyalty. Moreover, the social CRM system fosters in developing strong customer relationships by enabling your business to track the right customer conversations in real-time on various social media platforms, as well as analyse what type of content your competitors are sharing on their social networking platforms.

Additionally, social media platforms offer several advantages to businesses of all sizes. Here are the top three business benefits of social CRM:

1. Builds Profitable Customer Relationships

Do you want your business to build a strong brand presence on social media? Do you want to reap maximum profits as well as high return on investments through social channels? Social CRM tool will help you reach all your business goals. It will enable you to reach a higher number of potential customers’ as well as to reap the maximum profits through effective tracking of clients, customers’, as well as your competitors’ social influences. By analysing the customers’ tastes and interest, the marketing team can produce relevant and engaging content, which can surely impress your customers’ and followers. Thus, the producing of highly impressive marketing content can enable your audience to instantly like your content, share it across their friends and family members on various social media channels, as well as the ability to foster healthy and profitable customer relationships.

2. Identify the Right Platforms

Obviously, it takes a lot of time and dedication to produce high-quality, engaging, and original content. However, if the produced content doesn’t reach the right social media channels; then all the hard work you put in generating the relevant content will go vanish. You can avoid this if you can invest your money in the right social CRM solution. It helps in identifying the right social media networking channel as per your business needs and requirements.

An appropriate social CRM tool will tell your company – which social channels are correct for your brand, where you can find the targeted audience, as well as at what time your potential audience groups are active on the social networking channels. All this information will help your business to produce the content on the right social channels and at the right time, which can aid in gaining more momentum on the various social platforms.

3. Boosts Your Business SEO Activities

Earlier, it was difficult for businesses to create the customer-centric content. However, with the help of social CRM software, businesses can easily analyse the digital footprints of customers’ as well as identify the targeted and potential audience groups. Using the solutions of social CRM software, businesses can have a comprehensive understanding of what their targeted audience is searching on social networking channels, their likes, and dislikes, as well as what type of content they are liking and sharing by analysing the type of keywords your customers’ are using to search for content on the various social platforms.

Using this information, businesses can create targeted, shareable, and engaging content that your followers and customers’ would find interesting. While generating the content, you can even add the specified keywords used by your audience so that they can easily find your business content in their relevant searches. If your generated content is truly engaging and valuable, then your customers’ will surely like and share the content across various social media channels, which can ultimately boost your website SEO. Moreover, if your content has a higher number of shares, likes, and comments it will send a positive signal to the Google that your content is highly impressive and original, which can enable your website to be top-ranked on the Google search engine results page.

So, what are you waiting for? Empower your business today with the right social CRM technology to grasp hold of the wonderful business opportunities present in the market today!

By Emma James

Sourced from Digital Doughnut

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