Social media strategy and planning essentials
This is part 9 of my Smart Insights 12 part social media series. In the last part we looked at reporting for social media; in this blog, I discuss what tools you can use to help plan and manage your social campaigns.
Please note that this list isn’t exhaustive. There’s a wide range of tools available, and each person I know uses a different mix depending on business needs. This blog aims to show you the types of tool you need to evaluate; you should then do your own research to find out what gives you're the functionality you need.
Measurement tools
Let’s start by getting the fundamentals put in place. To do social media intelligently, you need to underpin your planning and decision making with accurate data.
Google Analytics campaign tracking
My first port of call is always web analytics + URL campaign tracking. I’m going to…
In-app purchasing functionality and new 'web view' feature transforms Messenger into a powerful tool for making mobile sales.
Importance: [rating=5] (For ecommerce businesses)
Recommended source: Facebook Developers Blog
Yesterday Facebook introduced changes to its Facebook Messenger app, the most important of which for marketers is the introduction of a 'buy' button which will let users buy products via bots that exist within Messenger. There will be no need for the customer to leave the Messenger APP, the bot will be able the handle the whole transaction without having to re-direct to external pages.
To see how it'll work, just take a quick look at the short clip below:
Users can give Messenger their card details so it can handle payments for them (something many have already done for sending money to friends via the app), this reduces friction and saves having to fill in fiddly forms on mobile devices. Businesses will then…
Tricks are useful only if they actually work
As such, there are dozens of tips and trick out there on how to use social network platforms effectively.
Many of these tips just don’t work. Some of these tactics might have worked a few years ago. But as users change over time, so does social media. And some of these tricks never worked in the first place, even though they made sense. As new data starts coming in, we’re likely going to have to readjust the ways in which we use social media as a marketing tool.
1. More Hashtags Don’t Help
Most social media experts point out that using hashtags in your posts is going to drive your share rate up. And while that may be true, often times they leave out one very important fact. While one or two hashtags can have a positive impact, overusing them can actually drive followers away.…
We collected some of the best social media campaigns from 2015 and 2016 and analyzed how they could have been improved with personalization tactics.
We’ve seen some cool ones, but let’s dig deeper!
Social media sites like Facebook personalize their visitor’s experience in almost every possible way. They try to understand who their visitors are and what type of content would delight them in order to provide a better experience.
In contrast, social media campaigns often fail to use personalization to their advantage. Below you can find five of our favorite social media ads from 2015 or 2016, and a short description of how we would make them more personal.
The Last Selfie
Photos sent on Snapchat disappear after 10 seconds, with no chance of being seen again. World Wildlife Fund used this mechanism to illustrate what could happen to endangered species around the word. The organization posted pictures of tigers,…
A study by YouGov in association with Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has found that ad blocking use has declined between February and July, previous to that ad blocking software use was increasing.
The fall of 0.5% between February and July, which is from 21.7% to 21.2% came from a representative sample of 2011 adults aged 18+ in the UK.
The findings are announced as Facebook are taking action to stop ad blockers from working on the social network, which works by making the ad blocker unable to tell which is advertising content or isn't. Facebook also isn't the first website to trial anti-ad blocking software and it probably won't be the last. Another study found that ad blockers are actually breaking the internet, for example the research by Oriel (a technology company) reported problems with the British Airways website and with Vodafone's site too.…
How has Facebook performed compared to Instagram during the Olympic Games in Rio?
With Facebook reigning supreme since overtaking Myspace as the most popular social media in 2009, they have looked unbeatable. Huge audiences, combined with innovative features has meant Facebook have been sitting pretty at the top of the charts.
However, a new report from ComScore MMX has showcased the power of Instagram, when it comes to engagement.
The report indicated that before the games, Facebook was the preferred platform to share news and content about the games, however, since then Instagram has overtaken as the "Social Media Star" for the Olympic Games 2016.
The chart above highlights the disparity between the audience of both Facebook and Instagram, with the Blue giant achieving around 87.73% of the audience share, compared to the relatively measly 12.27% Instagram achieves.
However, the…
Millenials have grown up, so marketers must look to Gen Z for the next batch of malleable young minds. Problem is, Gen Z has it's own agenda.
It is with great sadness and regret that I have to announce the imminent demise of a magnificent era defined by a much loved and well know group we call the Millennials.
How we all loved how playful millennials lived more in their heads than in reality. We adored their naivety believing a single Europe for all would be embraced by a UK struggling to redefine its identity. We blushed as they exposed their bits on Tinder all in the name of love. We smiled as they swallowed click bait headlines.
Opticians worldwide will always give thanks for their dedication to staring at smart devices, resulting in a global demand for new prescription lenses. And of course, we salute…
Social needs to be better integrated into the marketing strategy if it's to be a major revenue generator
A 2016 survey of 289 US based CMOs by cmosurvey.org found some interesting if disappointing results regarding the value of social media. Although 4/5ths reported at least some contribution by social media to their companies performance, very few thought it was a big contributor.
There are two possible explanations for this.
CMOs aren't giving social a chance. Perhaps CMOs aren't giving social much in the way of budget or resource, and so it's not making much headway when it comes to overall performance. If you only devoted 5% of the marketing budget to social, it would be unfair to then expect it to contribute very highly to the companies performance. It's not just about budget. Even if social is well funded, it won't make a big difference if it's not integrated into the overall marketing strategy. All the…
In its latest update to investors Twitter reported poor user growth now with a total of 313 million monthly active users, the social network added only 3 million users in the past three months and added a total of 11 million new users since the first quarter of 2015.
This chart clearly shows how the growth rate of Twitter is lagging behind that of its competitors. Instagram recently passing the 500 million user mark while WhatsApp and most definitely Facebook are way ahead in terms of user growth.
Data: Company reports; China Internet Watch (compiled by Statista)
Source: www.statista.com
ComScore research has also shown that Facebook dominates both social media by audience and engagement, with 63% of the 18-34 age gap audience accessing the app on a monthly basis and 15 days on average per month that the app has been accessed. Both the ComScore…
Investing in social is all well and good, but you need a strategy first if you want it to get results
New data from the CMO's survey of 2016 report shows how major companies are planning on big increases in social media spending in coming years, yet are failing to properly integrate it into their digital strategies.
As you can see from the table below, social media spending is set to double from 10% of marketing budgets to 20% in coming years. B2C services are the biggest social spenders, with a full quarter of marketing budgets to be allocated to social by 2021.
When asked about how effectively their companies are integrating their social media efforts with the overall marketing strategy CMOs are pretty damning. Although there has been a very slight uptick of the past…
