Social Networking

 Social networking, one of the most widely used forms of social

media, is an online activity in which friends or peers in a social
group interact with each other using a central website or application
to transmit messages.
 These messages can contain text, images, videos, links or other
sharable media.
Characteristics of Social Networking
1. Connecting
 It is the most important part of the entire social networking process.
 Web users build complex networks of friends, family, colleagues and
strangers.
Characteristics of Social Networking
2. Sharing
 The communication method on a social network is sharing – posting
interesting, funny, shocking or relevant content between people.
 Social networks are built to make sharing as easy as possible, and
media that is passed around is similarly quickly digestible.
 Sharing good, useful and entertaining content raises users’
credibility in the eyes of their peers.
Characteristics of Social Networking
3. Engaging
 Engaging with other users and their shared material is equally so.
 Engagement is a simple “like” or “retweet”, a comment, an in-depth
response, a satire or a critique, it is important to take an active role
in shaping the message around the content.
 It is easy to engage directly in conversation with any other individual
or group of users, communicating meaningfully with them.
 Essentially, social media marketing is about building communities.
Characteristics of Social Networking
4. Reputation
 Reputation in social network is key to being taken seriously and
affects the way people shared content is perceived.
 The messages and content that you share contribute to your online
persona and give your profile a specific personality and focus.
 For a brand, having a good reputation means that your content will
be more widely accepted and not viewed through the negative lens
of self-promotion.
 A good reputation builds trust, which is absolutely crucial in the
social sphere.
Social Networking Site for
Marketing
 Users: 1.79 billion daily active
users worldwide
 Audience: Generation X and
millennials
 Industry impact: B2C
 Best for: Brand awareness;
advertising
 Users: 186 million daily active
users worldwide
 Audience: Primarily millennials
 Industry impact: B2B and B2C
 Best for: Public relations;
customer service
Social Networking Site for
Marketing
 Users: 1 billion monthly active
users
 Audience: Primarily millennials
 Industry impact: B2C
 Best for: Natural-looking media,
behind-the-scenes, and user-
generated content; advertising
 Users: 675 million monthly active
users worldwide
 Audience: Baby boomers,
Generation X, and millennials
 Industry impact: B2B
 Best for: B2B relationships,
business development, and
employment marketing
Social Networking Site for
Marketing

 Users: Over 2 billion logged-in monthly users worldwide

 Audience: Millennials, closely followed by Generation Z
 Industry impact: B2C
 Best for: Brand awareness; entertainment, and how-to videos
Benefits of Social Media
Advertising
1. Social networks, by design, allow brands to leverage real word of mouth and
recommendations between friends, by targeting ads to friends of a brand’s
followers.
2. Sponsored posts are an opportunity for brands to be more playful, fun and
experimental than on traditional media ads.
3. The levels of engagement (or lack of) are clear on social media ads, so you get
useful feedback on your message or offer immediately.
4. The turnaround time for producing and getting ads live on social media is also
attractive. A limited time offer, such as a flash sale, can be promoted very
quickly and heavily, and stopped just as quickly.
5. Clicks on social media ads are often more cost-effective than other ad
platforms.
6. The platforms offer a high level of detail available in audience targeting.
Essential Components of
Marketing on Social Networks
1. Advertising
 Social networking involves marketing in a social space – where
adverts and promotional material are less welcome.
 This makes it both harder to market (people don’t want to have an
advertising message forced on them) and more powerful (since the
social space is ideal for sharing, recommending and spreading
adverts between friends).
Essential Components of
Marketing on Social Networks

2. Building a brand presence.

 This is the “soft sell” part of social network marketing.
 By building a brand presence on a social network, the company
becomes a social actor that can engage with customers.
 It also becomes a cornerstone in the web PR strategy.
Essential Components of
Marketing on Social Networks
3. Word of mouth
 This is the riskiest and least controllable aspect of social networking,
but one that can reap considerable rewards.
 Online word of mouth spreads best over social networks and can be
harnessed and steered by a clever online marketer.
 People are more likely to try something new based on what people
in their social group have recommended – so your aim with social
media is to try to get the right people to speak about your brand
and pass on the message.
Audience Targeting
 Facebook determines an audience’s interests and preferences
through the information on their profile, information they share on
Facebook such as the pages they like and interact with, the ads they
click on, other apps and websites they use and other information
from data providers.
 Advertisers can use this information to target an audience very
carefully.
Audience Targeting
 In Facebook businesses can select the audience what they want to reach based
on factors such as:
 Demographics – for example age, gender, interests and language.
 Location – for example the country, region, and proximity to your business.
 Interests – for example music, film, sport, games, shopping and many more.
 Behaviours – shopping habits, intentions to travel, just back from travel, and
devices used.
 Connections – this includes the people who have shown an interest in your
Page or Profile, and their friends or network.
 Partner Categories – this is information about offline behaviour provided by
third-party data providers.
Guide in Social Media
Marketing Plan
The table provides suggestions on the best ways to use the
various types of social media.
PLATFORM SUITABLE FOR MAINTENANCE
 Reading user comments, forum
 Young, tech-savvy audiences
posts and direct messages
 Clothing, fashion and accessories
 Posting interesting content
 Products focused at university students
Facebook (found or self-made)
 Popular brands that benefit from word of
(www.facebook.com)  Chatting casually with
mouth
customers
 Entertainment products and media
 Managing Facebook advertising
 Products with mass-market appeal
and tracking analytics
Guide in Social Media
Marketing Plan
PLATFORM SUITABLE FOR MAINTENANCE
 Reading tweets by other
posters and mentions of your
brand or profile
 Niche or alternative products
Twitter  Responding instantly to
 Technology-focused audiences
(www.twitter.com) questions or comments
 Content or knowledge focused businesses
 Finding and following
competitors, industry leaders
and influencers
 Business-to-business communication  Finding and accepting contacts
LinkedIn
 Highly skilled professionals  Joining and interacting on
(www.linkedin.com)
 Business services, including freelance business-related groups
Guide in Social Media
Marketing Plan
PLATFORM SUITABLE FOR MAINTENANCE
 Monitoring comments
 Checking for copyright
YouTube  Viral marketing strategies
infringing copies of your videos
(www.youtube.com)  Youthful, edgy and mainstream audiences
and requesting takedowns if
necessary
 Writing and editing articles
 Content or knowledge focused businesses
 Posting articles to the blog
 Professional, skilled services
 Distributing articles online
Company blog  Business or commerce audiences
 Cross-linking with other
 Entrepreneurial companies
relevant blogs Replying to
 Material that educates and helps readers
comments
Activity 1
Direction: Choose 2 Social Media Site and wrap-up your ideas and
understanding in 3-4 sentences on why this site is the best for Social
Media Marketing.

1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. LinkedIn
4. YouTube
Activity 2:
Direction: Complete the table bellow:

Secret/s of their
Background/
Social Media Site Owners Success as Social
History
Media Site
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. LinkedIn
4. YouTube