Chapter 7: How to Use Social Media Marketing Tactics to Affect The Outcome Of Brand Image

This is the competitive world in which news travels fast, which means it’s more important than ever to maintain a positive brand image.

This can be difficult to do as well.

This can be a real challenge in every element of social marketing – campaign direction, moderation and management.

The advertising landscape has changed significantly thanks to digital media, social working and rapid communications.

It’s changed so much that it’s beyond recognition for older generations that used to work in the advertising field.

Science fiction writers never imagined that the Internet would grow like it did or the capabilities of the public to make comments on present situations and large corporation’s behavior.

These stories can grow quickly, especially with the mere declaration of a topic or celebrity in the news that causes people to find out all they can.

As with anything else, bad news travels quickly and a minute few can resist every opportunity they can to laugh at a corporation. ‘

According to various studies, people are not as trusting as they once were, and the level of trust they have is dropping each year.

Anytime there is a company scandal, the trust further erodes.

For example, British supermarkets will take time to come back from the horsemeat scandal.

The local butchers are benefitting from the outcome.

Since people are less likely to be so trusting, brands must find a way to boost their image and establish new markets.

How can they do this?

One suggestion is to set up communication channels with their present and potential customers and maintain them.

That’s where an effective social marketing management plan comes into action.

There are four things that a company must have in their social presence:

Of the four, the last one is considered the most important.

It can be difficult for a social marketing management team to determine how they can be influential in an area where there is little control.

Is it doable? It can be with these tips:

Find Your Influencers

In the brick-and-mortar world, you must become an organizer’s approved supplier if you are to see a plethora of business.

In essence, the business owner must give their approval for you to help influence the buying decision.

Brands that market right to their consumers online can use the same analogy by finding somebody influential that will use and like their product.

Do this, and chances are higher that they’ll start buying from you.

Influencers are who you want to target!

If you’re going to find your influencers, it’s going to be more than finding the right individuals.

You also need to go to the right places.

According to the most recent Technorati’s survey of 6,000 people regarding the social network landscape, consumers view blogs as an essential part of their buying decisions.

Technorati said 10 percent of the digital marketing spending is applied to social media networks – most of the presence directed to Facebook.

The report demonstrates that online advertising money is not funneled to the influential blogosphere where it needs to go.

You also have some analytics methods in which to find your influencers:

Algorithms used on Twitter will track followers as well as retweets – more so on the most popular topic.

Several studies’ results show that many popular Twitter users are not considered very influential.

Despite some celebrities’ high number of followers, they are not as influential as some may think.

Keep Control Over The Conversation

Be sure to keep watch and control what you can about what’s being said about the brand.

After all, what is being said about the brand will become a fixture of your social marketing campaign.

Controlling conversations doesn’t mean taking control over it.

Rather, it means to respond to public concerns and being honest with people.

When you do these things, it changes how people see a brand.

How you moderate and control content will vary from you and your competitors.

You need to maintain a balance between content management and controlling it.

Forums and sites tend to protect themselves from spammers and obscene postings – comments considered inappropriate.  

Going beyond it, you’ll need to determine if the site needs active moderation (all postings must be approved before being made public) or reactive (where postings are reviewed after they’ve been flagged as inappropriate).

What you decide is usually based on the budget.

Act Now to Address Issues

A great campaign can suddenly find itself in a controversy for something unforeseen.

For example, Nike’s brand managers may or may not be disappointed in themselves for coming up with the slogan, “I am the bullet in the chamber” when they featured Oscar Pistorius who allegedly killed his girlfriend with a gun.

The moment news broke about the advertisements, they were quickly dropped.

However, the news media continued to report on the Ducer talking about the removal.

Many times, it’s the advertisements that see more coverage than the actual campaign.

This is proof that even deleting inappropriate content isn’t effective enough, especially since it’s impossible to delete something off the Internet once posted to it.

When this happens, a brand must offer a pro-active statement and show honesty about the issue.

This works to reassure consumers that the brand isn’t attempting to make light of bad events. Instead, they’re trying to stay transparent and honest.

For instance, Nike, after removing the ad, went a step more by suspending its Pistorius sponsorship contract.

However, they also made a statement that they were watching the situation closely and felt Pistorius should have his day in court.

They said it wasn’t their job to look at and determine what happened. 

Basically, Nike took a more thoughtful approach to the Ducer than a reactive one, and their response kept them in consumers’ good graces and may have led to even more business for the company.

Though it’s important to post something quickly, being more careful about what you post to avoid a damaging situation is more important.

If you talk carelessly, you can cost people their lives. 

One prime example of this statement: the U.S. president, Donald Trump, insists he was right about the state of Alabama getting hit by Hurricane Dorian.

If he had remarked about the issue four days earlier than he did, he might have been right.

However, he made no mention of it until after reports show Hurricane Dorian, a category 5 storm, changed course and would hit the East Coast (Alabama is on the Gulf Coast).

The Weather Service had to quickly release a statement that Alabama was not in the path of the hurricane.

Had people believed Trump’s assessment, it would have cost people their lives.

It may seem possible to delete unwanted content, but you can’t always do so.

Since information spreads so quickly, especially undesirable news, comments can take on a life of their own before you know it.

Make Use of Facebook to Reach Prospective Social Media Influencers for Your Internet Marketing Campaign

Most people understand just how popular Facebook is.

After all, it’s one of the most popular places for people to talk with one another.

Make use of this communication movement and promote your company’s services/products.

As with anything else, there are a few helpful tips to ensure the job goes a little more smoothly.

What should you be mindful of when using Facebook for business promotion?

Create A Presence On Facebook

Facebook allows people to create a fan page, which is also useable as a business page.

You can create a profile page that can be used to share information about yourself on a more personal level. 

One thing to remember is that you want to make at least 80 percent of business posts on the business page and 20 percent of personal posts.

Use the personal profile page to post the exact opposite – 80 percent personal, 20 percent business.

People will go to your personal page to learn more about you personally and then they’ll visit your business page to find out information about the company.

Of course, Facebook is constantly making changes and the rules that govern the pages.

Keep that in mind that you may have to make adjustments to these recommendations.

You need to also brand the Facebook page whenever possible so people will recognize it when they came to it.

They want to know what it is you offer and the kind of business you have.

The idea is for immediate recognition of a brand that includes the understanding of the following things:

• Mission
• Purpose
• Business personal relations target achievement
• Business fulfillment strategy

Profile Optimization

Be sure you optimize your profile, which makes it easier for people to find out about you and your business, what it is you offer and the services your business provides.

Add A Website Link

In your profile, include a link back to your website, making it easy for people to visit and learn more about you and the company.

Be sure the website is placed in the “camel case” format such www.YourWebsiteHere.com.

What you’re doing is capitalizing the YWH for them to recognize it’s your website and they’ll be enticed to click on the link.

Include A Welcome Tab or Capture Page

You want to set up a welcome tab so people will “Like” your profile page.

Once they do this, they’ll be notified of future page postings.

This allows them to stay updated about the current happenings going on in the business that you’re posting about on Facebook.

Be sure your “followers” are getting something valuable from the page, so they’ll stay with you.

When you do all this, you have created an Internet presence for your Facebook profile.

Now, you need to focus on updating your site, which ensures people will engage with the site and want to go back to your business website to learn about what you have to offer them.

Post Regularly to Your Site

When posting information on your site, you want to give people something worthwhile – be it about your company or the industry you work in.

By giving them this information, it encourages them to learn as much as they can about the business with a simple click of a link that directs them back to your website.

This strategy is known as linking.

And, it can work with any video or article you have made or shared on your business profile.

Another way in which to bring people to your Facebook page is to post a link that is clickable to visit the sites and learn more about your business or watch videos that give accurate information about your products.

If done just right, the end result will be rewarding for you and them.

They’ll become your customers, and they’ll be influencers to friends.

They may even refer their friends to your website or Facebook page.

Friend Influencers

Facebook is a huge social Internet website, with people talking about all types of topics.

There are some people who are very influential in their online world.

Therefore, it’s always a good idea for a friend to friend someone back.

With influential friends in the group or being a part of an influential group, there are going to be influential buyers that will want to purchase from your company.

Prev: Chapter 6: What It Takes to Figure Out Your Customers’ Influences Spots

Next: Chapter 8: How to Increase Affiliate Income Using Influential Techniques