BENCHMARKING REPORTRELATING TOSOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Introduction

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT ABOUT TECHNOLOGY OR TRADITIONAL

ADVERTISING, IT IS ABOUT FACILITATING INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PEOPLE.

Best Practices in Social Media Marketing(Alphabetical Order)

Source: Lisa Braziel & Christian Sulivan, Ignite Social Media Blog

Animal Planet

Killer Clips Widget and Daily Cuddle Widget

Blogging (this relates to specific shows on the channel and issues like the Gulf Oil Spill, Animals in the News, etc.)

Facebook Fan Page: I noticed offhand that they kick started the page with the question, “What would you like to see on this Fan Page?”. I think this is a simple, yet very beneficial question.

Branded YouTube Channel

Del Monte Foods

Photo Contest Del Monte Fit n Right page on Facebook Blogs specific to brands, and worth

special mention is the Pup Peroni blog. Cat IQ application on the Meow Mix

website

Exxon Mobil

Speeches Podcast Videos are found in a “multimedia”

section of the site, but these videos are unable to be embedded elsewhere. This is unfortunate, since many of these videos seem as if they are content that could help change the publics perception of Exxon Mobil.

BP came up with the “BP Ultimate Car Rally Challenge” application on Facebook. Has a monthly 4585 active users on Facebook.

IKEA

The IKEA Virtual Planner Regularly updated Facebook Fan Page

and discussion topics suggested from the Social Media Team keeps the people hooked on.

Interactive Online Catalog

Johnson & Johnson

Individual Brand blogs as well as the JNJBTW blog.

Dedicated YouTube Health Channel Facebook & Twitter Page encouraging

health practices.

Kraft Foods

“My Recipe Box” section on the website provides not only recipes of delicacies but also the ability to export the contents of chosen recipes to a specific shopping list.

iFood Assisstant Application for iPhone YouTube Channel having quick 2-3

minute cooking tutorials. Social Networking and Blogging

National Geographic

I was immediately impressed by National Geographic’s robust Facebook Fan page, touting an impressive 470,555 fans.  National Geographic wisely updates the page’s status one to three times a week and provides a lot of engaging content in the Facebook tabs, met by lots of interaction by their fans.  With most brand to fan interaction happening on the wall, thousands of fans have “Liked” content or commented positively even when branded content is shared straight from nationalgeographic.com.  Taking a closer look, it appears that National Geographic isn’t just sharing this content, but actively promoting fan activity and interaction.  For instance, instead of sharing a survey that lives on their site, they posted the link to the wall and commented, “Post your score and challenge your friends”. Tailoring this content in this way is a great way to welcome and jump start involvement. 

National Geographic (Contd.) Active MySpace and Twitter pages. YouTube channel with Playlist

Functionality The Inside NGC Blog updated more than

twice a week. Photo of the Day widgets with embed

functionality.

SELF Magazine

Highly Impressive Facebook page – Its audiences are using its content posted to the Wall as a forum for discussions. And worth special mention is the “Customer Service” tab.

Youtube Channel complimenting the content in their magazines.

8 blogs on topics like Healthy Snacks, Weight loss tips, etc.

Taco Bell

Taco bell iPhone Shaker Application provides the menu card on a person’s mobile phone and a Taco Bell Store Locater as well to spot the nearest store.

Active facebook and twitter page. Dedicated YouTube channel.

Xerox

Xerox has 14 blogs. In a time when so many other corporations are struggling to create even a single blog with a personal feel and frequent posts, this company has fourteen of its employees writing about their Xerox niche on a regular basis.

Great Fan Following on Twitter and Facebook.

Impressive YouTube channel for those in the printing business. Main Video by VP Gina Testa apart from the 100+ uploads.

Now it’s time for….ITC Personal Care

Facebook application under Vivel Deo Spirit called “Pyaar ka Chakkar” with 497 monthly users. Fan Pages of individual brand products like Vivel Deo Spirit (98,754 likes), Vivel Active Fair(351 likes) and Vivel(43 likes), Vivel Ultra Pro(63 likes).

Twitter Presence through Fiama Di Wills with 11 followers.

Strategy

Start with a plan, not tactics.  Research and build a Social Media Roadmap involving:  Audience, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics, Tools/Technology and Metrics.

“Give to get” – Successful social media marketing programs involve listening and participation. That participation centers around giving value before expecting anything in return. This is not “sales” as you know it. But companies can definitely increase sales as a result.

Commit resources & time to be successful or you may very well fail. It’s important to forecast labor hours, who, what, when, how and where with the intention of succeeding, not just experimenting. If a social media effort is successful, scalability will be an even bigger issue if you don’t plan for it.  Hiring a community manager for example, may not be justified when a social media monitoring program is started or with a new company, but a job required and understanding of the role should be ready in case it’s called for.

Strategy

Be transparent with intentions & your identity or you may alienate the very audiences you’re trying to connect with.  Objectives, strategy and doing your homework about a community should make it pretty obvious what types of commercial messages are appropriate.  Being transparent about intentions might come in the form of stating a purpose:  ”Brand XYZ has created this Facebook page to help consumers make better choices about Topic XYZ”.  It’s fine if goals are to increase sales, but participation should be focused on providing the kind of value that facilitates sales – not attempting to make sales directly. When is the last time you purchased something other than a virtual cupcake on Facebook?

Understand, you do not control the message.  Old habits die hard and there’s a tendency to want to treat social media participation like advertising where the ability to control messaging is the norm. Once information or media is available on the social web, people will inevitably mash it up, stretch it, pull it and reshape it according to their interests. Brands need to protect their identities, copyright and intellectual property for sure, but rather than “controlling the message” marketers should encourage the mashup and creativity.

Strategy (Contd.)

Welcome participation, feedback and co-creation. As comfort levels rise with social web participation, companies will see opportunities to encourage participation with communications, especially with brand evangelists. Developing relationships and community within social communities on the web can facilitate buy in, provide invaluable feedback and sourcing opportunities.

Metrics should roll up to objectives and objectives should be relevant to the channel.  More than a few companies see evidence of other social media efforts. Direct marketing is the lens through which many social media efforts are first viewed, with a tendency to focus on action “A” resulting in “B” outcome. Social media marketing is more like public relations than direct marketing. It’s more like providing resource “A” results in “action “B” that influences outcome “C”. Metrics for success need to consider the pre-goal performance indicators like number of “friends”, comments, links, etc as well as commercial outcomes influenced by social media participation.

I think ITC Personal Care understands the Social Media Marketing landscape, but is trying to become more optimized in how to use it. ITC-PCB is always on the lookout for ways to improve and actively listen, possess a medium engagement level, and a moderate amount of branded content publication.

Recommendations

Being innovative to develop an all new form of Social Media Marketing.

Continue listening to identify new Social Media channels and create new outposts and broaden interaction

Create and circulate regular reports, including foundational Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including reach, views, shares, and influence

Create an editorial calendar to ensure regular publication of compelling content to drive the social conversation and create inbound interest

Success Criterion

Expanded social footprint with engagement across channels

Increased internal traction for content and measurement

Foundational KPIs are being tracked Editorial calendar is in place and driving

content

Thank you!!!

Full Article on Ravindra Khandelwal’s Blog