Jack's Blog @jayersprofit1-blog - Tumblr Blog

WEEK 5.2.16 (Pinterest Broadens Ad Sales Focus Once Again)

In this morning’s Wall Street Journal article, Pinterest was featured in regards to their advertising market over the social media platform. Pinterest, as learned in class, is a visual discovery tool that individuals can use to find new ideas for projects and interests. Based on the article, Pinterest has been historically limiting the types of advertisers on the platform to just retail and consumer good verticals. Now, after the recent addition of a former Google sales executive, Jon Kaplan (head of global sales), the company has been pursuing options to expand to more channels, primarily financial services, travel, automobile, and restaurants.

The company has been growing in size, the tech start-up is worth more than $11 billion and last year it brought in five times more ad revenue than it did in 2014, representing the growth advertisers have been developing over social media. Pinterest is a prime example of a social community zone, where other users with the same likes and interests can interact and engage with each other, thereby creating relationships. Pinterest has a great platform, in which social media marketers can utilize to build brand awareness and engage consumers.

Depending on the interest’s of specific consumers, social media marketers should be aware who their target audience is. Pinterest has realized that the individuals going to the site aren’t just middle-aged women looking for consumer goods anymore, it is a wide variety of people with different likes and interest, thus Pinterest is doing the right thing in opening up to all types of advertisers. However, with Pinterest’s platform, they should be careful with the types of formats these advertisers will utilize, thus keeping the same experience for the user.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/pinterest-broadens-ad-sales-focus-once-again-1462186887

WEEK 4.25.16 (Five Things Marketers Should Note From Facebook’s First-Quarter Earnings)

With the recent release of Facebook’s quarterly earnings release, I thought it would be appropriate to find an article relating to these results, and how it can adequately tie to social media marketing class. The first line of the article discusses how Facebook has attracted 1.09 billion (989 million “mobil” users) users to access the sight on a daily basis, an important statistic that shows the impact this social media platform has on individuals globally. In regards to advertising revenue, Facebook generated more than 82% of its ad revenue from it’s mobil platform, representing the shift to smartphone users. Mark Zuckerberg (chief executive) also noted that the video platform is just beginning to grow, showing signs to compete with Google’s YouTube. As studied is class, Facebook can be classified as a “social community” because relationships and interactions can be built. It also can be classified as “social publishing” because the new growing use of videos and other types of content published by it’s users. It can also be argued that it can fall into “social commerce” and “social entertainment”, however the article doesn’t go into discussing the aspects the latter comprises.

In the first quarter, Facebook’s ad revenue came in at $5.2 billion. Advertisers have been rapidly using Facebook to generate ads and reach individuals. The article also discusses the new platform and format the advertisers have when advertising on the platform. The average time for an ad format is over 30 seconds, however Facebook wants to help advertisers better optimize the video features. The company recently introduced a new tool allowing marketers to automatically add captions to their video ads. Additionally, captioned ad videos increase view time by 12 percent!

The information in this article was very informative for social media marketing students, like myself. Taking the information away from this article, marketers should view Facebook as an amazing opportunity to “reach” specific consumers to boost a product or generate awareness. Due to the new video platforms, marketers should be in the process of developing approximately 30 second ads that will stick out and boost consumer interest.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/five-things-marketers-should-note-from-facebooks-first-quarter-earnings-1461797367

WEEK 4.18.16 (Betting on Southeast Asia’s E-Commerce Boom)

This article discusses the growing popularity of Southeast Asia’s e-commerce market, using the recent transaction this week of Alibaba paying $1 billion for a majority stake in regional online marketplace, Lazada as a prime example.

The main topic of this article is online retail shopping, and the importance of social media and online user engagement to facilitate different types of purchases.The article states that only one in four consumers over the age of 16 has ever made an online purchase in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Later the article goes onto to state that Southeast Asia’s online retail penetration level is 3%, representing only about $6 billion in sales. China and the U.S. boast penetration levels of 14%, with online sales exceeding $250 billion.This goes to show the growth potential in this particular market. A survey posted in the article said that 100 million consumers in southeast Asia have made purchases, but 150 million consumers have researched products or ENGAGED with sellers online.

Later in the article, the following is said about southeast Asia consumers and the influence social media marketing can play, “They show little loyalty to retailers and shop via social media. More than 80% of the region’s digital consumers use social media such as Instagram to research products or otherwise connect with sellers. Since sales via social media comprise up to 30% of all transactions, companies are rapidly expanding their services to attract consumers.” This is basically what we are learning in class- the core element to social media marketing. Companies should understand the growing dependence consumers have with social media when purchasing goods and services. Social media marketing should be the heart and soul of every business model in today’s new digitalized and technology-driven economy.

As we have learned in class, engagement is the key to any successful social media marketing campaign. The more platforms companies have on social media, the more knowledge consumers will have, thus making the enterprise more successful.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/bettin-on-southeast-asias-e-commerce-boom-1461085962

WEEK 4.11.16 (Why the NFL went to Twitter instead of Facebook; Social Media Marketing News Update)

The breaking news that occurred at the beginning of the week was that Twitter had controlled the rights to stream Thursday Night National Football League games over their social media platform, starting this fall.

The article that I found was on CNBC, titled, “Why the NFL went to Twitter instead of Facebook.” The main topics brought up in this article was that Twitter had acquired the rights from the NFL to live-stream games through the social media platform with help from the main providers, like NBC or CBS. Under the agreement, Twitter will also be allowed to show in-game highlights and pictures/videos of players in the pre-game through Periscope (Twitter’s live video-streaming app). The NFL will acquire half the space for advertisements, while Twitter will have control for the other half. The article states that Twitter has a better live-streaming video model than Facebook, another reason why the NFL felt comfortable handing the rights to Twitter.

This will significantly impact marketing over the social media platform in a big way. Studies show that millennial males are increasingly difficult to market to through social media, something that Twitter has known, and why they wanted NFL games live-streamed through the platform, to attract millennial male users. Sporting events are overwhelmingly watched live, something that is very beneficial for marketers. While the advertisements will be broadcasted on a regional basis, companies and brands have to determine what the potential ROI can be on showing an advertisement, and will there be enough user engagement. Since the majority demographic will be millennial males, I believe alcohol/beer companies would be the best companies to advertise, along with some others; sporting goods stores/hunting stores, packaged food brands, etc.

This article relates specifically to class because it directly discusses Twitter and Facebook, and how marketing should be appropriate to the users/targets over the given platform. With Twitter’s new arrangement to stream online football games, we can argue that Twitter is utilizing three zones of social media; social publishing, social community, and social entertainment. With arguably three out of four social media zones covered, companies should take advantage of this marketing opportunity. Increasing brand or product awareness will be the goal of any social media marketing strategy, and utilizing Twitter during NFL Thursday Night games is even better.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/06/sources-bad-blood-between-nfl-facebook-led-to-twitter-deal.html

WEEK 4.4.16 (Bernie Sanders’ Social Media)

With the 2016 presidential campaign season in full-swing, I thought it would be customary to include strategies of social media marketing by presidential candidates and their staff. The article I found was on Bernie Sanders’ social media marketing strategy, as implemented by Hector Sigala (digital media director). Hector Sigala constantly uses the “#DebateWithBernie” that is very popular with most Twitter users. The article suggests that some 17 million people were reached (on Twitter) during the most recent debate. It was the first in a string of Twitter wins by Sanders during a presidential contest widely viewed as a coming-of-age moment for social media in national politics. Using hashtags generates user engagement and individual reach.

Twitter is an exceptional social media platform to use for any individual, brand, company or presidential candidate to market themselves, and generate awareness. Platforms like Twitter allow candidates to communicate with supporters easily, bash opponents or swiftly counter-attack. This is comparable with what any business or corporation’s social media marketing strategy would look like.

Although Hillary Clinton has more followers on Twitter, Bernie Sanders’ Twitter account tweets more, and has more personalized posts. It is important to note that Bernie Sanders has been attracting more millennials than any other candidate, so it makes sense that the staff has been using Twitter (a platform with most users being millennials).

In regards to the 2016 presidential election, politicians have understood the importance of using social media to generate awareness and give them an extra advantage.

http://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-twitter-strategy-2016-4

#debatewithbernie

WEEK 3.28.16 (Spotify Turns to Eighties Nostalgia, Pope Francis in Ad Campaign to Court New Users)

Spotify is a recently established music streaming service which has a social media component attached to it. Spotify allows users to stream any type of song or podcast on-demand. This privately-held social media/music company has traditionally only been attracting millennials, but hope to soon target older individuals through stronger initiatives and advertisement campaigns.

This article talks about Spotify’s effort to target more 40 to 50 year olds through the “Never Ending Story.” Apparently (this movie was before my time) there was a popular song from the 1984 fantasy film that attracts many people around era. Spotify hopes to send out ad campaigns with commercials of the actors from the film to attract users to the social-platform and stream that particular song. Their second effort is to show Pope Francis rocking out to “My House” by FloRida in Church to draw attention.

Spotify’s entire competitive advantage is that along with them being a music-streaming service, they are also a social-media platform which allows users to engage with friends and “like” posts. With these strong advertisement campaigns, Spotify is hoping for older individuals to listen to the song and then share with their friends to boost this “older” type of music over the platform. With the anticipation of an increasing amount of “non-millennials” finding the site, businesses can adjust their advertisements to target the appropriate demographics.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/spotify-turns-to-eighties-nostalgia-pope-francis-in-ad-campaign-to-court-new-users-1459159203

#spotify

WEEK 3.14.16 (Social Networking Comes to the Workplace)

In this fascinating article, the topic is about social media engagement in the workplace and how much benefit employees can generate using these types of platforms. Randy Bragdon’s real-estate brokerage tried out Yammer, the corporate social-networking software Microsoft purchased in 2012 for $1.2 billion. Yammer allows co-workers to collaborate on projects, message one another and “like” videos throughout the office. Results show that employees respond positively to this new form of social media. Views of educational videos at NRT (the company) are up 400%, due in part by the social media accessibility. The article later states that many companies similar to NRT, in that they are real-estate brokerage firms, have started using corporate social networks. The reasoning is that real-estate agents tend to work independently, but their job is a social one, where information sharing can help close deals.

As you can see below, the article provides statistical evidence in favor of social media in the workplace. The main aspect of social media networking we have learned in class this semester is the importance of user engagement. The social media platform Yammer, allows co-workers and employees all across the value-chain to collaborate on ideas, and essentially make work more fun. The zone this platform could fall under would be communications and publications zone of social media. User engagement is the key to any successful initiative over social media, and in regards to this real-estate brokerage firm, they have realized the importance of social media in the workplace.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/social-networking-comes-at-last-to-the-workplace-1457921537

#Social media in the workplace

WEEK 3.7.16 (Music Service Aims to Attract Young Fans With Low Price - WSJ)

CUR Media Inc. is an up-and-coming media firm that has similar platforms to Pandora Inc. and Spotify. This article goes into detail about the difficult time music-streaming services are having to attract for-paying subscribers. Hannah Karp (author of the article) notes that teens and college students (who generally have lower disposable income) are content with listening for free on platforms like Youtube, despite the ads. CUR Music is developing a new service for $1.99 a month, which includes eight on-demand songs a day, along with a social media networking component as well. The social media component lets users attach photos and eight-second personal videos to send to their friends. With Pandora’s stock at record lows and losing market-share, this is a perfect time for CUR Media to launch a new investment.

I strongly believe this a great, creative initiative to get this company out on the map. The company’s executives realize their market (which is predominantly teens and college students) and they have implemented the importance of utilizing social media to build user-engagement across their service. With this type of social-publishing zone, I believe users, especially teens will find the service very much engaging.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/music-service-aims-to-attract-young-fans-with-low-price-1457124757

WEEK 2.29.16 (Ad Firm SuperAwesome Says It Can Help Kids’ Brands Navigate YouTube)

As we have learned in class, YouTube can be a great social media platform for companies to utilize. Youtube can be classified into the “social publishing zone” and arguably into the “social community zone” as well. Companies invest millions of dollars to feature their product or service over the YouTube platform. This article goes into detail describing SuperAwesome as a London-based advertising/media firm that helps marketers reach children in a legal and safe way. Further, it goes on to explain the benefit in “legal” data collection over YouTube’s platform- which in turn, represents a goldmine for advertisers (considering over 4 billion YouTube videos are watched daily!)

FamilyGamerTV (owned and operated by SuperAwesome) reviews videogames and original family shows focuses on kid-friendly ads such as toy manufacturers and other children-related products.

In conclusion, companies that recognize and understand their target audience can then, in turn invest in proper advertising techniques. These companies understand the growth in social media platforms (like YouTube), and thus implement correct advertising techniques geared towards their target audience.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/ad-firm-superawesome-says-it-can-help-kids-brands-navigate-youtube-1456830004

#WSJ

WEEK 2.22.16 (Deadpool Marketing)

With the recent release of the film Deadpool, many professional marketers and business savvy advertisers are praising Twentieth Century Fox’s marketing techniques. This article draws attention to the use of clever and influential marketing techniques to draw consumers to the film. Although some critics say the marketing and social media advertising went too far, most critics like the Twitter and Instagram posts along with the award-winning comic books to draw consumers. Twentieth Century Fox used major holidays and special events that ties in the holiday with the film Deapool (using hashtag “#” deadpool) on Twitter and Instagram. This article also dives deep into several social media marketing “do’s” and “dont’s” for your business. They say that humor in any social media campaign can really send a strong message (positively or negatively). Lastly they describe the importance of appropriateness in regards to their consumers; you want your social media campaign to target specific consumers, and not the individuals who will not see the [movie].

All in all, this article explains the importance of having a clear, appropriate message on social media, and how it can be a real asset in delivering any given message.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gordy-grundy/deadpool-marketing-humor-_b_9234090.html

#deadpool

WEEK 2.15.16 (Small Businesses and Social Media)

http://www.sheboyganpress.com/story/money/2016/01/23/small-business-marketing-evolves-social-media/78965348/

In today’s day and age with individuals’ increasing reliance on businesses like Amazon and Walmart, small businesses around the world are feeling squeezed. This article talks about the crucial role social media (primarily Facebook) plays in the market place. Lori O’Connor (the main attributor to the article) talks about the importance of not just having a social media presence, but being engaged and updating it on a consistent basis. It’s easy for the Amazon’s of the world to attract users because of it’s size, so if you’re a small business you need to attract them via social media. Updating products and/or promotions is a great way for small businesses to attract customers. Lori explains that most managers/owners of small businesses are too caught up in the daily routine of running a business, when instead they should focus on the “external environment” in order to attract new customers. I strongly agree with this article, and I believe all small business owners should take the advice and utilize social media on a consistent basis!

Best Regards,

Jack Ayers

WEEK 2.8.16 (Chipotle)

As we (should) all know by now, Chipotle Mexican Grill has been struggling with lost market share over the past few months. Back in early November, Chipotle had a severe E. Coli outbreak which significantly impacted their sales, profit, and stock price. In the past, Chipotle has used great social media and marketing tactics- praising it’s fresh, “organic” grown foods, via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. “Chipotle is about more than just chatter and flashy videos — the company creates tangible online and offline promotions that reinforce its commitment to supporting family farmers and educating people about food.”(http://mashable.com/2012/03/21/chipotle-social-media/) Chipotle has recognized the new uptrend in Millennial’s preferences towards healthy food/lifestyles. They have been posting videos about their healthy initiatives and programs they have been implementing. After this E.Coli breakout, Chipotle is in the process of planing a new social media marketing campaign to regain customer loyalty. They haven’t released all the details about this new marketing strategy, but I’m guessing it is going to consist of giveaways or coupons via Instagram or Twitter. Either way, this boost in marketing efforts through social media will get Chipotle’s name out there, and regain market share.

All in all, I strongly believe Chipotle is a great company, with a great marketing/advertising department. Although this E.coli outbreak will negatively impact them in the short-run, with strong social media marketing and high-quality products, their long-term horizon looks attractive.

Best Regards,

New User

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Jack's Blog