Social Media from Both Sides of the Coin

Since the dawn of commerce, marketers (or simply people trying to express the value of their good/service) have been trying to find ways into communication channels to impart their message on prospective customers. As human technology advanced, and communication tools improved, marketers had reasonable but limited success, permeating the wall of friendly conversation to interject with business offers. In the modern era, technological communication is nearing the point of ubiquity in our daily lives, and marketers are trying their utmost to find out to their target market  Social media is a unique form of human technological communication that not only allows consumers and companies to have dialogues, but also provides an opportunity for customers to individually seek out marketing content, amidst all of the networking with friends and family.

Marketing messages and social interactions exist on the same plane, which, upon observation, inevitably draw parallels and perpendiculars between the utilization of social media by people and business. How does my use of social media compare to a firm? How does it contrast? To gain insight on the issue, I compared guidelines for standard corporate social media conduct from Moz with my own personal experience.

Community 

Obviously, one of the primary differentiating benefits of social media is the reciprocity of communication. My friend can post a status on Facebook, and I can "like" his post or give feedback by replying with a comment. Similarly, customers have the opportunity to "like" a company's post or complain about functionality, to which a business can quickly respond and quell an issue. This form of technological communication establishes an environment for dialogue that has previously never existed in the business world.

Winner of #NagbePhotoBomb

One major objective for companies marketing through social media is to increase engagement. The more interactive a consumer is with a firm's webpage, the greater their evident interest. Companies attempt to drive engagement by producing content that customers find interesting, designed around opportunities for consumer contribution. For example, the Portland Timbers (Major League Soccer) engaged fans by holding a #NagbePhotoBomb contest, where fans take pictures with a cutout head of Timbers player Darlington Nagbe randomly "photobombing" the shot. The winner as offered a chance to meet the Nagbe and receive a signed jersey. The promotion drove plenty of engagement and traffic to Timber's social media.

In a basic person-to-person setting, engagement takes place with simple ideas the resonate strongly with the community as a whole. I can't count how many times I've seen a thread based on #puppies full of exuberant appreciation for our canine friends. People like puppies. And taking pictures of their breakfast. Threads that show up focusing on these topics are completely user driven and organic, and is more a testament to the potency of community discussion on popular issues. A very valuable tool for marketers, indeed. If a firm is good enough at social media marketing, we witness a community's conversion into "brand evangelists." A company with a strong enough brand identity can earn the affection of a consumer, causing them to "love" and "defend" a brand on social media, creating an odd hybrid between the aforementioned corporate brand engagement and organic community engagement.

We Talkin' 'Bout Practice


In order to achieve goals in page views or any KPI in social media, firms must recognize the driving force that powers results: customer satisfaction. If you implement industry best practices into your social media strategy, you will have a better chance of achieving desired results.

Along with the industry standard practice for content creation (simple, educational, non-promotional) that I've discussed in previous postings, another crucial element to one's content is entertainment value. Another factor that, based on my observations, is often overlooked, is the timeliness of content. Content that is entertaining and is of immediate relevance to the consumer presents an opportunity for special resonance with a consumer. For example, when the stadium lights blew out at SuperBowl 2013, Oreo prepared a quick response to engage with customers in a timely matter.
By the time the lights came back on, Oreo's snappy slogan "You can still dunk in the dark" became the marketing phenomenon of the day.


This type of amusing content is what most social media users strive to produce, making a timely joke about current events to impress some friends. When a big corporation steps outside the box of concentrated brand messaging, the personality of the post is what draws consumers in and gains their trust. Trust, likeability, and familiarity are underrated components of social media brand messaging.

While these intangible qualities do in fact hold great significance in terms of interpreting consumer behavior, it is important not to overlook the foundational quantitative analysis. Just as individuals judge the success of their posts by "likes" and comments, companies must also approach their web presence with quantitative benchmarks like click through rate (CTR) and timing. By understanding what content is popular and at what times customers like to view content, firms can optimize their social media presence to claim as many eyeballs as possible.

Youtube in Social Media

Youtube is one of the earliest social media platforms, connecting people across the world with home videos, and a dialogue between users in the comments section. While the trend of success in social media usually follows the plot lines of becoming more human and personable, Youtube's evolution over the years has carried them in the opposite direction. In an effort to show customers videos relevant to their interest, Youtube has taken the reins of video distribution, implementing a model similar to a TV, where customers have a small range of channels to pick from for their entertainment needs. Essentially, the most successful Youtube channels are given a spot in the Youtube programming, but there is not much room for rookie content producers trying to gain popularity.









This behavior contributes to the conversation of "big corporation" style marketing vs the more personal "small business" social media. Does controlled media beat personal media? The jury is still out: Youtube is still successful in their endeavors, and small businesses continue to carve out their niche using personal social media communications as tool.