Category Archives: Entertainment

Benefits and Risks of Advertising Using Social Media

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Hello World!

Welcome back to my blog!

Today’s post is going to be about the possible benefits and risks that accompany advertising on social media. You might be thinking, “Risks? What risks could there possibly be? Its free advertising!”. Trust me – there are quite a few.  But first! Let us take a look at the many advantages to using social media platforms to promote your business #advertisingin2017:

  • Most of them are free!

Creating a profile for your business and posting on your page daily is quick and easy to do; especially on sites such as Instagram and Twitter. The same can be said for Facebook however there is also the option to pay for advertising on Facebook and ‘sponsored’ Instagram videos (as these can be videos that appear on anyone’s timeline that Instagram thinks will find your page relevant to them – even if they do not ‘follow’ your profile or page). There is, however, an Instagram help page that gives you instructions on how to create these ads and you can find the link to it right here – https://help.instagram.com/537518769659039

  • Exposes your brand to bigger audiences

In addition to Facebook, Twitter has 313 million monthly active users, Instagram has 500 million, and Pinterest has about 1110 million. Although you don’t need to utilize every single platform, creating accounts on just one or two can give you exposure to millions of people around the world (WebpageFX, 2017). The ‘reach’ of the content that you post on your social media page can be demonstrated by looking at the Social Media Integration Theory Model as it shows how content can be shared virally through connections (Social Media Today, 2017).

You will not be the only one using social media to advertise! It gives you access to see how businesses similar to yours create and manage their online presence. As well as this, you use the platform to gain info on your customers and see how they feel about your business and what comments they make.

  • Encourages sharing

If the customers like your product and brand, they will be encouraged to ‘share’ your business profile or page to either privately to their friends or publicly on their timeline so that everyone can see their post.

  • You can deliver improved customer service and respond effectively to feedback

If a customer tweets about a problem with your product or service, you can do ‘damage control’ and respond with ways to improve. This will help show that your business cares about the opinion of customer and provides a personalised touch.

  • It helps to create brand loyalty

In addition to increasing the reach of your brand, social media also allows you to increase brand loyalty. And a study conducted by The Social Habit shows that 53% of Americans who follow brands on social media are more likely to remain loyal to those brands. (WebpageFX, 2017). Through social media you are able to communicate with your customers and vice versa. This allows you to build meaningful relationships with current and potential customers. This makes them more comfortable with your business and it encourages them to stick with your brand in the future.

 

This all sounds good but, “With great power comes great responsibility” – Uncle Ben (Spiderman)

 

Some of the risks that accompany this form of advertising are as follows:

  • You might need to hire someone to monitor your online presence

As coming up with posts and witty comments that engage with the public can take time, some businesses have to hire a person or people to create a team in charge of social media and this can be costly as you will have to pay these new employees. 

  • Users on these sites are free to post comments

And not all of these will be positive. Customers can post negative comments about products or services provided and this could damage the reputation of the business

  • Potential for embarrassment

It’s easy to get caught up in social media and post whatever comes to mind, which can have huge consequences for any business. Take, for example, when DiGiorno Pizza noticed that “#WhyIStayed” was trending on Twitter, and jumped on board with a tweet that read “#WhyIStayed You had pizza.” This doesn’t sound awful until you consider that the hashtag was being used to discuss why victims of domestic violence stay in abusive relationships. For companies with a large audience, mistakes like this don’t go unnoticed. Thanks to social media users’ quick reactions and tendency to share, the tweet was all over major media outlets within hours (WebpageFX, 2017).

  • Once on the internet, forever on the internet

As stated in the risk above, mistakes don’t go unnoticed for companies with big audiences and once it’s out there…

  • Social media accounts can be hacked!

 

I have only outlined SOME of the benefits and risks of advertising on social media but hopefully it provided some useful insight into this new age of advertising to all you young entrepreneurs out there!

Also, check out this useful blog that provides a How-to guide on how to start advertising on various social media platforms https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-advertising/

Till next time! x

 

 

 

References

Social Media Today (2017) Social Media Integration Theory Model [Online] < http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/social-media-integration-theory-model> [accessed Feb 2017]

WebpageFX (2017) Internet Marketing: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing [Online] < http://www.webpagefx.com/internet-marketing/social-media-marketing-advantages-and-disadvantages.html> [accessed Feb 2017]

 

Unlocking Tiffany & Co.’s email marketing strategy

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Hello World!

Today I will talk about an email I received from a company or organisation and how they have decided to market their products through email.

The email that I chose to look at is one I receive from Tiffany & Company on 1st November 2016. I receive emails from Tiffany & Co daily, each with a different subject matter but all can be classified as house-list campaigns as they are periodic and advertise new products or lines. This particular email was advertising Tiffany & Co.’s new line of Tiffany Keys.

In order to attract customers to the email and the product the company decided to make actress Elle Fanning their model for not just this line but other products as well. When the email is opened, the customer is immediately asked if they would like to view the full page on their browser which would take you to their website. By doing this, Tiffany are, therefore, able to then show customers their other products and entice them to buy more than just the Tiffany Keys that were initially advertised in the email.

After the link to the Tiffany & Co website there is a Tiffany blue ribbon that reads: “Enjoy complimentary shipping and returns on all orders”. This has appeared before the customer has even seen the product but puts them in the mindset that they could potentially receive free shipping even if they were to “splurge” and purchase a particularly expensive product which makes them feel more at ease with letting go of their money. A picture of the model (Elle Fanning) wearing the product (in this case a Tiffany key) follows this and is then followed by a quote from the actress about how wearing diamonds makes her feel.

Throughout the email Tiffany & Co make sure to emphasise the word “LEGENDARY” as being their tag line of sorts for the season (Fall 2016). And then they mention why they have chosen such a young actress as their model: “Elle Fanning, in Tiffany Keys, is a young dreamer in a world of endless opportunity”. Then a video showing the behind the scenes footage of Elle Fanning during the photo shoot of the company products and how much fun she has whilst wearing them is presented to the customer and they then have the option to click and watch this video or continue to scroll down the email.

Although Tiffany & Co have not personalised their email by addressing the customer (i.e. me) directly, their marketing strategy can be said to be effective as they are able to entice the customer to open the email with an interesting subject line, “Elle Fanning in Tiffany Keys”, that sparks curiosity. The use of a “hip”, up to date and relatable celebrity helps to appeal to the younger demographic and the older demographic with the use of the word “LEGENDARY”.

Sky, DDB and G.o.T: A summary

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I read a case study on SKY, DDB New Zealand and Game of Thrones that was quite interesting so I decided to provide a little summary of what I read.

SKY are very active in New Zealand and are the most popular choice for pay television broadcasting within households in New Zealand. DDB New Zealand is a big advertising group that are equally, if not more, as active as SKY in New Zealand.  It was also mentioned that SKY have a exclusive rights to broadcast Game of Thrones in New Zealand.

The case study then goes on to explain what happened between these three entities.

In order to promote its paid channel, SoHo, to current subscribers and to get new ones, SKY asked DDB to create an advertising campaign on a small budget that would encourage people to do so. The audience that SKY wanted to reach had previously said that they were not interested in G.o.T so DDB realised that they had to find a way to “infect” the people who had previously dismissed the show into wanting to find out what happens next, the same way that the online community anticipate it. Although existing fans were not the target, their excitement about the upcoming season could provide enough “momentum” to generate the same excitement in those that were not yet fans of the show. By using Brandwatch Analytics, DDB found that the most passionate of discussions in the online community centered around King Joffrey and decided to use that to their advantage by trying to get not yet fans to have as much hatred for the character as other fans already did. By creating a tall statue of Joffrey an putting it in a very public and popular place in the country and utilizing hashtags to get people to participate, DDB were able to generate an immense online buzz, which was their goal and that even received global recognition. All of this helped to “promote SKY’s passion around their content”. Unfortunately…that is about all I have time for today! Until next time! #bringdowntheking.