Introduction
With the rise of globalization and the digital revolution, social media has become a vital tool for promoting businesses. Entrepreneurs worldwide have benefited from this innovative technology due to its unprecedented versatility and reach. Some of the advantages of social media (SM) use in advertising and retail are discussed below, drawing on examples of enterprises like Red Bull, Meta, Apple, Kraft, Nike, Gucci, and ASOS.
A Brand Campaign That Is Highly Integrated
Red Bull GmbH is an Austrian firm with a good marketing strategy, specializing in selling Red Bull energy drinks. Red Bull promotes its brands and products through the Red Bull website (own media), Red Bull TV, YouTube (earned), advertising (paid), sponsorship, and other SM platforms. In 2017, Red Bull launched an advertising campaign on Instagram using the hashtags #thissummer and #redbullsummeredition in its posts. Red Bull communicates with its potential customers; their posts can be shared on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Differences Between Traditional Media and Social Networking
First, consumers and businesses interact mutually through SM instead of one-sided campaigns in traditional media (TM). For instance, comments on Meta in-feed ads are answered by the enterprise. Second, SM uses engagement to measure effectiveness, while TM uses listeners or watchers’ numbers. For instance, entrepreneurs on Meta can assess the number of likes, comments, and messages. Third, campaigns on SM use more informal language than TM campaigns. For example, SM’s ‘native’ ads often emulate non-ad content like memes. Fourth, unlike publicly aired TM advertising, SM promotion to have an individual discussion with a potential customer, for example, through private messages. Finally, traditional media relies on set norms, but SM’s emphasis on analytics allows it to reach the target audience purposefully and flexibly. For instance, personified ads on Meta platforms show posts based on customers’ activity.
A Brand That Has Successfully Utilized the Digital Technologies to Improve Its Customer Engagement
Apple’s marketing is an example of successful digital technology for customer attraction. Apple uses Net Promotor Score (NPS) metrics to measure customer loyalty or willingness to recommend its products to others. Apple’s 500 retail locations and employees are managed using NPS metrics. Apple’s retail outlet managers have reported that calling non-promoters resulted in an increase in revenue within 24 hours or sales in the first year. Generally, the NPS is quick and profitable for Apple, but it also eases business operations and improves client satisfaction.
A Brand That Has Effectively Used Social Media Platforms to Engage Today’s Digital Consumers
Kraft Heinz Canada (KHC) is an example of a company that has successfully used SM platforms to engage today’s digital consumers. KHC uses LinkedIn as part of the SM framework’s ‘social community,’ Tuten’s zone 1. In Tuten’s zone 2, or ‘social publishing,’ KHC has an active website with a blog and a Twitter and Instagram account for most adverts. Moreover, KHC runs a Pinterest page with ideas incorporating its products, representing Tuten’s zone 3 or ‘social entertainment.’ Lastly, Tuten’s zone 4, or ‘social commerce,’ is represented through reviews on sites like Glassdoor.
Social Media Platforms That Australian Small and Medium Businesses Use to Advertise
The top three SM platforms Australian SMBs advertise on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Facebook is the most popular, so SMBs widely use it for comprehensive coverage. Additionally, most of these platforms are easy and cheap to manage, and much of SMB’s intended audience is there.
How a Brand Has Used Paid Social Media Advertising to Achieve Its Campaign Success
Dream Crazier, a Nike initiative, is a fantastic example of a successful ad placement campaign. Ad placement can be on any advertising space: a website or a specific page on the site, a mobile app, video content, or even a separate ad unit. Nike’s ad placement is within public reach and attracts many audiences, gathering over 800,000 views (Campaigns of the world, 2020). Nike’s strategy was to debut the commercial across multiple media platforms, but the major one was on YouTube since Nike emphasizes movement and emotion, and it is best shown through a video format.
How a Brand Has Effectively Used Social Publishing in Relation to the Content Value Ladder
Gucci has successfully used the content value ladder tools concerning the audience-oriented promotion of its fashion brand. Gucci uses content types like memes for advertising to communicate with clients, especially on Instagram. The covered topics include humorous images with captions on the product’s benefits or indirect subjects like environment conversation. Memes like “Gucci Starter Pack” have garnered impressive metrics, with over 40,000 likes on Instagram.
A Brand’s Owned Social Media Performance
ASOS is a significant player in e-commerce retail, competing effectively with Shein. The key indicators from the Business of Apps (2022) are total active customers, active app users, generated revenue, operating profit, the amount of placed orders, and the average basket value. Of the active customers and app users, ASOS has over 20 million and 16.6 million, respectively, whereas Shein has 43.7 million users. ASOS generated £3.91 billion in revenue in 2021, while Shein brought in $15.7 billion. The operating profit for Shein was not found, but ASOS reported £190 million in 2021. Lastly, 95.2 million orders were placed on ASOS with an average basket value of £39.75 (Shein statistics unavailable). ASOS is successful in digital marketing; however, the brand can further enhance its SM performance by offering eco-friendly options and recycling old apparel.
A Brand With Successful Social Media Pages
Anything under a company’s direct control, such as websites, magazines, brochures, and blogs, is considered owned media. SM success principles include listening, engaging, sharing, and rewarding. Boohoo is one of the brands with successful owned SM pages (Meta and Twitter) since it listened to its younger audience and engaged with it through celebrity partnerships on Instagram. Additionally, it has shared its influencer collaborations widely and used promos and gifts to attract customers.
Conclusion
Native advertising through platforms like Meta and the use of targeted ads have worked well for many companies like Gucci or Kraft. The distribution of SM’s advertising can be evaluated through the ‘zones’ framework, while its success is viewed through the content value ladder and comparative statistics. Lastly, advice for presence enhancement and audience engagement includes listening, engaging with, and rewarding the target audience.
References
ASOS Revenue and Usage Statistics (2022). Business of Apps. Web.
Campaigns of the world. (2020). Nike—Dream Crazier | #JustDoIt. YouTube. Web.
Shein Revenue and Usage Statistics (2022). Business of Apps. Web.