Digital Influence: Blogs Beat Social Networks for Driving Purchases

Top brands across the globe are competing within their respective markets to increase their share and bolster the image of their brand. This task with the advent of social media has become increasingly difficult, as a new stream to the end consumer offers more challenges. Social media not only needs to be utilized by top brands, but utilized in an effective manner in which they receive a return on their investment.

What the Article Was About

The article “Digital Influence: Blogs Beat Social Networks for Driving Purchases” by Lenna Garibian discusses the findings from Technorati’s “2013 Digital Influence Report”. The purpose of the article is to discuss statistics regarding the influence and popularity of blogs and the underuse of this social media tool among top brands. The article reiterates the statistics found in the “2013 Digital Influence Report” regarding consumer use and the influence of social media, social media spending among top brands, and use of social media outlets by Digital Influencers.

The consumer use and influence of social media section of the article stated stats that showed blogs being the third most influential digital resource among consumers when making a purchase decision. The section also outlines why consumers follow brands on popular social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, the main reasons being “Keeping up with activities” and “Learn about product/service”.  The last section presented was regarding consumers and their behaviour on social media outlets with the finding that smaller communities have a greater impact on a topic than larger ones.

The section regarding social media spending among top brands reiterated statistics on the breakdown of the digital budget among these top brands. It was found that only 10% of the digital budget of top brands is spent on social channels and of this 10%, blogs and influencers make up 5% and 6% respectively. Larger social media outlets such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter make up a large portion of the social channel budget.

The final section provided a recap of statistic regarding the use of social media outlets by Digital Influencers and how they measure success. The findings here state that 86% of Digital Influencers rely on a blog but also use other social media outlets avidly. When measuring success the views on a blog rank high among Digital Influencers as well as the following they receive on Facebook and Twitter. 

What I Thought of It

This article provided zero value outside of what was stated within the “2013 Digital Influence Report” published by Technorati. Lenna Garibian provided no insight on the findings this article was based upon, but instead reiterated the statistics. No conclusions or recommendations on behalf of Garibian were made to make this article to add any value. Simply put, you as a reader, are better off to read the main report this article is based on to receive more detail regarding the statistics that were mentioned in the article.

The original report by Technorati provided excellent evidence that blogs are an extremely underfunded social outlet among top brands. In addition to this the report outlines the influence blogs have among consumers and how Digital Influencers are utilizing them to generate referrals and revenue.  As a marketing student soon to enter the workforce this information can be utilized to help provide future employers with a fresh look at social media outlets. Blogs can be utilized in a unique way to sway consumer minds regarding purchase decisions and should be utilized more heavily in the digital budgets of top brands.

 

Sources:

http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/10336/digital-influence-blogs-beat-social-networks-for-driving-purchases

http://technoratimedia.com/report/2013-dir/

Social Media Showdown: Coca-Cola Vs. Pepsi

Coca-Cola and Pepsi’s rivalry is one of the best known and competitive in the business world today. They have initiated taste tests for their consumers and have taken their rivalry to media outlets such as television and print ads. These two companies demonstrate the head-to-head strategy extremely well. Now with the introduction of social media in the 21st century, they have new outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter, to attempt to outshine the other.

Facebook is the top social media site in the world today with 650 million active users. Many companies, celebrities and public figures are using this site to communicate to the world. Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi have their own main Facebook page with their titled product as the face. However, both companies have additional pages based on other products in their lines and geographical locations.

ROUND 1: FACEBOOK

Coca-Cola uses their Facebook page extremely well. Currently they have 75 million followers with over 700,000 users mentioning them in their own posts. The moderators of the page post material daily. They post about their products, inspiring messages, photos and stories, endorsements, current events and promotions, videos from their Youtube channel, and their charity participation and organizations. Posting daily helps keep information current and informs their followers  on what is going on regarding the organization. Having an active presence on the Facebook page allows followers to be exposed to new material daily that is important and interesting to them regarding the Coca-Cola brand. This is a key component to social media success. Especially for a company as large and as profitable as Coca-Cola, they should be able to have multiple employees to ensure that this is done.

Pepsi also uses their Facebook well but numbers do not lie. Pepsi only has captured 28 million followers, which is only 37% of the amount that Coca-Cola has with only 140,000 users mentioning Pepsi in their posts. They post material frequently but not every day as Coca-Cola does. Pepsi posts content more about their actual product. Coca-Cola has dedicated their Facebook page to a “collection of stories [from followers/consumers] showing how people from around the world have help make Coke into what it is today”. I believe that is a key difference in the gap of followers. Coca-Cola is more engaging and interesting to follow. They post heart-warming stories and have created a community on a page on the Internet while Pepsi is more focused on their product and uses contests as a way to engage followers.

ROUND 2: TWITTER

Twitter is considered the second most popular social media site by eBizMBA with over 230 million users. In the Twitterverse Pepsi has Coca-Cola beat in followers by over 200,000, however, Coca-Cola has tweeted over 83,000 times while Pepsi has only tweeted over 25,000 times. Pepsi uses their twitter to promote their products as well, but they also use it to post frequently about music using the hashtag PepsiPulse, which is reference to their Experience Points promotion. By offering insight and access to new music has set Pepsi ahead on Twitter. Coca-Cola uses their twitter to promote more of their charity affiliations, association with the Sochi Olympics, and their music competitions and partnerships with their product included here and there.

Both companies have customized their social media page with their brand as much as the site allows. The Coca-Cola background is red because that is their brand colour and the condensation portrays a refreshing feel to their Twitter page. They also have their links and hash tags are red as well. Pepsi’s Twitter page is blue because that is their dominant brand colour with photos of the Pepsi Can. They also colour coordinate their links and hash tags to complement their brand.

JUDGE’S DECISION

Both companies are using social media well but I would go with the majority and choose to follow Coca-Cola. Their posts are much more insightful, heart-warming, interesting and engaging. They are so confident in their product that they don’t feel the need to keep pushing on their followers as Pepsi does. Coca-cola uses their social media outlets to inform consumer about what else they are contributing to the world other than their delicious and refreshing beverage.

Sources:

https://twitter.com/CocaCola

https://twitter.com/pepsi

https://www.facebook.com/PepsiCanada

https://www.facebook.com/cocacola

https://www.facebook.com/notes/web-hosting/50-facebook-facts-and-figures/10150274471574235

http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites

My Opinion on Why Social Media Doesn’t Work (and What You Can Do About It)

The marketplace today is much more competitive than it was before. Companies need to discover new ways to pull ahead or stay ahead of their competition in order to gain marketshare. The introduction of social media advertising over the last 8 years, starting with Facebook’s first Ad in May 2005, has given marketers another “realm” of opportunity to create engaging and successful advertising to increase their bottom lines.

What The Article Was About

The article “Why Social Media Doesn’t Work (and What You Can Do About It)” by Mike Heronime offers two learning outcomes to help with social media advertising. The article describes what he calls the three ingredients for social media success and the five engagement-strategy idea starters.

However, the beginning of the article starts with Heronime explaining how some companies are not using social media as effectively as others. Therefore, they are not reaping the rewards successful companies are experiencing such as an increase in their revenue. As Heronime stated, the “build-it-and-they-will-come mentality” is what the companies with little to no success are portraying. They figure if they have a page on these social media sites that is enough, however, social media advertising needs more effort. Heronime explains how to improve social media success further into the article.

The first learning outcome is the “Three Things That Make Social Media Work for Your Brand” or as mentioned previously, the three ingredients for social media success. The ingredients are a “content development/message strategy”, a “media channel strategy” and an “engagement strategy”.  This section describes why it is important for marketers to have a strategy when using social media. It is important to know whom the target audience is and what their interests are and what engages them. It must correlate with the company’s brand and use the appropriate social media outlet to convey the desired message to the consumer.

The last strategy, the engagement strategy, is further described in the second learning outcome, which is the “Five Engagement-Strategy Idea Starters”. The five strategies are The ‘One Thing’ strategy, The Zealot Strategy, The Guru Strategy, The Gaming Strategy, and The Exclusive-Content Strategy, also known as the ‘See It Here First Strategy”. In the article Heronime described each with an example to demonstrate how they have been used successfully in the marketplace.

What I Thought Of It

This article has offered insight on how to go about social media marketing in the future. Being a second year marketing student, I am in a position to gain a plethora of knowledge in this industry and how to use it successfully in my upcoming career. This article will be beneficial for contributing to current and future assignments that I may have. The way this article is written is easy to read and the layout is easy on the eyes. The key messages of the article were stated as the learning outcomes at the beginning of the article and clearly identifiable further on.

The problem I encountered is that reaching the end of the article it is explained that the examples used all had one thing in common, which was “a big idea”. Heronime didn’t offer any input on how a marketer can produce a big idea, just what to do once you have one. A follow up article in the same format would be beneficial and supportive to this article. This article would be helpful to those companies who haven’t had the expected success from their social media activity. Marketers should read the article to help form a direction for them to take off from. The approaches offered by Heronime are logical, possible and a great starting point for those companies who are struggling.

Sources:

http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2012/7590/why-social-media-doesnt-work-and-what-you-can-do-about-it

http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/history-social-advertising_b47419