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Social Media Marketing.

2015-11-02 | 3338 Print PDF

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Social Media Marketing = Social Marketing + Media Marketing.

What is Social Media Marketing - it is the use of optimization of online social media channels such as Facebook, twitter etc to create communities and promote conversations for marketing purposes.

In social media marketing we have two terms, social marketing and media marketing, your customers have accounts and profiles on social networks socializing, sharing ideas and subconsciously performing referral marketing, wouldn't you rather join in the conversation?
 "social media is a word of mouth for viral marketing".
For many, Facebook and Twitter make up the web and are their first port of call every morning, sharing their life and experiences, thus you should not overlook social media in any digital marketing strategy.

But to understand the concept of social media marketing we need to understand what social marketing means and how to utilize it in social media marketing.

What is Social Marketing?
Social marketing is the technique used in learning what people want, rather than persuading them to buy what we offer.

Social marketing was first coined by Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman in 1971.

Research is a Key Aspect of Social Marketing.

In social marketing consumer is assumed to be an active participant in the change process. The aim of the social marketer is to build a long term relationship with targeted consumers and seeks their input throughout the life cycle of programme by embarking on formative, process and evaluative research.

In other words social marketing ask "what is wrong with us? what don't we understand about our target audience?", rather than "what is wrong with these people, why won't they understand?".
Social marketing encompasses the behavioral attributes to people as in the voluntary aspects to why they buy or not buy a product.

In other to engender this voluntary behavior and consummate the exchange, social marketing aim at delivering what the target consumers wants. Hence, the need to develop a social media marketing strategy that envisage this. 

Social marketing* to develop consumer behavioral, Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman in their social marketing :- An approach to planned social change published in the journal of marketing, to refer to the application of marketing to the solution of social and health problems.

According to the argument, if marketing has been remarkably successful in encouraging people to buy products such as coca cola and Nike, it can as well encourage their own and their fellow citizen's lives.

Now that we understand the concept of social marketing, now I will like to show a correlation with the 4 marketing P's, but in social media marketing we will extend this P's into 8 marketing P's.

 

8 Marketing P's in Social Media Marketing Strategy

Beyond the 4P's of Marketing

The 4Ps of marketing, otherwise know as the marketing mix, also form the basis of any social marketing strategy. However, beyond the 4P's  of marketing, social marketing also lays claim to some other 4ps (i.e totaling 8Ps) in all in which you can successfully build a social media marketing strategy on.

This are illustrated by a social marketer, Nedrak K. weinreich.

Product:- This may range from tangible/physical offering goods or items, to services or to tangible "products" such as practices or ideas (eg oral rehydration therapy, breast feeding, non-circumcision of female children, environmental protection etc). In order for the target market to adopt the "product", he or she must first realize that he or she has a problem and that the "product" offering is the right solution.

Research determines the consumers perception of the problem and the "product" and the importance of that problem in the consumer's list of priorities.

 

Place:- This is how the product reaches the consumer. For tangible products, it may include storage, transport, sales team and the retail trade, or points of gifting (POGs, for products given free). "Place" may also refer to channels through which the consumer is furnished with information (eg ante-natal or post-natal clinics, work places, shopping malls, etc).

Research must identify the habits and activities of consumers, in other to determine the best suitable options for distribution.

 

Price:-  Other than paying physical cash, "price" in social marketing refers to what the consumer must do to obtain the product. The consumer may need to give up some time or effort, risk peer disapproval and embarrassment. If the "price" outweighs the benefits, consumer perception may rank the value of the product as low.

Otherwise, if in the perception of the consumer the product benefits outweigh cost, he or she may try the product and eventually adopt it. Research enables the social marketer to arrive at optimal points of cost and benefits, in order to make the product meaningful and desirable, same can be said for social media marketing when you correlate how social marketing and social media marketing operates.

 

Promotion:- This has often been known, though rightly as "behavioral change communications" but has been mistakenly thought to be the whole gamut of social media marketing or social marketing. It can be said due to the influence of media marketing in social media, but this includes the planning and deployment of advertising (in our case internet marketing channels), public relations ( online branding and reputation management), direct marketing (costumer reach), advocacy events (social webminars or event invites) etc.

Research determines the right promotional mix to create demand and sustain post-adoption behavior.

 

Publics:- A social marketing programme is often directed at several external publics, such as the target consumers or target audience, influencers, policy makers, gate keepers, etc. It's internal publics include those who plan, approve and implement the programme and must therefore "buy into" it.

 

Partnership:- Usually, social media marketing programme directed towards social change require massive inputs in terms of intelligence gathering, planning, logistics, financing and implementation.

Therefore, a social media marketing programme often becomes much more effective through partnership with other organizations (governmental, non-governmental professional associations, etc). eg the social marketing organization may partner with professional body of nurse and midwives throughout a country, in a programme targeted at making nursing mothers to adopt breast feeding. or the social media marketing partnership of a detergent and a washing machine company.

 

Policy:- While social marketing programme or social media marketing programme are meant to change individual behavior, such change may need to be sustained on a larger, national scale and over time. Often, policy change may be required to create an enabling environment. In social media marketing targeted at the youth cigarette smokers for example, Government may be required to implement anit-public smoking regulations, media advocacy becomes important here.

 

Purse string:- Where does funding for social media marketing programmes come from? Usually , funds are sourced from donor organizations and grants from government, international organizations or philanthropist. Pre-activity research will determine the most likely sources of funds at each stage of the project ie the five basic phases of  a project.

5 Basic Phases of Project Management
Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI) defines project management as "the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of a particular project." The process of directing and controlling a project from start to finish may be further divided into 5 basic phases:

1. Project conception and initiation
An idea for a project will be carefully examined to determine whether or not it benefits the organization. During this phase, a decision making team will identify if the project can realistically be completed.

2. Project definition and planning
A project plan, project charter and/or project scope may be put in writing, outlining the work to be performed. During this phase, a team should prioritize the project, calculate a budget and schedule, and determine what resources are needed.

3. Project launch or execution
Resources' tasks are distributed and teams are informed of responsibilities. This is a good time to bring up important project related information.

4. Project performance and control
Project managers will compare project status and progress to the actual plan, as resources perform the scheduled work. During this phase, project managers may need to adjust schedules or do what is necessary to keep the project on track.

5. Project close
After project tasks are completed and the client has approved the outcome, an evaluation is necessary to highlight project success and/or learn from project history.

Projects and project management processes vary from industry to industry; however, these are more traditional elements of a project. The overarching goal is typically to offer a product, change a process or to solve a problem in order to benefit the organization.

You should follow this post to understand how to build a strong social media marketing strategy and have an open insight to what is social media marketing and how vibrant it is for your business.

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