Unit3 Lesson4 - A2 Business Use of Social Media-1.pptx
Unit 3: Using Social media in Business
A2: Business Uses of Social Media
Unit 3: Using Social Media in Business
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Unit 3: Using Social media in Business
A2: Business Uses of Social Media
Unit 3: Using Social Media in Business
Content Formats
Social media websites allow businesses to post a variety of different content, such as images, text, videos, links, polls and quizzes
Facebook is useful for short promotional Videos
YouTube is a good choice for instructional videos
It can be beneficial to use a combination of social media sites, e.g. respond to customer enquiries on Facebook and if guidance on a product is requested a business could share a video from YouTube
Content Formats
Option to post links enables businesses to link their company website to their social media accounts
Polls can be created and shared as a method to gain customer feedback
Quizzes can be used as a form of feedback or entertainment
Developing an Audience
Businesses use social media to post content that focuses on a wide variety of different purposes.
▸ To be informative
▸ To promote
▸ To entertain – depending on the business, posting humorous or other entertaining and engaging content could appeal to potential customers.
▸ To make offers – businesses use social media to make special offers to customers.
▸ To provide customer service – this will normally be in response to customer posts on their page. Responding quickly and directly to customers on social media and solving their problems will make a business look efficient and effective.
▸ Ultimately, the main reason for businesses to use social media is to attract more
customers and to make more money by selling more products or services.
Direct and Indirect advertising
Direct advertising
Where a business uses adverts which tell you to buy their product or sign up to their service.
They use a direct approach by simply telling you what the product/ service is and suggesting that you purchase it.
May end up annoying their audience
Direct and Indirect advertising
Indirect advertising
More subtle than direct advertising.
It attempts to create a positive attitude towards the product/service in the mind of the customer through
sponsorship (e.g. a company sponsors a particular TV show)
product placement and other methods (such as those that social media uses) to try to create a relationship with the customer.
Gives the impression of a business that is not just interested in selling, but has a genuine interest in the subject area and is knowledgeable about it.
Keywords
Improve Discoverability: Using relevant keywords in posts, profiles, and hashtags helps potential customers find the business when searching for related topics or products.
Align with Search Intent: Incorporating keywords that match user search intent helps businesses appear in results when potential customers are looking for solutions they offer.
Boost SEO: While social media posts don't directly impact search engine rankings, using consistent keywords across platforms can reinforce overall SEO efforts.
Target Specific Audiences: Using industry-specific or niche keywords helps attract a more targeted audience likely to be interested in the business's offerings.
Enhance Content Relevance: Including relevant keywords in posts ensures content is on-topic and valuable to the intended audience.
What is a primary benefit of social media for businesses?
Limited audience reach
Increased customer engagement
Higher production costs
Reduced brand visibility
Which social media platform is best for B2B marketing?
TikTok
Slide heading
Slide text
Keywords
Capitalize on Trends: Using trending keywords or hashtags (when relevant) can increase visibility and engagement with current topics of interest.
Improve Ad Targeting: For paid social media advertising, using the right keywords in ad copy and targeting options can improve ad performance and reach.
Create a Community: Using consistent branded keywords or hashtags can help build a community around the business and encourage user-generated content.
Analyse Performance: Tracking the performance of different keywords helps businesses refine their social media strategy over time.
Cross-Platform Consistency: Using consistent keywords across different social platforms reinforces the brand message and improves overall online presence.
Developing Contacts
Businesses can use social media to keep up to date with their industry and with suppliers and competitors.
By following their suppliers, competitors and industry experts, they can stay informed and use this information to plan their marketing, product development and keep up to date with developments in technology.
This can be a much better method of keeping up to date than having to trawl through a range of magazines and websites.
A business can further develop their contacts (their online community) by sharing or retweeting relevant posts from other business or individuals.
One aim of a business’s social media page is to provide material that will be of interest to their target audience, so other businesses’ and industry experts’ blogs can provide a useful source of the type of content that is needed.
Links to Other Commercial Information
Most businesses will have a company website and social media pages
Social media pages and posts should include links to company websites and e-commerce websites
Businesses will promote products/services and provide information on where and how to purchase them
Relationship between social media and company website
Most businesses will have a company website and social media pages
Branding should be consistent throughout
Content on the company website will not change as much
Should include links or buttons to their social media pages
Many businesses will embed social media pages into their company website
A2 Task
Example: Starbucks
Starbucks post a variety of content, including reels, videos and text.
They use text posts to ask their followers questions. The purpose of these posts is to encourage followers to interact with their content. They then respond to their followers using the comments.
The current focus of Starbuck’s posts are fall/autumn related. Their posts show autumnal drinks and colours and they are using seasonal related key words within their posts. E.g. pumpkin spice, fall etc.
This appears to be a consistent focus of Starbucks, as in May they posted images of Iced drinks, with summer in the post title.
Content posted, Focus and Meaning
Example: Starbucks
Similarly on Instagram, Starbucks continues to promote their seasonal drinks and uses autumnal related keywords within their description.
Additionally on Instagram, Starbucks uses stories to separate content. This also highlights important aspects of the brand, such as their current seasonal products, their social impact and sustainability. This helps users get to see the content they are most interested in easily.
By having these categories of stories it also helps show what Starbucks are interested in or supporting.
Content posted, Focus and Meaning
Example: Starbucks
Starbucks encourages people to interact with their content and develops an online following using a number of different techniques.
One method that Starbucks use is to share user’s posts, for example the image here shows Starbucks sharing a customer’s post and tagging them in it. This encourages other users to share and tag them in their posts in the hopes of having their content shared. This also suggests that Starbucks looks at and cares about their customers posts.
Starbucks also replies to customers comments, this helps keep people interacting with them. When replying to the comment shown on their Facebook page, Starbucks has not only responded but also asked a question. This helps encourage customers to interact with them and their content. Thus developing an active online following.
They use text posts to encourage conversation about their products. This encourages followers to share their opinions on their products.
Develop an online audience and encourage interaction
Example: Starbucks
Starbucks uses keywords within the caption of their posts. However, they limit the length, ensuring they use short but effective captions. Within these captions they will usually use 1 hashtag per product shown in the photo, for example the image I have included shows 2 products so has therefore 2 hashtags in the caption.
Starbucks likes to ensure their posts are promoting their products and seasonal ranges. Therefore their captions include relevant keywords and hashtags related to their products. For example Fall Feels, Pumpkin Spice and Pumpkin Cold Brew.
This means that if users were to search for these key words, they would easily find the products offered by Starbucks.
What keywords do they use?
Example: Starbucks
Starbucks uses social media to try and develop online contacts. It is useful for businesses to develop online contacts as it creates links with other businesses and may be useful for increasing their following.
Starbucks is trying to develop an online contact by tweeting a post of Molly Mae Hague drinking their product. They are also encouraging discussion about this post by mentioning varieties of the product shown. Additionally by tagging Molly Mae in the post, this increases the among of potential users that will see the post.
Develop online contacts
Example: Starbucks
Starbucks uses a mixture of direct and indirect advertising in their social media posts. For example, in some posts they share images or videos showing the farmers that work in their Starbucks Farming centres. This give the impression that Starbucks are simply telling you’re a story about their employees rather than pushing you to buy the products.
Additionally, they use direct advertising through sharing posts of their products looking delicious, with a bright and colourful background. These posts simply focus on the products they are advertising and have little else in the content or caption.
People may prefer a mixture of direct and indirect advertising, as too much direct advertising can be annoying and pushy.
Direct and Indirect Advertsiing
Example: Starbucks
Starbucks includes a link to other commercial information by sharing a post shared by the daily mirror. The article discusses a new reusable cup launched by the company. This is a mixture of direct and indirect advertising as it showing what they are doing to be more sustainable, while also advertise a reusable cup they have for sale.
Additionally, within their Facebook About section they have included a link to their website. This helps people easily navigate to their website…
Links to other commercial Information
Example: Starbucks
Within their social media websites, Starbucks have included a link to their website. This helps people easily navigate to their website…
Starbucks has replied to a customer issue with a link to their company website where they will be able to take their issue further.
Additionally, while Starbucks include a link to their company website on their social media sites, they also include links to their social media on their company website.
Relationship between social media and company website
