Choosing the Social Media that leads to Engagement & Interaction

Today's Web-2.0 way of communicating (though the rich multiverse of social media) is a two-way exchange of communication, versus the previous one-way transfer of data and facts for a viewer or listener to consume and decide for themselves. The advent of social media has allowed consumers to give feedback to companies, corporations, businesses and government in a way that is real-time and allows for instant gratification: the lightning-fast satisfaction that builds business/consumer relationships and allows for brand love to grow.

But in today's world of emerging media and the ever-changing landscape of social media, how does one decide where their efforts are best invested for a strong, fruitful, and measurable interaction with customers and constituents?

In our readings this week for class, an article by Chris Lake suggests that social media avenue selections should be made in order to get people to

• make a noise.
• store and share things.
• love your Web site.
• visit more frequently.
• refer your company to their friends.
• buy into your brand.
• buy your products.

Before choosing, a company should research its ideal audience and determine where they can be found (Custom Creative, 2014). A company can't succeed without optimizing its resources, and knowing exactly who your target audience is will ensure that budgeted monies are spent as wisely and as lucratively as possible.  For example, within the last year, Kraft has taken control of its place in social media and is now working in the digital realm to reach more millennials, Hispanic shoppers, and those on limited budgets (Wohl, 2014).  It recreated its entire company workspace, and now has a social media monitoring center it calls The Looking Glass.  It watches online trends and has found that mentions of Kraft in social media are up 25,000 from a year ago - due to amusing posts like the A-1 and Steak breakup on Facebook.

How did Kraft decide to use Facebook?  It looked at its new target audiences and then at research that showed which social media its audiences are using.

Facebook matches a good deal of its audience: at 71% usage, it's the most popular social media online.  It's also more popular with women, who do the majority of the shopping in two-thirds of American households (RetailLeader.com, 2014).  It's more popular with ages 18-29, and not with people of higher income, someone they're not targeting as much.

Where else is Kraft focusing its social media efforts? 

On KraftRecipes.com, there are prominent links to its Facebook page, as well as to YouTube, Pinterest, and Tumblr.  According to the Pew Research study, Instagram is a great medium they're skipping, where they could reach millennials and Hispanics.  However, they don't want to spread themselves too thin.

Pinterest is a great choice because it's popular with Women - but according to the Pew Research data, it's not really a winner with millennials, low income audiences, or Hispanics.  

Kraft also appears to be using Tumblr like Pinterest, but it's not sharing any posts from anyone but themselves.  Perhaps time spent with Tumblr could better be applied to Instagram.  Also, using repost apps, it would be very easy to share consumer-created content.  I wonder if the difficulty of managing an Instagram account from a desktop platform hinders its appeal to Kraft digital marketers.

Kraft's goal appears to be, based upon its social media choice, aimed at women and those who share and save recipes for later.  However, if we revisit Lake's goals for our social media from earlier, then we see where Kraft's selections for social media do mirror those points.  Pinterest, Tumblr, and YouTube get people to

• make a noise.
• store and share things.
• love Kraft's Web site.
• visit more frequently.
• refer Kraft to their friends.
• buy into the Kraft brand.
• buy Kraft products.

After identifying your audience and exploring the social media that correlates with your audience's tastes and favorite "hangouts," Custom Creative implores businesses to set up a social media strategy that aligns with the businesses mission and goals. Another source, Inc.com, stresses the importance of maintaining the two-way conversation that social media breeds.

Measuring comes both before implementing these new social media as well as regularly afterwards in order to gain insight into progress and accountability.  We're learning these next as we install and use Google Analytics in Week 4.

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Custom Creative. (2014). Choosing the right social media channel for your business. CustomCreative.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.customcreative.com/custom-blog/97-choosing-the-right-social-media-channel-for-your-business.html.

Manafy, M. (9 July 2014). How to choose the best social media sites for your business. Inc.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.inc.com/michelle-manafy/how-to-choose-the-best-social-media-sites-to-market-your-business.html.

Pew Research. (2014). Social Networking Fact Sheet. PewInternet.org. Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/.

Retail Leader. (2014).  Women still dominate grocery shopping. RetailLeader.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.retailleader.com/top-story-consumer_insights-study__women_still_dominate_grocery_shopping-2053.html.

Wohl, Jessica. (16 Jun 2014). Kraft marketing sees payoff in digital space. ChicagoTribune.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-kraft-marketing-0617-biz-20140617-story.html#page=1.

Wood, S. P. (15 May 2014). Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/a-1-steak-sauce-breaks-up-with-its-brand-and-gets-a-prwin_b91985.