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Samantha Potter
Professor Malcolm Campbell
UWRT 1103
11 November 2015
Social Media Marketing: Theres An App For That
As I try to listen to my professor talking about some new biology concept I am distracted
by the all too familiar glare of a bright screen right in front of my face. The girl in front of me is
glued to her phone; to her the teacher is only an annoying muffled background noise. She
aimlessly scrolls through her Facebook feed, liking an occasional picture or two until she moves
on to the next app, Instagram. And then when she gets bored with that one, on to Snapchat, and
then the next latest app until she makes a full circle back to Facebook and repeats this process
until the class is over. Without exception, this happens every class. Teens are obsessed with being
connected to the online world;, a recent study shows 92% of U.S. teens go online daily, including
24% who say they go online almost constantly (Pew Research Center 2015). Millennials are
adapting and doing things in a different way and it all stems seems to stem from having a
willingness and desire to embrace and utilize technology. Since social media is such a prevalent
part of teens and young adults lives its important that you, as a company,ies take advantage of
this and hop on board the social media craze. By learning about millennials, companies your
company can make the necessary changeses to in their its marketing department strategies to
create better marketing strategies to increase profit.

What kind of advertisements millennials are looking for

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Social media is very widely used today. According to the CEO of DK New Media,
Douglas Karr, states social networking is the top online activity in the US, with the average
American spending 37 minutes per day and about 46% of web users look towards social media
when making a purchase. Businesses are taking advantage of this new phenomenon, a recent
study found an increase from 86% in 2013 to 92% in 2014 of marketers indicating that social
media is and will be important for their business. Businesses Brands are realizing that if they
wish to reach their prospects and customers, an online presence must be a part of their marketing
strategy. But how do you reach out to these young people? So it makes sense that a recent study
found an increase from 86% in 2013 to 92% in 2014 of marketers indicating that social media is
and will be important for their business. Because mMillennials as a group spend over 1 trillion
dollars a year, you. cCertainly companies will want to know how exactly to gain their attention.
NPR did a recent study on millennials and interviewed a diverse group of two-dozen people all
ranging from ages 18-34 and varying in gender, race, and occupation. They asked the group what
kinds of advertising campaigns they like the best and their answers includeed: cute animals (Ikea
cat commercial), fun social media (Lowes 6 second vines), and just being direct (Brisk drink
ads). Ads they do not like included brands that try too hard, contain body image issues/leaving
people out, and are sexist and contain outdated gender roles. Overall the group liked likes
messages that were are clever but subtle, ads that took take advantage of social media and
added a personal touch to them, and ads that were are socially progressive and inclusive
(SandersNPR.org). NPR went even further and conducted an interview with An interview from
Dr. Americus Reed, a professor of marketing at University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of
Business, He , gave some insight on why millennials like the ads that they like. He His main
points are states that 1) millennials like to talk about themselves, they seek authenticity, and

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value self-expression and 2) they are do-gooders who like to be nice so they like brands that put
good things out into the world. So, when trying to create ads marketing specifically to
millennials, you will want to make sure that you are creating content that has good intentions, is
socially progressive and inclusive and represents your brand.

Strategies for connecting to your audience

But what are the best approaches to connecting and engaging to potential customers?
When building your brand on social media you need to know what the best strategies are. You
will want to choose networks and platforms that support your brand image. For example
Facebook is a great platform for mostly all brands because nearly three quarters of US adults use
the site. If your brand is solely image based and relies on pictures to advertise your product,
Instagram will be a good site to use; , usually clothing and retail companies will use Instagram to
show off their products. Pinterest is a great site to reach women because the majority of users are
young women. Along with picking appropriate sites yYou should create content that is valuable
and shareable to your customers. People want to share simple meaningful content and content
that pertains to their interests. So if someone is already following your brand, chances are they
like your products; a good way to play off this is to create sharable content that directly relates to
your brand and what your brand stands behind.. But before you start posting material, it is
important to know your target audience and what they your audience values and will want to see
from you. To know this, take a look at your demographics and use various monitoring tools to
track your content statistics. Which content has been shared/liked the most and which has gained
little to no attention at all?

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Why iInteraction is important

Interacting with customers is key. When companies interact with customers it makes
them feel important and part of something bigger. They feel like their ideas and thoughts matter.
When people tweet and tag brands it gives the brand an opportunity to connect and interact with
the customer on a more personal level. It enables the company to begin a conversation. Social
media allows users to contribute and produce information, and these technologies allow for
collaborative writing (e.g., wikis), content sharing (e.g., text, video, and images), social
networking(e.g.,Facebook),socialbookmarking(e.g.,ratings,tagging),andsyndication(e.g.,
RSSfeeds).(EnhancingPromotionalStrategiesWithinSocialMarketingPrograms:UseofWeb
2.0SocialMedia2008).Peopleformainlythreereasonsfollowbrandprofiles:theyfollow
becausetheyusethebrandsproductorhaveapositiveattitudetowardthebrand,ortheywilluse
theirsocialnetworkingsitestofindoutinformationabouttheproductandservices,orthey
followtotakeadvantageofspecialpromotionsandoffersonline.Accordingtoanarticleby
RosemaryThackeray,anassociateprofessoratBrighamYoungUniversityinProvo,Utah,
encouragingthecustomertobeapartofthecreativeprocesshasmanyadvantages.Itcan
increasebuyinandloyaltytothecompany,ifsomeonetrustsandlikeswhatabrandstandsfor,
theyaremorelikelytocontinuebuyingfromthatparticularbrand.Anotherreasonthisisagood
thingisthatsomeonewillbemorewillingtorecommendtheproducttohisorherfriendsand
associatesiftheyhaveagoodrelationshipwiththebrand.Atacticthatworksverywelland
encouragescustomerinteractioniscustomergeneratedcontent.Oneofthemostwellknown
examplesofthisistheDoritosSuperBowlcommercialcontest.Peoplewereaskedtosubmit
videosofhomemadecommercialsaboutthechipbrandDoritosandtheentrieswouldbevoted
onwiththewinningentrybeingproducedandairedontelevision.Anothercustomergenerated

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contestwasfromLays Potato Chips; they created a Facebook contest asking consumers to

submit flavor ideas and vote for new chip flavors. The contest generated more than 8 eight
million entries and consequently generated a lot of traffic to their site. Even if you just tweet out
promotional discounts you are still interacting with the customer and creating a relationship that
you both benefit from.

Social media mistakes

There are several mistakes you should avoid when using social media to promote your
product. First being, posting offensive material. Surprisingly, offensive material gets posted
regularly. This can be very bad for your brand reputation whether it was on purpose or not. An
example of this happening is when U.S. Airways tweeted a pornographic picture in response to a
customer. The company did not realize what they had done until an hour later, after their twitter
had already blown up. Another mistake to avoid is ignoring follower feedback. If followers do
not like something you are doing or putting out into the world, generally they will let you know.
Even if they dont explicitly tell you what they like or do not like, a simple statistics check on
your posts will tell you which posts are being liked and shared the most and which are gaining no
attention at all. You will also want to avoid going silent on your social media sites. To maintain
your audiences attention you need to post on a consistent basis. Because if you dont followers
are likely to forget about you and move on to the next brand. Finally, you will want to pay
attention to trends and not misinterpret them. For example, bBefore you start using a hashtag,
make sure you know exactly what that hash tag stands for and means.

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Why its important

Socialmediamarketingisveryimportantbecauseitssuchanewwaytodirectlyengage
consumersinthecreativeprocessofproducinganddistributingcontributinginformationandit
canalsoenhancethepowerofviralmarketing.These technologies allow for collaborative
writing (e.g., wikis), content sharing (e.g., text, video, and images), social networking(e.g.,
Facebook),socialbookmarking(e.g.,ratings,tagging),andsyndication(e.g.,RSSfeeds)
(Thackeray).Themanybenefitsofitinclude,increasingbrandrecognition,increasingprofit,
connectingtoyouraudienceonamorepersonallevel,andbeingabletorespondtoproblemsa
lotquicker.There are three main reasons for social media promotion, to increase product
awareness, to persuade people to purchase the product, or to remind them that the product exists.
Big oOrganizations and businesses use social media to engage with customers, receive feedback,
and build meaningful relationships. There are three main reasons to use social media promotions,
to increase product awareness, to persuade people to purchase the product, or to remind them
that the product exists. However,before you implement social media into your marketing plan
you need to consider which tools and tactics you are going to use. This should depend on
different factors including your priority audience, related costs, budget, and your marketing
goals. Themanybenefitsofsocialmediamarketinginclude:increasingbrandrecognition,
increasingprofit,connectingtoyouraudienceonamorepersonallevel,andbeingableto
respondtoproblemsalotquicker.

Works Cited

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Agius, Aaron. The 4 essentials to building your brand on social media. Entrepreneur.
23 April. 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2015

DeMers, Jayson. 5 Fatal Mistakes That Will Kill Your Social Media Marketing
Campaign. Forbes Magazine. 8 Oct 2015. Web. 26 Oct 2015

Lenhart, Amanda. Teens, Social Media and Technology Overview 2015 Pew Research
Center, 09 April 2015. Web. 12 November 2015

OBrien, Owen. Recap of marketing to millennials by Keith Kaplan Social Media

Association. 06 November 2015. Web. 11 November 2015

Sanders, Sam. How do you market to millennials? National Public Radio. 22 Feb.
2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2015

Agius, Aaron. The 4 essentials to building your brand on social media. Entrepreneur.
23 April. 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2015
DeMers, Jayson. 5 Fatal Mistakes That Will Kill Your Social Media Marketing
Campaign. Forbes Magazine. 8 Oct 2015. Web. 26 Oct 2015
Thackeray, Rosemary, Brad Neiger, Carl Hanson, and James McKenzie Enhancing
Promotional Strategies Within Social Marketing Programs: Use of Web 2.0 Social
Media Social Marketing and Health Communication. 02 Oct. 2008. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

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OBrien, Owen. Recap of marketing to millennials by Keith Kaplan Social Media

Association. 06 November 2015. Web. 11 November 2015