W4 How to determine the best social platform for your company?

Every new company requires different necessary assets to build a successful platform. During the COVID-19 pandemic many businesses new and old have learned the impact of social media to be a main outlet to reach consumers. “Although 97% of Fortune 500 corporations are on LinkedIn, 84% are on Facebook, and 86% are on Twitter, many brands entered the social media front lines without a clear strategy.” (Quesenberry 2018) In attempting to launch a company platform virtually, how does one know what platform would be most effective? 

The approach to determining the right strategy for a company to participate in social media will vary. As I stated before each company requires different assets. One of the first steps in figuring out what social media platform is best for a company is to find the target audience. The audience will include the types of people that will support the company’s platform. Through demographics and psychographics, companies IMC specialists will encounter the general persona of the consumer they want to reach. 

Once a target audience has been found, the next step is to select the social platforms that will bring the culture of the brand to the types of audience. For example, Instagram is more popular for younger generations as opposed to Facebook. Some companies might believe using every social platform will build the most presence possible. Other companies will adopt one platform as its primary channel and source of focus. There is no bad decision, however, “Achieving a better ROI may require closing social accounts that are not aligned with business objectives, or even decreasing social action to focus on posts of more substance.” (Quesenberry 2018) In my opinion, I have always believed quality over quantity. A company (especially starting up) should identify the platforms to use and how to review the insights to determine the effect the platform has for its audience. 

Leading into the next step of utilizing the platform's diverse options of content to be able to create the most interaction for the target audience to effectively engage. A great example of this step is using Instagrams components of posts, stories, story reposts, hashtags, and more! By allocating a platform’s marketing resources the greater rate of success is much higher. According to Forbes Top Marketing trends for 2020, “Whether you use Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, there are now ways for e-commerce stores to create shop posts, making it easy for users to shop from your post.” There is an easier influx of people to see brands based on the business promotions offered through social media platforms. Online shopping has been a huge routine in many people’s lives. Incorporating online shopping with social media posts can build a stronger influence to increase sales for your business and succeed.

In this week’s lesson, the readings contained insight about the customers experience with a company’s social media platform. There are plenty of ways to get a company’s message out to the audience, however is the message getting through to the consumer? “It’s worth considering tools like Google Analytics, which can break down social traffic to see which efforts are working, ranging from website conversions from a direct sale to email subscription, event registration, or quote requests.” (Quesenberry 2018) The purpose of generating social media pages is to develop content to its best quality to drive virtual traffic. Developing content needs to be strategically planned to converse and interact with the target audience. As I tell clients, you can have the best graphics to post, however if it does not reach the target audience it is a waste. 

I think the debate between content vs. conversation affects every brand, business, and company. Although each one may take different approaches when establishing their online presence, they all need support from their audiences in order to be successful. “The question isn’t whether you should use paid or unpaid social tactics—every company should use both. The more important debate is what specific mix of tactics is right from your organization.”(Gigante 2019) The decisions made regarding how to build a company’s social media presence will differentiate among all industries. 

The real company I chose to explain my position is a brand I very much support, 4Ocean. Cultivated and created from the love of the ocean, aquatic life and sustainability, the company and brand, 4ocean was born. “We’re here to clean the ocean and coastlines while working to stop the inflow of plastic by changing consumption habits” (Alex and Andrew, 2012). Using a variety of social media tactics and creative content, 4Ocean has a massive following on all social media networks. To achieve this following (over 2 million on Instagram @4ocean), a high-level plan to reach their target audience must be created. The best part of this for-profit is the vast target audience. Consisting of all age ranges, genders and specifically individuals with a passion/connection to the ocean, environment, climate change, aquatic life, sustainability or the “Go Green” movement. Although the target audience on social media may be vast, they also are constantly targeting local beach communities in Bali, Florida, and. Haiti, ages 18 and older due to the Ocean Clean Up events needing volunteers.

4ocean’s goals are oriented towards sustainability, and successfully impact change with their ocean clean up events, and the efficiency of their business model (shown below, photo 1). The main focus of their goal is to get people involved, aware, and to make active change for the oceans. An additional aspect used by this for-profit, is the utilization of Instagram Stories. Instagram Stories help you grow your audience and keep it engaged with your brand because it allows you to keep your profile in their feeds not once but several times during each day. More Stories mean more chances to attract the audience’s attention. (Katai, 2018)  From these, they have run polls, short surveys, links to their products, volunteer/fan reposts, and Ocean Clean Up event updates. This also includes the utilization of Highlights. Comprising 6 Highlights, showing their Ocean Clean Up projects in Bali, Haiti, Florida and more. 

On social media, this organization has created massive followings on an array of social media platforms (@4ocean) including Instagram and LinkedIn, and the selling of their 100% recycled bracelets and Ocean Clean-Ups. Building this conversation will appeal greatly to the vast audience they have earned and established through the company’s culture. By optimizing their resources to converse will all demographics included in their audience 4ocean make a difference to their community in-person and virtually.

Works Cited

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 2, 2020 at 7:08 PM

    Hi Nic,

    I enjoyed your bit on content vs conversation. In my own position, I work hard to find a balance for both, but somedays it's still hard to get consumers to engage in the conversation with you or your brand instead of just talking to the oblivion. That's where I find the good mix of content comes in to save the day. My boss would say its the content that gets them to stop its the conversation that makes them stay!

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