Social Media Marketing

I got some books from the library about social media marketing in order to help me with my promotion text in my dissertation. The following is some of the key information I sourced from the books.

The Social Media Marketing Book- Dan Zarrella

• Retweets are the most powerful mechanisms for marketers on Twitter
• Between 11am and 6pm is the most popular time for retweeting
• Retweets with links get retweeted more
• Becoming a 'trending topic' will generate more buzz and awareness
• Applications on Facebook are proving popular to attract audiences, whether its an app game or something to enhance the promotional message. It may be something to consider creating an app to promote the service, Rimmel have done this before when they launched a new lipgloss.
• 'Currently, Facebook is the dominant social networking site and it has the most features useful to the social media marketer. It began in universities, so Facebook boasts a commanding percentage of college students as members. Recently, however, it's fastest growing segment has been users older than 35, and recent data suggests that the 35-54 age group has become bigger than the 18-24 age group. For these older users, Facebook presents a middle ground between the stuffiness of Linkedin and the adolescent playground of Myspace, and is a fun but easily navigable place where they can reconnect with old friends.'

Social Media Marketing A Strategic Approach- Melissa Barker, Donald Barker, Nicholas Bormann & Krista Neher

• YouTube reports that their user base is broad in age range, 18-55, evenly divided between males and females and spanning all geographies.
• People over 65 are adopting Facebook quicker than any other accounts
• 48% of people over 55 have Facebook accounts
• Facebook is more popular with younger people but has significant penetration in all age groups. According to Morpace research, 84% of those 18-34 have Facebook pages compared to 61% of those 35-54 and 48% of people over 55.
• Brands that are successful on social media are 'participatory'. They interact with the community, answer questions and thank those who respond.
• Having a personality is key on social media. Sharing personality helps build common ground and trust. A bureaucratic or forced tone is not a very appealing call to interact. Instead building a feeling of trust and common interest makes it more likely that people will find the social media campaign to be engaging and worth participating in.
• Video is a very popular medium because it can create a stronger connection with consumers. For many people, video stimuli are more appealing than dry text or listening to a podcast. Also the more senses that are involved in gathering information, the more engaging the process becomes.
• Marketing with social networks has several advantages for firms, allowing them to find talent, build brand awareness, find new customers and help conduct brand intelligence and market research.
• Social networks allow a brand to engage its target audience in ongoing conversation, which can both draw in new business and increase customer loyalty.
• Twitter users retweet content they enjoy or can vouch for so it is a signal of approval when a retweet occurs.
• Social media measurement is the determination of the volume of the content and the sentiment toward a brand or topic on the social web. The volume of content is a 'quantitative measurement', while judging sentiment is a 'qualitative measurement'. The number of posts, comments, tweets, retweets, likes, and follows are instances of quantitative metrics, while mentions, comments, conversations and feedback about a brand are examples of qualitative metrics.