SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: STRATEGY AND

OPTIMIZATION

Introduction
Make social media more effective for your business
- [Martin Waxman] A week doesn't go by without big news from the main social media
platforms. Maybe Facebook or Twitter changed their algorithms, or Instagram and
Snapchat offered up new shoppable ad options, or YouTube decided to be more like a TV
network, or there's a new kid in town, Tik Tok. That's what we're going to cover in this
course. How to use social media marketing to help achieve your business goals. We'll start
by showing you how to conduct a social media audit. You'll learn how to dig into your
findings, analyze the results, and use data-driven insights to help shape your content
marketing plans. Hi, I'm Martin Waxman, a digital communication strategist. I conduct
social media training and audits for companies of all sizes, and I teach social media. I'm
also a bit of a social media news junkie. I'm going to zero in on the latest developments on
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Tik Tok, and
how they affect your brand. I'll show you how to refine your content mix, choose a social
media marketing platform, and develop a paid, earned, shared, and owned media strategy
for your business. So don't be afraid of the swirling, fast-paced social media flow. I'm
going to give you a content marketing life jacket that helps you stay afloat. Ready? Let's
jump in.

Establishing your social media strategy

- If you had to describe your company's approach to social media in one sentence, what
would you say? That you're strategic, targeted, and have great relationships with your
customers. That you continually test and adapt. That your social media programs are
well-integrated throughout your organization. That it's a hit or miss activity. That social
media is still a sore point for certain members of the C-suite. Or maybe it's a combination
of some or all of the above. Regardless of the way you describe it, we can probably agree
on a couple of things. Social media is here to stay. The pace of change isn't slowing
down, and a week doesn't go by without some tech news or announcements. And if you
want to keep track of what's happening, you may want to check out my Digital
Marketing Trends course. It's a series that's updated every two weeks. As
marketers, you're expected to manage your social media programs and integrate them
with all your other plans. And that's the key, integration. And being true to your brand's
character and voice on whatever platform you're on. That doesn't mean you have to
spout the exact same message on each. In much the same way you wouldn't wear a
bathing suit to work, hopefully, your brand can show different aspects of its
personality on various social channels. You just have to know how to act in the setting
you're in, and understand when to loosen, or take off your corporate tie, so to
speak. That's tough for some traditional marketers and PR folks who believe message
consistency was everything. Nowadays, you need to figure out which aspect of your
brand personality is most appropriate for the channel you're on. There's no pat answer
here, so rely on your brand values as a guide. You've heard this before, but it starts with
your customers, the relationships you've built with them, and knowing where and when
they want to hear from you. That means shifting your thinking from marketing to
editorial, from selling to helping. And it means taking an honest and critical look at your
strengths and weaknesses and the type of content you can excel at, and which isn't
currently being produced. You need to attach a value to your social media efforts. If you
think of content marketing as an asset, you'll be more mindful of what you create and
share. And remember, digital is trackable and measurable, but don't fall into the trap of
counting likes. Establish measurable results that tie into your business and marketing
goals. In the early days of social media it was all about volume and speed. And while it's
still important to respond as quickly as you can, there is no point pushing out content just
for the sake of it. Emphasize quality over quantity. You don't want to be thought of as a
content polluter. Make strategic choices. Pick your channels. Learn how to both fit in and
stretch the limits. Be creative, and strive for excellence. And remember, selling is a
nuanced action. It's more than just pushing out your messages over and over again.

1. Start with a SWOT

Conducting a social media audit

- Many organizations approach digital media from a platform first perspective. That
is, they jump on a social network and develop their strategy later. As a result, they
may have multiple accounts on various networks, abandoned profiles, inefficient
processes, and a content plan with few actionable goals. That's why it's important for
companies to take stock of their digital assets. And one of the best ways to do that is
with a social media audit. You'll find some helpful tips on how to conduct an audit in
our exercise files. In a social media audit, you'll examine your social and digital
properties through a critical and curious lens. You're looking at your strengths and
challenges, your paid, earned and owned media and how well your team is achieving
its goals. Everything's on the table. So you try to be as honest as you can. We
prepared a resource to help you get started in the exercise files. But an audit isn't just
about looking inside. You'll also want to pay attention to what your competitors are
doing and how successful they are. Assess the landscape and listen to conversations
your customers, suppliers, competitors, employees, and other stakeholders are
having. You can find more tips on listening and monitoring in my Learn Social Media
Monitoring course. You'll also want to talk to thought leaders in your industry, your
staff and customers, make sure you let them know you're capturing their comments
anonymously. That way, they'll be more inclined to give you an unfiltered
response. When you think about your business, ask questions like, who are you
trying to reach? What platforms do they use? What's your organization currently
doing? Versus what are you doing well? Where are the gaps, challenges, strengths
and weaknesses? Are there internal barriers to change? Are your social media
programs tied to your business goals? Audrey Topsy from Topsy Turvy Bakery is
really focused on growing her customer base. So I asked her who she's trying to
reach. - [Audrey] Well, brides, of course, wedding planners, busy moms planning
birthday parties, and really almost anyone with a special occasion. - [Martin] That's a
pretty big audience. How are you using social media to connect with them? -
[Audrey] Well, we used to get a lot of comments from young moms and active brides
on Facebook who would share photos of our cakes, but that's gone down in the last
year or so. One of our younger staff members has been posting behind the scenes
stories on our Instagram account. And I like that idea. Should we continue? Will
Instagram posts help grow our business? - You know Audrey, those are all
questions you could ask in your social media audit. But before Audrey begins Topsy
Turvy, like your brand, needs to develop goals and objectives. That way, you'll know
what you want your audit to accomplish. When you start, try to be as objective as
you can, pay attention to all the pages on your website or blog, your social media
properties, your digital and traditional content and marketing materials and look at
competitors through your customers eyes. Then, analyze the results and identify
trends, areas for improvement and opportunities. Done well, a social media audit can
open your company's eyes to the realities of your business landscape, and get you
the insights you need to develop a strategic roadmap with
recommendations designed to achieve your social media goals.

Using data to understand your social media strengths

- A doctor I know made a video that went viral. So he started making more
videos, but none of them were as popular as the first. I asked about that and he
said, "Not everything needs to go viral. "It's okay to be bacterial too." Of course, only
a doctor would say something like that but he had a point and that is a well-targeted
piece of content doesn't have to appeal to everyone. The key is to reach your
customers. The same principle applies to your company's social media. Simply going
viral for viral sake is not a sustainable tactic nor a realistic goal. It's better to create
niche content your audience can't find anywhere else that speaks to their needs and
builds relationships and trust. Okay, you've done your social media audit. Now you
can delve into your analytics to uncover deeper insights. What times of day work
best for your posts and why? Is there a consistency to your engagement or does it
vary? And what does your CRM, or customer relationship management data, tell you
to support or refute your observation? Customer engagement depends on many
variables. But here are the key ones: the type of social content you produce, the tone,
timing and most important, the relevance to customers. Interpreting your data wisely
helps you optimize and adapt. It all comes down to understanding your
audience and what they like or need. Do they respond better to videos or
infographics? Maybe it's tips and lists that attract them. Identify the topics and
keywords that customers engage with and figure out how to do more of that. Look
at your content calendar and determine if the content you believe is your strongest
actually is. You might be surprised by what you find. We have a sample content
calendar in the exercise files. Get under the hood of your social media posts to see
where you're getting the best engagement and figure out why. Then, adjust your
content calendar and continue to monitor and adapt in real time. Your analytics also
show you who on the team was responsible for the highest producing or performing
content. Celebrate or reward their creativity and encourage them to keep it up. Or
maybe invite your social media star to lead a lunch and learn and share tips about
what made their content stand out and inspire your team. Don't just create content
in a vacuum and rely on your gut to determine what works. Instead, dig into your
data, analyze it and watch how your customers behave. And remember, one viral
success is not a social media strategy.

Analyzing your SWOT and adapting your social media plan

- [Martin] In one of my other courses, I talked about my dad who ran a fabric and
drapery store for over 40 years. Even though my dad never did a SWOT analysis for
his business, I'm sure if he had, it would've been pretty straightforward and focused
on the big picture. For instance, his strengths, well, that would've been him and his
fabric selection. Weaknesses, hmm, definitely some of his staff. Opportunities, to sell
more fabrics and drapes. And threats, current and new competitors. Of course, today
the world is a lot more complex, but big picture thinking is still the essence of a
SWOT. Your social media audit likely included a SWOT, which is an analysis of the
business landscape you're in broken into four main categories. Strengths and
weaknesses, they're typically used for looking inward at your company. Opportunities
and threats, they're more outward-looking. When you're doing a SWOT, it's
important not to sugarcoat the facts and to be honest about where you stand, even
if it ruffles some feathers. Just be prepared to back up your rationale with solid
examples. Your SWOT shouldn't be a laundry list of bullet points that go on and on
and on. It's a snapshot that demonstrates where you stand out and what some of
your issues, vulnerabilities, and future possibilities might be. Keep it to no more than
three or four points per quadrant, and make sure your observations tie in with your
business goals. Let's look at Topsy Turvy Cake Design, which has been active on
Facebook, putting more emphasis on Instagram, and considering Pinterest and
Snapchat and starting a social media audit. I'm going to walk Audry through some of
the steps they'd need to take. Audry, tell me your company's top strengths. - [Audry]
I think one of our biggest strengths is our name and how well we're known in the
community. We get a lot of business from referrals, and I know customers love our
creative designs. - [Martin] Okay, how about your weaknesses? - [Audry] Well, we're
perfect, so of course we don't have any. Okay, if I'm serious, I'd say I have really high
expectations, and maybe I'm not the best manager in the world, so we do have more
staff turnover than I'd like. Also, I think we sometimes get too busy to post on
social, or we just post too much, so there's no real strategy or consistency. - [Martin]
Are there any opportunities you'd like to pursue? - [Audry] Well, I've been
thinking about developing an online recipe subscription business where each month
we'd publish and share recipes for customers to try at home. And I've been told I'm a
good talker, so I thought I might want to become a baking expert for a local or a
national morning show. I don't know, is that silly? - [Martin] Of course not, it's great
to have big goals. Finally, I asked Audry about what threats her bakery might be
facing. - [Audry] I did mention I'm not a great people person, and I did have a falling
out with my second-in-command, and she just left to start her own business. I'm
really worried because she knows the recipes and has some good ideas on how to
improve them. Also, we've heard that a national bakery chain with a big budget is
about to open up in town, and I'm not sure I can compete on price. - [Martin] Let's
evaluate the result and what all this could mean for Topsy Turvy. We know they're
creative, and the founder, Audry Topsy, is one of the company's biggest assets and
has the potential to be a high-profile spokesperson. We also know that the staff is
talented, but there's a bit of a revolving door for employees. And we see there's
going to be increased competition from a national brand and possibly a former
employee who knows company secrets. So what should Audry do? It seems like
Audry could be more focused externally and position herself as an influencer. Her
celebrity could halo on the brand and protect against competition. To do that, the
company would probably need to hire a manager, and Audry would have to cede
some control of the business. That move could also help with employee
turnover. And as far as the lack of their social media strategy, Topsy Turvy could work
with a small agency to develop a plan. The agency could also train one or two of her
employees who would then have social media and content marketing as part of their
jobs. Of course, this is just the beginning of the recipe for Topsy Turvy, but it gives
you an idea of how to get started. By assessing your strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats honestly and critically, your business can get
a clear picture of where you are and what you need to do to get to where you want
to go.

2. What’s Driving The Major Platforms

Facebook: The mass media of social platforms

- [Instructor] With over 2.4 billion monthly users, Facebook is a social networking
equivalent of mass media. Let's take a look at some of the features it could offer your
business. It's important to remember, Facebook's primarily a paid platform and from
a cost perspective, it does provide a good ROI. Facebook offers sophisticated
targeting options, including location, demographics, connections, behavior, and
interests. You can also reach people who've already interacted with your brand or
create custom or lookalike audiences for a wider reach. And Facebook's dynamic ads
use machine learning to personalize ads to the audience you're trying to reach. It's
no secret Facebook has had some high profile privacy issues in recent years. As a
result, the social network's new focus is on more private conversations and
communications between family and friends. That means, you'll need to work
harder on building relationships and being responsive to customer requests. One
way to do that is through Facebook Stories ads, which let companies direct
customers to Messenger so they can start a one to one conversation with them. Or
you could develop a Messenger chatbot. Just be sure it speaks in your brand
voice and its answers are designed to help and not frustrate users. Are your
customers passionate about your products and services? If so, you may want to
develop a group catered to their interests and needs. Think of the group as a
community and be sure to allocate sufficient resources to manage it over the long
haul. You should also establish ground rules so people know how to behave. Be
creative and above all, give members some freedom to have conversations without
you. That way, your group will become a valued destination for your customers. Are
you ready to go live? Facebook livestream video could be an ideal way to engage
customers by teasing out new offerings, showing behind the scenes content, and
launching products. Just be sure to practice before you go live, so your spokesperson
is comfortable and you give customers a reason to tune in. Facebook is also
providing companies with better control over where their ads might appear. In an era
of fake news, that's more important than ever. And remember, you'll need to pay
attention to users' privacy considerations when you're targeting them because with
off-Facebook activity, customers can track and opt out of third party sites and
disconnect their browsing history from your account. So, when would Facebook be a
good option for your brand? You can consider it for cost effective ad targeting, live
video, chatbots for customer service, and interest based groups that can turn
customers into ambassadors.

Engage customers visually on Instagram

- [Instructor] I've heard Instagram described as the perfect blend of art and
commerce. And in many ways, that's exactly what it is. What started out as an ad
free, photo sharing social network, has turned into a multifaceted visual platform for
people and business. I guess that's not surprising since the app is owned by
Facebook, the most profitable social network around. Since it introduced business
accounts, ad options and live video, Instagram has been working hard to become a
new mall. Instagram offers several ad formats, including photo ads, videos, stories
ads, swipe up-able collections and ads in its explore tab. You can target customers by
location, demographics, behavior, customer look-alike audiences and automatic
targeting. Brands like Gap and J.Crew upload their catalogs to Instagram. And users
can find and shop for products right in the app. All they have to do is click on the
shopping bag on photos and videos. Some restaurants even alter their lighting and
decor to make sure their place looks good in photos. They're trying to give
customers an instaworthy experience. Looking for ideas? Instagram has a blog that
provides brands with tips and creative inspiration to get the most out of the
app. Instagram spawned its own group of influencers, whether celebrities, nano or
micro-influencers with under 10 thousand followers. And brands can work with
influencers to help increase the reach and authenticity of your campaign. But if you
do, be sure your influencers disclose their commercial relationship with
you. Otherwise, they and you could risk running afoul of the FTC. But one of its
biggest successes happened when Instagram borrowed from Snapchat and launched
Instagram Stories. With Stories, users and companies can create short and fun
sequential video and photo moments complete with GIFs, text, doodles and
augmented reality. And brands can save their best videos as Stories Highlights that
appear on top of your feed and showcase your company's culture and
personality. Topsy Turvy's an independent bakery that's getting more active on
Instagram. What are the types of things they could do? Well, they could advertise on
Stories or livestream a baking day. When they're done their livestream, they could
share the video replay on Stories and target their audience or look-alike audiences to
reach potential new customers. They could also create a hashtag like
#createtobake and encourage customers to tag their own photos and stories that the
company could comment on or reshare. The key to Instagram is visual creativity. So
post images and videos that capture your customer's imaginations and
attention. They'll be more likely to engage with your ads when they live up to the
Instagram aesthetic.

Twitter: Real-time news, video, and customer service

- [Instructor] Where do you go to find out what's going on in the world, Twitter. It's
the place we discover the latest information or breaking news. In fact, Twitter's CMO
called it a place to see what's happening right now. And that's been one of Twitter's
main challenges. People just don't understand what it does. Its fast-paced news feed
can make you feel like you're always behind, and it's been seen as a home for online
trolls and harassment. Twitter's been making adjustments like adding better controls
over how you hide replies or block cyberbullies and moving to a simplified
algorithmic newsfeed that shows you more content they think you'll like. Like many
social networks, Twitter's putting a big emphasis on video and especially live
streaming. They've partnered with big sports, entertainment, and news outlets to be
a source of live video content like the Oscars' Red Carpet pre-show. In addition to
taking users behind the scenes, this offers brands a chance to engage with customers
virtually at a major event. You can also use live video to launch new products and
showcase your company. Some of Twitter's other features include DM or Direct
Message Cards for customer service. Brands can include buttons in tweets that take
customers to various DM accounts where their questions can be handled
privately. But if you're using Twitter for customer service, you need to be
responsive. Let's look at one of my favorite Twitter features, lists. Twitter lists are a
great way to organize who you follow by theme. For instance, if you're a brand like
Topsy Turvy Bakery, you can add your top customers and influencers to a list. This
curates a feed where you can see what they're talking about without the distractions
of the main feed. And it lets you find opportunities where your brand can jump into a
conversation or help in a more natural way. Twitter's approach to advertising is built
around the concept of Promoted Tweets. These include text or text and link only and
Twitter Cards, the visuals below a tweet that display photos, GIFs, and videos. You
can use Promoted Tweets to build followers or engagement, increase web
traffic, generate awareness for apps, or use Quick Promote to amplify an individual
tweet fast. Twitter also offers Promote Mode, a monthly subscription that
automatically boosts all your brand tweets. Twitter's live video and easy-to-use
promoted tweets let brands amplify organic content or create posts for paid
campaigns. Twitter's also a good way to engage customers and provide quick
customer service. The thing to remember is customer expectations often match the
speed of the platform, so when you're having a conversation on Twitter, make it as
close to real time as you can.

LinkedIn: Social networking for business professionals

- [Instructor] LinkedIn's become the "Wall Street Journal" of the social media
world. These days, it provides great options for business, including publishing, live
video and ads. It's also a place to build and manage your professional
network, discover and follow companies and influencers and yes, find a
job. LinkedIn's publishing tools let you create content and position yourself or your
business as a thought leader. Use hashtags to make your posts and updates more
discoverable and follow hashtags your industry is using to stay on top of news and
trends and decide if there's a topic where you can add value. When you have a
company page, you can invite followers, promote your posts and content and create
text ads, dynamic ads, customize to your audience or prospects and sponsored
InMail messages. LinkedIn lets you target by location, company, education,
demographics, experience and interest and its matched audiences give companies
several options to get your content in front of the people you're trying to
reach. Recently, video's become a bigger part of the LinkedIn experience. Users can
record and upload mobile video to make updates more visually engaging with
behind the scenes video of your company or a new product launch and LinkedIn
Live lets brands live stream video like events and company news. I do want to
mention one feature that's been around for a while and, in my opinion, is worth a
second look. LinkedIn Groups. With LinkedIn Groups, you can create and manage a
community, exchange ideas, share links and collaborate. The key is to start
organically and post content your customers want and need or answer questions
they may have. As with any relationship, it takes time, but with a good moderator
and an engaged community, you can turn your group into brand ambassadors or
advocates. LinkedIn also lets small and medium-sized business owners promote their
company offerings right from their profiles. So with a paid subscription, an
entrepreneur like Audry Topsy could feature her baking and cake design
services alongside her personal expertise. This gives her another way to showcase
Topsy Turvy Bakery when her name comes up in a search. LinkedIn is the only B2B-
exclusive social media platform. It lets you and your business showcase who you
are and what you do best. It can help your company attract customers, employees
and partners and for individuals, it lets you demonstrate thought leadership and
build your network so you'll have more opportunities when you're looking for a
client, a staff member or even for your next job.

YouTube: Video, influencers, ads

- [Instructor] One billion hours is a lot of time. It's also the number of hours
people spend watching videos on YouTube every single day. To put this in
perspective, that's the equivalent of you watching videos for 100,000 years. That's
just one day's content. You'd need a boatload of popcorn for that. YouTube is most
people's go-to video platform and the second largest search engine after Google. It's
the place we watch kids and cats doing silly things and where brands like yours try to
engage your customers. And 70% of those views come from mobile devices. Of
course, so many brands would just love to create a video that catapults your business
to fortune and fame but only a tiny fraction of videos ever go viral. So rather than
chasing virality, it's better to consistently produce the kind of content your customers
will love. This may seem obvious but in order to do that, you need to develop a
strategy and content calendar and optimize and organize your channel by uploading
an attention-getting header image, completing the About section, and creating
playlists to make it easier for your customers. Like every social platform, YouTube
continues to evolve. It simplified its user experience with bigger thumbnails and
more white space. It updated its verification policy to focus on prominence, that is
the number of subscribers a user may have and their authenticity; and it brought its
popular mobile Add to Queue, Watch Later feature to desktop devices. YouTube has
spawned its own stars and influencers who are sometimes more popular than
celebrities and many of them are open to working with brands. Just establish what
you're looking for, a budget and timeline upfront. Start by searching the keywords
your customers are using to see which YouTubers appear at the top. Then do some
additional research on them and the types of content they post, what they're
engagement is and whether they're open to working with brands. And if you do
partner with them, make sure influencers disclose their relationship with you. But
don't make a large subscriber base, the only criteria of your influencer
partnership, more important is how engaged an influencer's audience is and whether
or not they match your customers. These days, YouTube is looking more like a
traditional TV network. YouTube TV is a subscription service that lets you watch and
stream network shows to any device. YouTube Originals are premium content and if
a creator has more than 1,000 subscribers, they can livestream directly to their
fans on a mobile device. But most channels have the opportunity to do a YouTube
livestream from desktop. You can purchase a variety of ad formats on
YouTube including pre-roll and mid-roll video, TrueView ads that viewers can
skip after they play for five seconds, video overlays, video and rich media
mastheads, shopping ads and other digital display formats. And you can target by
demographics, interests and keywords. Let's look at Topsy Turvy and some of the
video ideas their brands could pursue. They could research and identify local food or
dessert bloggers, then they could partner with them and sponsor a video series on
baking tips, and they could also stream a bake off live on mobile if the influencer has
more than 1,000 subscribers. There's no doubt the screen is a thing, and YouTube
offers a range of formats, ad options, and influencer partnerships. But don't just
shoot, post and expect a mass audience. Your brand can succeed on YouTube if you
move away from the dream of virality and create videos that help, educate or
entertain your customers.

How Pinterest is becoming the new digital mall

- [Instructor] Pinterest, the ultimate social scrapbook, is aspirational, stylish, sharable,
and shoppable. Its primary audience is Women, and it appeals to lifestyle, fashion,
food, and decor brands. Essentially, it's a place to find, filter, collect, and share
products, pictures, and ideas, and these days, Pinterest feels like it's kind of
becoming the new digital mall. Since it began, Pinterest has been the place to
post and discover images of products you wanted and collect ideas for projects you
wanted to do. Brands could always have pages, but marketers jumped on
board when Pinterest launch promoted pins as a way for business to connect with
customers and create a seamless discovery experience. Pinterest breakout features
lends its visual search function, and you can access it from your desktop or mobile
device. On desktop, what you do is scroll down. Let's click on a pin. Scroll down
again. When you see the little camera icon there, just click on that, and Pinterest will
show you items related to your search. Now, say you want to zoom in and get even
closer, like you want more pictures of that teddy bear, well now, what you do is you
just zoom in on a specific object in a pin, and you can see Pinterest shows you similar
items. On mobile, all you do is click on the camera icon in the top right of the search
bar, take a photo of whatever you're interested in, and Pinterest will show you
organic and sponsored pins that are similar to what's in your photo. Your brand can
advertise and amplify posts on Pinterest in a number of ways, and all of them center
on promoted pins. For example, you can pay to promote regular or video
pins, including photos, videos, carousels, and app installs. You can target by
audience, by keyword, by interest. You can showcase the products you're selling in a
shop tab right on your profile page, and Complete the Look uses image search to
recommend products related to a customer's intent. So say a customer finds a
picture of a beach scene, Pinterest might also suggest sunglasses and bathing suits
they could buy. A brand like Topsy Turvy could create some shoppable pins to
showcase mouthwatering photos of its cupcakes, and these could be presented to
potential customers who are in the mood for baking inspiration and doing a visual
search on the platform. Pinterest is also using AI to let people fine tune the types of
pins they see in their home feed. That means relevance and relationships are more
important than ever because when your brand comes up with an image of what
people are looking for, that's like a pin made in heaven.

Snapchat: Showcase your brand's creativity

- [Instructor] With its disappearing images and limited instructions, Snapchat can
seem like a baffling place for people of a certain age. Yet, it makes a lot of sense to
its younger users. Snapchat attracts a young audience, who spend a considerable
amount of time on the app. It's all about vertical video, augmented reality, and
creative expression. Snapping positions itself as a camera company and not a social
network. And that makes sense because the camera is your home screen on the
app. And Snapchat invented many of the features Instagram and Facebook copied,
including stories and those funny filters and lenses you can add to your photos and
videos. Navigating the app may seem challenging, but really it's a matter of swiping
left, right, up and down, and tapping and pinching the screen. The interface is very
responsive, so you may find you're taken to another screen in the middle of an
action. And that can be frustrating till you get the hang of it. A lot of people on
Snapchat create personal icons, or bitmoji, really cartoon-like caricatures of
themselves. And they can include these in snaps and stories to add some
personality. Snapchat is also a place for publishers and media companies, like Vice,
NBC, People Magazine, and Comedy Central. They use their discover channels to
develop original content for the app. One difference between Snapchat and
Instagram is Snapchat lets all users include a link in an update or a story. Snap Maps
show users what their friends are doing and also hot spots of activity in your
community or around the world. You can now shoot up to 60 seconds of
video, broken into 10-second clips. And any doodles, emoji, geo-filters, and
lenses you use in one video are automatically added to all the clips. Snapchat's ad
products include Snap Ads, Collection ads for e-commerce, Story ads, AR ads,
filters, and non-skippable video. Regardless of which type works best for your
brand, Snapchat has high standards and retains final approval. Keep your ads simple,
and use creative visuals, minimal text, and one clear message. You can target by
demographics, Snapchat's audience match, or customers who've previously
engaged with your Snapchat campaigns. Our friends at Topsy Turvy are looking to
try Snapchat to reach a younger audience. Next month, they're planning to exhibit at
the local wedding show, so they created an on-demand geo-filter specifically for the
event in order to reach their customers. Some brands think Snapchat is a world unto
itself, and in may ways, it is different from other social networks. But if your company
appeals to a younger audience, Snapchat offers an opportunity to reach them in a
fun and playful way.

Engage young audiences on TikTok

- [Instructor] If you're a little unsure about TikTok, you're not alone. But there's no
denying it's become a sensation. So who's using it and where does your brand fit
in? Let's find out. TikTok was developed by Chinese AI company ByteDance and
launched in 2016. It took off in 2018, not long after it acquired Musical.ly, a short-
form video app. And today, it has over 500 million monthly active users. TikTok
appeals to a younger demographic. In fact, about two-thirds of its users are under
30. The app's focus is fun, entertaining videos up to 60 seconds in length and often
synced to a popular song. Its homepage is called For You and showcases a collection
of popular content that changes based on your interests, tastes, and what you click
on. Users participate in memes, hashtag challenges, or create duets, which are
essentially a personalized public video created by one user in response to
content created by another. What would any social platform be without its
influencers? Like its demographic, TikTok's creators are young and many are willing
to work with brands. The good news is the content seems fresh and is less
costly than you might pay for a similar program on Instagram. And the videos can go
viral as users seem happy to spread the sponsored posts. But agencies are springing
up and it likely won't be long 'til the app becomes even more commercialized. TikTok
offers one main ad format, in-feed videos and three calls to action: cost per
click, cost per view, and CPM. Right now, brands can run a takeover campaign, create
sponsored augmented reality lenses, stickers, and other effects or take part in a
promoted hashtag challenge. Are there any issues to watch out for? Well, the FTC has
contacted a number of influencers for not disclosing sponsored content. The FTC
also fined the company for collecting personal information on children. Plus, some
privacy experts worry about all the personal data people share being used for
tracking and surveillance. But media companies like NBC News and brands are
jumping on. Luxury apparel maker Ralph Lauren partnered with TikTok on a digital
campaign during the US Open. The Washington Post created a Christmas elf-themed
campaign to boost subscriptions from younger audience. And speaking of elves, Elf
Cosmetics developed an original song for a hashtag challenge that went viral and
even sparked organic contributions from Reese Witherspoon and Jessica Alba. So
how can your company take part in all the silliness and fun? Well, for starters you
need to make sure your customers are on TikTok. If they are, check out some of the
trending hashtags that appeal to your audience's demographic. Then start small by
testing the waters. If you decide to create a paid hashtag challenge, make sure it's
not too commercial. And accept the fact that your content doesn't need perfection. It
just needs a lot of personality.
 3. Turing Strategy into Action

Refining your company's content mix

- With so many uncertainties and all the content marketing changes, it's tough to
stay on top of the latest tool or app. And the question you should be asking is
whether your content resonates with your customers? Are they clicking and sharing
or passing ya by? Understanding your customers and their needs always was and
always will be the key to your marketing and content marketing strategy. Get a
handle on your customers by digging into who they are. Look at their demographics,
behaviors, purchases, questions, and any other customer relationship data your
business may have. From there, uncover insights and trends. Think about your
customer's day, what social media networks they're on, what they need in the
moment, and how you can help. If you're a brand like Topsy Turvy, perhaps you
could focus on shoppable photos that highlight your products or videos with baking
and party tips. The range of ideas is endless and different for every business. So is
the content mix that's right for your customers and you. And it happens when you
listen and understand your customers, and not when you blast out sales
messages on every single app. Now that doesn't mean you can't do some selling and
promotional posts, but you should put the relationship you have with your
customers at the top of your marketing playbook. A good way to optimize your
content is by thinking of it as a series and not a one-off. Look at how your stories
play out over time on the various social media channels. For instance, Topsy Turvy
Bakery could create a recipe photo on Pinterest and use that as a promoted pin. They
could also share that recipe in a blog post and include a photo of that recipe on
Instagram or in a Facebook post. Now, let's get into the nuts and bolts of content
management and distribution. What content management platform should you
choose? I hate to say it, but that's another one of those questions where the answer
is, it depends, because there are so many variables to consider and the range of
options seems endless. When you're looking for a content management
platform, consider what provider you're currently using and whether or not you're
happy with them? What's your budget and how will you measure ROI? How big and
sophisticated is your team? Do you need a backend that supports multiple users or
would something simpler work better for you? Do any of your existing partners offer
a solution where you might get a discount? Don't just settle on one social media
management platform, shop around and ask to test drive others to determine who
offers the best solution for your needs. For more help, check out our course on social
media marketing tools. Telling your company's story has always been a creative
challenge. Social media has simply added a lot more options. But regardless of the
types of content you decide to create or the platforms you choose to optimize and
manage, your customers are at the center. And you need to figure out how to
help and build relationships with them. That's your content marketing sweet
spot and where it all begins.

How to create stories

- Once upon a time, look, I can't help myself. This is how I think all great stories
should begin. So, once upon a time, there was a little yellow ghost that wanted to
get noticed. It came up with a cool way for people to share fun, mini vignettes about
their lives, and it wrapped them with all sorts of shiny glitter and lots of ribbons and
bows. One day, a giant saw this bright, colorful package, ripped it open, and shouted,
"This is mine, all mine!" You probably know the rest. The big giant did take the
stories idea and now, stories are one of the most popular features on Instagram and
Facebook. But the little ghost, Snapchat, should get full credit for creating the
format. Stories are short episodic narratives that combine images, video, text,
filters, emoji, gifs, doodles, polls, and hashtags in a unique and personal way. They're
ideal for capturing an event, announcement, special occasion, or day in the life of
your brand. They usually disappear in 24 hours, and they're produced in real time, so
you don't need high production values. Now, it may sound obvious, but the first
thing you want to do is come up with an idea or framework for your
story. Something that ties it together, even if that's in the loosest possible
way. Consider what you're trying to convey. Excitement, humor, empathy, what will
make your story stand out and what will your call to action be? The stories format is
episodic, but you can add a focus or plot that keeps users tuned in. And be sure to
test different combinations of visuals to see what works best with your
customers. Once you have an idea, develop a rough storyboard to visualize the
scenes and how they will flow. You can do that digitally or, prepare a storyboard the
old-fashioned way, by sketching it out on a piece of paper like panels in a
cartoon. And be sure to conceive your storyboard vertically so your finished product
is easy to watch when your audience is on their phone. Most of us aren't improv
artists who can come up with a witty line at the drop of a hat. That's why you should
work on your script beforehand. And when I say script, I don't mean a full-fledged
screenplay. Again, comic books are a good model, especially the way they use short
bursts of descriptive text to create an emotion. But no matter how scripted your
stories might be, you'll want to adapt or add moments on the fly. And don't be so
over-planned that every frame of your story looks the same. Mix it up. Show and tell
visually and in a mobile-first type of way. Let's look at what a storyboard for Topsy
Turvy might be. Say they're going to show a behind-the-scenes day in the life, well,
we could start with a selfie video of Audrey Topsy telling us what we'll be watching. A
location tag or geofilter highlighting her neighborhood could be a nice touch. The
second frame could also be a video, this time of her team getting ready. Here you
might want to add some fun lenses to capture the spirit of the team. Frame three
could focus on cupcakes, complete with some doodles, gifs, or emoji to set the stage
for the finished product. You get the idea. Stories are all about quick bursts of
creativity that give your customers an authentic glimpse into your brand's
personality.

Optimizing paid, earned, shared, and owned media

- When it started, social media was just that, a way for people to talk and
connect. Then, brands moved in and realized they could have conversations with
their customers too. The social networks had users and now needed a business
model to survive. They looked to traditional media and decided to
embrace advertising and promoted posts as a way to make money and encourage
companies to pay to amplify their content. And so the world of paid, earned, shared,
and owned media, or PESO, began. With PESO, the model developed by Gini Dietrich
at Spin Sucks, there's an overlap of disciplines. For example, Facebook, which started
out as a place for organic posts, is now a home for any combination of PESO
media. At the center of it all, are your stories and content and I don't just mean
Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook stories that disappear 24 hours after you create
them. Your challenge is to find the right PESO combination to maximize your reach
and impact with your customers without appearing to be too much of a hard sell or a
huckster. In their book, "Marketing in the Round," authors Geoff Livingston and Gini
Dietrich offer a model to achieve this and they call it a marketing round, a place
where marketing, PR, digital, direct, experiential, internal, social, and customer
relations all come together to create an integrated plan. The key is to lead with your
customers and content and not necessarily a media buy or PR program. That isn't to
say you completely abandon the marketing tactics that worked in the past. Embrace
what I call the three Ps, that's publish, produce, and promote and pick the PESO mix
that works for you. So, what's in your mix? Well, it depends on your budget and
objectives and making sure you pay attention to your data. Adopting data driven
decision making, let's you test various combinations of PESO to strike a balance that
works for your customers and brand. The key with PESO is to adopt a scientist's
mindset and use your data to test, analyze, and optimize your content across social
and traditional media to maximize your budget and achieve your goals.

Conculsion

Next steps
- It wasn't that long ago when brands wondered, what the heck is this social media
thing and how long will it last? That shifted to a more strategic question about how
to stay on top of the changes and improve customer engagement and ROI. But
where do you begin? We recommended you start with a social media audit and
provided a how-to approach that looks at the platforms your customers and
competitors are using, and uncovers opportunities and challenges. And we offered
actionable tips to analyze your data, adapt your plans and create customer-centric
stories that build relationships and trust. We examined the top social networks, who's
using them and how, where they differ, and the types of content you'll need to create
to stand out. And we shared insights about how to refine your content mix, select the
right content management platform, and optimize your paid, earned, shared, and
owned social media plans all based on your audience's needs. If there's one certainty
about social media, it's that it keeps changing, and your brand has to keep up. But an
awesome story that moves your customers takes center stage every time. If you have
any questions about what's new on social media and how it affects your
business, feel free to contact me on Twitter @martinwaxman or on LinkedIn. Thanks
very much for taking this course.