L10 - Social Media and the Internet

Question 1

Roles of the internet:

Answer 1

• Economic: attracting attention, exchange, brand building; low barriers to new entrants
• Information: searching, sharing; user generated; targeted information.
• Entertainment: video content-YouTube; “brand terrorism”; TV shows amateur clips, music most popular downloads
• Social: emergence of social networks vital to advertisers; Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia-advertising in experimental phase

Question 2

Social media vs traditional media:

Answer 2

• —Consumer-consumer communications
• —Content, discussion, circulation, use of and initiation, of brand interaction outside the company control
• —Word-of-mouth forums including blogs, company- sponsored discussion boards and chat rooms, consumer-to-consumer e-mail, consumer product or service ratings websites and forums, Internet discussion boards and forums, moblogs (sites containing digital audio, images, movies, or photographs), and social networking websites

Question 3

Internet tools:

Answer 3

• Websites
• Search engines: search marketing
• Discussion forums and communities: potential to discuss brand experiences; competitive information; customer profiles
• Blogs: employees and publics informed, salesperson efficiency; vlogs (e.g. Gizmodo, crikey.com.au); sustainable activities
• Interactive games

Question 4

Types of internet advertising:

Answer 4

• Search advertising: most common-key words and over the page format
• Classified ads: recruitment, real estate and automotive
• Video ads: 41% Australians download or stream videos-average CPM rates are higher for video ads than for static display ads; Adselector
• Social networks: 8.8 million Facebook users in Australia (can be backlash for advertisers e.g.,Vegemite isnack)

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Question 5

Branded content:

Answer 5

• Brand-funded entertainment
• Example of convergence
• A way to contact and engage consumers through content they feel passionate about
• Seamless advertising e.g., Harry Potter, The Sims 3
• Advergames: combines gaming and advertising online - can involve a brand’s special features during the game and exponential participation through viral dissemination
• BMW short films campaign
• In-game advertising- $3.1 billion

Question 6

Advantages of internet advertising:

Answer 6

• Relatively inexpensive (relatively)
• Convergence means it combines existing advantages of high impact video and audio, print (text and images) and the internet (interactivity and personalisation).
• Targeted
• Accountability
• Immediacy
• —Accessibility – but poor banner click-through rates
• Fulfills all primary purposes of advertising
• —Less distraction: ‘flow’
• —Adds depth to traditional media representations
• BTB: generation of leads and sales-product catalogs, demonstrations, specifications

Question 7

Tips for effective social media use:

Answer 7

• Planning: strategy, crisis management plan, understanding consequences of actions, moderate conversations, integrate, audience ownership
• Staffing: resources and talent, education of staff
• Content: vary, localise, appropriate, language, unique voice, entertain, share third party content, tailor, character limits

Question 8

Social media advertising tips:

Answer 8

• Promotion and monetisation: fanpage, build audience, use analytics, tangible results are paramount
• Loyalty: Reward fans for moderating community, exclusive content and deals, brand advocates
• Response: timely, regular updates, deliver above expectations from community, don’t sell too much on social media, don’t get upset, honesty, commitment

Question 9

Implications:

Answer 9

• Growth in all senses
• Increase in roles for marketers
• Wider influence in companies
• Customer understanding vital
• Exit “spin”
• Increased customer contact
• Brand communities
• Integration of brand with games and entertainment, placement
• Crowdsourcing of products, product development
• Increase in personal expression via brands