Social Media Optimization

Social Media Optimization

Problem statement

Social media optimization involves the use of the various technological system in the propagation of information to individuals, groups, or communities to promote awareness in the people of a particular good, service. We have various media such as blogging sites, social news, and networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

We have a challenge in reaching the right audience.  Most of the brands are not able to grow an audience through social media to purchase their goods or services. They are the readers of the advertisements on social media platforms such as Facebook. It is intertwined with the target market. It, therefore, defines the engaged masses as opposed to the use of a holistic approach. It is highly susceptible to other influences. For example, we had USDA’s marketing food guide, which had a target audience of between ages 2 and 18 (Ballings, Van den Poel & Bogaert, 2016). Failure to target the right group is elucidated in incorrect information conveyance. There are also demerit goods that suffer from a negative social perception from society. We have a challenge in the definition of the difference between the target market and target audience.  However, business strategies target the market while the target audience is from advertisements and media, for example, TV’s, print media, social media. They are used to attract the audience.

Policy Analysis

Media has undergone various changes or evolutions in the long run. Previously, most of the people spent time looking for ads or adverts in magazines or newspapers. It is growing vibrantly. In 1994 we had the launching of the first commercial web magazine. It, however, prevented access to the article or information to the majority.  It could be used to reach the target people, for instance, the travelers despite being hectic media. However, with innovations, there came more specialized bidding systems in 1997 that made adverts easier (Ballings, Van den Poel & Bogaert, 2016). Later we had Google and yahoo that were used in making adverts. There came TV ads on a broadcast that advertised goods or services. There was online marketing that came in that boosted all the adverts as everything was  done online. It has led to the realization of revenues, for example, $50 billion in 2017 to the marketing platforms as they are widely used nowadays. They have increased and transformed the marketing sector.

Online marketing is made possible through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Mobile phones contribute 63% of the digital ad revenue, while the media spending in the world has increased by 7.4% to $628.63 billion in 2018 (Costa et al., 2018).  With the advancement in digital marketing, reaching the right audience remains a menace. It is due to the lack of a good focus. The organizations do not also meet the desired expectations in the sales of their goods and services. Research has established that approximately 50% of the marketers or organizations content do not reach their target audience.

It can be established due to irrelevant content or lack of proper techniques or mechanisms. Hence, the organizations should always conduct a target audience analysis regularly. It will ensure the content reaches the correct people at the set time to increase value from an organization’s adverts. It can also enable them to save time and resources by the omission of data to unnecessary masses in societies. With the right audience, organizations can also develop good quality products and services to tackle the problems addressed by their customers to give them satisfaction. For instance, products can be developed to customers’ tastes or preferences to meet the demand and enhance a long-term relationship with customers. The products can also be priced accordingly to attract the target group, for instance, low-cost goods for university students. It can also help in the growth of a business as it will become more competitive by targeting a particular niche.

Policy Evaluation

I decided to collect data to establish the rate by which the adverts reach the target audience. I used both qualitative and quantitative methods. I used a questionnaire to conduct interviews in societies. I preferred using an open-ended questionnaire to avoid bias from limiting the respondents in their response. I interviewed the youths as they are conversant with the MAC Band cosmetics, which is widely advertised on social media. I interviewed ten individuals. I used various questions; What is your best advice to MAC Brand Cosmetics? How do you perceive our services like makeup and foundation? Do you like the MAC brand lotions and eye shadows? Would you like to know about our offers?

I also used an observation method in observing the behavior of the people in society. I looked at the people’s lifestyles, and I was able to assess whether they get information from the adverts on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. I observed people’s phenomena to get first-hand data. It included watching how people smeared oil on their faces, lipsticks, eye shadows. I had an open mind to get rid of bias of poor judgment or negative attitude. I used a video recorder to record the instances that took place among my respondents. I took an insider approach whereby I was a participant-observer in situ and active in the observing community (Hay, 2009)). It ensured that the team I was observing was not in any pressure and viewed me as a familiar person; hence they behaved normally. I did my research appropriately, like fieldwork, to collect correct data.

My findings were that only four respondents were aware of MAC Brand cosmetics. Four respondents perceived the products as excellent due to the brand’s quality. They also liked the lotions offered due to the amazing scents. 40% viewed the products as satisfactory due to the discounts that are advertised and provided to the customers. 85% of the audience had an interest in the company’s offers. It, therefore, shows that the majority of the people do not have the information advertised through the organization’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. It is due to inadequate information transmission leading to a lack of reaching the target audience who are the youths. The data from the qualitative analysis showed that 60% of the participants were not conversant with advocated behaviors such as; descent face washing, applying makeup, eye shadows. However, there were videos teaching people how to wash their faces, apply makeup on Facebook, but most of the masses did not involve the norms. Thus information did not reach the target audience.

Policy alternatives

We can have alternatives in enhancing that social media platforms are productive. The companies should optimize their strategies as social media is always changing. 28% of brands view strategy as a barrier in business. You should define the goals and objectives clearly. There should be extensive research in identifying the target audience to create good content suitable for them. You should share topics or issues of great interest to the audience. You can also employ keyword research to promote ease of access among your audience and help them track the trends. Optimization of a profile is a prerequisite to enable the audience to understand the organization’s website. It will enable them to easily track the website when they try to search for a specific term.

The profile serves as the company’s foundation and should thus be strong enough to attract more. The Facebook profile should be complete with all details about your organization to enable the page to stand out. Optimization of content is crucial to have two types of content; original and curated content. The organization should only share meaningful information with the target audience by establishing what the audience finds relevant and exciting. We can have the optimization of the posting schedule in the most suitable time when almost everyone can view the ad. One should post at least three times on Facebook per week, while one should post a tweet on twitter for at least five times a day. We can have tracking and improvement of social media analytics by google analytics by the use of UTM Codes to attribute social media to a given campaign or channel (Rossmann & Young, 2015).

Policy Recommendations

The organizations should share their social media strategies to boost the brand reputation among the audience. They should use the official accounts to show the quality of their brands or even look for representatives as the organization’s flag bearer or ambassador. They should encourage the customers’ feedback by ensuring they ask about their views regularly to develop products or services to suit their tastes or preferences.  They should supply the audience with the only required information and know how to reach the majority. They should also consider legal consideration by posting adverts or ads that are consistent with the law to avoid controversies.  They are also subject to laws or ethics in their actions. The pursuit of the following may lead to increased sales in an organization.

The companies will also produce quality products and services for the welfare of the consumers. Proper usage of social media will create a culture of connection, support, and consistency; therefore, it will gain the customers’ loyalty.  It, therefore, challenges artists to go directly to the audience on Facebook or Instagram and converse with them about their identity. It also enables the artists to get validation without a gallery for their success. The followers are proof of the artist’s fame. It can also promote eliteness as artists can still manage to be real on Instagram while reaching multitudes. It also enables artists to finance their projects through donations from Facebook followers or twitter audiences.

References

Ballings, M., Van den Poel, D., & Bogaert, M. (2016). Social media optimization: Identifying an optimal strategy for increasing network size on Facebook. Omega, 59, 15-25.

Brand MAC Cosmetics Retrieved from: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7569205/MAC-announces-permanent-price-cuts-lipsticks-eyeshadows-mascaras-Australian-customers.html

Costa, D. G., Duran-Faundez, C., Andrade, D. C., Rocha-Junior, J. B., & Just Peixoto, J. P. (2018). Twittersensing: An event-based approach for wireless sensor networks optimization exploiting social media in smart city applications. Sensors, 18(4), 1080.

Hay, D. (2009). A survival guide to social media and web 2.0 optimization: strategies, tactics, and tools for succeeding in the social web. Dalton Publishing.

Rossmann, D., & Young, S. W. (2015). Social media optimization: making library content shareable and engaging. Library Hi Tech, 33(4), 526-544.