Case Study

This week, I read three different articles about social media strategies. First, Facebook Marketing: a Comprehensive Guide for Beginners taught me how to use Facebook to my advantage by recognizing the best ways to market myself and engage with my followers. Second, the Science of Social Timing taught me the facts and demographics of when and how much to post for Facebook, Twitter, and my own blog. Lastly, we examined Zappos.com to see how a company effectively uses social media to market itself. From these three articles I've learned to put forward my best foot by knowing how to draw people in. An attractive profile photo and cover photo can get people clicking on your profile and is the first step to marketing yourself on social media. Next, you have to know specifically when to post and how often to post to optimize your viewership. It's fascinating that a specific time can give your post more views. Lastly, in order to maintain your online presence, you have to interact with your followers constantly, as Zappos.com shows us. Below I've included my answers to the case study questions as context. 

Facebook Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide

for Beginners

1. (a) What are the three major different ways that a company can market on Facebook?

A company can use pages, ads, ads and groups to market on Facebook. 

     (b) In general, which one of these do you feel is the most effective? Why?

In general, I feel that ads are the most effective in marketing itself to new customers. With pages and groups, it is required that people already know about the company and will actively look them up to join or ‘like’ it. On the other hand, ads are able to reach more people and spread more interest. Also, the ability to target to specific demographics makes a good use of Facebook’s data collection and target people most likely to click on the ad. 

2.  According to the article, what are three strategies on Facebook that you can use to engage your followers: 

First and most importantly, you can use your profile photo and cover photo to draw people in. People judge books by their cover, so it’s no surprise that an attractive profile is important. Next, the “About” section allows a good space to quickly introduce your company to people. By making it interesting, you can draw people in while also informing them of who you are. Lastly, you have to post useful information on your wall. When you scroll down a Facebook page, the easiest thing to see is the information on your wall, so keeping it concise and informative makes it easier to navigate and help people find relevant information. 

The Science of Social Timing-Social Networks

This article indicates that, “it’s important to know when the highest percentage of your audience is eavesdropping on your social networks—so that when you share content you’ll get maximum exposure.” (Para 1)  After reviewing this research indicate:

1. According to this research, (a)what does the percentage of population in the US by time zone reveal about followers?  Consider, what time zone(s) have the most followers?  Why is this important? 

The percentage of population by time zone shows what percentage of US is from which parts of the US. It shows that the Eastern time zone has the most followers, and Alaska and Hawaii have the least. This means that you would reach the most people if you posted in relation the Eastern time zone as opposed to Alaska/Hawaii. 

(b) How might this be relevant to companies in on the West-coast such as in California?  What are some reasons why West-coast companies might take this into consideration and what are some reasons why West-coast companies might choose to “ignore” this advice?

Companies on the West Coast might want to take this into consideration in order to reach over 80% of the population in the Central and Eastern time zones. However, if their audience is pandering and primarily in the West Coast, they might choose to ignore this advice. 

1. TWITTER- According to the infographic, 

(a) What is the best time of day to Tweet?  What could be the reasons for this time being the best?

The best time of day to tweet is 5 PM because this would give you the most amounts of retweets and therefore, reach the most amount of people.

(b) What is “CTR”?

“CTR” means click through rate, meaning the rate that followers click.

(c)  According to this research what is the “ideal” frequency of Tweets per day in order to maximize CTR?

This research shows that the ideal frequency of tweets per day is 1-4 times an hour so 12-48 tweets a day. 

(d) What are the best days to maximize CTR on Twitter?  Why do you suppose this might be true?  What are some possible reasons or products/services in which this would not be the case?

The best days to maximize CTR on Twitter are midweek and weekends. This is most likely because people are on Twitter more often midweek, due to a lull in work, or the weekend, when people are more free. 

(e) What are the best times of Day for CTR on Twitter?

The best time for CTR during the day on Twitter is noon and 6PM. 

1. FACEBOOK- According to the infographic:

(a) What is the best day to share on Facebook?

The best day to share on Facebook is Saturday.

(b) What is the best time to share on Facebook? 

The best time to share on Facebook is noon.

      (c) How many posts should you make on Facebook per day and per week?

You should make one post every two days, so about 3 to 4 post a week. 

1. BLOGGING:  According to the infographic,

1. What time of day has the greatest number of followers reading blogs?

The highest percentage of users read blogs in the morning. 

b.Which day of the week has the greatest number of views for Blogs?  Why do you think this might be?

The average blogs gets the most views on Monday, probably because people start their week by updating themselves on the blogs they follow.

c.Which day of the week has the greatest average number of comments?  At what time of day?

Saturday has the greatest average number of comments at 9 AM.

Examining Social Media Campaigns- Zappos.com

1. What are the major Social Media mediums/tools used by Zappos?  Provide an over view of each (be sure to actually go into each of their pages and take a look for yourself).

Zappos has many social media mediums that it uses to advertise itself, including Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. On Twitter, Zappos has 2.8 million followers, while on Facebook, they have 2.3 likes and 2.2 followers. However, on Youtube they only have 7,000 subscribers. Each platform uses videos and photos to promote their products. 

(a) How many FB likes do they have on their main page right now?

They have 2.35 million likes on their main page.

(b) What is the difference between “Likes” and “Talking about this?  How many “Talking about this” do they have right now?

The difference between ‘likes’ and ‘talking about this’ is that ‘talking about this’ requires people to actively to posting about Zappos, meaning there is activity interacting with Zappos.  

(c)  What are the implications of having a high number of likes?  Why would this be important to a company?

A high number of likes shows how popular a company is. Also, it allows the company’s posts to show on people’s feeds, therefore allowing more people to see the things they post. 

(d) What are some strategies that they are using on their FB page?  How do they entice fans to engage?

They engage with fans by having daily updates and interacting with people on their page. By answering questions on Facebook and posting about inner-working of Zappos, people become interested in Zappos and more inclined to buy from them.