#TRENDING

a Guide to Social Media Marketing

by: Taylor Ohman

About the Author

Taylor Ohman is currently pursuing her Masters of Business Administration,
with a concentration in marketing, from the Olin Business School at
Washington University in St. Louis. Her undergraduate education, which also
took place at Washington University in St. Louis, was focused on the study
of modern digital media and its effect on American culture. In addition to
her studies, Taylors work with the marketing teams of Modern Luxury
Publications, Save the Children, The Walt Disney Company, and Yelp Inc.,
has allowed her to gain unique insights into contemporary social media
marketing strategies within a wide range of industries. This book has been
created as a culmination of her studies and represents her personal
viewpoint informed by experiential knowledge and academic research.

What is Social Media?

Today, the term social media
encapsulates a wide range of
websites and mobile apps; but,
due to its rapid evolution, it is
difficult to articulate a definition
that remains relevant to all newly
innovated technologies. For the
purpose of this work, social media
platforms will be identified by two
key characteristics: they allow
communication between users
and are digitally accessed via
electronic devices. The aim of this
working definition is to distinguish
social media from other marketing
platforms, such as television,
print, and radio, and thus allow a
more specific study of its impact.

Social media has become an undeniably

influential part of American culture and
has allowed communities to connect
and communicate like never before. The
unprecedented ease with which
individuals are able to converse and
share information has spurred the rise
of crowdcultures, a term coined by
Professor Douglas Holt of Harvard
Business School. Social media, Holt
explains, binds together communities,
that once were geographically isolated,
greatly increasing the pace of
collaboration. (Holt, 2016). This
phenomenon has not only allowed
geographically separate communities to
converse, but has also given them a
voice. Social media empowers its users
by allowing them access to a vast
network of like-minded individuals; and
as history has proven, when it comes to

Why
Study
Social
Media

How Does This Affect

Businesses?
Currently, 65% of American adults use
at least one social media site and this
statistic rises to 90% for young adults
between 19 and 29 years of age (Pew
Research Center, 2015). This
demonstrates a dramatic increase in
social media participation over the last
decade, a change which has not gone
unnoticed by business owners. As a
majority of the American population
can be reached through social media
sites, it has provided an
unprecedented opportunity for
businesses to directly communicate
with consumers. Never before have
brands had such direct access or
means of connection with the
American people. Further, the freedom
of usage of social media sites allows
companies of all sizes and economic

As a result, companies have

dramatically increased their
use of social media sites. In
2015, 91% of retail brands
were using at least two social
media sites (Brandwatch,
2015); and in less than ten
years, cumulative corporate
spending on social-media
marketing efforts has increased
from approximately $0 to $20
billion (Economist, 2015).
However, research has only just
begun to elucidate how
consumers regard brands
differently on social media and
how this unique relationship
necessitates a complete
transformation of traditional
marketing practices.

Social media is like no other marketing

platform and thus cannot be utilized in
the same manner as previously
established media forms. Using social
media to effectively connect with target
consumers and increase brand visibility
requires a unique and informed
strategy. This is because, as previously
described, social media gives the user a
degree of agency, which they have
never experienced before. Social media
allows the consumer to dictate what
content they are exposed to and what
content they deem disruptive. Further,
the communal nature of social media
reinforces these choices by connecting
them with consumers of similar tastes.
Therefore, social media marketing must
be centered around the goal of fostering
a crowdculture for its consumers. This
marks a divergence from the more
traditional purpose of marketing efforts,

Social
Media
Marketing

The Purpose of This

Guide
This guide has been created for
business owners, who would like to use
social media to market their brand and
gain attention from potential customers
by creating an online community of
followers. Through a combination of
relevant traditional marketing practices
and new research into social media
sites, this guide aims to take you, the
reader, through a step-by-step process
of brand creation. You will identify what
your company stands for, determine
who your target consumer is, and
understand how to promote your brand
specifically through three of the most
popular social media platforms; and,
although this guide focuses primarily on
content creation for Facebook, Twitter,
and Instagram, its aim is to provide the
reader with an ideological framework
that can be applied to additional social

It is important to note that the

strategy lying at the foundation of
this guide is subjective. There
exists a wide variety of
approaches to social media
marketing, and this is one of them.
However, it has been built with
extensive research in marketing
management, consumer
psychology, and social media
usage trends. This guide will not
deliver foolproof social media
content but, instead, guide you
through the process of evolving
your brand and personalizing
digital communications for the
purpose of attracting a target
consumer segment and increasing
brand visibility and consumer
engagement. The goal of this
guide is also to reveal how modern

Dedication
I would like to thank Franklin Oros, Kelsey Klotz,
Moire Murphy, and Heidi Kolk for their assistance
in the creation of this guide and all others who
contributed their time and efforts.I could not have
done it without you.

Table of Contents

1: Developing Your Brand

2: Identifying your Consumer
3: Why Social Media?
4: Understanding the Platforms
5: Going Forward

Chapter 1
Developing Your Brand

Prior to developing a marketing strategy or social

media content, you must first determine what the
brand you will be marketing represents. This is key to
ensuring consistency among all marketing messages
and a consequentially stronger relationship between
you and your customer.
According to marketing scholar Holt, brands are not
names, designs, images, or symbols; these are merely
empty markers, which are useless if not filled
by stories, history, and experiences. Nor are brands
defined by the goods they produce. Products should be
considered cultural artifacts that only gain meaning
through circulation (Holt, 2003).
Although this ideology gained traction prior to the
eruption of social media's popularity, it remains

So what is a brand? It is a culture that is inherent in all

of a brands marketing messages. It represents value
in that it is the difference between a customers
willingness to pay for a branded and non-branded
product, which would otherwise be considered
identical.
In the mind of the consumer, brands inspire
association with certain values, themes, ideas, beliefs.
These associations are the residue of marketing mix
materials (Holt, 2003).

A marketing mix, as described by Neil H. Borden of

Harvard Business School, includes: merchandising,
product planning, pricing, branding, channels of
distribution, personal selling, ads, promos, packaging,

Traditionally, mass media has allowed a brand to have

complete control over their image and the content
influencing their consumers. However, social media
has transformed this model of brand ownership. On
social media a brand belongs as much to the
consumer as it does to the business. It is shaped by
both branded content and communal discourse,
making it a publicly-owned good that is consumed on
an individual and public level.
Therefore, when idealizing a brand you must consider
both sources of contribution. Think about not only the
content that you will create, but also the conversation
that you will inspire, as both are of equal significance
to the formulation of a brand image.
This marks a divergence from traditional marketing
strategy as brand image was previously thought to be

Due to humankinds proclivity for simplification and desire fo

comprehension, a brand must also be straightforward and ea
understood. Despite the complexity of what you are marketin
your brand image must be clear and concise. Although this
been considered a longtime necessity for marketing messag
brand brevity is especially critical to the effective use of soci
media. This is because platforms place restrictions on the len
and detail of content, thus emphasizing an online culture
characterized by compact and easily grasped identities.

Although it is difficult to assess your brand objectively,

it is key in the brand formulation phase to view it from
an impartial vantage point. To do so, first consider the
value or benefit your product provides to the
customer. Understand that self-perceived product
value does not always equal the customers perceived
value. Therefore you must ask: what benefit does my
brand provide from the consumers point of view?

Based on this provided benefit, identify a general

brand category to which yours can relate.
For example, consider a small family-owned deli that
sits in the center of town; it provides fresh sandwiches,
made efficiently, for a relatively low cost. This deli
likely belongs to the brand category of fast-food. While

The next step is to select others brands within your

brand category to compare yours to. These brands
should provide a similar benefit to the consumer and
have multiple points of similarity with your own brand.
These points of similarity represent the general
expectations of the market customer; for example, if
you produce soda, consumers will expect it to be
carbonated, if you paint nails, consumers expect you
to supply the polish, if you sell groceries, consumers
expect there to be staples like milk and eggs. Think of
this as the mental niche you hold in the mind of your
customer (Keller, 2000).

Continuing the example of a local deli: the competitors

within the same brand category would likely meet the
following criteria. First, they would be located in the
same geographic area as the deli. Second, they would
have similarly low prices and quick turnaround times.
Third, they would be open for business during the same
hours of the day. By identifying the companies that
meet these points of parity within the fast-food
category, the business owners would be able to identify
their competition.
There will also exist points of disparity between all of
the selected competitors. Consider what makes you
unique from your competition:
What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?
How does the benefit you provide to customers vary
from the benefit your competition provides? How do
your marketing messages differ from theirs?

You can leverage your strengths to procure an

advantage over competitors, as you shape your brand.
Per the deli-example, these strengths might include:
ambiance of storefront and interior setting,
convenience of location, quality/nutritional value of
ingredients, range of offerings, quality of service, and
many other factors. These factors of differentiation,
and how they are incorporated into marketing
messages, are unique to each brand.
Holt, however, identifies four common points through
which brands often differentiate themselves. These
are: reputation, relationship, experience, and symbol
(Holt, 2003).

A brand that differentiates itself by reputation is highly

trusted by its customers, particularly relative to their
competition. They are well respected and consistently
meet the expectations of consumers. Companies such
as these consistently receive positive reviews and
feedback from consumers. This further propagates
their reputation with both loyal and new, potential
customers. This cycle, however, takes time and is thus
most beneficial to older brands.
An example of this sort of brand is Pixar. The movies
children watch are often heavily vetted by their
parents (in this case, the decision making unit);
however, production companies like Pixar have
developed their reputation among parents as
producing family-friendly films that are appropriate for
children of all ages. Pixar is trusted by parents to
deliver consistently appropriate and entertaining films
and consequentially has earned a reputation of

A brand differentiated by relationship defines itself by

the loyalty its customer feels toward them. This sort of
brands customers feel that they have a relationship
with the brand, from which both company and
consumer benefit. If problems arise, they also feel
confident that their concerns will be heard and the
company will be there to help. Such brands often
invest significant resources into developing their
customer service and responding to customer
feedback.
A brand that exemplifies this type of differentiation
method is the insurance company, Nationwide
Insurance. As their slogan Nationwide is on your
side demonstrates, the brand is built upon the
personal relationship it has fostered with each of its
customers. Their marketing mix aims to instill faith and
guarantee support; while their brand representatives

If a brand is known for the experience it provides, their

consumers likely expect a predictable and enjoyable
experience each time they interact with the brand.
This experience is defined by a multitude of elements
that work together to define the brand. These
elements are also seen as benefits to the customer.
This requires attention to detail, as each distinct
element of the customers interaction with the brand
contributes to their overall perception of it.
.
An example of a brand that has built its image on an
experiential foundation is the movie theatre chain,
AMC Theaters. AMC promotes its theaters, not through
the movies that they feature, but through the variety
of benefits that come with the purchase of a movie
ticket: reclining leather seats, extensive food and drink
menus, in-advance seat selection, and more. Each of

Finally, if a brand is differentiated by its symbolic

value, their consumers association with the brand has
implicit meaning within their own culture. Such
symbolic brands are often used to reinforce a self
perceived image, express this image to the outside
world, and/or allow the consumer to connect with
people of similar values. The brand, consequentially,
becomes a means of communication and connection
between the consumer and their community.
An example of a brand with this sort of symbolic value
is Tesla Motors, a manufacturer of some of the most
expensive electric cars in the mass-market. Not only
do Teslas automobiles represent a substantial financial
investment, they also represent a benefit to the
environment. Due to the symbolic nature of the Tesla
brand, an owner of a Tesla car demonstrates

Reputation, customer relationship, delivered

experience, and symbolic meaning are all important
elements of your brand. However, it is important to
identify the one that sets you apart; the one at which
you can excel and build your brand upon and around.
Nationwide cannot provide popcorn and reclining seats
each time a customer walks into their office just as
AMC cannot guarantee 24/7 support and guidance to
its customers. Each has its strengths and limits.
But remember, when identifying your strength, you
must evaluate your brand from the viewpoint of a
consumer.
Go through the purchasing
thought process of your customer and determine
competitive advantage according to the general
consumers buying criteria (Dolan, 2000). This
process includes problem recognition, information
search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase
decision, and post purchase evaluation (Steenburgh,

A brand is shaped by the benefits it offers, the

strength it has relative to competitors, and the story it
tells to express both of these elements. However, a
company can only partially control a customers
ultimate perception of the brand.
A brand is also affected by user-generated content.
Therefore, it is key to also identify the target
consumer who will ultimately decide what your brand
means to them and create such content.

Chapter 2
Identifying Your Customer

Because your brand is ultimately reliant on the

perception of your consumer, you must decide exactly
who your target customer is. By doing so, you can
further inspect their decision-making process and more
accurately compare your brand to others and shape it
to fit their needs.
The first step in identifying a target customer base is to
distinguish who the general mass market of your brand
is. For example, if you sell dog food,
then your mass market is dog-owners, as the majority
will purchase dog food from at least one brand of dogfood producer.
This example demonstrates that sometimes the one
consuming or experiencing the product is not always
the person who has the purchasing power. Therefore,

The next step is to identify the criteria that can be used

to separate the general mass market into more
segmented clusters. This is not a separation by
observable characteristics like age, race gender, etc.
Instead, this is a separation by needs, values, and
preferences. These differences imply a difference in
how they would be marketed to; therefore you can
determine if a criteria is a good fit by asking the
question: does it affect the story I would tell about my
brand?

For example, health-conscious individuals highly value

the nutritional content of the food they eat. Thus a
marketing-mix targeting their consumer group would be
shaped around expressing ingredient quality and
nutritional value.
In contrast, priceconscious food shoppers are likely to respond more
positively to marketing messages that emphasize high
value and low price; as this speaks to the benefit they
seek: saving money without significant sacrifice of
quantity or quality.

As this example demonstrates, the consumers were not

separated by demographics but by benefits sought. It is
important to note, however, while demographics should
not be used to signal preferences or separate the mass
market into consumer groups, there is sometimes a

Once you have identified the characteristics that

distinguish the mass market, apply the criteria and
separate the consumers into segments. Understand
that there is not a single way to segment a market and
it often requires multiple attempts to formulate an
effective set of criteria. It can often help to visualize an
exemplary individual who encapsulates all of the
qualities you have identified as belonging to that
market segment, as this will elucidate each consumer
groups distinct qualities.
From here, consider this list of prototypes as all of your
potential customers. Then imagine how your brand
would be perceived in their minds. Customers will often
judge new brands like they judge strangers/potential
friends; they evaluate alignment in values, overlap in
identities, similarity in stories, etc. And while you can
shape marketing messages to more effectively appeal
to a target consumer, it is imperative that your core

Consume
To consider how you can
Your Com Com
rs
serve different target
Bran
p
p
Preferen
d
#1
#2
consumers, compared to
ces
competitors, construct a
differential advantage
analysis or competitor
capability matrix
(Sarvary, 2006). The
vertical axis represents the
benefits they seek and the
horizontal axis represents
each brands ability to
meet such needs. Each
box holds a score of from
1(weak) to 5 (strong) for
each of the differentiating
factors and the sum of
scores determine relative

Once you have determined the segments of

customers who could potentially be attracted to your
brand, turn the tables and evaluate each segment by
their attractiveness to you. Consider the resources
available to you and your ability to fully satisfy each
customers needs.
Small businesses in the beginning stages of brand
development can often benefit from being as specific
and focused as possible in identifying a target
consumer group. This allows them to personalize their
marketing message to directly appeal to the
customers unique preferences.
In contrast, a larger company with more substantial
resources may be better suited for a high-volume
reliant profit model. Therefor, their target consumer
group may be larger and thus slightly more
generalized, for the sake of meeting the required sales

It is also critical to consider if the selected target

consumers are accessible through social media, as this
will be your initial platform of outreach communication.
Luckily, however, the aforementioned epidemic of social
media usage has resulted in ubiquitous familiarity with
social media sites. That being said, it is important to
note some key demographic data (recall that you are
targeting consumers based on preference, and not
demographic, however these observable characteristics
can be correlated with needs).

Ask Yourself:
Can you reach your target consumer through these
platforms?

In continuing to evaluate the attractiveness, or degree

of potential business, of each consumer segment, use
external resources to research their preferences and
buying habits extensively. Look into purchasing
patterns within your market and outside of your
market, as even seemingly unrelated activities can
signal specific preferences that you may not have
originally considered. Research and data will inform
your final decision on which consumer to target
as well as how you can cater your marketing message
to garner their attention most effectively.

Once you have identified where your strengths lie,

what your competition lacks, and who your
customers are, you can begin to formulate your
brands overall story. This story is communicated
through the marketing mix, which is comprised of a
wide variety
of marketing mediums.
However, a uniform element
of the marketing mix
must exist: a clear communication
of a brands
deliverables in the form of a product or service.
In other words, all content must similarly express:
what problem the brands product or service solves
what need of the consumer it fulfills
What additional benefits it has to offer
how the customer benefits overall
A commonly used practice to ensure consistency of
this message throughout the marketing mix is the
creation of a positioning statement.

A positioning statement represents the place your

brand holds in target customers minds and shapes
how customers experience the product. This
experience can be a sensory, emotional, or satisfying
one. (Dolan, 2000).
The positioning statement is an internal resource that
is utilized to guide content creation. It specifically
answers: Who are the customers? What is the set of
needs that the product fulfills? And why is the product
the best option to satisfy those needs?
The creation of a positioning statement draws in the
decisions you have made during the first two chapters
of this guide: brand identification, competitor
differentiation, and customer segmentation.
Positioning statements encourage brand consistency
and equity, which are both imperative to the
consumer's overall understanding of who you are,

Both brand building and target consumer identification

have been integral parts of the most widely-used
marketing strategies for a long time. They are often
taught in business schools around the country and
have been widely accepted as a standard marketing
strategy.
However, these strategies were formulated long before
the advent of social media and therefore require
supplementary processes and considerations in order
to be applicable to modern social media marketing
practices.

The first two chapters of this guide have highlighted

Chapter 3
Why Social Media?

At this point, you should have a firm idea of what your

brand stands for and which characteristics define your
target consumer group. From here you must
determine how you will engage those consumers and
what means of communication you will use. While this
was once limited to purchasing advertisements for
mass media platforms, there are now an infinite
amount of ways to communicate with a target
consumer segment.

Social media has become one of the best first steps

you can take to increase brand visibility and customer
loyalty. Why?
Because social media has permeated into nearly all
elements of our culture and provides an

It has been proven that brand loyalty results in sales

(Keller, 2008; Aaker, 1991). This is a fact that
marketing experts have built countless strategies upon
and continue to shape marketing efforts around. The
more committed a consumer feels to a specific brand,
the more likely they are to continuously purchase from
that brand. This is because consumers benefit from
brand loyalty just as much as brands do, as proven by
extensive studies in consumer psychology. (Fournier,
1998).
Purchases are seen as an extension of the buyers
identity (Kleine, Kleine, Allen, 1995).
As a result, consumers often consider the producers of
such products as acquaintances and regard them,
either consciously or subconsciously, with an equal
degree of familiarity.
For a consumer,, engaging with a brand is like

Asmany experts have confirmed, social media is a

new and necessary addition to the standard marketing
mix model (Mangold and Faulds, 2009). Social media
provides brands with an unprecedented opportunity to
build personal relationships with consumers and this
sort of access has not been previously allowed to
brands by more traditional methods of consumer
engagement. Further, it has been proven that
consumers trust in a brand increases when they can
be interacted with
online (Porter and Donthu, 2008). Social Media offers
accessible information and personal attention, both of
which inspire the consumers trust. The likelihood that
a consumer will complete a purchase increases after a
consumer follows a brand on social media (Cruz and
Mendelson, 2010) and the more a customer interacts

After consumers initially develop a relationship with a

brand online, their relationship quality will also
continue to be positively impacted by consistent social
media interaction (Hudson et al, 2016). This is because
the two-way communication allowed by social media
platforms, between brands and consumers, fosters an
emotional connection, similar to a friendship (Aaker,
1996). This friendship, as previously described,
benefits both the consumer and the brand.
Therefor, the most important goal of social media
marketing efforts should be to foster this personal
relationship between the brand and the consumer.
It is critical that the relationship between the brand
and the consumer appears as genuine and personal as
possible. Interactions between the two parties should
mimic a conversation between two people. This is

Brands with humanistic qualities are known as

anthromorphized" social media identities. These
types of brands have been proven to be the most
effective in increasing brand relationship quality
(Hudson et al., 2016).
This means that brands which appear to portray
humanistic characteristics on social media will have a
more significant impact on maintaining consumers
loyalty. Why? Because Consumers will chose to
communicate about brands that they relate to their
own self image
(Schau and Gilly, 2003); thus, the more personable the
brand, the more likely they are to see themselves in it.
Therefor, content should be created as if it were
coming from the account of a consumers personal
friend, as opposed to a corporate conglomerate. This
can be achieved by avoiding overly-formal language,
stock images, and manufactured content and using

It is also important to remain consistent in brand

messaging; recall the positioning statement you
created at the end of Chapter Two and ensure that
every piece of content you create communicates that
position. Studies show that brands can suffer if the
content and brand identity diverge (Huang and
Mitchell, 2012); as it is critical that media content
remain relevant to the consumer (Shmitt, 2012).For
example, National Geographic has become one of the
most popular accounts on Instagram
by posting high-definition pictures of exotic
destinations all over the world.
However, their success is contingent on their
consistency. If they began to post pictures of food or
celebrities, they would likely lose a substantial amount
of their followers. That is not to say, though, that

Although branded social activity correlates with

financial performance (Tuten, 2015) it is important to
note that the ultimate goal of social media is not to
directly increase sales. The most valuable outcome of
social media marketing is impressions.
Impressions describe an action that the customer will
take to share a brands marketing message with an
individual or multiple people within their own social
media network. These types of impressions are
extremely valuable because user generated
content is deemed more trustworthy, relative to
traditional-style content (Christodoulides, Jevons, and
Bonhomme 2012).
Further, if content is shared by consumers with others
in their social network, the content will inevitably gain
more visibility and garner more attention by potential

You should not plan to sell your product or service

directly on a social media platform. Instead, have a
location (either digital or physical) that your social
media profile leads the consumer to. By doing so, you
can better maintain the personable nature of your
brand profile and continuously strength the trusting
relationships you have developed with your
customers. It will also prevent the corruption of
genuine content with overly sales-driven messages.
Consumers do not want to be overwhelmed by
disruptive advertising, as illustrated by the
popularity of commercial-free programs; similarly,
they do not follow social media to be bombarded by
brands.
The most effective content will draw the customer in
with a relatable message and provide the, an

But what inspires a consumer to share branded content? As

stated, social media provides a stage for identity
performance (Merchant, 2006); the content we follow,
share, like, etc. reflects how we view ourselves and how we
want others to view us. If an individual consistently shares
links to recipes, pictures of meals, and follows famous
chefs, many will likely assume he/she is a chef themselves.
This demonstrates that shared content, just like physical
purchases, can be considered an extension of the
consumers identity.

Not only do social media platforms allow

communication between consumers, but they allows it
to occur at an unprecedented rate and scale. Through
social media, consumers can discuss a brand with
millions of people at one time, as opposed to the
previous standard of one-to-one customer feedback.
This sort of user generated content fortifies the power
of online communities, as it allows consumers to
communally reflect
on brands (Winer, 2009);
and research proves that consumer to consumer
communication has positive benefits that are both
logistical and emotional in manner (Burmann and
Arnhold, 2008). Consumers are no longer under the
tyrannical rule of mass media advertisers. Due to the
unprecedented degree of power given to social media
users, customers are not passive recipients of content

This is the revolutionary element of social media; the

content produced by the user is more important then
the content produced by the brand. However, while this
discourse is under the control of the consumer, it
systematically reflects marketing messages (Muniz and
Schau, 2007). This emphasizes the importance of
strategic social media content creation. Both firm and
user-generated social media positively influences brand
equity, brand attitude, and purchase intention
(Schivinski, 2013).

But not all social media is the

same. Each platform, whether it
be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
Snapchat, Tumblr, YouTube, or
Google + is defined by its unique
nuances and capabilities. Each fills
a different niche in the mind of the
user, which is why a majority of
users take advantage of more
than one platform. It is therefore
necessary to create content
specifically for each platform, as
opposed to creating general social
media content. However, before
creating content, you must first
understand what makes each
platform unique and what type of

Chapter 4
Understanding the
Platforms

The purpose of this guide is not to deliver reproducible

content. This is not possible, as the only one who truly
knows who your customer is and what your brand
stands for is you; and this insight is paramount to the
creation of successful content. Rather, the purpose of
this guide is to reveal and demonstrate how social
media has transformed modern marketing practices so
that you can create effective content yourself, using
this knowledge as an ideological foundation.
This chapter will present examples of brands that have
succeeded in evolving their marketing strategies to fit
within the unique social media culture of individual
platforms. These unique strategies are not meant to
replicate, but to learn from. This chapter will provide
both an overview of the unique platform
characteristics of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Facebook, relative to other social media platforms,

offers the greatest flexibility in its content type. Not
only can brands post pictures, videos, statuses,
events, and polls on their page, they are also
unrestricted by character count or content length. In
response, users have the opportunity to share,
comment, or like content; these actions are also
known as "impressions". This pushes the engaged
content into the newsfeeds of people within the users
social network.
One of the most common practices on Facebook is to
"tag" other users in the comment sections of content
and directly draw their attention to it as a means of
engagement.
Facebook allows users to reply to each other's
comments and partake in communal or one-on-one
conversation. Facebook also allows users to converse
with brands directly. Popularity on Facebook is often

What makes a brands

Facebook page popular?
To find out, we analyzed two
popular brands on Facebook:
Red Bull and Pampers.
These brands were chosen
for their recognizably high
follower count and each of
their unique social media
strategies. As the contrast
between the two brands
demonstrates, there is no
singularly optimal style of
content. Content reflects the
brand it represents and the
customer it engages, which
are both one-of-a-kind

Red Bull, as stated on their Facebook page, is a

functional beverage providing various benefits. Its
effects are recognized throughout the world by top
athletes, busy professionals, college students and
travelers.Their page is liked by over 45 million users
and their daily-posted content often gains over one
million views within the first 24 hours. This is
impressive when compared to other sports drinks,
such as Monster Energy Drink, which has
approximately half the followers. A notable element of
their Facebook marketing strategy is that almost every
post includes a video clip. These videos are posted
directly on the brand page or are embedded via a link
to the Red Bull website. The few posts that do not
include a video
often have a similarly embedded link to an article
posted on the Red Bull page. Each post has a very
short caption, averaging less than ten words, which

While the captions

are clearly concise,
they are also
notably effective in
eliciting a response
from consumers.
Analysis reveals a
distinct style of
engagement; the
captions often
encourage users to
engage with the
content by asking
them an openended question or
telling them to tag
other Facebook
users/friends that

For example a recent post shows

a video of men and women
jousting one another, while
balancing on small rowboats.
The caption reads: Tag a mate
you would kick out of the boat..
This inspired over 700 people to
tag a friend and thus share the
content with their own network.
This demonstrates both the
effectiveness of visual content
and the importance of directly
engaging consumers.

Another defining characteristic of Red Bulls social

media marketing strategy is that most of their content
does not feature Red Bull products. The videos and
articles are chosen to attract their target consumers
attention, not sell them a product. The videos show
mountain bikers, paragliders, jet-skiers, and other
athletes performing incredible feats on camera with
the occasional feature of a Red Bull logo on a
snowboard or helmet.
This shows how Red Bull does not use its social media
page to directly sell its product; instead, the purpose
of its Facebook page is to connect with consumers,
build a relationship, and foster brand loyalty. This is
achieved by providing entertaining and exciting
content for users to enjoy and share with friends.
Every video aims to engage the top athletes, busy
professionals, college students and travelers that

In contrast, Pampers uses its Facebook page very

differently. Like Red Bull, the children's hygiene
product company has garnered an impressive
following on Facebook, relative to its competition.
However, their strategy of engaging consumers is
highly disparate from the of Red Bulls. However, they
also have some similarities. Similar to Red Bull, each
post on the Pampers Facebook page features a picture
or video that catches the eye of the consumer without
forcing a specific
product. These photos and videos often feature
children partaking in regular activities and have a
small Pampers logo featured in the corner. A Pampers
diaper or wipe is rarely seen in the photos, with the
primary emphasis being the relationship between
parents and kids. These visuals are used to relate to

Like Red Bull, Pampers recognizes the importance of

visual content and prioritizes emotionally affective
content over heavily branded content.
The first unique element of the Pampers Facebook
page is the exclusive rewards that it offers to its
followers. A majority of their posts come with unique
codes that can be entered on their site for loyalty
program points. These codes often expire quickly,
thus encouraging Facebook users to visit the page
regularly.

This is an effective way to incentivize consumers to

become followers of the brand and increase loyalty. For
example, on a recent Pampers rewards Facebook
post a consumer gratefully posted a picture of a

The second unique element of Pampers social media

marketing strategy is the high level of attentiveness
that the brand provides to its customers.
Analysis of the page reveals that
the Pampers brand replies to nearly every comment on
its posts. Whether the consumers comment is positive
or negative, the Pampers brand will provide a genuine
and personal response. The brand is prompt in their
response time and often invites unsatisfied customers
to personally message them to

further discuss their experience.

Both examples of the Pampers communication style

reflects the importance of Pampers personal
relationship with each of its customers. Because this
is a foundational piece of their overall brand, it is
imperative that all communique between consumers
and brand representatives boast the same level of
genuineness.
Their content also demonstrates, like Red Bulls, the
effectiveness of an aesthetic component in the form
of a photo, video, or link.
This not only increases the size of the post itself, but
also increases its ability to catch the attention of the
consumer and give it a more affective quality.

The social media strategies of Red Bull and Pampers

also show that successful content will speak to the
customer, not sell to them. To create conversational
content, consider what the priorities of your target
customer are and use language and visuals to appeal
to those priorities.
Red Bull customers value the feats and adventures
that the energy from drinking Red Bull allows them;
so Red Bull shapes their content around these
adventures.
Pampers customers value the
happiness of their children; so Pampers features
happy children and families in their content.
The two brands also show that the personality of
the brand on Facebook must be consistent and in line
with the overall voice of the brand. The style of
communication between Red Bull and its Facebook

Instagram is a photography-based platform that

encourages consumers to engage via likes, comments,
and tagging of other users. Like Facebook, when users
engage with a brands content, it is pushed into the feed
of their social network. Their followers on Instagram may
also be recommended to follow a brand, if a significant
amount of people in their own social network do so. In
this way, Instagram social media content has a selfpropagating effect that is catalyzed by
consumer engagement.
To explore what makes a successful Instagram brand, two
popular profiles were analyzed: Staples and MTV. Both
have different ways of approaching social media and can
reveal
insight into Instagram culture.

Staples is a well-known office supplies store; however,

it is likely not the first brand that comes to mind in
relation to Instagram. It is, however, a perfect
example of a brand that does not have the most
glamorous products,

yet still creates interesting and engaging content. An

analysis of the Staples Instagram profile reveals three
unique strategy characteristics. First, Staples uses a

Second, as these examples allude to, Staples stays

culturally relevant by creating posts that are related to
current holidays, events, or other recognizable themes.
Finally, they constantly encourage their followers to
engage with the content by asking questions. Overall,
these three strategic elements contribute to
entertaining content that inspires customers creativity
and fosters brand loyalty by presenting Staples as
more than just a generic office supply store.
MTV, a television channel for music videos, reality TV
shows, celebrity news, and pop culture, lends itself
more naturally to Instagram, relative to a brand such
as Staples. But while many similar media brands
struggle to procure an instagram follower base, due to
their inability to adapt content to the specific platform
culture, MTV has garnered over seven million followers.
How? An analysis of the brands Instagram profile

The first is their consistency. MTV posts approximately

ten times a day, in two hour increments. This ensures
that they are providing their consumers with a
constant stream of current events, entertainment, and
relatable content.

The second is their variety. Ten posts a day can easily

become monotonous and overwhelming for
consumers; however, MTV heavily diversifies its posts
in a way that keeps content from appearing overlymanufactured. It is critical for Instagram content to
appear genuine and, by voiding uniformity in posts,

Last but not least, Twitter.

Twitter is undergoing a
transformation of its niche
within our culture. It is
becoming increasingly
known for its reputation as a
live platform where users
can interact at real-time
speed and engage with one
another at a rapid pace.
Twitter content, although
heavily restricted by
character count, carries a
unique sense of spontaneity
and is utilized by the most
successful brands
accordingly. The two brands
chosen to exemplify

No cookie has more followers than the Oreo Cookie.

With approximately 820,000 followers, the Oreo brand
has achieved unprecedented Twitter popularity relative
to other snack foods. They have drawn from a variety
of social media marketing strategies; some that we
have discussed, like the creation of engaging visual
content, which presents the Oreo cookie in a variety of
new settings, and short captions that are personable
and engaging for the consumer.
As well as a notably unique strategy of personifying
the Oreo cookie and giving it the voice of the brand.
Through their twitter account the Oreo cookie
directly engages consumers. By doing so, the
anthromorphized brand becomes highly more relatable
and further inspires brand loyalty. For example, when
one user tweeted I love you Oreos they directly

Oreos social media strategy demonstrates the

effectiveness of many of the social media strategy
elements that we have discussed thus far. However, it
is important to remember that, as previously discussed,
there is no right way to use social media for
marketing purposes. Dennys is the perfect example of
this.

Dennys refers to itself as Americas Diner and with

approximately 350,000 followers on Twitter, they are
living up to their name. Their Twitter profile has drawn
the attention of consumers across America, as well as
the media. Why? Because they use Twitter in a starkly

The voice of their brand is unprecedentedly sarcastic

and humorous, tweeting content like: if you play a
guitar loud enough near an egg the egg will continue to
be an egg. This post received over 1,900 retweets,
which means that nearly two thousand twitter users
shared the post with their followers. This likely earned
Dennys a multitude of new followers and strengthened
their relationship with existing followers. Dennys
demonstrates that there truly is no singular strategy to
ensure social media success; a brand must fully
understand themselves and their customers before
creating content. This is because social media content
is not about the product, its about forming and building
a relationship with the customer.

Chapter 5
Going Forward

Why Does This Matter?

Our culture is changing. The ubiquity of social media is
growing every year and it is having significant effects
on day-to-day life all over the world. As shown, one
cultural element that has been drastically impacted is
consumer behavior.
Social media has empowered consumers by fostering
communal discourse and two-way communication
between brands and customers. However, despite this
great change in consumer behavior,
the marketing strategies utilized by brands and taught
in business school have remained unchanged; and
social media continues to be often regarded as a
promotional platform, synonymous with print or
television. But as research has proven, this is not the
case. Unlike alternative forms of advertising, the most
important element of social media content is not the

As consumers engage with online content, they expose

users within their social network to the brands that they
are interacting with. Further, consumers are more likely to
engage with brands that are supported or shared by
people within their social network. Thus, social media
platforms allow for self-propagating content, as the
content becomes the topic of consumer discussion. This
illustrates a significant shift in the marketing goals of
brands and consequentially necessitates a shift in
strategy.

The first two chapters of this guide are rooted in

traditional marketing methodologies of brand
identification and consumer targeting. These have been
identified as the strategies most applicable to social
media marketing, as they require the brand to consider
how they are viewed in the eyes of the consumer and
exactly who that consumer is. This is key for utilizing
platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, which
are controlled by the consumer and thus require
consumer-centric strategies.
The third and fourth chapters of this guide cover the new
frontier of social media and how brand content must be
specifically shaped for social media platforms. Studies
show that content is most effective when it becomes the
topic of discourse among users and is engaged with
upon multiple social media platforms. However, as the
selected case studies show, there is no perfect social
media strategy. Every brand must consider the
uniqueness of both themselves and their consumer, prior

I hope that this guide has provided you with the

mental framework and inspiration to create a social
media strategy of your own. Remember that the most
important part of content creation is staying true to
the brand you have created and putting the customer,
not the product, first. By fostering brand engagement
and loyalty, you will ultimately inspire sales; in that
specific order! Also know that brands, customers, and
platforms evolve. In order to become and eventually
remain successful,
you must be diligent in adapting to the natural
evolution of our culture as it unfolds. This is an
ongoing creative process that must be attended to on
a daily/weekly/monthly basis to remain relevant and
inspire engagement. Many brands have failed due to
their inability to evolve accordingly.

References
"A Brand New Game."The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 27
Aug. 2015. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.
<http://www.economist.com/news/business/21662543 -people-spend-more-time-social-media-advertisersfollowing-them-brand-new-game>.
Aaker, David A., and Managing Brand Equity. "Capitalizing on the Value
Borden, Neil H. "The concept of the marketing mix." Journal of

are-

of a Brand Name." New York (1991).

advertising research 4.2 (1964): 2-7.

Ashley, Christy, and Tracy Tuten. "Creative strategies in social media

branded social
content and consumer engagement." Psychology &

marketing: An exploratory study of

Marketing 32.1 (2015): 15-27.

Cruz, Brant, and Josh Mendelsohn. "Why social media matters to your
business." Chadwick, Martin, Bailey
Research Report,
available at http:// www. cmbinfo. com/ cmb-cms/ wp- content/ uploads 4 (2010).
Christodoulides, G., C. Jevons, and J. Bonhomme. 2012. Memo to
Marketers: Quantitative Evidence for Change.
How User-Generated Content Really Affects Brands. Journal of Advertising Research 52, no. 1: 53.
Dolan, Robert J. Note on marketing strategy. Harvard Business School

Pub., 2000.

Fournier, Susan. "Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship

consumer
research 24.4 (1998): 343-373.

theory in consumer research." Journal of

Holt, Douglas B. Brands and branding. Boston, MA: Harvard Business

School, 2003.

Hudson, Simon, et al. "The influence of social media interactions on consumerbrand relationships: A three-country
study of brand perceptions and marketing behaviors."
International Journal of Research in Marketing 33.1
(2016): 27-41.
Huang, Hazel H., VincentWayne Mitchell, and Richard RosenaumElliott. "Are consumer and brand
the same?." Psychology & Marketing 29.5
(2012): 334-349.
Keller, Kevin Lane. "The brand
Harvard Business Review 78.1 (2000):
147-158.

personalities
report card."

Kleine, Susan Schultz, Robert E. Kleine, and Chris T. Allen. "How is a possession me or not me? Characterizing
types and an antecedent of material possession
attachment." Journal of Consumer Research 22.3

References
Mangold, W. Glynn, and David J. Faulds. "Social media: The new hybrid

element of the promotion mix." Business horizons

Menezes, Cynthia, and Renuka Devi. "Effect of Social Media Marketing on

Brand Loyalty formation from the Perspective of Online

Consumer." Dr. Nagaraj Shenoy (2016): 9.

Porter, Constance Elise, and Naveen Donthu. "Cultivating trust and

harvesting value in virtual communities." Management

Science 54.1 (2008): 113-128.

Sarvary, Miklos, and Anita Elberse. "Market segmentation, target market

selection, and positioning." (2005).

Schivinski, Bruno, and Dariusz Dabrowski. "The effect of social media

189-214.

communication on consumer perceptions of brands." Journal of Marketing Communications 22.2 (2016):

Schmitt, Bernd. "The consumer psychology of brands." Journal of

(2009): 357-365.

Consumer Psychology 22.1 (2012): 7-17.

Schau, Hope Jensen, and Mary C. Gilly. "We are what we post? Self- presentation in personal web space." Journal of
Skiera, Bernd, Lisa Scholer, and Christian Schulze. Customizing Social

consumer research 30.3 (2003): 385-404.

Media Marketing. N.p.: n.p., n.d. MIT Sloan Management

Singh, Shiv, and Stephanie Diamond. Social Media Marketing for Dummies.
Steenburgh, Thomas J., and Jill Avery. "Marketing Analysis Toolkit:

52.4

Review, 1 Jan. 2015. Web.

Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2012. For Dummies, 6 Apr. 2015. Web.

Situation Analysis." HBS Case 510-079 (2010).

Yadav, Vinay Kumar, and D. M. Tripathi. "Social Media Marketing and

Effectiveness of Brand Communication." Imperial Journal

of interdisciplinary Research 2.7 (2016).

Kumar, Ashish, et al. "From Social to Sale: The Effects of Firm-Generated

Content in Social Media on Customer Behavior." Journal

of Marketing 80.1 (2016): 7-25.

Menezes, Cynthia, and Renuka Devi. "Effect of Social Media Marketing on

Brand Loyalty formation from the Perspective of Online

Consumer." Dr. Nagaraj Shenoy (2016): 9.

Schivinski, Bruno, and Dariusz Dabrowski. "The effect of social media

189-214.

communication on consumer perceptions of brands." Journal of Marketing Communications 22.2 (2016):

Skiera, Bernd, Lisa Scholer, and Christian Schulze. Customizing Social

Media Marketing. N.p.: n.p., n.d. MIT Sloan Management

Singh, Shiv, and Stephanie Diamond. Social Media Marketing for Dummies.
Yadav, Vinay Kumar, and D. M. Tripathi. "Social Media Marketing and

Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2012. For Dummies, 6 Apr. 2015..

Effectiveness of Brand Communication." Imperial Journal

"96 Amazing Social Media Statistics and Facts for 2016."Brandwatch. N.p.,
media-statistics-and-facts-for-2016/>.

Review, 1 Jan. 2015. Web.

of Interdisciplinary Research 2.7 (2016).

16 Nov. 2016. Web. 17 Jan. 2017. <https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/96-amazing-social-