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Social Media for Business

We all know what social media is and you probably have at least one
social media account. You probably know that social media connects
people from all over the world and that it helps us meet new people
and keep in touch with the ones that we already know.

However, there is more to social media than personal use. This

module will give you an idea of how social media can be used by
businesses and other organizations to sell more products, reach more
customers, and ultimately become more successful.

OBJECTIVES
09_Obj01: Define Social Media
09_Obj02: Identify Social Media Lingo
09_Obj03: Identify ways how social media sites make money
09_Obj04: Identify steps in creating a social media marketing plan
09_Obj05: Identify the SMART Criteria
09_Obj06: Identify the processes of creating an ideal costumer profile

Social Media Basics

Just so we’re on the same page, here are some basic facts and figures
about social media:

What is social media?

A social networking service or social media is an online platform used

by people to build social networks or make social connections with
other people.

How big is social media?

Social media is a worldwide phenomenon. In 2016 alone, the social

media giant Facebook earned 26.9 billion U.S. dollars. There are
currently 2.46 billion social media users worldwide. The following are
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the most famous social networking sites as of August 2017 based on

the number of active users:

Statista. (n.d.). Global social media ranking 2017 | Statistic. Retrieved

August 30, 2017, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-
social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/

Social media lingo

Social media is spawning a whole new generation of words and

phrases. Here are some social media terms that you need to know:

Blog – (short for weblog) an online journal that’s updated on a

regular basis with entries that appear in reverse chronological order

Crowdfunding – the practice of soliciting money usually through the

Internet to support a cause or project.

Crowdsourcing – the practice of soliciting contributions in the form of

ideas, content, and skills from Internet users to achieve a goal.

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Feed – a data format used to provide frequently updated contents to

users.

Hashtag - a metadata tag used to identify contents related to a

specific topic.

Microblogging – the practice of sharing short messages in a web

platform. E.g. Twitter.

Podcast – an audio file or a collection of audio files made available for

download or playback through the Internet.

Live Streaming - the practice of broadcasting the audio and video of

an event over the Internet as it happens.

How do social media sites make money?

Screenshot Retrieved August 30, 2017, from www.facebook.com

Social media sites are mostly free to use. It’s one of the main reasons
why they are so popular. So how do they make billions of dollars if
the vast majority of their users do not pay them anything?
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Advertising

The main source of revenue for the biggest social media sites is
advertising or ads. The sheer number of users makes social media a
great place for businesses to reach out to customers. Because of this,
businesses and other organizations spend a lot of money on social
media advertising.

If you use social media or the Internet for that matter, you have
probably encountered these ads. Normally, when you use Instagram,
Twitter, Facebook, etc. you get feeds from your friends and favourite
topics but, as you may already know, social media sites also include
paid ads in your news feeds.

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Screenshot from Instagram mobile app

Unlike TV commercials, social media ads aren’t just broadcasted for

everyone to see. Remember our lessons about machine learning and
analytics. These and other techniques and technologies are used to
optimize the effectiveness of ads.

When you create an account, you submit some personal details such
as age, gender, locations, etc. As you keep using social media services
you continue to provide information about yourself such as your
interests and the places that you visit. Social media sites analyze all
this data to gain insights about you. If you are an active user, they can
have a pretty good idea of what products you may like and which
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advertisements you are most likely to respond to. For example, if you
like anime and you join online groups for anime fans or you
frequently share contents from anime pages, eventually you will see
anime related ads in your news feeds.

Freemium

Screenshot from
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClgRkhTL3_hImCAmdLfDE4g

Freemium is a business model where users receive basic services for

free but are required to pay for advanced services. This allows service
providers to earn revenue from some of their users. For example,
Youtube is mostly free but they also have exclusive videos and
channels that are only available to paying customers.

Social Media Marketing

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Marketing is the practice of promoting and selling products and

services. It can be as simple as hanging a sign in front of your store or
as complicated as organizing an event for thousands of people.
Marketing can be costly and time consuming especially for start-ups
or newly established businesses.

As we mentioned earlier, social media is mostly free and it’s a great

way to reach millions if not billions of people. These make social
media a great tool for start-ups. Here are the basic steps in creating a
social media marketing plan:

1. Set your goals

To begin, you need to know why you are doing this. Why do you
want or need to use social media as a marketing tool? What do
you expect to accomplish? Are you going to use social media just
to advertise or are you going to use it to make direct sales? Are
you going to use it as a platform to provide customer service? The
answers to questions like these will serve as the basis for the next
steps in this process.

You can use the SMART criteria as a guide in setting your goal.
The ideal goal is one that matches each of these five criteria:

Specific - You need an exact objective, not an abstract idea of

success.
Measurable - You need to have a way to measure success
Attainable - Your goal needs to be realistic. Do not set goals that
exceed your capabilities.
Relevant - Does your goal match your overall business plan.
Time bound - What is your deadline? What do you hope to
accomplish with the time that you have allotted to yourself?

2. Do some research
The next step is to gather information that you will need in order
to accomplish our goal.

During this step, you need to define our audience. This is done by
creating a customer profile which is a generalized description of a
business’ ideal customer. These are the people who are most
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likely to buy your products or use your services. (Further

discussion later)

You can also take this time to learn about our competition. What
are the other businesses doing in social media? How many people
do they reach? How often do they post content? Answering these
questions can give you a competitive edge.

There are many other things that you may have to research. This
is why having a clear goal is important. Our goal will help direct
our research.

3. Choose your platforms

There are many social media services to choose from. During this
step, you have to decide which ones suit your needs. At this point,
you already know who your ideal customers are. Of course, you
have to choose the platforms that are popular to them.

4. Evaluate your resources

Now that you know what you want to accomplish and what you
need to do to accomplish it, it’s time to evaluate your resources.
What resources do you currently have and are they enough? If
not, then what resources do you need to acquire? For example,
you will have to assign personnel to handle your social media
accounts. Can this job be done with one person or will you need a
team? Do you need to hire someone to create content or can you
just outsource it?

5. Publish content

This step is the culmination of your social media marketing

venture. At this point, you already know what you want to
achieve, who you want to reach, and where you can find them. It
is now time to reach out. You can publish your own original
content. Furthermore, you can integrate or feature contents from

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other social media platforms. For example, you can share content
from your Pinterest or Instagram accounts on Facebook.

You can also use syndication which is the practice of featuring

other people’s contents in your website or social media account.
You can also have other pages and websites feature your original
content. This way, you can both reach out to each other’s
followers.

6. Manage your social media presence

Social media marketing does not end with publishing content. At

this point, you already have a social media presence which you
have to manage or curate. A good practice is to create a schedule.
This way, you can prepare content ahead of time and post them
on a scheduled date. There are software tools that you can use to
manage your social media accounts.

Creating an Ideal Customer Profile

Step 2 in creating a social media marketing plan is to define your ideal

customer. Different sources offer different steps in doing this but
basically, the process can be of creating an ideal customer profile can
be divided into two:

Demographics

Demographics are the characteristics of people who belong in a

particular group or population. These are the basic descriptions of a
person. Demographic information includes the following:

 Age Group
 Gender
 Ethnicity
 Education Level
 Occupation
 Location
 Physical characteristics (height, weight, etc.)
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Psychographics

Psychographics refer to mental characteristics. This includes habits,

beliefs, attitudes, and habits that define people. Here are some
popular examples:

 Hobbies
 Interests
 Spending habits
 Political beliefs
 Favourite music, movies, TV shows, etc.

Glossary of Terms

SOCIAL MEDIA – is an online platform used by people to build social

networks or make social connections with other people
BLOG – (short for weblog) an online journal that’s updated on a
regular basis with entries that appear in reverse chronological order

CROWDFUNDING – the practice of soliciting money usually through

the Internet to support a cause or project.

CROWDSOURCING – the practice of soliciting contributions in the

form of ideas, content, and skills from Internet users to achieve a
goal.

FEED – a data format used to provide frequently updated contents to

users.

HASHTAG - a metadata tag used to identify contents related to a

specific topic.

MICROBLOGGING – the practice of sharing short messages in a web

platform. E.g. Twitter.

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PODCAST – an audio file or a collection of audio files made available

for download or playback through the Internet.

LIVE STREAMING - the practice of broadcasting the audio and video

of an event over the Internet as it happens.

DEMOGRAPHICS – are the characteristics of people who belong in a

particular group or population

PSYCHOGRAPHICS – refer to mental characteristics

Sources:

Statista. (n.d.). Facebook: annual segment revenue 2016 | Statistic.

Retrieved September 17, 2017, from
https://www.statista.com/statistics/267031/facebooks-annual-
revenue-by-segment/

Statista. (n.d.). Number of social media users worldwide 2010-2021.

Retrieved September 17, 2017, from
https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-
social-network-users/

Hallaminternet.com. (2017, August 09). A-Z of Social Media - A Social

Media Glossary. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from
https://www.hallaminternet.com/social-media-glossary/

Getcenturylink.com. (n.d.). How Social Sites Make Money. Retrieved

September 17, 2017, from https://www.getcenturylink.com/how-
social-sites-make-money

Businessdictionary.com. (n.d.). What is freemium? definition and

meaning. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/freemium.html

Google. (n.d.). Introduction to paid content - YouTube Help. Retrieved

September 17, 2017, from
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3249127?hl=en
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Socialbrite.org. (n.d.). Social media glossary. Retrieved September 17,

2017, from http://www.socialbrite.org/sharing-center/glossary/

Socialmediaexaminer.com. (2016, September 28). 8 Essential

Elements of a Social Media Marketing Strategy. Retrieved September
17, 2017, from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/essential-
elements-social-media-marketing-strategy/

Gunelius, S. (2010, November 24). 10 Steps to Getting Started in

Social Media Marketing. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217578

Mindtools.com. (n.d.). SMART Goals: How to Make Your Goals

Achievable. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm

Reynolds, S. (2011, July 29). How to Define a Social Media Strategy:

Begin with your Audience. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-define-a-social-media-
strategy-begin-with-your-audience-2011-7

Socialmediaexaminer.com. (2017, March 03). Social Strategy: How to

Build a Sustainable Social Media Marketing Plan. Retrieved
September 17, 2017, from
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-strategy-with-neal-
schaffer/

Fitsmallbusiness.com. (n.d.). Customer Profile Template. Retrieved

September 18, 2017, from http://fitsmallbusiness.com/wp-
content/uploads/2017/02/CustomerProfileTemplate.pdf

Marsan, J. (2017, June 29). How To Create a Customer Profile With

Template and Examples. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from
http://fitsmallbusiness.com/customer-profile-template-examples/

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