CMT 3331 – Coursework Three
The company that I’m going to research and compare is Beats electronics, they produce most of
their products under Beats By Dre.
Social media and networking has been at the forefront of how people communicate with friends,
family, co-workers and people across the world. There are many different platforms such as
Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and many more which all have their own websites and applications.
Applications for these platforms are downloaded and used on different devices mainly on
Smartphone’s and tablets. They are either official applications or third party applications that work
with their respective social networking site which makes using these platforms seamless and easy.
New social media platforms are created every day in a fast moving and competitive market with
many users using more than one simultaneously for personal use, business and pleasure. Below is a
brief description of a few well known chosen social media platforms and how Beats by Dre use them.
Facebook
Facebook is by far the biggest social network by far with over 1 billion users which is impressive as
that is a seventh of the world’s population. Beats by Dre has a fan page on Facebook with over 6
million likes. They use their page to post up pictures of a range of headphones that they sell as well
as limited edition and brand new products. The ranges of images are diverse but interesting
including pictures of the headphones with different technologies and different famous celebrities.
Each picture has a description and contains a link which usually goes directly to their website. Some
of the pictures are designed to get feedback and interaction from Facebook users telling them to
pick their favourite colour of headphones from a picture. Another clever technique they use is to
have two products and tell the user to like or share a picture depending on which one they prefer.
This increases interactivity and encouraging people to share pictures onto their profile is beneficial
for beats. Videos are not directly posted on the page but a screenshot a particular video links directly
to the official youtube page where it is possible to watch the interview or advert in question. The
way beats by Dre use Facebook is interesting with a lot of different posts encouraging interaction
and spreads traffic towards their website and other social media platforms they use.
Twitter
Twitter is another big social media platform used today with over 640 Million active users. It is
described as micro blogging where the user has 140 characters per post. The official Beats by Dre
twitter has just fewer than half a million followers and have sent out over 19,500 tweets. The media
and content they post looks very similar to their Facebook page. It’s mainly promotional graphics
and features with celebrities wearing the headphones. They also use the hashtag #BeatsArmy as
their twitter trend.
Instagram
Beats by Dre have over 1.2 million followers on instagram and have posted over 1,700 pictures. The
company shares the same type of pictures on instagram that they do on both Facebook and twitter.
They have a feature called “Beats Pills” that advertises one of their products in a unique way. The
content doesn’t differentiate that much across their respective social media platforms. With that
being said their pictures get between 30,000-60,000 likes so the interaction is still good.
Youtube
Beats also use the biggest video-sharing platform Youtube. Youtube get over 1 billion unique visits a
month. Beats by Dre They have their own channel with over 150,000 subscribers and their videos
have managed to grab over 38 million hits! The content on YouTube is different to the rest of their
social media platforms and they use it in a unique way with good concepts and features. One of the
first features is the “hear what you want” campaign. This is an advert with a sponsored sports star
wearing the headphones to block out distractions while they get ready for their game/match. The
second concept that features heavily is the “Small but loud show” where the beats “pill” (a small
speaker) interviews different celebrities. The speakers have been created into a character, which is
another good way to market these products.
Recommendations
Based off my research I can now make some recommendations that are beneficial to the company
that has been chosen. It’s a headphones manufacturer called “Immersive Sound” and they are a few
key factors to consider when creating and implementing a social media plan. The most important
thing to establish early on is the use of social media platforms. There are many different platforms to
choose but there are a few that would benefit the company in question based on the level of
interaction and its accessibility on different devices. The three platforms that will fit this platform
will be Facebook, Twitter & Youtube.
Facebook is a no brainer is most cases when advertising and interacting with users because it is the
biggest social media platform in the world. It is easy to amass thousands if not millions of users
through a “fan page” on Facebook. This platform can be used to highlight any promotions and new
products by posting up pictures of video adverts with the aim to get as much interaction as possible
from the users. Interaction is one of the many ways to measure the reach of the product and
company.
The kind of content that can be posted is diverse from photos to embedded video and/or audio
links. A lot of external websites have a Facebook sharing option. Users can comment on content, like
and share it onto their pages that can increase promotion, traffic and awareness to the company. It
is also possible to pay for Adverts on Facebook; these would appear on users home pages. Facebook
claim they can reach up to 91% of a required target audience.
Twitter is another popular social media platform that is used and would meet the requirements and
needs of the company. The format is different from Facebook and doesn’t allow as much content to
be posted. Text is the main content that’s posted via twitter but pictures and videos from websites
such as YouTube and Vimeo can be posted onto the Twitter timeline, all the “followers” will be able
to see this. It’s also possible to link Facebook and Twitter posts together so the content can
seamlessly move across platforms. Over 43% of all users use their phones to tweet so the audience
can keep up with the latest information and interact on the move making things more convenient
and real time. Users retweeting tweets or posts will post information onto their timeline, which has
the potential to increase the amount of people that see the content. Creating Hashtags also
increases interaction and is a good indication o f interaction.
It is also possible to have promoted tweets a service that is provided by Twitter. Some companies
get more coverage on twitter using this service. Even if a user isn’t following a particular company a
promoted tweet can appear on their timeline and in search results. If this company decides to use
promoted tweets then Twitter would analyse information such as keywords and interests of users to
optimise the use of this service.
Just like Facebook, YouTube is one of the biggest social platforms and the biggest video sharing
websites where visuals can be created and shared with billions of users. Users can sign up and make
a YouTube channel easily and other users can subscribe to it. Videos can be shared and embedded
almost anywhere online and the amount of views for each video is automatically tracked. It is also
possible for a user to see where in the world the views have come from which can be very beneficial
if a specific country is being targeted.
SEO
The second recommendation is Search Engine Optimisation. This process looks into how search
engines work, what they look for and how they rank websites in the search results. SEO is free and
has been very beneficial to websites that want more exposure without having to pay extra for
Google advertising. Different techniques can be applied to a website and its content such as
modifying the URL or adding Metadata to the website.
SEO is important for any company and website to drive traffic directly to their website and any
content that may be featured on it. This method is also beneficial for people browsing the web on
mobile devices such as phones and tablets. This is significant because optimisation can display
results in relation to the locality of the user. SEO would be very important for this fictitious company
as it would aide their branding of the company and product as a whole, and give them a better
online presence keeping up with any competition.
Content Management
The third recommendation that will be needed to benefit the fictitious company is content
management. Researching into similar companies it is clear to see that content is important and can
be very effective if used in the correct way. Beats By Dre have content across all platforms which
seems like the right thing to do to promote their product. But a closer look shows that none of the
content differs across their different platforms. Different platforms have different layouts formats
and purposes so the content should meet this.
Correct content management for the fictitious company would ensure that all content is cohesive
and relates to the product in question but it will also ensure that content is interesting and differs
depending on what social media platform is being used. Content should be changed and
manipulated to get the most out of whatever platform it’s being represented on I.E Twitter or
Facebook. Any content put out should also be planned carefully to make sure it appeals to the target
market and uses current interests and trends to always be relevant. The ability to change and
understand content (pictures, videos etc) is an advantage and will keep the company ahead of their
rivals.
Social Media Plan
The aim of this Social Media plan is to ensure that the new company can market and advertise their
products effectively online. This will be achieved by creating an image and brand for the company as
well as an online presence which is a key factor. An important way to target potential customers and
raise awareness would be to use various social media platforms online. It is also crucial to analyse
the levels of interaction that each platform receives. This information will give up to date feedback
to show what works and what needs to be improved across Facebook, Twitter & YouTube the three
major social media platforms that will be used. The content will have to be consistent and relevant
to the brand in order to have a cohesive and successful campaign.
The product that is being marketed is a pair of headphones called “Immersive Sound”. Music is
listened to by all ages so it is difficult to pick a particular target audience or age group. Although this
is the case it would be very counterproductive not to have a demographic in mind. A target audience
gives some clarity and direction in terms of content and features when advertising the headphones.
The Immersive Sound headphones will be able to be purchased by all users of any age but will focus
on a particular age group. The headphones will be aimed at music lovers of any gender mainly
between the ages of 16 to 26. All different type of music listeners will be targeted i.e. DJs, travellers,
sound engineers and the general public. They will be targeted with different content to suit each
group mentioned. From previous research it is clear that this specific demographic is great to target
via social networking. Ofcom states that 77% of 15-24 year olds use Social networking so if executed
correctly then social media can be the cornerstone to marketing this product.
As mentioned earlier in the report three social media platforms will be used to promote the
immersive sound headphones. YouTube and Facebook are two of the biggest with over 1 billion
users/visitors. The strategy will be to use social media in similar ways across all three platforms but
there will be exclusive content exclusive to each platform. Varying the content makes it interesting
and encourages users to follow and be active with each social media page. Researching existing
products shows that the same content is usually used across all platforms with nothing to separate
them.
The first social media network that will be used is Facebook. As previously stated it is the biggest
social media platform in the world so the potential to reach billions of users can only be an
advantage. The first stage would be to create a “fan page” where users can visit the page and “like”
it. Monitoring the amount of likes will be one of many ways to measure the reach of the Facebook
page. Likes can also be gained by paid advertising on Facebook which could be another option. The
Facebook page will constantly be updated with new happenings, product lines and promotional
schemes. All content on Facebook will have its own identity so it’s apparent what social network it
was made for. The content will always try to encourage users to like, comment and share each post.
This will maximise the amount of people that see it on their Facebook timeline whether they have
liked the Facebook page or not. Videos from the YouTube page will also be embedded to increase
the number of views and subscribers.
The second platform will be Twitter almost half of users in this demographic access twitter via a
mobile device meaning it’s a very accessible platform. Some content will be repeated but the main
content on twitter will be different to Facebook. Twitter limits every user to 140 characters so any
posts will be well thought out and straight to the point. Updates will be more frequent than
Facebook but not too detailed. The main message on twitter will be to get retweets from other users
so they go viral. Running competitions giving away products to users that rewteet content should
increase interaction. Promoted paid tweets can also increase exposure on twitter potentially
bringing more followers to the page.
The final social media tool will be YouTube and unlike the others it all about videos and online
visuals. The content on YouTube will be different to the other platforms but will be created to share
and gain more views. Adverts and promotional material will be included but users will also be given
the chance to make their own videos and the best ones will be featured on the page. Increasing
interaction and closing the gap between the product and its consumers. Looking at likes and dislike
as well as comments and views on each video will be the best way to monitor proceedings.
Advertising is also available on YouTube but is very costly; the company could get around this by
putting adverts at the start or end of their own YouTube videos.
If there was a budget for this promotional and branding campaign then it would be possible
to promote these fictional headphones on all three chosen social media platforms. All
platforms offer paid advertising to increase following, interaction and productivity in some
cases. These added service all come at different costs and would suit different companies
depending on their size and most importantly their budget.
Starting with Facebook the company page can gain more likes to their page by paying for
advisement. There are different packages depending on how many likes are wanted. The
advertising can be customers to gender and age so it would be possible to target both
genders that are between 16-24 years old. Advertising starts at £3 for 6-24 likes per day and
increases to 24-95 like per day for £12. Another benefit is that the company would control
how long they would like to use these services for, there isn’t a subscription.
Twitter also offers a paid service which is to boost exposure on tweets and also to gain more
followers through this. Their prices are not stated by their official website but the process
would allow the company to set their own budget and twitter would work with it. Money
will be paid out depending on how many followers have been gained or how people have
clicked on the promoted tweet. It is possible to check how effective this process has been by
check the analytics provided by twitter. These show details such as follows, mentions, how
far the tweets have reached and more. Looking at the data also shows related interests and
trends of the users interacting with the twitter account. This information can be used to
make sure content is always relatable to the target market
Youtube have a few separate packages for advertising and their prices dramatically vary.
The first package is homepage advertising; this would be a banner and video on YouTube’s
home page. This is an effective way to advertise a product by is very costly costing up to
£300,000 a day! The price is justified as YouTube receives over 1 billion unique users per
month. Another method is in stream advertisement, a promotional video would be played
at the start of other videos on YouTube can the company would pay as little as 4p per click
or view (as long as the viewer has watched the ad).
Social Media
Facebook
Facebook
Facebook
Facebook
Facebook
Twitter
Twitter
YouTube
YouTube
YouTube
Advertising Package
Account sign up
6-24 likes per day
12-47 likes per day
18-71 likes per day
24-95 likes per day
Account sign up
Promoted Tweets
Account sign up
Home page advertising
In stream cost per click/view
Price
FREE
£3
£6
£9
£12
FREE
Dependant on budget
FREE
£300,000 a day
4p per click
Evaluation
After constructing a social media plan and looking at different platforms and methods it
looks like this will be a successful way to advertise. The aim is to promote the product
simultaneously across all three platforms in a cohesive manor. Monitoring the feedback and
interaction levels will determine how successful everything has been. Promoting the
product this way will allow the company to adapt the content and advertising style based on
real-time indicators from Facebook. Likes on Facebook, retweets and follows on twitter and
YouTube views are all free but vital when analysing data. It will also ensure that most of the
users that see this information will be within the target demographic.
Reflective analysis
After completing the relevant research into an existing company and different social media
platforms I’m confident that I have constructed a well thought out social media plan. I believe that I
have chosen the correct platforms to advertise this product and have justified it with the target
audience and the relevance of social media in today’s society. The Facebook page that was made
will be able to develop into a key focal point of promotion and advertisement. I wasn’t fully able to
implement this and see the results because of time constraints. Using YouTube is an advantage and
has been justified in my report but can be used together with facebook and twitter by embedding
promotional videos and adverts. It was very easy for people to like and share any content on the
company page so this has the potential to increase the amount of users and people that it reaches.
By looking into different types of paid advertising it’s clear that this company would be able to afford
these services as they cater to any size budget.
One main disadvantage was the time limit. Although some points seem justified I was not able to
physically carry these out due to time. For this reason I was not able to test out how effective
different content across the different platforms would be. I was also unable to measure the level of
interaction by comments, posts and likes to the Facebook page as again I didn’t have enough time to
implement everything fully and collate the data.
Although there were a few disadvantages in terms of carrying out my social media plan I still believe
it is a well thought out plan. I have chosen a good target audience and social media platforms that all
work seamlessly with each other and target the correct market for a successful campaign.