Format for Project 6
1. General Introduction on Social Media and Pro and Cons- say 150 words
2. E-tools
a. Twitter
b. Facebook
c. Linkedin
d. E-mail Marketing
e. Pay per click
3. Which ones will you use for your campaign in project 5
Guidance notes below
With its low costs and large audiences, it's easy to get carried away with social
media. It's wise to tread carefully and be aware of both the pros and cons before you
start.
Pros of social media
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When used effectively, social media can have all the benefits of word of mouth, just
on a larger scale! It can also help you reach a high number of potential customers.
Potential advantages of social media can include:
reduced marketing costs
increased sales
increased traffic to your website
improved ranking on search engines
greater customer engagement
greater access to international markets
opportunity for customer feedback
opportunity to conduct market research about your customers
improved networking opportunities with customers and other businesses.
Cons of social media
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Social media may not be suited to every business. If you are unprepared and launch
your social media presence without proper planning, you could waste valuable time
and money.
Some of the possible disadvantages you should be aware of are: 
Not having a clear marketing or social media strategy may result in reduced benefits
for your business.
Additional resources may be needed to manage your online presence.
Social media is immediate and needs daily monitoring.
If you don't actively manage your social media presence, you may not see any real
benefits.
Greater exposure online has the potential to attract risks. Risks can include negative
feedback, information leaks or hacking.
Whatever the risk, preparing your policy and procedures carefully beforehand can
help you manage the risks. False or misleading claims made on your social media
channels by your business or by a customer can be subject to consumer law.
Customer fan posts and testimonials that are misleading or deceptive to other
customers, particularly about competitor products/services may result in your
business being fined.
Benefits of social media
If used wisely, social media can be a powerful business tool. Some of the
opportunities and benefits of social media can include:
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Revenue
The most obvious opportunity is to generate revenue. This can be done through
building a community or advertising your products or services within the social media
platform. If you choose to advertise in social media, the ads can either link back to
your business' social media page or sometimes to your website. This can mean that
you're able to benefit from social media without needing to have a channel.
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Brand development
Using social media allows your customers to connect and interact with your business
on a more personal level. If you already have an established brand, social media
might be an opportunity to further develop your brand and give your business a
voice.
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Attracting customers
Social media can be a good way of attracting new customers. For example, when
considering social media campaigns, you could try to attract followers with
promotions or giveaways. Once you have a good following you can focus on more
personalised social media campaigns to encourage them to stay.
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Research
Even if you think social media is not suited to your business or that you don't have
the time, simply logging on to see what your competitors are doing in this space, or
finding out what your customers are saying about you might be a valuable exercise.
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Networking
Networking can be a valuable way to exchange ideas with like-minded people to
improve the way you do business. Using online networking sites can also be
valuable to your business, often for the purpose of knowledge sharing and word-ofmouth referrals.
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Recruitment
Some organisations use social media to advertise vacant positions. Job networking
sites like LinkedIn are dedicated to the job market and can help you use networks to
attract skilled people.
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Search-engine discoverability
Your website's ranking in the search results of various search engines can
sometimes be affected by the size and influence of your social network. As your
social following grows, your visibility in search engines may also increase. This is a
common Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy.
REWARDS OF USING TWITTER
• Greater brand engagement • Getting good feedback form market • Better customer conversation
• Faster communication and customer satisfaction • Building your brand as an expert • Greater
outreach for your content • More leads and business
REWARDS OF FACEBOOK AND CREATING CONTENT
• You increase brand awareness • You can to have a voice in the conversation • You can influence
opinions of your brand/product • Ever evolving area within digital • Salary scales are still being
determined but rising • Big brands and small business are at the same level
REWARDS OF LINKEDIN AND CREATING CONTENT
• Brand awareness • You can to have a voice in the conversation • You can influence opinions of
your brand/product • Ever evolving area within digital • Salary scales are still being determined but
rising • Big brands and small business are at the same level
REWARDS OF USING VIDEO MARKETING
• Control your brands official video content • You can quickly respond to things • You can talk to
you market directly – Crisis management • You can compete with the big companies • You can
showcase your products in the best light • You can get a tonne of information across • Gain leads
and referral traffic to your site – Video ads
· Blogging
· Microblogging
· Search engine optimization
· Social network participation (Facebook, LinkedIn)
· Email marketing
· Social media monitoring & outreach
· Pay per click
· Blogger relations
· Video marketing
· Social media advertising
· Online/digital public relations
· Affiliate marketing
· Corporate web site
· Viral marketing
· Free content (eBooks, white papers)
· Online communities/forums
· Branded microsites
· Webinars
· Podcasts
Social media
Social media gives large and small businesses a direct way to interact with existing and potential
customers, and promote their products and services. Businesses using social media channels
like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have a responsibility to ensure content on their pages is
accurate, irrespective of who put it there.
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Don't make misleading claims on social media
Don't allow others to make misleading claims in comments
Minimise your risk
Monitoring social media pages
Responding to false, misleading or deceptive comments instead of removing them
ACCC role in enforcement of social media
Offer your customers a refund
More information
Don't make misleading claims on social media
You must ensure you don't make any false or misleading claims as part of your marketing and
promotional activities. This includes advertisements or statements using any media, including
print, radio, television, websites and social media channels like Facebook and Twitter.
There are no specific or different consumer laws or rules in place for social media. Consumer
protection laws which prohibit businesses from making false, misleading or deceptive claims
about their products or services have been in place for decades. These laws apply to social
media in the same way they apply to any other marketing or sales channel.
Examples
1. XYZ Pty Ltd tweets that they are the first Australian company to offer a 100 per cent
environmentally friendly car wash service when they have not done any research to
support this. It turns out that GHI Pty Ltd has offered the same service for many years.
This tweet is likely to be false, misleading or deceptive.
2. ABC Pty Ltd pays a celebrity to tweet that she loved staying at one of ABC’s resorts. The
celebrity has never actually been to this resort. This tweet is likely to be false, misleading
or deceptive.
Don't allow others to make misleading claims in comments
You can also be held responsible for posts or public comments made by others on your social
media pages which are false or likely to mislead or deceive consumers. In 2011, a court
case concluded that a company accepted responsibility for fan posts and testimonials on its
social media pages when it knew about them and decided not to remove them.
Examples
1. A fan of XYZ Pty Ltd posts negative and untrue comments about a competitor’s product
on XYZ’s Facebook page. XYZ knows that the comments are incorrect, but decides to
leave the comments up on its page. XYZ may be held accountable for these comments
even though they were made by someone else.
2. ABC Pty Ltd and DEF Pty Ltd are market leaders in the paint industry. A customer posts
on ABC’s Facebook page that their paint always lasts much longer than DEF’s paint.
ABC is unsure if this is true, but decides not to remove the post. It turns out that ABC’s
paint does not last longer. ABC may be held responsible for this comment.
Minimise your risk
Don’t make statements on your Facebook or other social media pages that you wouldn’t make in
any other type of advertising. If you’re unsure about what you can or can’t say, seek legal advice.
Monitor your social media pages and remove any posts that may be false, misleading or
deceptive as soon as you become aware of them. This is what the ACCC would expect you to do
with any other type of advertisement.
Establish clear ‘house rules’ that apply to the actions of your fans, friends and followers when
using your social media pages. These rules should be featured prominently on your social media
pages. You should then block users who breach those rules.
Monitoring social media pages
The amount of time you need to spend monitoring your social media pages depends on two key
factors: the size of your company and the number of fans or followers you have.
Businesses should keep in mind that social media operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
and many consumers use social media outside normal business hours and on weekends.
Examples
1. ABC Pty Ltd has 300 staff. As larger companies usually have sufficient resources and
sophisticated systems, the ACCC would expect ABC to become aware of false,
misleading or deceptive posts on its Facebook page soon after they are posted and to
act promptly to remove them.
2. XYZ Pty Ltd has only 10 staff but more than 50,000 Facebook fans. Given the number of
people who could be misled by an incorrect post on XYZ’s Facebook page, the ACCC
would expect XYZ to devote adequate resources to monitoring its Facebook page and to
remove any false, misleading or deceptive posts soon after they are posted.
3. DEF Pty Ltd has 12 staff and only 80 Facebook fans. As a small business, DEF is
unlikely to have the same resources to dedicate to social media monitoring as a larger
company would. Also, given the small number of Facebook fans, there is less potential
for widespread public detriment from incorrect posts. Accordingly, the ACCC would not
expect DEF to monitor its Facebook page as regularly as the companies in the two
previous examples.
Responding to false, misleading or deceptive comments
instead of removing them
You can can respond to comments instead of removing them, but it is possible that your
response may not be sufficient to override the false impression made by the original comments.
It may be safer to simply remove the comments.
ACCC role in enforcement of social media
The ACCC can require companies to substantiate any claims on their social media pages, and
can take court action where it identifies a breach of the law (or issue an infringement notice in
certain circumstances).
While all complaints are carefully considered, the ACCC directs its resources to investigate and
resolve matters in accordance with our compliance and enforcement priorities. The ACCC will
take a proportionate response in relation to false or misleading comments on businesses’ social
media sites. We are more likely to pursue cases of false, misleading or deceptive conduct if:
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there is the potential for widespread public detriment if the statement is relied on
the conduct is particularly blatant
it is by a business that has come to our attention previously.
Offer your customers a refund
You should offer a refund to any customer who made the decision to purchase your product or
service based on a false, misleading or deceptive claim they saw on your social media page.
Ref: http://www.business.gov.au/business-topics/business-planning/social-media/Pages/pros-and-cons-of-socialmedia.aspx
http://www.accc.gov.au/business/advertising-promoting-your-business/social-media
http://www.business.gov.au/business-topics/business-planning/social-media/Pages/benefits-of-socialmedia.aspx