Social Media Participation
All
companies and businesses would benefit from any form of social media as their
presence needs to be communicated to their communities and markets. Most if not
all companies large and small would benefit from utilizing Facebook as a
general social media platform as it allows the business to communicate to a
wide variety of consumers and a broad-based audience.
For
this week’s post, I would like to discuss the Southern based Department store
Belk and their social media efforts. “Belk, Inc., a private department store
company based in Charlotte, N.C., is the home of Modern. Southern. Style. with
293 Belk stores located in 16 Southern states and a growing digital presence.
Belk is a portfolio company of Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm based
in New York. Belk and www.belk.com offer a wide assortment of national brands
and private label fashion apparel, shoes and accessories for the entire family
along with top name cosmetics, a wedding registry and a large selection of
quality merchandise for the home.” (Belk: About Us, 2017).
“Belk
offers many ways to connect via digital and social media, including Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube
and Google Plus,
and provides exclusive offers, fashion updates, sales notifications and coupons
via email or mobile phone text messages. Customers can also download the latest
Belk mobile apps for the iPad, iPhone or Android.” (Belk: About Us, 2017). While
the presence on social media is very important it almost seems as if Belk may
be saturating the social media presence. I believe Belk needs to analyze which
platforms they have success in and cultivate those relationships while stepping
back from some social media platforms such as Google plus as it may not be as
beneficial from them and it drains resources that can potentially be placed
into a platform that just needs a bit more of a push to be successful. “While
maintaining a presence on many social-media platforms is desirable, the
strategy for a business should takes into account its resource
limitations. Companies should ensure that their social-media strategy,
regardless of the number of platforms, provides for meaningful engagement with
a target audience by serving up content that will be viewed favorably and
that adds value to the lives of users. Yes, more is better than less -- but not
at the expense of the business and its brand.” (Torres, 2014). Belk needs to
make certain that their social media postings match the platform and audience
base that follows those platforms. One post cannot be plastered across the
board.
Primary Platform
Each company should evaluate their social media platforms in order to determine which platform promotes more success than opportunity. In addition to analyzing which platform creates success a business needs to evaluate the return on the investment. Once the primary platform is determined through analysis and ROI the company such as Belk needs to evaluate their specific primary platform, the intended audience, and the specific messages it wants to communicate through said platform. As for Belk, I have noticed a heavy presence on Facebook above all other social media platforms. I assume Belk has analyzed which platform is their intended primary platform to cultivate the intended message along with gaining new followers. Per Business Load, there are three top social media platforms each business must utilize. “It is very important for all businesses to have a Facebook profile, as most consumers will head there first to find out about your brand. It is therefore important to list the necessary details about your business, such as location, working hours, type of business etc. It is also recommended to focus on promoting your content on your brand page and engaging whole-heartedly with everyone who makes contact with you.” (Meyer, 2017).
Additional Platforms
Social media for a
company or business cannot be limited to just one platform. Businesses such as
Belk need to have a presence through additional platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest,
and Twitter. Additional platforms such as these allow Belk to communicate
different messages to different audiences allowing them the potential to capitalize
on more than one social media platform. Additional platforms are needed but not
at the sacrifice of the business marketing message as a whole. If the message
suffers and is not communicated correctly then it becomes a wasted effort.
Content vs. Conversation
Each company and
business especially one such as Belk should have a balance of both content
related posts and conversation related posts. I would suggest a company such as
Belk would need to utilize their primary social media platform – Facebook and drive
conversation on content related posts. Content allows Belk to gain likes and
followers while also allowing open communication with the public. In addition,
Belk can provide content related posts surrpunding the community service
projects they are related too. Conversation related posts allows Belk the
opportunity to interact with their audience. It allows the extra opportunity to
utilize the conversation as a point of sale. If a conversation is started surrounding
a particular item that has been posted to Facebook Belk can then engage with
that consumer. This engagement allows Belk to steer the audience to the particular
item online most likely converting that post to a sale.
For Example, Belk posted
this to their Facebook Account which in turn created conversation and
potentially a sale! (Belk, 2017).
In conclusion, each and
every business from a local to regional to national needs to be present on social
media. In my opinion, each and every company and business in the least should have
an up to date and interactive Facebook page in which they can capitalize on always
being relevant and there when a potential customer needs a good or service.
References
Belk: About Us. (2017). Retrieved
September 4, 2017 from
Belk. (2017, August 28). Online
exclusive! Take 20% off online purchases thru 8/30, excl. apply.
https://on.belk.com/2vgwzhs [Facebook status
update]. Retrieved September 4, 2017
Meyer, B. (2017). The Top 3 Social Media Platforms You Should Be Using. BusinessLoad.
Retrieved
September 4, 2017 from https://www.businessload.com/sales-marketing/top-3-social-media-platforms-using/
Torres, J. (2014). How Much Social Media Is Too Much? Entrepreneur. Retrieved September 4,2017 from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236127
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteFacebook is a "safe" social media platform to build a presence on, since it's demographic now ranges from more than just Millennials and Gen X...Baby Boomers are increasingly using the platform as well. But if a business primarily targets Millennials, it would be a good investment to use additional social media platforms that the demographic uses, such as Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat. And as you mentioned, we cannot let our marketing strategies and presence on each platform slide, high quality, engaging content on two platforms is better than mediocre quality on five platforms.
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteTorres is right in saying "Companies should ensure that their social-media strategy, regardless of the number of platforms, provides for meaningful engagement with a target audience by serving up content that will be viewed favorably and that adds value to the lives of users. Yes, more is better than less -- but not at the expense of the business and its brand. (2014). One cannot just post haphazardly on social media platforms. They need to make sure they are putting content out there that is relevant, interesting and engaging to their target audience. They also want to keep in mind their brand and how it relates when posting. The company has worked hard to create its brand identity and everything posted online can either contribute or take away from that.
Facebook is important, especially for small businesses, largely because of the ubiquity of the platform. Think about it this way-if you are recommended a new restaurant, where are you going first? You're going to the restaurant's website? Or are you going to the Facebook page, to see what other people think?
ReplyDeleteIndeed, when you google something these days, the business's Facebook page is often the first thing that pops up. If one doesn't show up, I often wonder if something is wrong with the place. It's important to keep it updated, and if you don't, the results will be disastrous.