Communicating using Social and Digital Media

Part 1: Audience Analysis

For organizations such as Ferrero Group Corporation, understanding the audiences is an essential process in the development of effective social media campaigns involving the generation of specific messages, as well as identification of the ideal channels. The expectation is to know the audiences in meaningful and effective approaches, thus, diving beyond the surface knowledge on what is easily observable or obtainable on the social media platforms. In the modern context, social media technologies are vital in the provision of more potential data on the audience than ever before. Presently, entities apply big data analytics to enhance the processing and dissemination of various information. Business entities have potential access to data on their audiences associated with gender, age, socioeconomic status, and geographical locations. Although audience analysis is not a new concept, it is more critical in the age of technology associated with the increased use of social media as audiences expect active conversation and reciprocal exchange of information tailored to their expectations and needs (Drury, 2008).

In the execution of the audience analysis for Ferrero Group Corporation, I focused on the utilization of a specific approach for effectiveness and efficiency in coming up with the ideal characteristics of social media users. I believe that effective assessment of the audience is ideal in the improvement of the media performance, as well as the realization of the best return on investment based on the budget (Zolkepli & Kamarulzaman, 2015). In this aspect, I sought to begin with the Ferrero Group Corporation’s actionable analytics to enable a quality analysis of the audience. The approach was ideal in ensuring that I understood the audience, as well as where the audiences hand out on the online platform as an attribute for crafting the content the audience will love and engage with before the creation (Bazarova & Choi, 2014). The approach is also critical in reducing the outbound expenditures offering more capital for the investment in other tactics following the full operation of the social media campaign (Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy, & Silvestre, 2011). The analysis is also ideal in informing the design of the relevant materials, conceptualization of the messages, selection of the media, and activities associated with the social media strategy.

Moreover, I focused on the utilization of the audience insights from social media in the collection of the data on the existing audiences. For example, in the case of twitter, it is ideal to use twitter analytics as a platform to click on the audiences to view the demographics of the audience (Barasch & Berger, 2014). In the case of Facebook, it is ideal for facilitating the audience of the audience insights tool as a platform to explore the demographics and procurement behavior data on the social media audience.

In this process, I focused on the utilization of three characteristics of the audience. These include the socio-demographic characteristics in the form of sex/gender and age, and language; psychographic characteristics in the interests; and geographic characteristics associated with where the audiences spend their time. These characteristics were vital in the achievement of the desired analysis of the audience to create room for understanding the audiences for Ferrero Group Corporation to aid in constructing the message.

Target Audience	Characteristics	Preferred Media	Other
Boys/Girls; Men/Women aged 18 years and above	Unmarried; married; engaged; divorced Ethnic Background White Hispanic Black Asian Other Age 18 years and above Education Levels: High school; college-educated Speaks English, French, and Spanish Religious Diversity Metropolitan Concerned about the environment Prefers organic foods Engage in sporting activities	Mobile phone or tablet Social media: Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Snapchat	Whole Food Stores Football Joints

From the above table, it is essential to note that Ferrero Group Corporation contributes to the generation of different products and services aimed at addressing the needs and expectations of the different society members. This is ideal in the illustration of the decision to incorporate people of different gender and ages. Additionally, the table highlights the influence of religious diversity in the generation of the products and services following the growing needs and expectations of the consumers. Besides, in social media, only people who are 18 years and above have the right to gain or obtain profiles. This makes the target audience to begin from 18 years old and above. The table captures this in the analysis.

Additionally, it is ideal to note that most of the social media users focus on the optimization of smartphones and tablets in the course of accessing social media platforms. The media preference offers the chance for the people or users to gain instant communication across their favorite social media platforms as identified in the table. Some of the common platforms include Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram (Weber, 2009). It is appropriate to use these platforms in the process of interacting with the consumers as an approach for marketing practices.

Conversely, it is ideal for engaging in the identification of the places where the consumers hang out on the online platforms. These attributes are ideal in the generation of the knowledge for the development of the accurate message or information to ensure that consumers remain active participants in the satisfaction of their needs and preferences at the end of each fiscal period. The approach is also effective in enabling the business entity such as Ferrero Group Corporation to maximize the profit levels while reducing the costs of operation. The table also captures diverse ethnic groups optimizing the products and services at their disposal; thus, the opportunity to achieve the desired satisfaction levels.

Part 2: Identification of Internal and External Constituents

As part of the audience analysis, it is ideal for exploring or identifying the internal and external constituents. Internal constituents refer to the members of the audience within the organization concerning Ferrero Group Corporation. The external constituents include the current, as well as future audiences who are outside the organization. Ferrero Group Corporation is an institution, which is one of the major multinationals executing its business practices in the context of the United States. As compared to its competitors, the firm tends to have a very low social media presence, thus, the need to adopt and incorporate a vibrant approach to improving its presence on the online platforms concerning Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube among others.

In the internal aspect, the consumers or audiences are the employees forming the major component of the stakeholders. The employees are the first aspects of the consumers; thus, the need for the firm to consider addressing their needs and expectations in the development of the products. On the external aspect, it is valuable for the firm to consider targeting the extended elements of the employees. This is through focusing on the children and spouses, as well as other relatives of the employees in the conceptualization of the concrete messages to interact effectively and efficiently with the consumers. The external constituent must also incorporate people of all ages, different genders, diverse marital statuses, and unique educational levels, as well as the different income levels. These attributes or characteristics of the consumers will work about the diverse ethnic groups and interests of the individuals to contribute to the realization of the short-term and long-term goals.

Critiques

Ferguson-K 

Notably, in the paper, I found the needs analyses to be effective in enabling the reader to comprehend the growing need for the audience analysis. This is appropriate in ensuring that the organization in question highlights expectations in the achievement of the set goals. I agree with the sentiments on the benefits of the needs analysis for the organizations.

In your audience analysis, I like the fact that the presentation did incorporate the required expectations or components such as three characteristics identified in the audience analysis, as well as the incorporation of the two sections of the assignment. Moreover, the paper articulates the relevant points without confusion for the readers. I also agree with the illustrations of the internal and external constituents in the optimization of the products. Nonetheless, I would suggest the integration of other characteristics such as motivations and interests as part of the psychological attributes in enabling consumers to make decisions in the procurement process.

Altman-G

Thank you for this interesting post concerning the week’s instructions and topic. I like the approach you took to adhere to every instruction to the later, thus, the chance to generate a quality paper without confusing concepts. I also like the adoption and optimization of the characteristics such as age and gender in analyzing the audience. What comes out clear in the paper is the growing role and influence of the audience analysis, particularly on the online platforms. The approach proves to be ideal in the achievement of the goals and targets of the organization.

Moreover, I agree with the identification of the components of the internal and external constituents as part of the audience analysis. Understanding these constituents is ideal in creating room for the organizations to plan better and effectively in the achievement of the set goals and objects at the end of each operational period.

Altman-G

Thank you for this fascinating piece on the needs analysis and selection of the topic. I agree with the sentiment on the need to re-evaluate the social media needs analysis in pursuit of the influencer network agency, which is effective in addressing the needs of the organizations and other stakeholders. The use of Sheblogs Canada is effective as it offers the chance to learn more on the needs analysis, particularly on the social media platforms.

In the selection or identification of the topic, I find it appealing because the paper highlights the rationale for the selection of the topic and increased use of social media platforms based on the potentiality of reach and engagement. The approach is beneficial to the reader as it creates room to learn and understand more about the use of social media to engage and reach consumers effectively and efficiently.

References

Barasch, A., & Berger, J. (2014). Broadcasting and narrowcasting: How audience size affects what people share. Journal of Marketing Research , 51 (3), 286-299.

Bazarova, N. N., & Choi, Y. H. (2014). Self-disclosure in social media: Extending the functional approach to disclosure motivations and characteristics on social network sites. Journal of Communication , 64 (4), 635-657.

Drury, G. (2008). Opinion piece: Social media: Should marketers engage and how can it be done effectively? Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice , 9 (3), 274-277.

Kietzmann, J. H., Hermkens, K., McCarthy, I. P., & Silvestre, B. S. (2011). Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media. Business horizons , 54 (3), 241-251.

Weber, L. (2009). Marketing to the social web: How digital customer communities build your business . John Wiley & Sons.

Zolkepli, I. A., & Kamarulzaman, Y. (2015). Social media adoption: The role of media needs and innovation characteristics. Computers in Human Behavior , 43 , 189-209.