Introduction
Social media provides an invaluable and cost-effective avenue for new marketers to conduct marketing campaigns. Before the advent of social media, the concept of cost-effectiveness was alien to advertising. For an ad to be effective, the marketer had to spend vast amounts of money to gain prominent spots in traditional media (Clow & Baack, 2016). Saving costs meant limiting the propensity for the exposure of an ad. The initial proliferation of the internet in the 1990s created a new avenue for marketing through web ads. Web ads were still relatively expensive, as a marketer had to contract an online advertising agency. The second wave of internet proliferation came with the combination of smartphones and social media. By definition, social media is either a website or web-app that allows an internet user to create and disseminate content independently (Zimmerman & Ng, 2015). The modern propagation of social media stems from social networks, which are companies that ran social media platforms. Key examples of social networks include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube (Clow & Baack, 2016). Any marketer can place an ad on social media subject to minimal regulatory rules and with relatively minuscule cost implications. In marketing, social networks provide the necessary freedom for a marketer with limited funds to develop a campaign that may have as much an impact as an established and well-financed marketer.
Objectives for the Social Media Marketing Campaign
The objectives of Peter’s social media marketing campaign is to transform his new business into a successful brand. Peter needs to sell the brand and through the brand, sell his products. The first objective of the focus campaign is to attract attention to the new brand. For established brands, marketers can move straight to the four P based marketing objectives of product, price, promotion, and place. However, for a new brand, the four Ps are the second set of objectives. Peter needs to capture the attention of his target customers and triggers their interest in his more extensive social media ads (Zimmerman & Ng, 2015). An effective banner ad can serve the first objective.
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The second objective would the four Ps-based marketing strategy. For a start, Peter needs to introduce his products in a manner that endears it to his target customers. Secondly, he needs to develop and propagate a pricing strategy (Zimmerman & Ng, 2015). For example, for low price burgers, Peter can argue value pricing. Conversely, for expensive burgers, he can argue premium pricing. The third aspect of the second objective is the promotion, which for a new business forms the core of marketing. Promotion involves seeking to convince his target customers why they should buy his products as opposed to those of his competitors. Finally, there is the place component, which is the mode of delivery (Zimmerman & Ng, 2015). Peter needs to let his customers know where and how to get his product, which in this case is a burger track. The two main objectives above make for a successful marketing campaign.
Useful and Effective Social Media Sites
To arrive at the most suitable and effective social media sites, it is important to evaluate the target customers for Peter’s business. The new business involves selling burgers out of a track in a busy area of town. The primary target customer is individuals who work around the area of town where Peter parks his truck. Peter needs to turn them into his loyal customers who will buy from him regularly. One of the keys to attracting and retaining loyal customers is interaction (Schultz & Peltier, 2013). Facebook is one of the most effective social networks for interacting with customers. The platform allows for both public interactions visible to all and private interactions through a messenger app. Peter does not have to limit himself to one social network. However, it would be advisable to have one prominent network, in this case, Facebook. Ads in the other social networks such as YouTube and Twitter can redirect target customers to the Facebook page.
Suitable Banner Ad
Effective banner ads combine an illustration that people cannot ignore and a message they can read within the moment that the illustration captures their attention. A banner ad is a form of online advertising that takes the form of a traditional banner (Zimmerman & Ng, 2015). The idea of banner ads begun with commercial online marketing websites in the 1990s but has evolved due to social media. A private marketer can now create a post a banner ad on social networks. Normally banner ads use a link that connects those attracted by the banner to a detailed ad or website. In the instant case, Peter needs to use humor to attract customers as he is propagating a new brand. People normally react positively to humor in ads (Barry & Hale, 2015). A suitable banner ad can have a small animation depicting the caricature of a man biting a burger repeatedly. Next to the animation would be the words “ click here and you won’t stop biting”. The words click here should be a hyperlink to the main ad, a video, on the Facebook page. Peter can post the Ad on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Social Media Strategies
The most effective social media strategy for a miniature social media campaign such as Peter’s is social media guerrilla marketing. The general idea behind guerrilla marketing is doing the unexpected and utilizing unconventional tactics (Haque, 2018). A burger truck does not need a large number of customers as much as it needs regular and loyal customers. Peter should aggressively push his banner ad by reposting it relentlessly. He should then directly target anyone who expresses interest in his banner and falls within his target market parameters. Targeting should include responding to the target customers publicly while contemporaneously reaching out to them through direct messaging. The general idea is to transform as many interested customers as possible into actual loyal customers (Schultz & Peltier, 2013).
Metrics to Measure the Success of the Social Media Campaign
Marketing is all about results and outcomes, which every marketer should test through an effective metric system. The basic idea behind the social media campaign is to transform interested online users into actual customers (Clow & Baack, 2016). The first and perhaps most important metric measure is how many individuals whom Peter meets online actually end up buying a burger. However, there are several bottlenecks between the banner ad and visiting the burger truck. It would be important for Peter to evaluate which of these bottlenecks could be holding back potential customers. Fortunately, social media keeps track of interactions (Clow & Baack, 2016). Peter can keep track of how many people click the links on the banner ads in different platforms. He can also keep track of how many users watch the main video add on the main Facebook page. Finally, Peter can keep track of the potential customer reactions by recording how many reactions the ad generates including likes, positive comments, negative comments, and shares.
Conclusion
Social media provides a suitable avenue for Peter to advertise his new business that involves selling burgers out of a food truck. As the company is new, Peter needs to capture the attention of his target customers, familiarized them to his brand then market his business idea to them. There are several social network options available to Peter, key among them being Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. There is merit to using several social networks to capture the attention of potential customers. However, Peter should focus on one social network to interact with his customers. As outlined above, Peter can make a humorous banner ad and post it on different platforms. A link in the banner ad would redirect users to the main ad on his Facebook wall. It is then through Facebook, that Peter would use guerilla marketing to reach out directly to potential customers and transform them into loyal customers.
References
Barry, J., & Hale, D. (2015). Humor Determinants and Relevance in High Engagement Social TV ADS. In Ideas in Marketing: Finding the New and Polishing the Old (pp. 301-304). Springer, Cham.
Clow, K. E., & Baack, D. (2016). Integrated advertising, promotion, and marketing communications . Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson.
Haque, M. (2018). The Effects Of Guerrilla Marketing On Consumer Awareness. Frontiers of Inclusive Growth , 1 (1), 242-256.
Schultz, D. E., & Peltier, J. (2013). Social media's slippery slope: challenges, opportunities and future research directions. Journal of research in interactive marketing , 7 (2), 86-99.
Zimmerman, J., & Ng, D. (2015). Social media marketing all-in-one for dummies . Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
