Assignment: Nike Analysis- Critique and Analysis- Principles of Social Media Marketing
Your requirement is to deliver a well-developed and edited professional business analysis of your product/brand. The following sections direct you to subject matter. However, at this point you should be the pro on your brand and it's situation. Develop headings as warranted by your analysis and develop the content accordingly, citing pertinent evidence to support your arguments/observations.
Introduction:
BRIEFLY introduce your company, product/brand - what do they do and why social media is important to their business. Did they build their success on social? Is it important for their industry? Is it an afterthought? Hint: Look at the industry they operate within as well as the norms/standards for social media use in that industry; BUT be succinct. If you have a major brand, we know who they are - don't elucidate the obvious when it comes to who they are. But, if you've been creative and chosen a brand that needs explanation for me to understand your paper - then by all means, educate me! You may also embed a link about your company - if warranted.
Thesis Statement:
Since you are taking a position in your paper AND backing it up with evidence, facts, and statistics, you need to include a thesis statement (a strong thesis statement requires proof). This should be a statement (or two) on the position you are taking and how you intend to analyze/evaluate it. This is specific to your company and industry - thus, contributing to "best practice" in the industry landscape. It can also be considered your Hook. The remainder of your paper should be the support for this statement. It should help to guide and control what you put in your paper.
Summary of Social Media Use:
Briefly summarize the companies' histories/current use of all social media. Hint: A chart that presents numbers of followers and frequency of posts is a good start and appreciated.
Results / Analysis:
In this section, you will summarize what you learned about the company, product/brand after a semester of social media listening. You should organize the information by category and sub headings.
Organizational use of social media
Some things to consider: Can you tell who manages SM for the business? Are they using various tools in unique ways that adapts to the medium or are they redundant? How do they leverage each tool for its best use? If they are missing from a channel, can you deduce why?
State how your brand uses each social media tool to move the customer through the purchase process (see page 23); provide examples; infer primary purpose. The same tool may be used in different ways and/or different tools may be used primarily for different purposes. This is what we're interested in. Analyze each company's social media use on each platform to discern strategic purpose. Are they effectively using social in ways that encourage trial, facilitate purchase, raise brand awareness, or deepen customer loyalty? Be specific in your analysis. You should also review the tools used for Purchase Decision Stages (see Table 9.1, pg. 290). Do not simply describe their post. Tell me what you think the posts are trying to achieve in terms of IMC objectives.
Competitive position with respect to the use of social media marketing best practices (what social media marketing applications are used most effectively for a similar company, in the industry, for a similar product/brand):
Ultimately, this project was designed for you to come to conclusions regarding social media best practices in the type of company/industry you have evaluated - so make sure these "best practices" are part of your evaluation.
SWOT/Competitive analysis based on social media conversations. Make a Chart - be creative.
Here is the explanation of the Social Media SWOT in more detail:
Strengths (Social Media implementations (social media programs, campaigns, etc. initiated by company) that positions (company market positioning in industry - ranking more market share for product/brand; ranking more profitability (ROI), etc. for product/brand) the company or focuses the company, product/brand competitively)
Weaknesses (Social Media implementations that allows the competition to better position themselves against your company)
Focus on the internalenvironment - the situation inside the company or organization
Factors tend to be in the present
Opportunities (Social Media implementations that can make the company position better and provide more market share or revenue for the company, product/brand)
Threats (Social Media implementations that need to be dealt with in the future that could have a negative impact on the company, product/brand position).
Focus on the externalenvironment - the situation outside the company or organization
Factors tend to be in the future
For example:
SWOT Analysis for Facebook from 2013
Strengths:
Allows integration with many websites and applications
Has more than a billion active users
The user experience is excellent
Understands what the users need and want
Weaknesses:
Weak click-through-rate of advertisements
Lacks of some features like video chats, group chats, dislike buttons, etc.
Advertisements on Facebook is the only major source of revenues
Attitude towards users' privacy creates a negative image
Lack of website customization
Weak protection of users' information
Opportunities:
Number of Facebook users who access the social media via mobile devices are increasing
Expansion to China
Add more sources of revenue
Open Facebook marketplace
Threats:
Increasing number of mobile internet users
Users have ad-block extensions
Online marketing's slow growth rate
Privacy issues like identity theft
Weak business model
There are plenty of SWOT analyses for companies available on the Internet. I better not see ANY of those. This is a social media SWOT analysis. If you include anything else, it better have some impact on the use of social media and be clearly stated. Your SWOT shouldn't have too much replication of FB 13 listed here either.
Assessment and Recommendations / Practicality:
In this section you will summarize what you have discovered about your company's social media implementations; what they use, how they use it, and how you feel about their use. You are the managerial decision maker in this case. If you were in charge of Social Media decisions, what Social Media implementations would you suggest the company use in the future? Make at least (3) threerecommendations based upon your assessment and research. Give evidence (refer back to something, reference materials, examples, etc.) as to why you have come to these conclusions!
Sources
Sources: goes without saying, right? Demonstrate that you used appropriate materials with which to base your analysis. List them here. No, you don't have to use APA, MLA, etc. - the urls will suffice.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.