BUSI: CONSULTING PRACTICE

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The Report for Tech Talk: Creating a Social Media Strategy

Introduction

As it was indicated in the proposal, Tech Talk is a business knowledge portal, which

focuses on promoting knowledge in the domain areas of information technology. It also provides

articles including specialized fields, such as business analytics, e-governance, e-commerce,

internet technologies, information technology, digital marketing, and other related themes

(Kumar Kar, & Aswani, 2017). Besides, it contains case studies and textbooks differentiated in

the way they are presented pictorially and graphically.

Tech Talk's performance is ranked against some of the famous website evaluation

metrics, which shows it has an appropriate performance in the competitive electronic information

publishing industry. However, evaluation of the type of traffic that Tech Talk received shows

that most of the traffic has come from search engines, while most of the other websites get much

more traffic from social media sites (Kumar Kar, & Aswani, 2017). Figures show that the

percentage of traffic received from social media is almost 4 percent, which shows Tech Talk

needs to take fundamental steps so as to improve the results in this area.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses

 Strong brand image

 International distribution network

 Strong investment in R&D

 Highly focus on innovation

 Focus on market research

o Premium prices for most portfolio

products

o Standard procedures and benchmarked

regulations for all portfolio products

o Generalization

o Imitability

Opportunities Threats

 Green business products

 Expansion in emerging market

 Business enhancement

 Partnership with different firms

o Price competition

o Increases competition

o Independent players

The Solution

To do so, on the top of all, Tech Talk's founders should align their outlooks to come up

with identical approaches, and consequently, efficient strategies. Then they can make efforts to

take proper steps in order to achieve their goals. Regarding this, firstly, it is necessary to

comprehend and compromise what the underlying blocks for social media websites are. In other

words, they should strategize the interaction with readers on social media.

Furthermore, it is essential to choose the right platform(s) for Tech Talk to perform on

between so many different platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and so on,

in order to align implementing their strategies with that. Also, implementing key performance

indicators is crucial. Another point to consider is the decision to outsource social media

marketing or managing it in-house, and finally, finding the proper way to invest in building an

effective presence on social media platforms.

Comprehending and Compromising the underlying blocks for Social Media

In order to perform successfully on social media, Tech Talk should provide proper

requirements for that. The first step regarding this is to create an appropriate page on targeted

platforms, but before that, it is necessary to comprehend how to perform on social media to gain

an adequate number of audiences in order to receive acceptable traffics. It is also required to

know the critical factors in administrating social media pages to follow. The table below shows

the key social media tools categories:

Note. Social Media Tool Categories. Adapted from “The Definitive List of Social Media

Marketing Tool Categories for Businesses.” By Razorsocial. (n.d.).

(https://www.razorsocial.com/social-media-marketing-tools-for-businesses/)

The solution in this regard is categorizing the audiences based on several criteria such as

age, career, level of income, and level of demand, and provide the content based on these

categories and criteria. In other words, since Tech Talk provides articles and electronic content

publishing, it has several audiences, such as students and instructors, business users, recreational

readers, etc. These audiences can be fit into different categories, and Tech Talk can categorize

their content based on the audience categories. The figures below show different categories and

different social media users:

Note. Adapted from “Categorize Your Content Types.” By SmarterQueue. (n.d.).

(https://smarterqueue.com/features/content_categories?src=all_features)

Note. Different Types Of Social Media Users | Conversationalists / Learners /

Aggregators / Marketeers / Researchers / Lurkers (CLAMRL). Adapted from “THE

INTERSECTIONS & ASKING BETTER QUESTIONS BLOG.” By Justadandak. (2013).

(https://justadandak.com/different-types-of-social-media-users-connectors-learners-aggregators-

marketeers-clamrl/)

In this regard, the website can provide each group of audiences unique products. It can

also offer them various subscriptions in order to accommodate their needs more efficiently and

economically and also encourage them to visit regularly or become permanent members.

For instance, Tech Talk can offer the content required by students at a lower price or

offer the instructors specific subscriptions to have access to their intended content unlimited.

They can also provide the business user with intended professional articles. This categorization

can help audiences have access to their considered content more quickly, more easily, and more

appropriately. In general, Tech Talk should pay attention to the interest of the followers, the level

of their income, their networks, and sentimental analysis. This is an efficient way that it can

strategize the interaction with readers on social media.

Key Performance Indicators

It is also crucial to know the key performance indicators, determine some benchmarks,

and observe the performance quality in each social media platform and comparing with those

benchmarks regularly. As it is evident in the exhibit below, some of the key performance

indicators for Tech Talk's Twitter account is as follow:

Note. Adapted from “Tech Talk: Creating a Social Media Strategy.” By Kumar Kar, A.,

& Aswani, R. (2017), P.10 (https://www.iveycases.com/ProductView.aspx?id=86533) Copyright

2017 by Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation.

Another exhibit displayed below shows some other indicators for Facebook. It is essential

to make similar exhibitions for all platforms the company performs on. This can help to compare

the performance of the company on social media platforms with targeted benchmarks and

improve weaknesses in each indicator.

Note. Adapted from “Tech Talk: Creating a Social Media Strategy.” By Kumar Kar, A.,

& Aswani, R. (2017), P.10 (https://www.iveycases.com/ProductView.aspx?id=86533) Copyright

2017 by Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation.

In determining these performance indicators, Tech Talk should consider some critical

criteria. Key performance indicators should 1) be measurable and actionable, 2) tied to business

goals and targets, 3) measure factors that are critical to the success of the company, 4) be applied

consistently throughout the company, and 5) be limited to 5 to 8 metrics. Tech Talk should also

avoid parameters that are vague or unclear, and refutable, or they are not nice-to-know,

actionable, and exhaustive. It would be better to categorize these metrics into groups that target

the company's goals. Each group should be aligned whit those goals, and the parameters should

cover the goal that each specific group aims. The tables below show some appropriate metrics

for Tech Talk:

Note. Adapted from “The Best Website KPI's For Three Different Website Types.” By

The Daily Egg. (2019). (https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/best-website-kpi/)

Note. Common Content Marketing Goals and Associated Metrics. Adapted from “Nail

Your Content Performance With This Measurement Starter Kit.” By Harris, J. (2019).

(https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2019/09/content-performance/)

Determining Proper Platforms

A good solution in this regard is selecting Linkedin as a platform for those professional

and business audiences who are widely active there and seeking for specialized articles, and

Facebook as a widely-used platform all over the world for general audiences. The company can

also keep its activity on Twitter as another widely-used and popular platform and just reform the

current strategy based on categorizing audiences and content there.

Note. Adapted from “Linkedin by the Numbers: Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts.” By

OMNICORE. (2020). (https://www.omnicoreagency.com/linkedin-statistics/)

Note. Adapted from “31 Social Media Content Ideas And Examples For Every Business.”

By Rusine, R.. (2020). (https://socialsuccessmarketing.com/31-social-media-content-ideas-and-

examples-for-every-business/)

Since almost 29 percent of the visitors in one month have been from the U.S, Linkedin

can be a proper platform because many people in North America use Linkedin these days as their

business and official social media (Kumar Kar, & Aswani, 2017). Besides, many professional

users of Tech Talk content, such as students, especially graduate students, instructors, and

business people, use Linkedin actively. Therefore, managing to have a presence on Linkedin can

increase the traffic received by the website.

Note. Adapted from “Tech Talk: Creating a Social Media Strategy.” By Kumar Kar, A.,

& Aswani, R. (2017), P.10 (https://www.iveycases.com/ProductView.aspx?id=86533) Copyright

2017 by Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation.

Note. Adapted from “50+ LinkedIn Statistics For 2020 (User Stats, Demographics,

Usage & More).” By Gallant, J. (n.d.). (https://foundationinc.co/lab/b2b-marketing-linkedin-

stats/)

Note. Adapted from “Current Distribution of Worldwide DITA Users.” By IXIASOFT.

(2017). (http://archive.ixiasoft.com/en/news-and-events/blog/2017/current-distribution-

worldwide-dita-users/)

Moreover, Facebook and Twitter, as two popular platforms in the world, especially in

North America and Europ, can provide Tech Talk with numerous audiences. Since many people

use these platforms to fill their spare time and for recreational reasons, Tech Talk can easily offer

its general articles to these groups of people in addition to professional readers there.

Outsourcing Social Media Marketing or Managing In-house

In order to make a correct decision regarding outsourcing social media marketing or

doing it in-house, Tech Talk should consider several factors and compare each of these

approaches considering these factors. One of the most important factors in this regard is the cost.

If Tech Talk considers in-house social media marketing, then it needs multiple specialists to

perform it, and it imposes a high cost on the company. Otherwise, a comprehensive and

competent outsourced provider can get the company more specialists for less cost.

Another critical element is speed. Setting up hiring and equipment to begin a project in-

house takes longer while outsourcing to the trained individual allows the project to start and

move forward quickly. Scale also matters. The constant battle of talent acquisition, training, and

implementation adds to the challenge while the company does in-house social media marketing.

In contrast, outsourcing to those with experience allows Tech Talk to scale a greater level.

One more element, which matters is quality. An inside marketing team may not have the

depth of expertise the company can find with outside specialists, whereas specialists with

experience in marketing strategy, techniques, and tools help it keep up with a rapidly changing

business world. Finally, the last but not least factor is stress. If Tech Talk stays in-house, it is

responsible for the stress of the employees, while managing an outsourced team can reduce the

stress. However, in this regard, Tech Talk may need a marketing partner to help it manages the

outsourced team as well.

Comparing outsourcing social media marketing with managing it in-house

In-house Marketing Outsourcing

Needs multiple specialists to perform it,

and it imposes a high cost on the

company

Price

A comprehensive and competent

outsourced provider can get the

company more specialists for less cost

Setting up hiring and equipment to begin

a project in-house takes longer Speed

Outsourcing to the trained individual

allows the project to start and move

forward quickly

The constant battle of talent acquisition,

training, and implementation adds to the

challenge

Scale Outsourcing to those with experience

allows scaling a greater level

An inside marketing team may not have

the depth of expertise compared to

outside specialists

Quality

Specialists with experience in

marketing strategy, techniques, and

tools can help to keep up with a rapidly

changing business world

Responsibility for the stress of the

employees

Stress Managing an outsourced team can

reduce the stress

Overall, considering all factors and criteria, outsourcing social media marketing is a

better strategy for Tech Talk than managing it in-house.

How to Invest in Building an Effective Presence on Social Media Platforms

To tackle this issue, Tech Talk should take several measures to build an effective

presence on social media. The power of social media is very much because it is based on social

networking. In this regard, the first thing is to advertise their articles and electronic contents in a

practical and efficient way. Their advertisement should be effective and attractive for a wide

range of audiences. To make their advertisement more effective, a beautiful and attractive design

of the Tech Talk page is the first step. The striking and stunning page design has a substantial

impact on the audience. They also have to increase the quality of their articles in parallel with

their advertisement to increase the influence on the viewers and encourage them to use their

networks in order to introduce Tech Talk to the others and become a part of their advertisements.

Tech Talk should also design a welcoming system to welcome anyone who visits their

pages, links, or products. The welcome message is an effective way to make a pleasant sensation

in the audience and encourage them to keep visiting their page and website.

Another point for Tech talk to consider is to plan various promotions on their page and

website. In addition to visual and content motivations, audiences need several promotions to get

motivated and become loyal to a producer or service provider. They need to offer promotions on

several products, especially on subscriptions, to attract more members and benefit from a long-

term relationship with their viewers. These promotions help audiences to become more loyal to

the Tech Talk website and keep reading their articles for a long time.

Moreover, the last but not least is to follow up with their audiences. Sending routine

flyers to the audiences by the Tech Talk or sending a gift on their birthday, even an electronic

birthday card can be so impressive on the loyalty.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if the Tech Talk wants to increase the traffic received from social media,

the first thing is to know its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats through SWOT

analysis done in this report. It is also crucial to comprehend and compromise the underlying

blocks for social media websites. Hence, Tech Talk should strategize the interaction with readers

on social media. Besides, categorize audiences and providing content based on these categories

and criteria is essential. Furthermore, it should focus on Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter as

specialized and general platforms for business audiences and public audiences.

Recognition of the key performance indicators and implement them is another point that

Tech Talk should consider. Also, outsourcing social media marketing would be a better strategy

for the company. Finally, Tech Talk needs to invest in building a strong and effective presence

on social media. To do so, advertising, providing a welcoming system, unique and attractive

page design, offering promotions, and following up their audiences are significant to make

considerable loyal audiences and to build a lasting and robust brand.

It is anticipated that with the support of a detailed SWOT analysis, data analysis, detailed

recommendation, and implementation plan, this report helps Tech Talk to be able to receive a

remarkable amount of traffic through social media by the end of this project.

References

Gallant, J. (n.d.). 50+ LinkedIn Statistics For 2020 (User Stats, Demographics, Usage & More).

Foundation. (https://foundationinc.co/lab/b2b-marketing-linkedin-stats/)

Harris, J. (2019). Common Content Marketing Goals and Associated Metrics. Nail Your Content

Performance With This Measurement Starter Kit. Content Marketing Institute.

(https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2019/09/content-performance/)

IXIASOFT. (2017). Current Distribution of Worldwide DITA Users. IXIASOFT.

(http://archive.ixiasoft.com/en/news-and-events/blog/2017/current-distribution-

worldwide-dita-users/)

Justadandak. (2013). The Intersections & Asking Better Questions Blog. Justadandak.

(https://justadandak.com/different-types-of-social-media-users-connectors-learners-

aggregators-marketeers-clamrl/)

Kubr, M. (2002). Management consulting. A guide to the profession. (4th ed.). International

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Kumar Kar, A., & Aswani, R. (2017, July 19). Tech Talk: Creating a Social Media Strategy.

(Product No: 9B17E009). Ivey Publishing.

https://www.iveycases.com/ProductView.aspx?id=86533

OMNICORE. (2020). Linkedin by the Numbers: Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts.

OMNICORE. (https://www.omnicoreagency.com/linkedin-statistics/)

Razorsocial. (n.d.). The Definitive List of Social Media Marketing Tool Categories for

Businesses. Razorsocial. (https://www.razorsocial.com/social-media-marketing-tools-for-

businesses/)

Rusine, R.. (2020). 31 Social Media Content Ideas And Examples For Every Business. Social

Success Marketing. (https://socialsuccessmarketing.com/31-social-media-content-ideas-

and-examples-for-every-business/)

SmarterQueue. (n.d.). Categorize Your Content Types. SmarterQueue.

(https://smarterqueue.com/features/content_categories?src=all_features)

The Daily Egg. (2019). The Best Website KPI's For Three Different Website Types.The Daily

Egg. (https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/best-website-kpi/)