Digital marketing
saranya_99
ExampleReport.pdf
1
Social Media Content Plan Mountain Warehouse
C10 DM
W or d c ount: 2 10 2
2
1. The Social Impact Theory
Latané (1981) introduced the “social impact theory” (SIT) which outlined the concept of “social
impact” as the variety of influences on a person’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. These influences
will be enforced by the imagined, implied or real actions and presences of other individuals (Latané,
1981).In this section, the SIT will be applied by the content plan in order to achieve the main ‘specific,
measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound’ (SMART) objective of doubling the existing 150
consumer referrals to the main website from the utilised social media platforms (Bjerke and Renger,
2016, p. 125). This objective will be achieved by increasing the level of “online consumer engagement”
(OCE). Valenzuela, Park and Kee (2009) claim that OCE, which consists of how the brand’s social media
posts’ ratings, comments and responses with user generated content (UGC), can stimulate sales and
other consumer behaviours which benefit the brand beyond the transactions. These manifested
behaviours include brand discussions as well as increased brand involvement, intimacy and influence
amongst its customers (Van Doorn et al, 2010).
Figure 1, the constituents of the Social Impact Theory (Perez-Vega, Waite, O’Gorman, 2016).
The SIT suggests that the interaction of these three components multiplies their combined social impact (Latané, 1981).
3
1.1 Message Strength
As shown in figure 1, the SIT consists of three components which create social impact, the first
component which will be used to increase the number of referrals of Mountain Warehouse’s social
media posts will be the “strength” of the message. This type of influence can be broken down into
“trans-situational” or “situational” types of message strength.
1.1.1 Situational Strength
The situational strength derives influence from addressing the context in which the brand or its
consumers are present in a way which improves the brand’s reputation and identity. Perez-Vega,
Waite and O’Gorman (2016) found that situational strength could be derived from choosing
appropriate actors for the audience such as Mountain Warehouse employing prominent
mountaineers, skiers, hikers and other outdoor activists to promote their products with their credible
approvals and assurances of quality and value. For instance, Mountain Warehouse could use
successful or famous Winter Olympic Games athletes to endorse their products and ultimately
increase the situational strength of each message, see figure 2. However, some athletes can be
expensive to utilise especially when aiming to achieve a short-term objective which focuses on
increasing referrals through OCE.
Figure 2, an example of attaching a brand to an expert who holds situational power over skiers, in
this case an Olympic gold medal-winning skier (Svindal, 2019).
READ ABOUT AKSEL LUND SVINDAL’S STORY WITH
4
1.1.2 Trans-Situational Strength
Conversely however, this content plan will also propose the use of “trans-situational” message
strength. The content plan’s trans-situational messages will increase their salience through the
portrayal of models with appropriate physical and perceived characteristics such as appearance,
ethnicity, gender, age, and intelligence. As shown below in Figure 3, the models fulfill the role of
symbolizing style, success, maturity and youth while attaching such strong values to the products and
ultimately - their consumers.
Figure 3, an example of increased message strength through trans-situational aesthetic appeal
(eBay, 2019).
Here both models have confident
stances and facial expressions in
order to attach the values of
intelligence, success and style
with the advertised skiing base
layer products.
5
1.2 Message Immediacy
Another method of increasing the social impact and engagement of a message would be to increase
its presence or proximity towards its intended audience (Perez-Vega, Waite and O’Gorman, 2016).
Immediacy can be further broken down into three categories which will be covered in the following
sections. The social media content plan for Mountain Warehouse can use these three types of
immediacy to increase the levels of online consumer engagement (OCE) in order to attract 150
referrals refer to figure 4 below for.
Figure 4, a diagram of how immediacy stimulates OCE for Facebook and Instagram (Perez-Vega,
Waite, O’Gorman, 2016).
Page
Following/Likin
Content Liking
Content
Commenting
Content
Sharing
Physical
Immediac
Temporal
Immediac
Social
Immediac
6
1.2.1 Physical Immediacy
Physical immediacy raises the engagement of the social media post by being more relatable to its
audience due to close geographic proximity (Trope and Liberman, 2010). Pedersen et al., (2008) as
well as Bourgeois and Bowen (2001) both respectively discovered the causality between proximity and
social impact. Their studies found that physically close students are more likely to succumb to peer-
pressure and the sharing of beliefs and values rather than to those students who are less close
physically (Pedersen et al., 2008; Bourgeois and Bowen, 2001). Hence, this content plan will utilize
physical proximity of content in order to appeal and engage with its audiences in the UK, refer to figure
5 below.
With many Mountain Warehouse outlets in the UK, a large concentration of which can be found here in
central London, this content plan launch promotions in close proximity to these stores which will
increase the social impact, OCE levels, as well as meet or exceed the referral target of the firm’s
messages.
Figure 5, a hotspot of Mountain Warehouse retail stores which all can simultaneously benefit from
“close proximity promotion”.
7
1.2.2 Temporal Immediacy
This type of immediacy utilizes time-related proximity between the message and its recipient, this
type of immediacy can be used by marketers to quickly stimulate desired responses such as OCE or
purchasing behaviour (Shen and Chiou, 2010). Perez-Vega, Waite and O’Gorman (2016) have also
found that increased temporal distance can also diminish social impact hence this content plan will
aim to avoid this potential limitation. The example of temporal immediacy shown in figure 6 below
can be replicated in the social media content plan for Mountain Warehouse.
Figure 6, a conceptual application of temporal immediacy in order to increase OCE and sales during a
“70% off “discount promotion (Mountain Warehouse, 2019).
1.2.3 Social immediacy
The third type of immediacy relates to the need for similarity with other members of the society
(Heider, 1958). Additionally consumers prefer to be surrounded by like-minded people with whom
they feel more socially connected (Miller, Downs and Prentice, 1998). Strong social immediacy (SI)
increases reciprocity and trust between consumers while weak SI disrupts communication and clarity
of messages between brand and consumer (Charness, Haruvy, and Sonsino, 2007; Rosette et al.,
2012). Hence, this content plan will aim to utilise the social awareness theory’s discovered
phenomenon of psychological closeness having a positive correlation with social awareness and a
negative correlation with encouraging a ‘self-centered behaviour’ (Perez-Vega, Waite, and O’Gorman,
2016, pp. 309). Social immediacy increases the levels of engagement in social media (Perez-Vega,
Waite, and O’Gorman, 2016), Mountain Warehouse reposts user generated content on their
Instagram feed in order to reduce psychological distance between them and their customers as shown
below in figure 7.
DON’T MISS OUT!
LAST CHANCE!
COUNTDOWN TILL OFFER ENDS:
2d:23h:59m:58s SAVE WITH MOUNTAIN WAREHOUSE!
8
Figure 7, examples of social immediacy through psychological closeness between the brand and its
consumers (Tesser, 1988; Instagram, 2019).
karimkovalenko good use of situational message strength
karimkovalenkoI’d love for my winter posts to get shared on this page too! Fingers crossed! #socialimmediacy
Mountain Warehouse uses UGC to
become more psychologically
intimate with their consumers who
may both directly or indirectly
advocate the brand on social media.
If the brand chooses one of their
consumers to be featured on their
page they are then more likely to
become involved with the brand
and listen to its messages more
attentively and cooperatively.
This content plan will create social
immediacy by giving its followers
chances to win prizes, discounts and
publicity as a reward for being
involved with Mountain
Warehouse’s Instagram and
Facebook pages.
The tone of the plan’s
communication style will aim to be
friendly and informal to avoid the
content feeling like pure promotion
and in-turn develop and maintain
the relationships MW has with its
customers.
9
1.3 Number of Sources
The third main component of SIT is the quantity of seen influential sources; increasing the number of
sources has a positive causal relationship with increases in social impact (Latané, 1981). However, the
effectiveness of social influence type has been debated to be limited, with more than three sources
having no increase in social impact (Asch, 1961). Additionally, this influence type has been found to
have varied optimal numbers of sources depending on the context and situation, while exceeding the
optimal amount is detrimental for creating social impact (Tanford and Penrod, 1984; Latané and Wolf,
1981).
Figure 8, the current post frequency of MW on its Facebook page is one post per two days.
This modest frequency of posts allows MW to communicate without forcing their messages on to its audience to avoid negative engagement and lack of attention given to the posts.
However, it also limits the amount of exposure they receive as it is only once per two days, this means that people that do not browse their feeds frequently might not see the posts at all.
The content calendar will propose a posting schedule which will aim to optimize engagement through the amount of posts through the chosen week. It will aim for a strong presence without forcing the message to the point of it producing a negative effect.
10
2. Content Strategy for Engagement
This section will propose the week-long digital marketing strategy for Mountain Warehouse with the
use of the “Honeycomb of Social Media” and the “Ladder of Engagement and Segmentation” models.
2.1 Content Plan for Facebook and Instagram
Firstly, this strategy will utilise two ‘functional blocks of social media’ (Kietzmann et al., 2011, pp. 243),
in the framework shown in figure 9. The table in appendix 1 will analyse and critically evaluate the
chosen quadrants of this framework in order to outline and justify the chosen direction for this content
plan. The plan will focus on the two quadrants highlighted in yellow below, however the entire model
will be considered when formulating this strategy (Kietzmann et al., 2011).
Figure 9, ‘The Honeycomb of Social Media’ (Kietzmann et al., 2011).
Identity
Relationship s
Presence
Sharing
Conversatio ns
Reputation
Groups
11
2.1.1 Honeycomb Model: Groups
As seen in figure 9’s “groups” quadrant, the content plan will communicate with new audiences
through partnerships with relevant social media communities which revolve around travel, hiking and
skiing. This decision utilizes situational strength and social immediacy as outlined in sections 1.1 and
1.2.3 (Perez-Vega, Waite and O’Gorman, 2016). Refer to appendix 2 for examples of relevant groups
and influencers for partnerships.
2.1.2 Honeycomb Model: Sharing
As shown in figure 12, the audiences will be continuously encouraged to share Mountain Warehouse’s
content through various rewards or by appealing to the aesthetic or lifestyle preferences of MW’s
followers. However, posts must have relevant characteristics in order to create enough engagement
which increases the probability of a post being shared.
2.1.3 The Ladder of Engagement and Segmentation
The ultimate target is to get as many as 150 individuals to the minimum engagement segment labeled
as “joiners” refer to figure 10 below. The plan recognizes the fact that increasing the engagement and
referrals of these passive users is a less time, resource, and cost-intensive process as opposed to the
“inactives”. The “inactive” segment requires the strongest forms of social impact to engage. This will
be achieved through a variety of posts which will be uploaded during peak-usage hours of Facebook
and Instagram during the Christmas holidays. The calendar’s posts will begin to enter user-feeds on
the 19th of December and finally ending with a clearance sale on the 26th known as “Boxing Day”. The
content calendar can be seen in appendix 4.
12
2.2 Example Posts for Engagement
The initial stages of the plan will aim to encourage the potential customers of MW to share content
by giving them rewards for it as shown in figure 11 of section 2.2.
Figure 12, Instagram post which incentivises users to share content with their friends and family by
rewarding each referral.
These posts are aimed at engaging the audience through situational strength, temporal immediacy
and social immediacy if groups of people begin discussing and sharing this content in order to receive
a chance to win more than originally offered. The posts will be replicated across both Facebook and
Instagram as it is not efficient to host offers exclusive to a single platform. This content plan will utilise
integrated marketing communications.
Stay warmer together with your
friends and loved ones this
Christmas!
Receive -20% off all our winter
products purchased from our
website!
Refer your friends and get a free
£10 gift voucher added to your
online MW wallet for every person
who makes an online purchase
through your unique referral link!
The registered consumers get a unique URL link through which new users can register and make purchases, each referral that makes a purchase will grant the voucher to the original advocate.
13
Figure 13, a prize draw which increases its winnings if the number of participants reaches 150 registrations.
2.3 Critical Assessment of Content Strategy
2.3.1 Information Quality Theory (IQT)
This theory will be used to evaluate the content examples above in order to discern whether the
quality of the information is adequate for the context engagement and referral stimulation.
The first dimension of this theory refers to the credibility of the information source, as a web of stores
across the UK and other regions. Mountain Warehouse’s posts present no verifiability issues unless
the offers in the proposed content plan encounter operational issues and not meet the expectations
stated in the posts. However, the risk for this dimension is low (Grenn, Sarkani and Mazzuchi, 2015).
14
The second dimension of qualitative information quality refers to the ability to relay the message using
an appropriate sequence of information which is displayed rationally and concisely (Grenn, Sarkani
and Mazzuchi, 2015). The posts proposed in section 2.2 contain a large amount of situational
information which will take time and effort for the consumer to read. Thus, the weak coverage might
result in a reduction of the content’s overall engagement, this potentially hampers the plan’s ability
to achieve the SMART objective.
The third aspect of the IQT refers to the subjectivity and bias of the source. Even though the proposed
posts in section 2.2 have an informal tone, no concrete statements are made without the regard of
factual and honest information. Should the information regarding promotion not be objective, the
followers are likely to find out and being spreading negative word of mouth about the brand, which is
difficult to control and recover for the brand as social media is an enabler for conversations which
reach wide audiences and can have detailed criticisms which are trusted and associated with the brand
almost irreversibly. Invalid information is likely to detriment the credibility and engagement of the
brand’s social media content (Grenn, Sarkani and Mazzuchi, 2015).
The fourth criteria of information quality is whether the brand’s communication adheres towards
social norms, values and ethics. No harm is intended to any individuals in the posts proposed by this
plan. Henceforth, this risk is minimized.
The fifth dimension of this theory is the extent to which the information is unique (Grenn, Sarkani and
Mazzuchi, 2015). This is the most significant weakness of the proposed content as the competitors of
Mountain Warehouse also employ giveaways, UGC competitions, partnerships with influencers and
communities, discounts and referral rewards. The uniqueness of the proposed content is purely on
the bases of using unique visuals and semantics. This plan attempted to create unique promotions,
however with many marketing agencies and departments working on creating unique campaigns it
become difficult to achieve the same SMART objectives in a completely unique way. For the use of SIT
in the evaluation, refer to figure 14.
15
2.3.2 Social Impact Theory (SIT)
Social Impact Evaluation
Situational Strength
The campaign uses the week leading up to Christmas and Boxing day to provide a
consistent theme which encourages purchasing gifts for family and friends. The
winter season also adds to the relevance of selling predominantly winter outdoor
apparel and equipment which adds to the contextual relevance of the campaign.
Trans-Situational Strength
The people featured in the proposed content (excluding figure 3) do not have
exceptional physical features hence the strength of the message will not appeal to
people who prefer seeing products on professional models. On the other hand, the
people and images shown have aesthetically pleasing: backgrounds, colours, body
language and facial expressions, relatable appearances along with positive
connotations of travel, adventure, outdoor activities, cold weather, successful
lifestyles, happiness and family values.
Physical Immediacy
The content plan did not apply the physical immediacy of the SIT as the object of
the strategy was to stimulate referrals to the main website. Hence, the SMART
objective made the use of this type of immediacy less feasible. In order to negate
this lack of immediacy, the website could be used to receive vouchers exclusively in
the outlets outlined in figure 5.
Temporal Immediacy
The majority of posts in the content plan were used to create temporal immediacy
through limited timings of offers. However, having one limited offer replace
another reduces the temporal immediacy of the entire content plan put together
but improve the immediacy for those who do not engage consistently.
Social Immediacy
The posts encourage sharing and conversations about the offers, competitions and
giveaways. However no viral trends are created, and an attempt should be made
nonetheless
Number of Sources
The plan proposes 1 post per day with some intervals in order to avoid huge
amounts of information for the followers on Facebook and Instagram. However,
this has a downside as during this week the marketing activity of competitors will
ignore the common boundaries of how many of the same post are shown per day
to a single consumer.
Figure 14, the SIT evaluation of the content plan (Latane, 1981).
16
3. Digital Marketing Analytics
3.1 Key Analytics
This content plan will utilise web analytics tools in order to gather qualitative and quantitative data to
further develop this strategy. For instance, Google Analytics and bit.ly URLs can be used to monitor
the traffic on MW’s website, and where it comes from. With these tools QueryClick will be able to
monitor which platform is most effective at moving traffic towards the webpage (Bekavac and Garbin
Praničević, 2015). Additionally, the engagement and returnee behaviours of the consumers can be
monitored in order to determine whether the plan is performing adequately (Social, 2018). Refer to
figure 15 below for a critically evaluative list of analytics tools which can be applied to this plan. The
most appropriate tools for this plan will be Google Analytics and Bit.ly links.
Analytics Tool Strength Weaknesses Crazy Egg Represents data using heat maps and
other useful features for tracking real-time
traffic
Does not explain conversion rates
Google Analytics Configurable UI, visual metrics for
conversions, flexible formatting, unique
STP mechanics
Does not account for why conversions and
referrals occur
Stuffed Tracker Can discern and show the contrast
between organic and inorganic growth
Requires IT expertise beyond that of a digital
marketer
Webtrends Rich data, heat maps similar to Crazy Egg,
live data
Does not justify its high cost in comparison to
rivals
IBM Unica
NetInsight
Fully configurable
eTracker Mouse-tracking, can gather qualitative
feedback from consumers
FireStats Ergonomic, console for logs and live
information feed
Does not run on regular PCs
Bit.ly Cost-effective, simple Does not have any advanced features, very
basic
Figure 15, Evaluation of various analytics tools for this content plan (Bekavac and Garbin Praničević,
2015).
17
3.2 Tweaks to Content Plan
As shown in figure 14 the situational strength of the plan is adequate, however it can be improved if
another aspect of it is added, such as the post in figure 2 which uses a famous professional skier to
endorse the products with his exclusive story posted on the website in order to boost referrals.
Additionally, the post from figure 3 negates the issue of not holding as much trans-situational message
power as possible, which is already adequate (Latane, 1981).
Figure 16. These original uses of SIT created a very comprehensively balanced array of content, using these examples to also increase the number of sources during the very competitive yet lucrative Christmas season will increase the chances of referrals as the number of active-consumers peaks during this time of year.
18
3.3 Risks of Content Tweaks
Increasing the number of sources can reduce their quality and reduce the engagement levels with
the consumers due to a cognitive overload due to a complicated week of endless need to engage,
the more casual consumers will be repelled by such strong efforts to traffic onto the webpage. Using
models and influencers could harm the existing relationships with the customers who enjoy having
their personal posts shared rather than being disconnected from participation in the community
(Perez-Vega, Waite and O’Gorman, 2016).
19
References
1. Asch, S.E. (1961). Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of
judgments. In M. Henle (Ed.), Documents of Gestalt psychology (pp. 222-236). London,
England: Cambridge University Press
2. Bekavac, I. and Garbin Praničević, D. (2015). Web analytics tools and web metrics tools: An
overview and comparative analysis. Croatian Operational Research Review, 6(2), pp.373-386.
3. Bjerke, M. and Renger, R. (2017). Being smart about writing SMART objectives. Evaluation
and Program Planning, 61, pp.125-127.
4. Bourgeois, M. and Bowen, A. (2001). Self-organization of alcohol-related attitudes and
beliefs in a campus housing complex: An initial investigation. Health Psychology, 20(6),
pp.434-437.
5. Charness, G., Haruvy, E. and Sonsino, D. (2007). Social distance and reciprocity: An Internet
experiment. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 63(1), pp.88-103.
6. eBay. (2019). Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles, Coupons and More | eBay. [online]
Available at: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Thermal-Base-Layer-Mens-Women-Top-Bottom-
Ski-Shirt-Tights-Wool-Underwear-Set-/272410012467 [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].
7. Grenn, M., Sarkani, S. and Mazzuchi, T. (2015). A Theory of Information Quality and its
Implementation in Systems Engineering. IEEE Systems Journal, 9(4), pp.1129-1138.
8. Instagram.com. (2019). Mountain Warehouse (@mountainwarehouse) • Instagram photos
and videos. [online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/mountainwarehouse/?hl=en
[Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].
9. Instagram.com. (2019). SKIINGFREE - freeskiing (@skiingfree) • Instagram photos and videos.
[online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/skiingfree/ [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].
10. Latané, B. (1981). The psychology of social impact. American Psychologist, 36(4), 343-356.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.36.4.343
11. Li, C. and Bernoff, J., 2007. Social technographics. Mapping Participation in Activities Forms
The Foundation Of A Social Strategy.
12. Miller, D., Downs, J. and Prentice, D. (1998). Minimal conditions for the creation of a unit
relationship: the social bond between birthday mates. European Journal of Social
Psychology, 28(3), pp.475-481.
13. Mountainwarehouse.com. (2019). Outdoor Clothing & Equipment | Mountain Warehouse
GB. [online] Available at: https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/ [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].
20
14. Pedersen, E., LaBrie, J. and Lac, A. (2008). Assessment of perceived and actual alcohol norms
in varying contexts: Exploring Social Impact Theory among college students. Addictive
Behaviors, 33(4), pp.552-564.
15. Perez-Vega, R., Waite, K. and O'Gorman, K. (2016). Social impact theory: An examination of
how immediacy operates as an influence upon social media interaction in Facebook fan
pages. The Marketing Review, 16(3), pp.299-321.
16. Rosette, A., Brett, J., Barsness, Z. and Lytle, A. (2011). When Cultures Clash Electronically.
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 43(4), pp.628-643.
17. Svindal (2019). Aksel Lund Svindal. [online] Aksellundsvindal.com. Available at:
http://www.aksellundsvindal.com/ [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].
18. Tesser, A. (1988). Toward a Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model of Social Behavior. Advances
in Experimental Social Psychology, pp.181-227.
19. Trope, Y. and Liberman, N. (2010). Construal-level theory of psychological distance.
20. Valenzuela, S., Park, N. and Kee, K. (2009). Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site?:
Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation. Journal of
Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(4), pp.875-901.
21. van Doorn, J., Lemon, K., Mittal, V., Nass, S., Pick, D., Pirner, P. and Verhoef, P. (2010).
Customer Engagement Behavior: Theoretical Foundations and Research Directions. Journal
of Service Research, 13(3), pp.253-266.
21
Appendices
Appendix 1, Honeycomb of Social Media Framework Analysis (Kietzmann et al., 2011)
Honeycomb Quadrant Evaluation
Identity
This quadrant constitutes to which extent consumers disclose their personal
information and identities within the context of social media.
Benefits
Data mining this information is useful for brands when segmenting and
targeting their desired consumers (Kietzmann and Angell, 2010).
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) propose that interaction with social media
unintentionally provides brands with feedback through every type of OCE
such as liking, commenting, rating and responding to content.
Consumers can also utilise and self-promote their real or virtual identities
on social media; this can be seen on Mountain Warehouse’s Instagram
Page (Kietzmann and Angell, 2010).
Limitations
However, the information which consumers reveal on social media is
protected by their privacy settings and breaching their trust by accessing
it without their consent could damage the trust they have with their social
media platforms and the third parties which are found to purchase such
information (Kietzmann and Angell, 2010).
Kravets (2010) found that breaches of privacy can also lead to lawsuits.
Hence, precaution should be taken in the analytic and strategic sections
of this content plan.
Each social media platform provides its own unique style of data on its users; this
content plan will focus on the data provided by its Facebook and Instagram
followers and target segments in section 3.
22
Honeycomb Quadrant Evaluation
Conversations
This section of the model depicts the degree of communication between social
media users, these discussions can revolve purely around the brand and its
offerings. Hence, brands aim to monitor and control these conversations to act
accordingly with their corporate interests, brand reputation and brand identity
(Kietzmann et al., 2011).
Benefits:
Conversations are easily facilitated by platforms such as Instagram and
Facebook (Kietzmann et al., 2011).
Such discussions can promote the brand through positive “word of
mouth” of individuals on the basis of trust and conformity (Beirut, 2009).
For instance, Unilever’s Dove 2004 campaign was successful at creating
positive conversations about the brand by engaging the community with
a live vote to describe whether or not the product produced a positive
result on its customers shown on Dove’s billboards.
Positivist findings: thousands of social media conversations can be
effectively deciphered by brands through the use of specific filtering tools
to find strong and relevant trends amongst the attitudes of users.
Interpretivist findings: Brands can also communicate directly with its
customers and view the interactions on their pages for a more detailed
but less connected or representative perspective on their reputation.
Limitations:
Conversations are difficult to decipher because:
- They have subjective meanings, for instance they can have
sarcastic tones which filtering tools cannot identify.
- They can be prone to rapid changes in their direction, frequency
and content (McCarthy et al., 2010).
Conversations are difficult to incite and control, the brand’s decisions
must be relevant to the context in order to avoid the risk of damaging its
image.
23
Honeycomb Quadrant Evaluation
Sharing
This quadrant represents the frequency of content exchange which occurs
between users. Social media networks create a conducive environment towards
the distribution and reception of content, the shared content acts as a powerful
tool to create and maintain social exchanges (Engelström, 2005).Brands are
required to determine new or existing social cues which can be used to bring users
together into social interactions and nourish their relationships.
Benefits:
Brands can incentivise their customers to share their messages and
content by rewarding them with special offers.
For example, Groupon offered discounts to groups which were willing to
buy products and services which are part of those promotional offers.
Shared content incites conversations between social media users, this can
be used to stimulate brand-related discussions.
Sharing is one of the key drivers of social media, consumers can share their
brand experiences indefinitely which can create a multiplier effect which
raises awareness and improves brand image if the message is positive.
Limitations:
Brands need to be able to provide socially relevant content which is
difficult to identify as its effectiveness is subjective and can easily be
unsuccessful in creating engagement
It can be costly to create strong incentives to share content such as
worthwhile promotions.
There is a lot of noise regarding offers and other incentives to share,
brands are required to stand out in their propositions.
Shared content can contain negative connotations which can damage the
brand on a scale larger than it can be able to resolve, what consumers
share is a big risk for the public relations of a brand.
24
Honeycomb Quadrant Evaluation
Presence
This component of the model represents how accessible other users are within
the social network. Such accessibility involves users maintaining awareness of
each other’s physical locations as well as their online availability.
Benefits:
Facebook gives insight into the physical locations and online availability of
its users which facilitates their interactions while allowing brands to
profile and target them more effectively.
Knowing the virtual and physical presence of the brand’s consumers will
help facilitate “real-time communication” which vastly improves the
quality of the interaction through higher levels of immediacy and intimacy
(Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010).
This quadrant enhances the effectiveness of the “relationship” and the
“conversations” quadrants.
Limitations:
The accessibility of users cannot be manipulated nor predicted on a large
scale. Hence, if it is low then this quadrant cannot be utilised effectively.
Communication may not result in the intended impact the brand aimed
for, adequate skills are required to utilise real time communication.
Focusing on this quadrant gives little choice when paring with quadrants
other than its relationship and conversation counterparts (Kietzmann et
al., 2011).
25
Honeycomb Quadrant Evaluation
Relationships
This honeycomb segment determines the level of connectedness between social
media users. This “connectedness” leads to the sharing of content, conversations,
real-life meets as well as a friend or follower status on social media.
Benefits:
“Influencers” can utilise their social power in dense and large networks
to promote brands (Granovetter, 1973).
Relationships can be created by displaying relevant content towards the
expectations of consumers (Borgatti and Foster, 2003).
Once a brand creates a relationship with its customers, the customer is
more likely to engage with the content and loyally accept the majority of
offers provided by the brand.
Relationships create a willingness to be more engaged with social media
content.
Limitations:
Users have expectations from brands when brands attempt to create
relationships, these expectations are not overtly communicated hence
the brand risks not meeting them and producing a negative impression
on its audience.
Relationships are complex to create and maintain, they require social
understanding which is both detailed and representative of the target
segment.
26
Honeycomb Quadrant Evaluation
Reputation
This quadrant represents how recognisable, trustworthy and respectable the
brand is. Facebook and Instagram evaluate the reputation of the page and its
content through likes and followers. This content plan will value indicators of how
engaged the consumers are with the social media posts in order to persuade them
into going to the main website.
Benefits:
An accessible and simplistic indication of how popular a social media
page is on the bases of ratings, shares, comments and followers.
Software can be used to filter UGC across multiple social media
platforms to find how many times a brand is mentioned by the entire
community and by each user, whether the mentions are positive or
negative as well as the conversations which result from this content.
Limitations:
The indicators of engagement can be falsified or be subjectively
interpreted to be wrong
Groups
This social media block determines how many users form and join groups and
communities of like-minded individuals. Typically a single consumer can actively
engage with around 150 people in totality on social media (Dunbar, 1992),
however communities on Facebook and Instagram have actively-engaged
communities which have followings way beyond this limit.
Benefits:
Groups are entities which can be used to communicate with a large
number of people by brands, these members can be influenced
efficiently and effectively.
Members of communities share particular characteristics which can be
identified and targeted by brands.
Groups are effective sources of feedback.
Limitations:
Groups are difficult to manage and can be an influential source of
negative brand connotations.
27
Appendix 2, applying the “Groups Quadrant” from the “Honeycomb Model”: examples
of Social Media Community Partnerships (Instagram, 2019)
SKI APPAREL?
“Skiingfree” is a large community of passionate skiers around the world which is open to
negotiate partnerships with brands. They currently have ski gear on promotion however no
skiing apparel is being promoted leaving an opportunity to raise awareness with its
members. The proposed content would introduce the members to the MW brand in hopes
of persuading these consumers to browse the website for any promoted gear they might
need for their outdoor lifestyle.
28
Appendix 3, the “Ladder of Engagement and Segmentation” (Li and Bernoff, 2007)
EN G
A G
EM EN
T
Creators
Conversationalists
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
Spectators
Inactives
This content plan will aim to increase the online consumer engagement of MW’s followers and the targeted online
communities in order to ease communication. Once a relationship is established then the persuasive content will
stimulate: ratings; comments; conversations; sharing and mostly importantly – referrals to the website.
1. “Travel, camping or skiing” bloggers, influencers and UGC creators.
2. Opinion sharing individuals with many strong relationships.
3. Those who evaluate offerings through likes, comments and other responses.
4. Post savers, taggers, sharers.
5. Passive social media followers and visitors.
6. Passive browsers, readers, viewers of regular and critical content/feedback.
7. No significant engagement with social media content.
29
Appendix 4, the Content Calendar
Date Timing Channels Post Title Summary Source Planned Engagement
19/12/19 22:00 Instagram,
Stay warmer
with your
loved ones this
Xmas
20% discount,
refer friend and
receive £10
voucher for online
purchases
Mountain
Warehouse
Sharing the link to the
discounts, visiting the
webpage to view
prices.
21/12/19 14:00 Instagram,
Register on our
webpage to
get a chance to
win prizes!
Users enter a
random draw to
win prizes of their
choosing valued at
under £100
(clothing or
equipment)
Getting more
people in the draw
increases the
value of the prize
to £250
123rf.com Sharing, visiting and
registering,
involvement in the
draw and eagerness
to win.
23/12/19 11:00AM Instagram,
Haven’t figured
out what to get
for your family
and friends this
Xmas?
Submit your best
winter photo for
a chance to win
an 80% discount
off your next
online purchase
at Mountain
Warehouse!
Gettyimages Participation in UGC
competition, sharing
of uploaded content
and conversation
starter, no concrete
reason to criticise the
brand.
30
Date Timing Channels Post Title Summary Source Planned engagement
24/12/19 22:00 Instagram,
Winner of
the UGC
competition
post
See our top 25
best submitted
pictures at our
website as well
as the
upcoming
clearance sales
on Boxing Day!
Users Interest to see if the
uploaded picture was
featured on the website,
as well as interest to see
which items have
clearance sales, referral,
sharing if featured.
26/12/19 8:00AM Instagram,
Boxing day
sale
List of items on
sale, with
discounts next
to each type
Pinterest Referral to the website,
sharing, conversations.
31
Appendix 5 Digital Marketing Analytics
Analytics Tool Strength Weaknesses Crazy Egg Represents data using heat maps and
other useful features for tracking real-time
traffic
Does not explain conversion rates
Google Analytics Configurable UI, visual metrics for
conversions, flexible formatting, unique
STP mechanics
Does not account for why conversions and
referrals occur
Stuffed Tracker Can discern and show the contrast
between organic and inorganic growth
Requires IT expertise beyond that of a digital
marketer
Webtrends Rich data, heat maps similar to Crazy Egg,
live data
Does not justify its high cost in comparison to
rivals
IBM Unica
NetInsight
Fully configurable
eTracker Mouse-tracking, can gather qualitative
feedback from consumers
FireStats Ergonomic, console for logs and live
information feed
Does not run on regular PCs
Bit.ly Cost-effective, simple Does not have any advanced features, very
basic
