Yan Ting's

1a. Identify and elaborate on two factors that impact the success of a social media marketing campaign? Provide one example of a successful social media marketing campaign that has incorporated any of these two factors. (7 marks)

Content is King. It has been mentioned in class and proven true so many times, having great content is really the key and the most vital factor to having a successful social media marketing campaign. It is easy to tap on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter etcetera which provides countless of opportunities for marketers to reach their specific audience but social media marketing does not work the same way advertising does. There is so much information on the internet, consumers are forced to filter these information and pick only the ones which stands out the most to them. They now look for content which is interesting and attention-grabbing, something which is worth them clicking that ‘Retweet’ button or share it on their Facebook walls. It is so easy to assume that the launching of a social media campaign will be easy, because after all it is just a few clicks of the mouse. But what is difficult is motivating the consumer to do so and giving the consumer the extra kick and the extra push to action and this is where content is the deciding factor of the success or failure of the social media marketing campaign.

Interactivity can probably come second to content. As mentioned above, social media marketing does not work the same way advertising does. It is no longer a one-way street where marketers can just dump information on the consumer. Consumers look for interactivity and as more people contribute or interact with the campaign, the value is increased. Incorporating interactivity in social media marketing campaigns can help generate re-visits and upkeep a constant communication with the consumer. This helps establish a solid social media marketing campaign as people will follow up on the interaction and check for updates, ensuring that this the message will not be a one-off experience. As the campaign devotes time and effort to build relationships with consumers, the benefits that the organisation can potentially receive are boundless as well.

An example which has been used countless of times to establish the two factors of content and interactivity is the Old Spice guy commercials. The content was funny and interesting and drew so many visitors and viewers to the campaign, making it a huge success. Furthermore, they took it to another level when Old Spice guy recorded his video responses in rapid succession based on comments left on YouTube and various mediums. The campaign spread like wildfire and the videos generated hundreds and thousands of views.

1b. In relation to your group’s social media marketing campaign for DMC, provide one example of how each factor identified in 1a has impacted the execution of this campaign. (7 marks)

Content has driven the group’s social media marketing campaign for DMC as the team thought of various ways to produce content that would be of interest to our target audience ie Secondary school students and industry partners. We initially had many ideas for the content of the blog to have a people-driven content-based blog where a community will be formed online but due to practical reasons, many of the ideas were dropped. However, an example of how we use content to generate awareness is by having a guest blogging segment where content is not only produced by us but produced by people who are very involved and tied in to the daily lives of being part of DMC. For this segment, we will have updates from lecturers, current students, and even students who have graduated so this provides a very complete insight to life in DMC and strongly adds content to the blog.

For the group’s execution of the social media marketing campaign, we try to generate interactivity with the industry partners and secondary students by launching ‘Rants and Raves’ where people can send in their reviews and stand chances to win prizes and comment on the blog as well.

2. Elaborate on two strengths and two weaknesses you see in yourself when working in a team. (6 marks)

As compared to my team mates, I have a lesser tendency to digress from the task at hand and try to keep the team on track and draw their focus back to work when they do so. There are too many distractions in the group sometimes. Things such as the latest gossip, Facebook, Twitter constantly causes the team to lose focus. I am guilty of the above mentioned activities sometimes, but most of the time I can stop myself in time.

One of the strengths that I can say that I have confidently is diligence. I constantly push myself and my group mates hard to put in excessive and sometimes exhaustive amounts of effort in our group projects. I think being hardworking and committed to what you are doing is good and it ultimately benefits everybody on the team as we learn and improve together, whether it is our working ethics, our team dynamics or whatsoever. This is why I genuinely believe that diligence always pays off and the team will eventually bear the fruits of our labour. Therefore, when working in teams, I constantly strive hard to get that A (which is oh so difficult to get!).

However, I also understand that I can take ‘working hard’ to the extreme sometimes and not know where to stop or draw the line. This results in just focusing on the end results and causes the process to be a torturous and strenuous one for the team. I used to see it in a “to get those good results, I will do anything and everything in my power” mindset. But overtime I realised that this can be extremely detrimental to the team as I have the tendency to be insensitive towards the well-being or feelings of other individuals and it will demoralise the team. I am aware of such flaws and it is vital that I change and draw boundaries to being diligent and learning to enjoy the process of working.

It is difficult to admit but another weakness that stems from being overly-diligent is that I am the pessimist of the team. I tend to see things in the bad light all the time and this might be due to being afraid of missing something out or worrying that it is not good enough. I often lack the confidence in my team and in myself as well to produce the best results and that is why I am always questioning whether what we have done is enough and whether there is any room for improvement. Overtime, this takes a toll on the team again because of excessive second-guessing. I guess to a certain extent this can be good as well to prevent having any loopholes in our work but again, the key lies in drawing the boundaries and knowing where to stop.