Social Media Marketing Strategy Analysis

This assignment delves into the realm of social media marketing, examining various strategies employed to achieve marketing objectives. Students will analyze the effectiveness of different approaches, considering factors such as brand loyalty, audience engagement, and the integration of communication channels. Case studies will be used to illustrate real-world applications of these strategies, providing practical insights into successful social media campaigns.

Professional
Practice
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Identification of social media channels.......................................................................................3
How these channels are used by the business............................................................................11
Additional social media channel................................................................................................15
Recommendations......................................................................................................................17
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................18
References......................................................................................................................................19
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INTRODUCTION
In the modern era with the rise in the level of challenges present in the market, it has
become difficult for the businesses to sustain in the market. Further, social media as one of the
platform is mainly adopted by every company with the motive to enhance awareness in the
market (Tripathi 2017). Networking sites facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc. are quite popular, and
they allow business to share information with the target market on the continuous basis. Apart
from this, it has the positive impact on the sales volume of the enterprise and leads to favorable
results for the organization. The present study carried out is based on Holden Australia which is
an Australian automobile manufacturer headquartered in Melbourne. The company offers the
locally produced range of Commodore vehicles that are supplemented by the GM models. The
report focuses on social media practices of Holden Company along with the benefits obtained by
the firm through these practices.
Identification of social media channels
Different social media channels are present that are employed by the company so as to
focus on different objectives that are linked to overall performance in the market. Further, it is a
well-known fact that with the rise in the level of challenges in the market it has become difficult
for the companies to sustain (Aral, Dellarocas & Godes 2013). Due to this basic reason, modern
tools are undertaken for different purpose such as marketing, hiring new employees, and this is
possible with the help of social media platform that involves facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc.
Networking site such as facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn is used by Holden with the
motive to carry out its overall operations in the market. Further, facebook is mainly adopted for
the company for marketing purpose. Different types of car models are highlighted through this
model, and this supports in highlighting the unique attributes of its product range (Slater 2015).
In short, the Facebook page of highly active and this allows Holden to develop the strong
relationship with its target market in every possible manner. The Company has provided proper
information regarding its product range on the facebook page where customers can easily
comment, and they can give their reviews easily.
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Apart from this, customers can easily post the query that is linked to the product, and this
has the positive impact on the sales volume and profitability level of the business. On a daily
basis, various posts are shared by the company and these posts are associated with the
introduction of new product or modification in the existing range (Belch et al. 2014). So, this
leads to customer attraction and enhances the overall performance of the business in the market.
In addition to this, on Instagram page promotional and marketing practices are carried out
by the business on the continuous basis (Baker 2014). Different type of posts and videos are
shared by the company on daily that highlights the unique attributes of automobile products and
this provides the reason to the customers to purchase the products of Holden Company. Apart
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from this, the Instagram page of the organization reflects that customer base of the business is
quite strong.
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Through these platforms, it is possible for Holden Automobile to market its products in
the proper manner and in turn, it has become easy to satisfy the need of the target market in
every possible manner. No doubt Holden operates in the market where the competition level is
moderate and to deal with this issue adopting social media is one of the best techniques for
attracting customers towards the range of products offered (Ashley & Tuten 2015).
In short, it has acted as the development tool for the enterprise and has allowed gaining
the competitive edge in every possible manner. The messages and posts that are shared by the
company on the Instagram act as the source of customer attraction where customers prefer to
know about the products of Holden.
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Above shown are the LinkedIn posts of Holden Australia that are associated with
recruitment. It has been identified that majority of the staff members are hired by Holden through
this platform. Further, it is a well-known fact that every company is in search for the skilled
workforce and to meet this requirement company focuses on the LinkedIn source (Fan & Gordon
2014).
This platform is appropriate for the business to satisfy its human resource need in the
appropriate manner. Further, different individuals can follow the company through which they
can know the practices of the company such as new type of job post or any other update which is
relevant for them (Luxton, Reid & Mavondo 2015). The main motive behind undertaking
Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn is to develop awareness in the market so that a large number
of customers can know about the products of the company in the market. This has somehow
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supported Holden Automobile to highlight the unique attributes of the product range, and this is
beneficial for the firm in every possible manner (Danaher & Rossiter 2011). So, these are the
main areas that are undertaken by Holden Australia that involves recruitment, marketing,
promotion, etc. Through all these practices products of Holden are popular in the Australian
market and brand awareness level is quite high.
Therefore, it is essential for organization to understand marketing theory so that they may
apply with the business to make effective decisions. With the above different social networking
channels it has been assessed that Holden Australia must engage in using viral marketing theory
for promoting and advertising their range of cars. Through recent development of technology it
has been assessed that technology has affected marketing of their products. Under this theory
company engage in using new form of communication through which they promote information
of their products and it results in viral their products. With the help of using viral marketing
technology Holden Australia deliver creative services to their clients through executing viral
campaigns so that they may easily engage and entertain audiences.
How these channels are used by the business
In the present part, Facebook has been used as the major channels to identify how the
business is performing and operating business in external market place.
Holden is getting huge attention from the customers on Facebook especially when the
business uploads any new post about the services. The brand post images about the cars as per
the utility; hence people prefer to visit the web pages regularly on Facebook. This helps the
business to enhance the brand image of the products. However, Holden does not post any status
regularly; thus people engagement reduces at that time (Bacile, Ye & Swilley 2014). It is
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essential for the company to update posts to retain the customers and also to engage them in
organizational services.
On the basis of above image, it is clear that all the posts of Holden are viewed by people
as they are interested in knowing about the company’s profile and services. Around 4900 people
view the pages of Holden on Facebook which makes it clear that people actively engage in
company’s new products and services (Frow et al. 2015). From the diagram, it became clear that
when Holden uploads any picture about the cars or products, the wide range of people access it.
Thus, as compared to all posts, people view the Facebook page especially when any new pictures
about the cars are being uploaded to the websites (Bacile, Ye & Swilley 2014). As per the
collected data, 6085 customers regularly view Facebook page when Holden posts images and
pictures. On the other hand, people also view the pages when Holden uploads any video; thus
around 500 people access the pages when any videos are uploaded.
The above diagram clearly depicts that people prefer to see the photos as compared to
posts and videos and this aids Holden to get more appreciation from people. At the time of
posting any picture on Facebook, Holden gets huge likes which shows that people rapidly access
the pages. This also represents that people engagement is also higher in Holden’s promotional
aspects (Karjaluoto, Mustonen & Ulkuniemi 2015). Moreover, the number of comments is also
higher when photos are uploaded on constant basis. On the other hand, most of the people also
share the pictures which generate 24% more shares than any other posts. Thus, 2,907 people
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engage with Holden through sharing their posts on Facebook. Hence, people engagement is
effective as compared to other processes. Thus, social media seems to provide numerous benefits
to Holden.
On the basis of above image, it can be said that people are interacting on Facebook more
as compared to any other source. 5300 people showed interest in communicating with the
company through the source “Facebook”. On the other hand, only 869 people preferred to
communicate directly with Holden. Therefore, it is clear that most of the people prefer to contact
through social media source (McDonald & Wilson 2016). Apart from this, it is also identified
most often people gives instant clicks on the pages so as to review the information. Holden has
been using social media for numerous purposes and this also aids the business to enhance the
customer base.
With the help of Facebook, people actively show responses towards Holden’s posts
which depicts that the company has huge customer base. Moreover, this also makes the business
more competent as compared to other rivalries (Blakeman 2014). Apparently, a business needs to
focus on success and growth aspects and for that chief consideration should be given towards
customer oriented approach. This is yet another approach through which customer base of the
company increases. Facebook and other social media sources depicts that a business is socially
responsible and is paying huge attention towards needs and preferences of customers (Laroche,
Habibi & Richard 2013).
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On the basis of above image, it is clear that from past many months, Holden have been
continuously posting on Facebook and accordingly people are engaging in different posts. In the
month of September, huge number of people have accessed Facebook page of Holden and most
of the people have visited the site as well. However, in the month of October less number of
people has reviewed the websites because of fewer posts of the company. The figure shows that
Holden changes the posts in different time period as per the availability of new products and
services.
As per the above image, it is clear that shares of the posts of Holden are increased in the
month of September and this has also encouraged the number of likes in different posts. Most of
the likes are from those people who are interested in getting different automobile services from
Holden. More than 16,000 people have given comments on Facebook page; hence this clarifies
that people are accessing the web pages of Holden. Therefore, it is clear that Facebook page has
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been contributing to enhance the brand image of the company which not only leads to monetary
profits; but also it brings non-monetary benefits.
Concluding the section of analysis, it can be said that Holden is performing successfully
because the customers are engaged in viewing the profile of Holden on social media sources.
Moreover, it is also ascertained that on continuous basis, Holden pays attention towards the
requirements of customers; hence that makes the business more customer oriented (Kitchen &
Burgmann 2015).
Additional social media channel
At present the popular practices of Holden is found on facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn
for different type of purpose. Further, there is a need for the business to adopt some additional
social media channels so that customers can be easily attracted towards the range of products
(Parente & Strausbaugh-Hutchinson 2014). The main reason behind adopting social media
channels is to increase awareness in the market. In near future some additional channel can be
adopted such as YouTube where company can post videos of its products such as cars on
continuous basis for attracting customers in the market. Further, it is a well known fact that
YouTube as one of the social media channel is also famous where majority of the people like it
to access (Percy & Elliott 2016). Apart from this, in the modern era, big brands utilize YouTube
for sharing information with the target market and this has supported them to meet with the
expectations of the target market. Through YouTube company can easily share live videos of its
automobile vehicles (Köhler et al. 2016). Large number of individuals can see video of vehicles
and this will surely support in influencing their purchase behavior in every possible manner
(Shen et al. 2016).
YouTube as one of the social media platform will provide long term benefits to the
business in terms of higher brand awareness, customer satisfaction etc. Holden Automobile has
to deal with various challenges at the time of operating in the market such as competition, legal
and other form of issues that influences business performance in the market (Thorson & Moore
2013).
So, to deal with different challenges it is required to indulge into different type of social
media practices so that awareness level in the market can be enhanced easily (Milichovsky &
Simberova 2015). YouTube is owned by Google and by promoting videos on these social media
different videos are more likely to appear in search results and this provides large number of
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benefits to the business in every possible manner. Pinterest as one of the social media site can
also be undertaken by Holden for promotion and it is one of the most suitable platforms to share
images with the target market. Further, it has been analyzed that through images customers can
be easily attracted towards different type of products and in turn it enhances sales volume of the
company.
One of the key advantages associated with Pinterest is rise in awareness level where it
has been found that it allows business to share information regarding products on continuous
basis and this leads to enhanced market share of the enterprise (Tsimonis & Dimitriadis 2014).
Apart from this, rise in sales volume and profitability level is another benefit of Pinterest where
sharing posts and different type of videos can surely allow enhancing sales volume and this can
act as competitive edge for the business. Holden Australia can easily obtain new leads that can
act as development tool for the company.
Pinterest is regarded as one of the largest website traffic drivers in the world and it has
been analyzed that this social media converts more buyers into buyers. Therefore, these social
media platform is also effective for the business in every possible manner and has allowed the
company with an opportunity to focus on the long term performance for long period of time.
Apart from this, traditional form of marketing is not at all popular and it does not provides long
term benefits to the business (Whiting & Williams 2013).
Recommendations
On the basis of entire analysis there are some recommendations to Holden so that it is
possible for the company to enhance its overall practices at social media. Further, it has been
identified that Holden relies on social media channels such as facebook, LinkedIn and twitter
that has brought favorable results for the firm. But on the other hand, there is a need to adopt
some new channels such as YouTube, Pinterest etc that allows to involve customers into the
promotional means on continuous basis. Apart from this, it is necessary for the marketing
managers of the company to ensure that promotional content is up to date and does not requires
modification.
Time to time reviews of customers must be taken on continuous basis so that company
can know whether its social media practices are effective or not. Focus must be on promotional
content and it must be analyzed whether it is capable enough of influencing purchase behavior of
the target market. Moreover, competitor analysis is necessary to be carried out through which it
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is possible for the business to know social media practices of other companies operating in the
market.
Through this company can get idea whether its social media practices are up to the mark
or not. This will surely bring favorable results for the company in every possible manner and can
allow opportunity to competitive edge over rivalry. Apart from this, company is required to
ensure whether its promotional content is attractive enough or not such as it is delivering
monetary benefits to the business or not.
However, on the other hand, there are several sources that business has adopted and a few
are not contributing in company’s success. Therefore, all such sources should be eliminated and
they should not be included in company’s processes. Apparently, there are varied channels that
do not contribute in success of the product; but it creates burden for the business entity. Holden
also needs to ensure that social media does not produce accurate results all the time as anyone
can post on company’s websites and services.
CONCLUSION
The entire study carried out has supported in knowing about the social media practices of
Holden Australia that are quite effective and has allowed business to gain competitive edge over
rivalry. Further, the company is highly active on facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn for satisfying
different business purpose. For hiring new candidates LinkedIn is used by the company and this
supports to hire the skilled and knowledgeable candidates who can easily satisfy business needs.
Apart from this, from marketing point of view facebook and Instagram are the most appropriate
source that has developed high awareness in the market regarding products and due to this reason
Holden automobile products are popular especially in the Australian market.
It is recommended to the company to add some additional social media channels such as
YouTube and Pinterest through which videos of products can be easily shared and large number
of individuals can easily see them. This will surely allow Holden to improve its marketing
practices and can enhance its customer base in near future also. Moreover, it is required for the
business to ensure that its social media practices are superior from those of its competitors so that
large amount of customers can be easily attracted towards the product range.
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