Telstra's Innovative International Marketing with Social Media

This essay critically evaluates how Telstra, a leading telecommunications organization in Australia, utilizes digital social media to create innovative international marketing strategies. It discusses the significant role of social media in modern organizations for increasing brand awareness and improving communication with customers and employees. The essay highlights Telstra's social media activities, focusing on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and examines how these platforms facilitate transparency and gather customer feedback. It also explores Telstra's internal programs like "Telstra Exchange" for enhancing employee communication and training programs for effective social media usage. Furthermore, the essay analyzes Telstra's marketing mix, including product, price, place, and promotion, and how social media strategies complement these elements to maintain a competitive edge in the telecommunications industry.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Modern organizations need use the opportunities which are provided by social media
in order to create their position in the industry. Social media is able to provide an effective
platform to the organizations in order to increase their awareness levels among the
consumers. A major marketing based role is played by social media within the organizations
which is helpful in the proper development of clients and customers. Social media is also
helpful for the organizations to serve the customers and develop effective communication
levels as well. The modern organizations can thereby use social media in order to develop
innovative marketing strategies (Ashley & Tuten, 2015).
This essay will be based on the analysis of social based strategies which have been
used by an organization in order to develop its position in the industry. The company which
has been taken into consideration for this analysis is Telstra. Telstra Corporation Limited is a
leading telecommunication based organization which has its operations in Australia.
Different services which are offered by Telstra include, pay television, mobile internet based
access and different other products. Telstra has been able to develop a history in Australia
with respect to its origins (Telstra.com.au., 2018). The social media activities of Telstra in the
telecommunications industry will be analysed in the essay. The product of Telstra which has
been considered for the analysis is “mobiles on a plan”.
Discussion based on the effect of social media on international marketing
As discussed by De Mooij (2018), social media has been able to play a key role in the
ways by which lives of people have been changed and workplace environment of
organizations are affected. The connection and communication based levels among the
employees and customers have been an important part of the usage of social media. The
different social media based channels that are significant to the social media strategy include,

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Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Telstra has been able to develop effective social
media based strategies which plays a major role in the communication process among the
employees.
As argued by Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch (2017), the ideas and beliefs of different
types of employees are thereby represented in an effective manner with the help of social
media based usage. The company is thereby able to maintain high levels of transparency
among the employees and with the customers as well. Telstra has thereby developed a hub
based on ideas and news which has been named as “Telstra Exchange”. This program is
mainly aimed at developing effective levels of communication among the employees who are
considered to be an important part of the organizational operations.
The levels of transparency which are expected from the employees are thereby
ensured with the help of proper usage of social media within Telstra. The feedback which is
thereby provided by the consumers is an important part of the social media based strategy.
The thoughts of customers can be heard with the help of social media usage. The social
media based team of the organization is thereby committed towards providing 24*7 support
to the consumers. The CrowdSupport community which has been developed within the
website of the company is helpful in providing support to the customers (Guesalaga, 2016).
The employees who are a part of Telstra are provided effective levels of training in
order to use social media for communicating among themselves and the customers as well.
The employees will thereby need to participate in the training programs based on social
media. The employees thereby need to be trained before they are able to represent Telstra on
different social media based platforms. A company based policy has thereby been released by
the carrier and media based organization in order to prevent different issues which take place
on the social media platforms (Hajli, 2014). The issues which have taken place between the

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management of Telstra and the employees on social media platforms can thereby be
prevented with the help of proper training. Major aim of the training is related to the ways by
which employees can update their knowledge based on the emerging trends on social media
platforms and the best practice related to social media as well (Theaustralian.com.au., 2018).
The employees or staff members are thereby provided with effective levels of
knowledge based on their domain which can be used for solving issues which are faced by
the customers. The employees are also not allowed to share confidential information related
to the organization on the social media platforms. The policies which have been set up by
Telstra are based on the regulations which the employees need to follow in order to
communicate with the customers. The personal use of social media by the employees of
Telstra is not affected by the policies which are developed by the company (Hollebeek,
Glynn & Brodie, 2014).
The mobile data based plans which are provided by Telstra are a major part of the
services which are offered by the company. Telstra had thereby merged the activities with
Facebook in order to provide live chat based services to the consumers. The organization
aimed at reaching the customers with the help of its products and services. Facebook has
millions of users which can act as an important source for Telstra and the products that are
offered by the company. The live chat based function which has been developed by Telstra is
thereby available all through the day in order to solve different issues which are regularly
faced by consumers (Ioanăs & Stoica, 2014). Twitter is also used by Telstra in order to reach
the consumers and provide effective information based on their services and products. The
organization is able to deal with the inquiries which are made by the users based on the
mobile plan based services offered by Telstra. The company has developed a team which is
able to monitor the chats and inquiries which are made between the customers and employees
(Kilgour, Sasser & Larke, 2015).

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Telstra thereby aims at engaging with the customers online which helps in providing
recognition to the business with respect to changes which take place based on their needs.
The increase in usage of technology is considered to be a major factor which affects the
social media strategies developed by Telstra. The organization offers Android operating
system based phones to the customers along with different plans which are able to suit their
needs on an effective manner (Killian & McManus, 2015).
The social media based strategy which has been made by Telstra is based on the push
related to reach more and more customers within a short period of time. Telstra has been able
to increase awareness levels of the company with the help of its effective social media based
strategy. The advertisement based activities that are performed by Telstra are also supported
effectively with the help of the strategy which has been implemented by the company on
social media (Kumar et al., 2016).
Social media plays a major role in the proper operations of an organization like
Telstra. The modern organizations need to develop communication levels with the customers
and among the employees as well. The innovative strategies implemented by an organization
on social media are thereby able to create its position within the customers. The marketing
mix of an organization is also affected in a huge manner by the social media based strategies
(Leeflang et al., 2014).
The marketing mix of Telstra is also affected in a huge manner by innovative social
media based strategies which have been implemented by the company. The organization has
been able to involve the employees and the customers within the innovative social media
based strategies which have been developed by the management. The marketing mix of the
organization is thereby developed in such a manner which will be able to complement the
social media based strategies of Telstra (Ryan, 2016).

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Marketing mix of Telstra –
Product – Telstra has developed its position as one of the biggest telecom based
organization in Australia. The organization has been serving many different categories with
the help of its different products. The categories which are thereby served by the company
include, small business, personal and Business & Enterprise. The personal category of the
organization is based on products like, tablets, pre-paid mobile phones, broadband and
bundles, smart home and mobile broadband. The personal category of products is thereby
based on effective social media based strategies that are developed by Telstra (Schivinski &
Dabrowski, 2016). The most important part of the operations of the company is based on the
products which are offered to the customers with the help of its mobile post-paid plans. The
organization has been able to maintain effective levels of contact with the customers through
the social media based strategies. The product based strategy of the company is thereby an
important part and is related to the social media strategies of Telstra. The employees are
included in social media based strategy in order to help them in solving the issues which are
faced by the customers (Zhu & Chen, 2015).
Price – The pricing based strategy which has been adopted by Telstra is highly
competitive in nature. The marketing mix based strategy of the organization is thereby totally
based on the ways by which Telstra aims at maintaining its topmost position in the industry.
The combo based packages of Telstra have been priced in such a manner which helps the
company to compete in the telecommunications based industry. The mobile related plans
which have been formed by the company are priced effectively by the company (Ashley &
Tuten, 2015). The social media pages and connections of the company have been helpful in
for Telstra to communicate its plans to the respective consumers. The organization is able to
reach the consumers with the help of social media connections of Telstra. This is thereby
helpful for Telstra to reach a larger number of customers as compared to its competitors in

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the Australian telecommunications industry namely, Vodafone and Optus (Schivinski &
Dabrowski, 2016).
Place – The online platforms are used by Telstra in order to communicate with the
customers and facilitate the levels of sales of different services and products. The websites of
the company are able to display all the relevant information based on different products like,
mobile phones and other promotional offers. The stores of the organization also consist of
help desks which are based on support that is provided to the customers. The organization
also operates many offline stores which are helpful in providing connection with the
employees (Kilgour, Sasser & Larke, 2015). The stores of Telstra thereby include Wi-Fi
hotspots which provide effective opportunities to the customers to connect. The social media
and different online platforms of Telstra provide communication based opportunities to the
company in order to provide offers to customers. The connection which is developed by the
company with customers is quite helpful in developing communication and selling the
products effectively as well (Leeflang et al., 2014).
Promotion – The promotional offers which are made by Telstra which include,
doubling data provided to consumers are communicated through the online platforms. The
company aims at developing and providing the special offers during different festivals. The
promotional strategies formed by Telstra are thereby based on offering the mobile plans at
highly discounted rates and developing hotspots in order to improve the levels of visibility
(Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2016). The smart usage of social media based platforms is an
important part of the promotional strategies which are developed and implemented by
Telstra. The hotspots which are formed by the company are helpful in creating high levels of
awareness and buzz among the consumers. The offerings of the company are thereby
promoted effectively through different social media based platforms of Telstra (Hollebeek,
Glynn & Brodie, 2014).

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According to Tiago and Veríssimo (2014), the marketing mix based activities of
Telstra are important for developing effective customer base of the company. The marketing
mix models and factors of the company are thereby helpful in the identification of
performance levels, profits and drivers of the sales as well. The organization is also able to
analyse different marketing scenarios and tactics within a specific period of time. The
organization is able to assess the levels of budget which need to be allocated through
different types of channels. The levels of spending which need to be made in different
channels and areas of the organization can be analysed with the help of proper development
of marketing mix. Different assumptions which are made by the company are also effective
for the development of proper marketing mix.
According to Tsimonis and Dimitriadis (2014), the marketing mix based models of
the organization can also face many different limitations related to time and significant levels
of costs. The lack of transparency levels and measurement based standards are also
considered to be major limitations of marketing mix. The messy levels of data which are used
by the organization can affect the marketing mix which has been formed by Telstra. The
advertising based content of the organization is also considered to be a major factor which
can act as a limitation in this case.
Marketing mix is based on the generalisation of different types of products and
services. This a major disadvantage as some of the angles are not always effective for
different products. The development and selection of best practice is quite tough in this case.
The approach which is made by the company with the help of marketing strategies can also
be considered to be highly risky in nature. The creative levels of different approaches are
based on the response which is provided by the consumers who are targeted by the company.
The creative approaches are thereby helpful in differentiating the company from the
competitors in the industry (Tuten & Solomon, 2017).

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Conclusion
The essay can be concluded by stating that the modern organizations need to develop
effective social media marketing based strategies in order to operate in the industry in a
profitable manner. Telstra has been able to use the social media based strategies in order to
increase the levels of awareness and further to develop its position in the industry as well.
The competitive telecommunications industry is thereby an important factor which is affects
the social media based strategies. The marketing mix which has been developed by Telstra is
also affected by the social media activities of the company. Telstra has thereby included
social media strategies within the marketing mix which has been developed for the target
customers. Marketing mix developed by Telstra is able to affect the ways by which the
organization is able to form its position in the industry. The activities related marketing mix
of the organization have some major levels of disadvantages as well. These disadvantages are
based on the ways by which the different products are offered to the suitable customers.
Marketing mix of the organization is however not able to relate to different products which
are offered by the company to the customers. The activities based on marketing mix of
different organizations thereby have many different advantages and disadvantages which can
affect the customer base.

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