Monash University: Tesla Social Media Strategy Analysis Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Tesla's social media marketing strategy, with a specific focus on the Australian market. It begins with an executive summary and an introduction highlighting the importance of social media in contemporary business, particularly for a company like Tesla, which revolutionized the electric vehicle market. The report conducts a situation analysis, identifying Tesla's target customers, strengths (expertise in electric vehicles, distinctive marketing), and weaknesses (limited brand value, lack of affordable cars). It also identifies opportunities, such as the growing demand for electric vehicles in Australia. The report examines Tesla's current social media strategy, emphasizing Elon Musk's active presence on Twitter and the generation of word-of-mouth marketing. It then recommends changes to better suit the Australian market, suggesting a greater emphasis on Facebook. The report includes a detailed social media plan for Australia, an action plan with a Gantt chart and budget, and concludes with a summary of findings and recommendations. The report provides valuable insights into Tesla's marketing efforts and offers strategies for enhancing their social media presence and effectiveness in the Australian market.

Running head: SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Social media marketing
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Executive summary
The aim of this report is to discuss about the current social media strategy of Tesla and how it
can be modified and improved in catering to the Australian customers. In this report, the positive
and negative business factors in business operation of Tesla are being identified. In addition, the
target market and positioning statement of Tesla are being identified that can be well aligned
with the social media strategy. This report discussed about the current social media strategy for
Tesla and why they are not effective in the Australian market. Accordingly, a few recommended
steps for social media marketing are being discussed in this report. The latter half of the report
highlights the action plan which needs to be used by the organization and also highlights the time
frame along with costs associated with each component of the social media action plan. The
budget and Gantt chart have also been provided.

2SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Situation analysis.............................................................................................................................4
Identification of the target customers..........................................................................................4
Identification of the strengths......................................................................................................4
Identification of weaknesses........................................................................................................5
Identification of the opportunities...............................................................................................6
Identification of the positioning strategy.........................................................................................6
Social media objectives for Tesla....................................................................................................6
Current social media strategy of Tesla............................................................................................7
Recommended social media strategy...............................................................................................8
Social media plan in Australia...................................................................................................10
Action Plan....................................................................................................................................10
Gantt chart.....................................................................................................................................13
Budget............................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
Reference.......................................................................................................................................16

3SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Introduction
In the current time, social media plays an important role in marketing strategy of the
contemporary business organizations. This is due to the reason that different social media
platforms such as facebook and Twitter are having huge number of active subscribers and this
population can be targeted with the help of effective and efficient social media strategy (Ashley
& Tuten, 2015). However it is also to be noted that trend of social media marketing is changing
with time and more innovative forms are being initiated by the business organizations. Thus, for
the contemporary business organizations, it is important to design the social media strategy
effectively by considering different factors.
Tesla is a leading name in the current automobile market with having the distinction of
initiation the electric vehicle revolution in the global car industry. They first initiated the fact that
electric vehicles can also be practical as well performance oriented also similar to the gasoline
vehicles (Tesla.com, 2018). However, with the growing popularity of the electric vehicles, more
manufacturers are coming up with their own range of electric vehicles. This is posing threat to
the business and profitability of Tesla. In addition, Tesla also changed the existing model or
trend of doing business in car industry by becoming more online oriented company over their
conventional competitors. Thus, social media is an integral part of the marketing strategy of
Tesla.
This report will discuss about the current social media strategy followed by Tesla along
with discussing the recommended changes in their policy. In addition, this report will also
discuss about the positive and negative business factors of Tesla along with determination of the
target customers.

4SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Situation analysis
Identification of the target customers
Primary target customers for Tesla are the rich professionals who are having the
purchasing power of spending premium in buying cars. In addition, customers who are more
environmentally conscious and aware are also the target customers for Tesla due to the fact that
they will more prefers electric vehicles over the gasoline powered vehicles (Reinecke, 2014). In
terms of age groups, middle age customers are targeted due to the reason that they are more
accustomed with the latest technology and they will also prefer the higher performance of Tesla
cars. These customer segments are updated in terms of usage of technology and it is helping
Tesla in involving more technologies in their business policy (Kanagal, 2015). On the other
hand, customers seeking higher and better performance and acceleration from their cars will also
be targeted due to the fact that cars of Tesla will be able to fulfill on these needs. In terms of
geographical segmentation, customers from the urban and tier I locations will be targeted in the
initial stage. This is due to the reason that favorable infrastructure is required for the electric
vehicles such as charging points. These facilities can be made available in the urban areas more
effectively.
Identification of the strengths
One of the major strengths for Tesla is their expertise in producing electric vehicles. They
are the only car producer in the world with having the entire concentration on producing electric
vehicles. Thus, their expertise is more compared to other conventional car markers. In addition,
the popularity of the cars of Tesla helped them in becoming synonymous with the electric
vehicle category (Hardman, Shiu & Steinberger-Wilckens, 2015). Thus, it is beneficial for Tesla

5SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
to push their products in the new market such as Australian market. In addition, the current trend
of awareness among the average customers in Australia regarding the emission from motor
vehicles will also help Tesla to market their products in the Australian market. Tesla will be able
to market their cars as more performance oriented as well as environmental friendly in the
Australian market. Another major strength for Tesla is their distinctive marketing and
distribution strategy (Ratkovic, Krasulja & Garaca, 2013). Tesla is the only car maker in the
current time, which is having their showrooms in the shopping malls. In addition, customers are
given the opportunity to experience the virtual tour of the cars of Tesla. These strategies of Tesla
will further help them in staying ahead in the competition in the Australian market.
Identification of weaknesses
One of the major weaknesses for Tesla is limited brad value and identity compared to
their competitors. Though, Tesla has gained immense popularity in the recent time, but it is not
enough to match the brand value of the players such as Volkswagen and Toyota. Thus, they have
to fight it hard in gaining favorable market share in the Australian market. In addition, the use of
updated technologies in offering services to the customers may have its own set of
disadvantages. This is due to the reason that a limited portion of the target segment will be able
to cope up with the technological advancement of Tesla (Stringham, Miller & Clark, 2015).
Furthermore, Tesla is having currently not having any mass market and affordable cars rather
than they are only having higher end cars in their portfolio. Thus, the customer attractiveness rate
will be less for Tesla. On the other hand, other manufacturers are offering electric vehicles in
cheaper rate. It is also leading to the need of effective media strategy including the social media
strategy in making aware the customers regarding their value proposition (Chen & Perez, 2018).

6SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Identification of the opportunities
It is reported that in the next two decades, electric vehicles will take up half of the total
Australian fleet. This denotes that a good number of electric vehicles are going to be sold in the
following years and Tesla is having the opportunity of tapping this market potentiality. It is also
reported that demand for electric vehicles in the Australian market grew by more than 60 percent
from 2016 to 2017 (Zhou et al., 2015). This is also denoting the brighter picture for business of
Tesla in the Australian market. Currently, the available vehicles available in the Australian
market are Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Bolt. These cars also not performance oriented and thus
Tesla will not have direct competition in operating in the Australian market (Green, Skerlos &
Winebrake, 2014).
Identification of the positioning strategy
Tesla aims to position itself as a premium and higher end electric car maker in the
Australian market. In their existing market of the United States and Canada, same positioning is
being maintained by Tesla (Schmidt & van der Rhee, 2014). This will help Tesla to have less
intensity of competition in the Australian market as very few competitors are operating in the
higher end electric vehicle category. They aim to provide unique driving experience along with
providence of newer features as premium offerings.
Social media objectives for Tesla
 Penetrate in the market in terms of brand value and identity
 Aware the Australian customers regarding the products of Tesla
 To determine the feedback and attitude of the target customers and offering products
accordingly.

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Current social media strategy of Tesla
One of the major characteristics of the social media strategy of Tesla is the online
presence of their CEO Elon Musk. It is reported that Musk is one of the most popular and
engaged CEO of any car makers in the social media especially in Twitter. He tweets in every
single and smallest issue frequently compared to the periodical corporate tweets of other
majority of the corporate CEOs (talkwalker.com, 2018). This is helping Tesla in attaining the
maximum exposure in the social media platforms due to the reason that when a CEO is updating
about each and everything of the brand, then the involvement of the social users will surely get
enhanced. The charisma gained by Elon Musk is helping Tesla to get directly involved with the
potential customers in the social media platforms and getting the insights of their taste and
preference pattern (Anderson & November, 2013). This approach can be considered as one of
most unique concepts due to the fact that it is quite unusual that a CEO is representing the brand
from the front in the social media. This also reflects in the social media popularity of Tesla.

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Figure: 1
Social media buzz of leading car makers
Source: (talkwalker.com, 2018)
The above data shows that Tesla is leading the social media buzz among all the car
makers even by being the newest member in the automobile industry. On the other hand,
Renault-Nissan partnership is the largest electric vehicle manufacturer in the world and still they
are in the 12th position. This shows the effectiveness of the social media strategy of Tesla.
Another social media strategy being followed by Tesla is generating word of mouth
among the public. In this case, they are following the social media strategy of Apple Inc. where
social buzz is created for a certain product (Ottman, 2017). Tesla periodically use their Twitter
handle in updating about their upcoming products and features in their existing products. These
coupled with the innovation and technological advancements in their cars are helping Tesla to
generate enough word of mouth and buzz in the market that they do not have the need for paid
media (Culotta & Cutler, 2016). This is also pushing the sales of them where Tesla as a brand
has become an aspiration for the customers over only being a car maker.
Recommended social media strategy
Though, Tesla is getting success by their existing approach of social media but still they
should have some changes in their existing approaches in operating in Australia. This is due to
the reason that social media trend in Australia is different to that of the western countries. In
addition, the expectation and usage pattern of social media of the Australians is also different to
what of the Americans. It is reported that Facebook is the most active social media platform in

9SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Australia and it is also having most active users followed by YouTube and Instagram and
Whatsapp (wearesocial.com/au, 2018). Twitter is in lower position that denotes that active
customer engagement strategy of Tesla through their Twitter handle will have limited
effectiveness in the Australian market. Thus, it is recommended that Facebook should be more
effectively used by Tesla in communicating with the Australian customers.
Figure: 2
Most active social media platforms in Australia
Source: (wearesocial.com/au, 2018)

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Social media plan in Australia
Communicating through Facebook will not be same like communicating through twitter.
This is due to the reason that with the help of Twitter, Tesla is being able to communicate in
more personalized manner and can initiate one to one communication. This is not possible in the
case of Facebook. Thus, in the case of Facebook, it is recommended that Tesla should analyze
the average trend and pattern of the feedback of the users in designing their business strategy. In
addition, it is also recommended that syncing the official twitter handle of Tesla with that of their
Facebook account will help in generating the feedback of the Facebook users against the Twitter
updates.
It is also recommended that photos and videos should be used more by Tesla for their
Facebook page due to the fact that it will not involve one to one communication like in Twitter.
Users will come up with their opinions against the photos and videos. These photos and videos
should have some Australian perspective that will further help the local customers to relate with
the brand and cultural differences can also be mitigated.
Action Plan
The given action plan outlines the procedures to be followed in the social media strategy
for Tesla and has been designed for a time frame of 15 months.
Sr. No Activity Contents Costs Person
Responsible
Time frame
1 Conducting market
research
In the given
procedure, the
organization will be
conducting adequate
$2000 The Marketing
Manager
2 months

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market research
with respect to the
social media tools
available and the
manner in which
these need to be
invested.
The Firm Head
The research team
2. Deciding upon the
social media
platforms to be used
In this step, the
organization will
decide upon the
different social
media platforms and
tools which they can
make use of based
on their own
capabilities and
performance in
general.
$500 The Marketing
Manager
The Firm Head
The research team
1 month
3. Assembling the team In the given step, the
organization will
establish a specific
team with the help
of which they will
carry out their social
media plans.
$2000 The HR Executive
The Marketing
head
The firm head
1 month
4. Implementation of
various social media
tools
In the given
procedure, the
organization will be
implementation all
its plans related to
the social media.
$18645 The HR Executive
The Marketing
head
The team
5 months