Digital Marketing

Question: Write a report about the social media marketing. Answer: 1.0 Introduction According to Alharbie (2015), marketing is a process or activity in which communication is done between the producer and the customer. This helps an organization to create an awareness of the product or the services. Marketing helps an organization to have a competitive advantage over their organization. In the recent decade social media marketing strategy has evolved as a new form of marketing procedure. Technology has also helped social media marketing to develop at a rapid pace. In this assignment, the researcher has discussed the social media marketing strategy of Optus Communication. The researcher has also analyzed the four-step social model of marketing strategy which will help the organization to reach a new horizon. 1.2 Background of the organization Optus communication is a giant name in the field of telecommunication industry. The organization is the second largest telecommunication company in the field of entertainment and communication industry in Australia (Optus 2016). The organization has started its business in the year 2001 (Optus 2016). Headquarters of Optus Communication is situated at Sydney in Australia. The organization performs its activities under the name of Optus brand. Optus Communication provides mobile services, internet services and along with these, the organization is also diversifying in producing mobile phones. Optus communication is well established in Australia, and the chairperson of the organization is Paul OSullivan. The organization has employee strength of over eight thousand and generates revenue of 8.93 billion Australian dollars (Optus 2016). Optus Communication had started its business back in the year 1981 as a government owned organization. The name of the organization was AUSSAT Pty Ltd and it used to produce satellites for the military services (Optus 2016). The company faced losses in the year 1985 and since then has been converted into a private organization (Optus 2016). After privatization, the organization uses to provide long distance calling facility at a cheaper rate. The organization also built fiber optic cables to connect the local places and provide hassle free services. All these have made Optus communication a favorite among the other competitors. More recently Optus Communication has been able to generate a strong Research and development department to emerge as a leader (Optus 2016). 2.0 Four step model social marketing As stated by Baidya (2014), social media marketing strategy is a popular technique which is used by many organizations in the recent century. Optus Communication has used Social media marketing to reach out to their customers quickly. Social media marketing helps the organization to make aware the mass about their products and services. Social media marketing strategy of Optus Communication is completely different from that of traditional marketing. The organization has divided the social media marketing strategy into four steps. Identifying the goal. Finding out target customers. Setting the benchmark of performances. Scheduling resource management. 2.1.1 Identifying Goal The goal of the Optus Communication is to be the top leader in the field of telecommunication industry. Social media marketing has helped the organization to reach to a number of customers. This will help Optus communication to increase the probable customer potential (Berry 2014). A strong customer base will help Optus Communication to increase its sales. A loyalty of the brand will also be created with the help of Social media marketing. Optus Communication always set goals which are realistic in nature. Within 2017, Optus Communication has a goal to spread across Australia and inform the young generation about their product. According to Cambria et al. (2012), the organization is also targeting to inform near about one million people with the help of social marketing. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram will help Optus Communication to achieve its goal. Optus Communication also changes its goals based on the performance of social marketing strategies. This is helpful to create a bett er awareness of the product. 2.1.2 Identifying customers Finding out audience is also a challenge for the organization. Different social media have a different group of target customers. Facebook is the best medium for Optus Communication to identify customers. Almost about ninety percent of the population of Australia is connected to Facebook (Carlson and Lee 2015). Promotions and advertising in Facebook will help the organization to increase their customer base. LinkedIn will also help Optus Communication to create corporate customers, and the organization can also create premium customers with the help of LinkedIn. Twitter will also help the organization to reach a large portion of the untapped market. 2.1.3 Setting benchmark performances The benchmark performance of the organization is also an important concern. According to Gupta, Tyagi and Sharma (2013), benchmark is determined by tracing the number of persons who are hitting the site of the organization. Optus Communication keeps a track of the number of hits in a day. Along with these, the number of likes in the group of Optus community on Facebook is also an important benchmark for the organization. Optus Communication has set a minimum like of 100 potential customers in their group on Facebook. Increasing number of Twitter followers, tweets on the comments is also helping Optus communication to increase their customers (Kim and Ko 2012). Increasing group members in LinkedIn is also an indication that the social media marketing strategy is showing a positive movement. Tracking Blog traffic is also helpful for Optus communication to increase its potential customers. 2.1.4 Scheduling resource management Optus Communication is using resource management techniques to utilize the resources at its maximum level. In this stage, Optus communication focuses on setting deadlines for the employees to enhance their social media marketing strategies. Social media marketing strategy of Optus Telecommunication is the part of personal relationship department (Lhr 2013). The organization also has both external and internal human sources to support the marketing strategies. Different employees handle the video editing, community management, and creative work. A well-developed marketing team of the organization is always engaged in finding out innovative social media strategies to attract new customers. 3.0 Social media used by Optus Communication According to Tuten and Solomon (2013), social media marketing strategy has become viral in the recent century. Many organizations are using social media to promote its product and services. Optus Communication has a strong research and development department which is always engaged in producing new products and service. They are also involved in spreading information about their products with the help of websites and different social media. 3.1.1 Website Marketing Website marketing is an important tool which is used in the recent century. In the present scenario, human beings are tech friendly, and they use the internet to get their desired information (Vries, Gensler and Leeflang 2012). In website marketing, Optus Communication gives the details of their product on their website. Even the prices of the products are also given on the website. A new app has been launched by the organization. With the help of this app, customers can buy the products with just a click. These have helped Optus Communication to increase their online sale. The customers are also satisfied as they can buy products without any problem, and the products are being delivered to their desired location. 3.1.2 Facebook promotion Facebook is an effective channel to communicate with the customers. Optus Communication has a Facebook page where all the recent activities of the organization are being posted. Special events like promotion, the launching of the new product, sponsorships by the organization are also being posted in the group (Carlson and Lee 2015). The fan following of the organization is also increasing recently. This shows that Optus Communication is using Facebook to create awareness about the product. 3.1.3 Promotion through YouTube YouTube has also become a popular tool which is being used by the public in their daily activity. Optus Communication has understood the mentality of the people and has created a short film of 5 minutes. In this short clipping, the organization has expressed their strengths and different types of products which the organization produces. This strategy will help Optus Communication to inform people about their product. Along with these, Pop-ups are also being used by the organization to promote their different activities. 3.1.4 Promotion through television and radios Television and radios are used by the organization to promote its product. According to Gupta, Tyagi and Sharma (2013), advertisement in television will quickly attract the attention of the customers, and this procedure is used by the organization. The organization has also sponsored different sports activities to attract customers attention. Radio has also made the marketing attractive by using taglines in a new manner. 4.0 Recommendation To improve social media marketing by using digital flex and banners. A regular monitoring of the content of advertisement will help to promote the product. To introduce a famous personality like sports person or politicians as brand ambassadors. To find out new social media like Instagram to promote the organization and products. 5.0 Conclusion The researcher has thoroughly discussed the different steps which have helped Optus Communication to develop its social marketing strategy. The strategy helps to find out the target customers and identify the goals of the organization. The loyalty to the brand is created with the help of media marketing. The organization has also set up a benchmark with the number of likes in the group. All these have helped Optus Communication to become a strong competitor in the field of the communication industry. References Alharbie, A. 2015, "Business Growth thru Social Media Marketing",International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies,vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 873. Baidya, M. 2014, "Special issue on Social media marketing",Journal of Indian Business Research,vol. 6, no. 1. 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