by Seb Joseph

Source: http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/04/30/kia-motors-doubles-impact-social-media-marketing-less-half-cost

Kia Motors is more precisely targeting paid posts to social media users who are most likely to engage with the content after early tests had double the impact at less than half the cost.

The move stems from the car marker’s view that social media marketing should be treated as a media planning and buying exercise prioritising impressions. It has led to it building a deeper analytics approach beyond what social networks traditionally offer like ‘likes’ or ‘followers’, which in turn underpins its latest approach to brand building at scale.

In partnership with Accenture, Kia batched together its social media followers based on a breakdown of its data on user engagement in social channels to different car models and different post types. The analysis gave it a clearer view on how to precisely target paid posts to social media users who are most likely to engage with the content.

The company did not reveal the performance statistics to back up the approach but assured that the new strategy had “significantly increased the effectiveness of its social media marketing”, with results showing more than twice the level of positive interactions with followers at less than half (47 per cent) the cost.

While the approach heavily leans on appealing to existing fans, Kia is calling on other parts of the mix such as search and video to help build the brand in the eyes of those who don’t know it well.

Soon-Nam Lee, vice president of overseas marketing group of Kia Motors, said: “We‘ve been very successful in growing our base of fans and followers on social channels to approximately 21 million, which has made a huge contribution to our rapidly expanding brand value for the past several years.

“With the help of Accenture, Kia is now taking social media marketing in the automotive industry to the next level with increased customer engagement that ensures we are best placed to meet consumers’ changing requirements. We will continue our efforts to provide more personalised and relevant messages for our customers.”

The move aims to get the Kia brand further up a purchase funnel that is fast becoming fragmented as drivers rely on multiple channels to perform everything from research to booking test drives when car hunting. It is why the company’s UK arm is currently pumping more spend into video, particularly on Facebook, with prospects consuming video increasingly during the latter stages of the car buying process.

by Brett Relander

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245306

Are social media marketing and content marketing two disparate entities, or could they perhaps be a marriage made in heaven?

Unfortunately, many brands approach both as if one has nothing to do with the other. The simple fact is that social media marketing cannot function without content. If you have no content, you have nothing to share, tweet or post. Without valuable content, you cannot drive engagement on social media. Therefore, it only stands to reason that content serve as the heart of any successful social media marketing campaign.

With that said, unlike traditional content marketing, content within the sphere of social media marketing must serve specific purposes. To be effective, content for social media marketing must be designed to fit the parameters of specific platforms and, furthermore, must be developed to either generate discussion or provide an open dialogue for current customers. The tips below will guide you through the process of bringing social media and content marketing together.

1. A/B test content for effectiveness with your audience.

Simply publishing content on social media and hoping it sticks is not an effective plan. Testing a variety of content and messages across different networks can help you to determine which type of content resonates best with your audience.

If you only publish one piece of content and you do not receive the response you expected, you may never know exactly what was wrong with it. A/B testing can give you the insight you need to determine how to best connect with specific audiences.

2. Optimize content for specific social media networks.

Your audience can choose from a range of different social media networks. Whether it's Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest, each social media network has its unique audience and features. Ignoring these unique qualities is tantamount to disaster in terms of social media marketing.

By contrast, taking the time to ensure that the content you publish on each platform is optimized for that specific channel will give you a far greater chance to connect with the audiences most likely to frequent that platform.

For instance, while Twitter has a strict 140-character limit and demands concise but powerful content, content on Facebook is far more flexible, but typically requires the inclusion of a photo or video in order to gain traction.

3. Tap your audience for ideas.

Take the time to ask your followers and fans for suggestions regarding the types of content that interests them. There are also tools you can leverage to determine the types of content most likely to gain traction in your social media marketing, such as Nexalogy, which can generate a map of the types of topics that your followers and fans are discussing.

Social media provides a venue for giving your content its own voice. With careful planning, you can bring content marketing and social media together to create a highly successful social media marketing campaign.