Visual Communication:  Social Media  -  LO2

There are various ways businesses can utilise social media in order to increase awareness and site traffic.  By using a variety of techniques they can help boost the efficiency of their respective marketing campaigns.

One organisation which uses social media platforms is department store John Lewis.  The links to the platforms they use can be found at the bottom of their primary website, www.johnlewis.com.  They include Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram.

Three ways in which they engage with their audience include:

·         Responding to comments made about their products on Facebook.

·         Posting job advertisements, within John Lewis, on their Twitter feed.

·         The use of tagging on Instagram to highlight certain products/manufacturers (e.g. Michael Kors) and make it easy to search for the items on other feeds and their main website.

Some examples are listed below.

We can see here that a John Lewis representative has clarified which brand of handbag can be seen in the picture posted.

 

 

Job alerts for delivery drivers and a Design Placement within their Children’s wear Buying Team.

An example of product ‘tagging’.  Anyone searching for Bareminerals make-up on Instagram may then find the John Lewis post.  By listing the product code, it makes it easier for potential customers to find the product on their website. 

Three linking and participation strategies used by John Lewis include:

·         The #JLLiveBetter tag, to promote their female fitness campaign, in conjunction with Women’s Health Magazine.

·         On the women’s wear section of the John Lewis website, they have a ‘Follow us’ advert to promote the Kin by John Lewis clothing range.  This could lead customers to discover other ranges on their social media platforms that they may not have been aware of.

·         The John Lewis Facebook page has a Shop now button.  This is a ‘call-to-action’ button.  It encourages interaction by Facebook users, as it leads to the primary John Lewis website.  It should be noted however, that it only appears when a user is logged into their Facebook account and cannot be seen by the general public who are not signed up to the Facebook site.

Some examples of these are listed below.

 

This demonstrates the use of their #JLLiveBetter tag on Pinterest, which can be found on their Facebook as well.

 A blog by a lady interested in fitness.  She attended a health and fitness event hosted by John Lewis and also lists in her blog their #JLLive Better campaign and Women’s Health Magazine.  This demonstrates how businesses can get free advertising for their products or services just by using social media.

 

An example of how John Lewis promotes its social media platforms within the various sections of their main website.  This can be found within Women’s Wear.

Highlighting the ‘Shop now’ button.  People have to be logged into their Facebook account to use the button, ‘Like’ or message John Lewis on Facebook.  This is demonstrated on the top.

An example of their Pancake Day video, which received 3,148 likes, 265 comments and 1,155 shares.  This post is also tagged #JLCook.  So anyone searching for cookery related items associated with John Lewis may find this

We can see from the above screenshot , that although new page likes  are down 25.1%, total page likes have risen 0.2% from the previous week.  There are also 11,406 people talking about the Facebook page.  This would suggest that their use of social media has been a success.  As even though 0.2% doesn’t seem like much, this probably equates to around 1,500 new followers.  Meaning 1,500 potential customers are now being made aware of their products.  This is also means another 1,500 people could share the John Lewis page with their friends and generate further interest for the John Lewis brand.

Having looked at John Lewis, I decided to focus on a business less well known for my second review.Juxtapoz Magazine.  Juxtapoz is a monthly magazine, distributed internationally, which is dedicated to ‘covering contemporary artists who deserve crucial attention’.

As they are a monthly magazine, they also sell apparel, accessories, prints and books as another way of making profits.  This in turn means they are quite active on social media, as they need to keep awareness of their product up in between monthly issues.

When you click onto the homepage of their website, the social media platforms that they use are prominently displayed.  These include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, You Tube and RSS.  It also gives you the option to sign up to their mailing list.

Three ways in which Juxtapoz engage with their audience include the following:

·         Uploading images to their Facebook timeline which link to their website.  The images tend to be related to a Juxtapoz article on a featured artist.  Followers of that artist may then also be made aware of Juxtapoz magazine.

·         You Tube clips of visits to artists’ studios.  This includes the artist talking briefly about their work, which will encourage users to then buy the magazine or look for further content on Juxtapoz other social media platforms.  Some videos can also be found on Facebook.

·         Tagging a well-known film (i.e. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) on Twitter, to coincide with a piece featured on their website and therefore increase traffic by alerting those with an interest in cult classic films.

Some examples are listed below.

A Facebook post, promoting the work of Venezuelan artist Benjamin Garcia.

A video on Juxtapoz You Tube channel of a special composition created for them by artist Cleon Peterson.  Their You Tube videos serve as a good tool to alert people to content they may otherwise overlook.

An example of tagging.  In this case its #FerrisBueller.

Three linking and participation strategies used by Juxtapoz include the following:

·         A shop now button on Facebook.  This takes you to the Juxtapoz shop section on their website, where you can purchase the magazine, art books, art prints, Jux branded t-shirts and accessories. 

·         They have consistent branding between their website and social media platforms.  Although there are enough differences so that it isn’t repetitive or boring.  They use some of the same logos (as they have more than one, one is taken from the magazine font itself, the other is the logo featured on their merchandise) and they use some of the same imagery.

·         Tagging Mark Ryden in an Instagram post.  Clicking the tag takes you to his Instagram profile.  Mark Ryden is one of the most well-known and influential artists in the Lowbrow art genre and as a consequence has a large following (149,000 on Instagram alone).  By linking to him, Juxtapoz can increase their following even more.

Some examples are listed below.

Evidence of Juxtapoz ‘Shop Now’ button.

Mark Ryden ‘tag’.  This post alone generated 4,423 likes.

At the time of writing Juxtapoz had 14.7% new page likes, an increase of 0.5% in total page likes and 77,815 people talking about them on Facebook, demonstrating that their use of social media is garnering them a larger following.  This could be due to the content they have been posting and sharing, the people they have been tagging or a combination of both.  They also have a following of It is important for Juxtapoz to have as high a following as possible, especially since less and less people are buying magazines in its hardcopy form.  By keeping its digital presence up-to-date, Juxtapoz will help ensure its future success.  The fact that I am a British follower of an American magazine, shows that their campaign must be doing some good.

The last business I chose to look at was local jewellery company, Sheila Fleet.  As a smaller family run business, Sheila Fleet doesn’t have the clout of a long established business like John Lewis.  This means the use of free social media platforms is all the more important, in order to generate interest in their products.

Sheila Fleet currently only use Facebook and Twitter.  Although, they do feature a blog on their website as well.

Three ways in which Sheila Fleet engage with their audience include the following:

·         Uploading videos to their Facebook timeline.  A recent posting features Sheila Fleet herself, demonstrating the movement of the silver 3 element Tidal Bangle.  Not only did it help to advertise her product, but it also was informative.  It received 1,960 views, 36 likes (which included one by a hotel in Inverness), 3 comments and 1 share.

·         They posted about a jewellery trade show they took part in, in Bavaria, called Inhorgenta.  Some pictures or videos were just for entertainment value rather than purely advertising.  This helps create an affinity between Sheila Fleet and potential customers.

·         They have also responded to customer enquiries, within a few hours.

Some examples can be found below.

A video of Sheila Fleet at Inhorgenta, demonstrating the 3 element Tidal Bangle.

An amusing picture of Sheila Fleet and her employees arriving at the Inhorgenta event.  Post like these give the page a more personable touch.

An example of Sheila Fleet responding to an enquiry by an existing customer.  It is clearly a personal response and not just a stock answer.

Three linking and participation strategies used by Sheila Fleet include:

·         Sponsoring the Orkney graduates exhibition at the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness.  An article appeared in The Herald newspaper about the exhibition, which was tweeted by the Pier Arts Centre and had Sheila Fleet tagged in.  Sheila Fleet then retweeted the comment.  This tweet by itself would have reached not just the Pier Arts Centre and Sheila Fleet’s followers, but The Herald’s as well.  Three sets of people were reached, initially, with just one post.

·         Retweeting posts that relate to Orkney.  As Orkney is synonymous with the Sheila Fleet brand, retweeting comments about it makes sense.  People looking for Orkney related things will then discover Sheila Fleet Jewellery.  However, sometimes other organisations will tag Sheila Fleet.  Visit Scotland is one such example.

·         Sheila Fleet is consistent in their branding over their website and social media platforms.  The same company logo is use on Facebook and Twitter.  Although they have different cover images, which stop it becoming repetitive.  The images themselves are relevant to the business, as they are of the products Sheila Fleet produces.

Some examples are listed below.

Retweeting the Pier Arts Centre’s post.

Visit Scotland tagging Sheila Fleet in their post.

 Examples of Sheila Fleet being consistent with their brand.

In the previous week Sheila Fleet has 467 people talking about them on Facebook, gained 1% in total page likes and generated a whopping 165.6% new page likes!  It would be safe to suggest that their recent social media campaigns have been a success.  The spike could have been caused by various things.  The recent post about Mother’s Day, a post by showing their customers showing of their rings, which included a mention of Highland Park Whisky or because of a recent newsletter produced by orkney.com.  All these things would have helped to generate traffic for Sheila Fleet.  By keeping their sites up-to-date with relevant information they will keep the public interested.

In conclusion, all the campaigns have seen an increase or continued flow of traffic to their respective social media platforms.  Although Sheila Fleet seems to have had the most success recently.  All in all social media is a valuable tool in any business’ marketing strategy.

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