Social Media Analysis by Chelsie Sanchez

Transcription

1 by Chelsie Sanchez

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction of client and product category Introduction of client and product Overview of current Facebook marketing II. Analysis of client s social media page Overall observation of popular content Successful fan page posts Unsuccessful fan page posts III. Analysis of competitors social media pages Overall observation of popular content Successful fan page posts Unsuccessful fan page posts IV. SWOT and insights SWOT analysis SWOT conclusions and insights Similarities/differences with competitors V. Recommendations for the client

3 About Yogitoes Established in 2003, this innovative yoga product company creates unique and sustainable products for yogis to enhance their practice with. After the founder and CEO, Susan Nichols, invented Skidless technology and coined the name Yogitoes, the brand quickly became a favorite among the yoga community. They are currently based in Santa Monica, California. INTRODUCTION OF THE CLIENT Mission yogitoes mission of sustainability for mind, body, spirit and mother earth is the heart of the company. Company Overview Yogitoes partners need with design to create unique, sustainable products that support a yogic lifestyle and has recently demonstrated a huge commitment to using recycled content in all of their products and packaging. To date, Yogitoes has already diverted nearly 900,000 plastic bottles from entering landfills or polluting the world s oceans. Background Inspired after slipping on her yoga mat, CEO and yogi Susan Nichols, launched Yogitoes in 2003 with the invention of Skidless - a revolutionary towel that combined super absorbent microfiber with silicone nubs, or dots that grip so you don t slip. This created a new industry - towels designed for a yoga practice. Since then, Yogitoes has continued to create innovative products that have come from need and inspiration to help yoga practitioners of all levels and yoga styles grow their practice, while helping the planet. Yogitoes has deep cultural and philosophical roots that are focused on human and environmental wellness. Since inception, they have maintained a conscious approach to sustainability and mindful practices; from manufacturing to overall operations, to cause involvement and continue to be a leader as a practicing socially conscious company. rexperience Lab Newly renovated and praised for being the greenest office on Main Street in Santa Monica, the rexperience Lab represents a new business model, which places community outreach above retail sales. Serving as a retail show room and event hosting space, customers can stop by to test out new products and learn about the sustainability of our company and the organizations we support.

4 Chelsie Sanchez yogitoes OUR PRODUCTS High-quality, innovative yoga accessories made from recycled content, including every product in the new ryoga Collection. Mat-size towels utilize between 4 and 8 plastic water bottles in production! FACEBOOK MARKETING Yogitoes chooses not to make its Facebook fan page primarily for marketing. They opt instead for providing their readers with inspirational messages and images (which will be examined later). Here are the few examples of recent marketing of promoted products and/or events Sponsored event Product promotion rexperience Lab giveaway SOA Award Announcement

5 Chelsie Sanchez FACEBOOK OVERVIEW FAN PAGE Since the content on the yogitoes Facebook fan page has not changed much over the past couple of years, the data provided and analyzed will consider up to the last three months of postings. Rather than bombard their viewers with advertising and self-promotion, Yogitoes posts messages and images they know will inspire their consumers and fans. Yogitoes posts an average of five times per daywhich means they are constantly in the public s newsfeed! The understandably most popular posts (according to the amount of Likes ) include content related to: animals, nature, healthy eating, extreme yoga poses and words of wisdom. Yogitoes has a specific target audience and knows they do not need to do much advertising to push their products on consumers. Their Facebook fan page has mostly content related to maintaining a happy, healthy lifestyle. They understand that by emphasizing this important facet of the company s mission, they will gain fans and potential customers who share the same values. Yogitoes always starts the day with a good morning intention

6 SUCCESSFUL FACEBOOK POSTS Because of the general mission of the company and the message it promotes on its fan page, there are typically many Likes on most of their postings. Aside from the popular content mentioned above that is consistently posted, Yogitoes also demonstrates the importance of: cultural diversity (left), family (below left), and responding quickly to a follower who is perhaps in need (below). All of these are examples of success because of the positive response the posts invoke from the viewers. This is the most Liked post of the year so far. Incorporating yoga and its teachings into every day life is something that is highly encouraged on the fan page on a daily basis, and the public seems to enjoy that aspect very much.

7 Chelsie Sanchez UNSUCCESSFUL FACEBOOK POSTS Since most of Yogitoes s followers on Facebook are typically people who already do yoga, they are usually very intrigued by the inspirational posts. However, some posts create backlash from certain viewers who disagree with or don t understand the intended message. This post is one of only a handful of posts that received very few Likes. Perhaps it is because viewers don t understand the message or intention of this image. This post received the most comments on the page s history, with the majority being snide comments between Facebook members who disagreed about the banning of single-use plastic water bottles. The intended message of this posting was to raise awareness about one aspect of yogitoes s mission: to support the sustainability of our planet s resourcessomething some fans clearly didn t agree with. Although this post gained many Likes, this is an example of a failure to respond to someone who maybe needed clarification of the intended message of the post. By not responding, they allowed a negative comment to remain on post without any explanation or follow up.

8 COMPETITION: MANDUKA COMPANY AND FACEBOOK OVERVIEW MANDUKA Already a favorite yoga mat brand among the yoga community and offers very high-quality products. They are very active with charities and have put forth efforts to begin introducing the use of recycled materials in some of their products. They sell their products in many yoga studios and sports stores, although they do not have retail stores of their own. They market to a very similar target audience as Yogitoes, and have been successful in their campaigns. Manduka has three times the amount of followers on Facebook than Yogitoes, and has a similar amount of Likes and comments on postings. Manduka s posts are somewhat centered around promoting products; often particular campaigns they are currently running. Their other posts include inspirational images, words of wisdom, and a daily Today we are practicing... post. They also support and share other company s websites.

9 COMPETITION: MANDUKA SUCCESSFUL POSTS This post is successful based on the significant amount of Likes it gained. The use of a simple message and image proved to be extremely effective at reaching the desired audience. This post demonstrates how Manduka not only responds quickly to its followers, but also offers additional information to continue promoting the campaign.

10 COMPETITION: MANDUKA UNSUCCESSFUL POSTS This promotional post is unsuccessful because it failed to gain a high amount of likes, and also shows how Manduka failed to respond to a potential customer. This post promoting a recent giveaway campaign failed to intrigue a significant audience based on the amount of Likes.

11 COMPETITION: GAIAM COMPANY AND FACEBOOK OVERVIEW GAIAM is already an enormously established brand that features an entire Gaiam community and offers a wide variety of products (yoga and home related). They offer their products at lower prices than many other, competing yoga brands. They advertise frequently, market to individuals of all geo-and-psychographics, and include much of their line in low-price retail stores like Walmart and Target. Gaiam has almost five times the amount of followers on Facebook than Yogitoes, but their posts have far fewer Likes and comments. Gaiam s post are typically promotions of new products, sales or giveaways. Some of their other posts relate to healthy eating and living, but do not always feature many images and words of wisdom.

12 COMPETITION: GAIAM SUCCESSFUL POSTS This is a successful post because without the use of image, Gaiam is still able to receive a significant amount of fan feedback in both Likes and comments. This promotional post was successful because it gained a good amount of Likes, and also demonstrates Gaiam s quick response to a customer s pressing question.

13 COMPETITION: GAIAM UNSUCCESSFUL POSTS This post showed how Facebook marketing can prove to be unsuccessful. A few Facebook members commented on their dislike of Gaiam s Facebook sales promotions, and Gaiam failed to address those members negative comments. This post was an attempt to promote another social media page. Gaiam tried to spark interest in its followers by asking them to comment, but ended by promoting its own Pinterest page and as a result received no comments and only 2 Likes.

14 SWOT ANALYSIS of Yogitoes Facebook posts STRENGTHS Quick response time when consumers require feedback Lack of negative feedback posts from dissatisfied customers Daily inspirational images and words of wisdom earn significant amounts of Likes and comments Ability to promote a positive brand tone and express brand s mission, even without promoting specific products WEAKNESSES Lack of posts dedicated to marketing of actual products Customers looking for product information on page may have to navigate through clutter of posts unrelated to products Significantly less Facebook followers than competitors in same industry OPPORTUNITIES The steadily growing yoga industry allows for a potential to increase the number of Facebook fans Negative feedback on competitors fan pages may cause consumers to redirect their interest towards Yogitoes The ever-increasing technological capabilities of Facebook create opportunity for any company wishing to market directly through fan pages THREATS High number of fans on competitors pages presents the possibility of them gaining much more exposure through their fans Likes and shares Certain heavy yoga practitioners tend to avoid excessive use of technology and react to more personable forms of advertising

15 SWOT ANALYSIS CONCLUSIONS Yogitoes has been successful at establishing the brand s tone by communicating with its followers through the use of inspirational words and images. Their posts often receive positive feedback, and generate significant amounts of Likes and shares, even though they rarely promote Yogitoes campaigns or products. Although many followers enjoy the content of the fan page, there is a distinct lack of product information available at first glance, which may lead some consumers to seek out other yoga product brands. Facebook is continuously updating its features, specifically those related to marketing. That aspect, in addition to a steadily growing yoga industry, can lead to the possibility of gaining potential customers who would otherwise not hear about the brand. Although competitors have well-established Facebook followings and significantly more fans than our client, Yogitoes appears to receive more feedback on posts in general. While Facebook can be an effective medium of marketing and spreading brand awareness, the target audience for Yogitoes also includes consumers who choose not to use Facebook on a regular basis.

16 COMPETITION similarities and differences Yogitoes has established itself as a unique yoga company who truly cares about spreading its mission through the use of social media. Even though it has fewer followers on its Facebook fan page than both its competitors, the followers of the Yogitoes page tend to interact more than those of the competitors. Manduka vs Yogitoes Gaiam vs Yogitoes Similarities Daily words of wisdom, mantras, or occasional inspirational images Rare use of posts for promotions of new products Average amount of postings per day is between 3-5 Response time to questions asked on posts is usually within one day Number of Likes per post type: 100+ for inspirational words and/or images, far fewer for promotional posts and/or posts with no images Differences Manduka has three times as many followers Manduka uses much less imagery, but typically post more messages in their own words. Manduka posts many promotions for giveaways or current campaigns, whereas Yogitoes has only done a handful in the past four months. Posts promoting other wellness companies and websites Encourages viewer interaction by usually asking a question on daily posts Similarities Inspirational messages and/or images Content related to health and fitness Multiple posts per day which leads to more exposure on newsfeeds Differences Gaiam has five times as many followers The majority of Gaiam s posts are for promotional sales, products and giveaways. Many posts that are shared from another website Posts featuring links to health and wellness videos and other websites Frequently has problems with links to promotional giveaway sites Many Gaiam customers express their dissatisfaction of products and/ or service directly on fan page;

17 RECOMMENDATIONS for the client Yogitoes Since Yogitoes has already demonstrated that it can effectively and positively communicate with its target audience, there are few recommendations at this time that could significantly benefit their Facebook fan page. 1. The promotion of Yogitoes sponsored events on the fan page increases brand awareness and also gives consumers a chance to try Yogitoes products in person. 2. Make friending local yoga studios a priority, as they most likely have fans who may be interested in Yogitoes products. 3. Hiring a person-of-interest (particularly someone who has a passion for yoga) for brand endorsement may lead to increased Facebook followers if they are already fans of that person s Facebook page. 4. Posting sales promotions or discounts has been beneficial for other companies, and implementing this can increase marketing potential.