Wan+Y+Report+proposal

Wan Y.

TO: Proximity Music Teams FROM: Yichi Wan DATE: April 5, 2010 SUBJECT: Proposal for report on Facebook

Facebook is currently the social networking site that Gen-Y uses the most to connect with their peers. Therefore it has become an attractive place for businesses to connect with Gen-Y users over the past few years. Facebook is using its targeted advertisements to attract, and give businesses an effective way to reach their customer base directly. I propose to write a report on how businesses are showing their presence and the ways they market to their clients on Facebook.

Because Gen Y consumers no longer watch TV or listen to radio in conventional ways, companies are having a hard time targeting them. Many Gen-Y consumers can only be found on Facebook. Facebook provides various platforms for businesses to show their products and to communicate with consumers from continent to continent. It can help companies pull through this economic slump.
 * Need**
 * Businesses need an effective strategy to attract and market to Gen Y.
 * ** Businesses are using targeted advertisements on social networking websites such as Facebook based on users' search preferences. **
 * Join a "Fan Group" can connect users with businesses, and users can get latest events from businesses faster.

There are several effective ways to connect businesses with consumers, in order to make more profits. This report will talk about how to make an effective ways to create or to maintain a Facebook page for your business.

The proposed report "How Starbucks Uses Facebook to Target Gen-Y" will cover the following topics:
 * Topics**
 * The social networking revolution. Why social networking website like Facebook has become the best form of advertising and reaching their targeted audience.
 * How Gen- Y uses Facebook.
 * Facebook group helps Starbucks to reach the land to target Gen Y consumer base and preference.
 * The increasing importance of mobile social networking.

Matt Van Hoven. "Social Media Not a 'Marketing Play' for Starbucks" //Agencyspy//. April 14, 2010 <[]>
 * Sources**

The issue is of particular interest to agencies focused on developing social media strategies for their clients and, more importantly, figuring out how to sell them. In speaking with strategists it's increasingly clear that altruistic statements like the one Starbucks made is the best public explanation for what happens behind the scenes. As in, sure, Starbucks wants the public to perceive that their social efforts are good and well — but if they've really done their homework, there's a team of analysts pouring over keyword, semantic and behavioral data in order to outline short-term and long-term growth strategy of their social products. So whoever operates Starbucks' Twitter/Facebook streams isn't just blindly guessing what to write — they're analyzing exactly what their fans/followers are likely to respond to and playing to those topics. Somewhere way down the road, strategists say this will lead to profitability. Whether the cost of such a strategy outweighs the financial yield is probably impossible to say, but the depth/growth the brand achieves, the penetration, is highly valuable. It's also impossible to track and harder to sell — good strategists will never promise ROI from most social executions. And therein lies the problem: figuring out how to sell a service that is capable of helping 'brand x' literally become part of the consumer's cerebellum — with no way of proving that's what happened. Or that it happened on any notable scale. For this reason, it's probably impossible to //really// track the value of a Facebook friend, a Twitter follower, at least in dollars.

Ben Straley. "How TO: Target Social Media Influencers to Boost Traffic and Sales" //Mashable//. April 15, 2010 <[]>

Recent data that Meteor Solutions collected from across more than 20 brand marketer clients shows that the type of friends, fans and followers a brand amasses on social media sites matters more than the number. On average, approximately 1% of a site’s audience generates 20% of all its traffic through sharing of the brand’s content or site links with others. And these “influencers” drive an even higher share of conversion. These very important Internet users can directly influence 30% or more of overall end actions on brand websites by recommending the brand’s site, products or promotions to friends. As this data shows, successful social media marketing isn’t simply about amassing thousands of followers, but instead precisely identifying the most influential members of your audience and recognizing them for their value. By directly engaging one influencer with exclusive opportunities, special offers, and unique content, you are indirectly engaging thousands of other people who are part of this influencer’s social sphere.

Elaine Wong. "Why Starbucks Is the Top Brand on Facebook" //Brandweek//. August 12, 2009 <[]>

Elaine reports that Starbucks has become the most popular brand on Facebook, with more than 3.6 million fans. Consumers can share their ideas with Starbucks to help Starbucks company makes better improvement. It’s a natural extension of the brand through Facebook, and through Starbucks' success with that, Starbucks Company started to expand beyond that. It was important for Starbucks to go where consumers are and to provide a valuable and meaningful brand experience. Also, on Facebook, there is a large volume of conversation on people's favorite beverages. It helps Starbucks to effectively target on its consumers, in order to make more revenues. And the conversation is representative of all the different aspects of Starbucks' brand.

Kris Olin. "Hillary Duff Enjoys Her Starbucks Fix over Coke" //Facebook Advertising/Social Media Marketing//. August 18, 2009 <[]>

Kris reports that Ashlee reports that Starbuck’s Free Pastry campaign, where you received a free pastry with a beverage purchase was a huge success. Nearly 600,000 people reacted to that campaign on Facebook. Another hugely successful campaign was their Product campaign with almost a million people responding “yes” or “maybe” to the promotion last holiday season. Product contributed 5 cents for every Starbucks beverage purchased to the AIDS-fighting project. These results show the power of the Starbucks as a brand and how well it has been able to connect with their clients through Facebook, especially with those Gen-Y users. According to Wheeler one of the key priorities we have to think about when it comes to social media marketing is that we have to connect in ways that are relevant to those environments as well as to our consumers. One of the most powerful ways is by sharing content and participating in discussion.

Ashlee Vance. "New Microsoft phones Aim at a Younger Crowed" //The New York Times//. April 12, 2010 <[]>

Ashlee reports that Microsoft is trying to home in on a younger, chattier demographic with two new cell phones centered on social networking. The Kin One and Kin Two allow users to keep closely synched with sites like Facebook, Twitter or MySpace. The start menu displays a montage of photographs from friends with notes about what they are doing rather than a more traditional menu that caters to phone functions. These two products are aimed at Gen-Y users who are social-networking enthusiasts. And Microsoft will choose one of the most popular social networks to built-in support on the phones.