Thur+C+Report+Proposal

Thur C.

To: Proximity Social Networking Team From: Christina Thur Date: April 4, 2010 Subject: Proposal for report on Facebook

Facebook provides an easy way for Generation-Y to communicate and keep in touch, as well as allowing businesses to reach their targeted audience. Facebook continues to grow therefore, knowing Generation-Y’s general opinion of Facebook is imperative.

B usinesses (such as Kohl’s) are utilizing social networking sites such as Facebook as a way of marketing and advertising to Gen-Y. However, according to our focus group results, the form of advertisement that uses Facebook ads appears to be bothersome to Gen-y and is also ignored. I propose to write a report on how businesses needs to market to Gen-Y without bothering their interaction on Facebook with other use of advertising strategies.

**//What you want to emphasize in the report, with reference to our focus group results, is that Gen-Y is certainly on Facebook and uses it regularly - but it does not necessarily pay attention to ads. Thus a company needs an integrated social media strategy that lets user interact on Facebook and is coordinated with other forms of advertisements.// __A case study of Kohl's shows how to do this. In the talking points below, which you can use in your press release,__ I would //first emphasize the data from the Hitwise report below about how social media drives traffic to retailers. Then talk about findings from the focus group reports - such as the increasing importance of mobile networking, particularly with women.//**

**Need**

Businesses would improve their sales and reach their targeted audience by learning the ways and benefits to utilize Facebook as a form of advertisement that allows users to interact on Facebook without being bothered by the hassle of advertisement ads:

Since Facebook is the number one social networking site, Businesses can utilize Facebook as an effective way to target and advertise to Gen-Y by using other forms of advertisement that are not bothersome and ignored by Gen-Y. Therefore, **//a company needs an integrated social media strategy that lets user interact on Facebook and is coordinated with other forms of advertisements.//**
 * According to Hitwise, One form of advertisement that is a success is the sheer number of followers or fans, etc. along with the amount of interaction and dialogue taking place.
 * A case study of Kohl’s shows how to successfully draw fans to their Facebook page.
 * Kohl's offered Kohl’s target audience a chance to win a one-hundred dollar gift card, by becoming a fan on Kohl’s Facebook page and writing what they love most about Kohl's on Kohl’s Facebook wall.
 * According to our focus group, Facebook is being accessed through the use of a cell phone by many women.
 * Businesses need to ** advertise towards gender-specific audiences (such as women). **

Marketing on Facebook can help, learn more about your target audience, reach  the target audience, and promote advertising among the Gen-Y consumers. **Topics**

The proposed report, "Advertising and Reaching Target Audiences through Facebook" will cover the following topics:

**Change the title to reflect your particular focus on Facebook. What you need in the topic list below __are the specific parts of the report.__ I would start with a section on the difficulty of reaching Gen-Y since it no longer consumes traditional media in conventional ways. Then discuss the potential demographic power of Facebook. After that, look at the particular way that Kohl's uses Facebook.**

· Gen-Y has become difficult to advertise to because it no longer consumes media in conventional ways (such as television or radio). · Facebook has become the largest social networking site and hosts 100 million active users. · Facebook can help learn about and understand Gen-Y · Kohl’s uses Facebook as a way to understand the request of Gen-Y. · According to Journal Sentinel, Kohl’s learned that free shipping is a constant request from some of the retailer's 720,000-plus fans on the social media Web site Facebook


 * Sources **

Heather, Daughtry. Social network impact for retailers. Hitwise Intelligence (2010, January 29). Retrieved April 17, 1010 from [|http://weblogs.hitwise.com/heather-dougherty/2010/01/social_network_impact_for_reta.html? utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+hitwise/us+(Hitwise+Intelligence+US)]

Hitwise describes how social networking is impacting retailers and provides the major sources of traffic. Hitwise also indicates different ways to reach consumers through social media. They also provide a chart showing how weekly downstream traffic from [|Facebook] to the Retail 500 and the top retailer names within the internal search results.

Hajewski, Doris. Facebook connects stores with loyal customers. Journal Sentinel (2009, November 2). Retrieved April 17, 2010 from [] Journal Sentinel describes Kohl’s as being one of the largest fan bases among retailers. They also provide a poll explaining how online retailers will increase the use of social media. Sentential also states that kohl’s gives away merchandise on popular consumer blogs. Social media sites are said by Sentinel to be used by retail types of all sizes and businesses.