WEEK IN SOCIAL: HEALTHCARE, METRICS, INFLUENCER RELATIONS, AND THE ASA

Managing Facebook Health Benefits

In a world where everyone has an opinion and everyone’s opinion is ‘right’ its great to see the major players taking action against over convincing (as much as I want to say false I won’t as we just don’t know) promotions. Facebook announced last week that it has made ranking updates to its News Feed algorithm, aiming to reduce posts that contain exaggerated or sensation health claims, as well as posts that promote or attempt to sell products or services based on health-related claims.

Social Media Marketing Metrics: What Matters?

The age-old question of ‘how well am I doing on social media? I don’t have enough page likes for the content to be successful.’ Is one that us digital marketing professionals often dread as there is more to a successful campaign than just likes on a page. Superficial “vanity metrics” rarely provide an accurate window into how well your strategy is working. An article published yesterday outlines what really matters. How well your content is: attracting and keeping the interest of readers, viewers, or listeners. They also highlight the importance of paying attention to metrics that shed light on whether your social media marketing tactics are helping you reach your business goals.

Lead Generation Strategy, Have You Got It?

Lead generated social media strategies can often be over complicated by companies not having a clear direction or objective. While lead generation sounds like it would be your main objective it can often get lost in the mix or more often than not become too much of a sales pitch driving your potential clientele away. Once you have that objective clearly outlined then there are a few simple steps you need to focus in on to develop your strategy. Eight out of ten small businesses use social media for their business to drive growth. Lead generation in specific is the process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects who’ve shown some sort of interest in your business into leads. While it’s always recommended to reach out to the experts for digital strategies there are a few simple steps smaller business can take to develop their own profitable social media marketing strategy. In the link below you will find an infographic outlining just that. The visual covers:

General social media stats

Social media lead generation

Social media in the sales funnel

Improve Your Connection with Brand Influencers

The effect and value of influencer’s isn’t new news to anyone these days, and it’s no surprise that influencers are receiving more sponsorship offers than ever. 70% of marketers increased their influencer marketing budgets from 2018 to 2019. Now the concern isn’t do we use influencers, its who do we use. Recent research from ACTIVATE found that over 85% of marketers have been turned down by an influencer at some stage for sponsorship offers. Brands and marketers are needing to take a more strategic approach in their outreach tactics, and the value proposition they’re presenting to each influencer, in order to ensure that they’re appropriately positioning themselves to access the best digital talent available. These three questions should be at the top of your checklist to confirm before reaching out to any influencer:

Is it personal? Tailor your outreach

Have you establish a shared value proposition?

Does the selected influencer(s) mirror your brand and its values? B

Before you start outreach make sure the answer to each of those is yes!

ASA Defines Social Media ‘Celebrity’ Status

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has defined the social media following threshold one needs to pass to be defined as a ‘celebrity’ for the purposes of enforcing advertising rules. The rule comes following the legal precedent set by the case of Sarah Willox Knott, a parenting blogger, who promoted a sedative to her Instagram followers without in a declared advert. With a follower tally of 32,000, Knott considered herself as an ordinary member of the public and thus exempt from the rules, but the ASA felt otherwise. ‘Celebrities’ and health professionals are banned by the ASA from promoting any medication. The case marks the first time an ‘influencer’ has fallen foul of the new stricter definition and follows in the wake of a spate of ‘influencer’ promotions materializing on popular social platforms, most recently evidenced in the case of Sophie Hinchliffe who was found to have broken the rules with a series of undeclared P&G posts.