ECHOCHALLENGECLIENT: FACEBOOK | CUSTOM AUDIENCES

ECHO

TEAM NAME: DAPPER MEDIA

APRIL YU | ACCOUNT MANAGERDIANA HERRERA | CREATIVE STRATEGISTPRESTON BARRETT | BRAND DIRECTOR

APRIL YU | ACCOUNT MANAGERYIYANGY@SMU.EDU

DIANA HERRERA | CREATIVE STRATEGISTHERRERAD@SMU.EDU

PRESTON BARRETT | BRAND DIRECTORPBARRETT@SMU.EDU

DAPPERMEDIA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ECHO

Custom Audience Overview....................................................................................................................1SWOT Analysis..............................................................................................................................................3Brand Ideal......................................................................................................................................................4Advertising Objective.................................................................................................................................5Advertising Strategy...................................................................................................................................6Customer Personas.....................................................................................................................................8Media Plan.....................................................................................................................................................13Creative Strategy.......................................................................................................................................15Execution.......................................................................................................................................................18Strategy and Tactics................................................................................................................................20Summary........................................................................................................................................................21References..................................................................................................................................................22

CUSTOM AUDIENCE OVERVIEW

As a leader in social networking, Facebook is constantly innovating how to connectwith both consumers and businesses. Facebook has been particularly supportive ofadvertising, creating a platform and educational tools for businesses that want toadvertise on the platform. One of the products that Facebook offers to businessesis their Custom Audience tool. This tool allows a business to upload the informationthey have about their current consumers to Facebook. This allows a company toadvertise directly to current and past consumers, and gives way to using other toolsto advertise to similar people.

While it has been slowly growing in usage, Custom Audiences is not widely used bybusinesses. The goal of this campaign is to raise the awareness of CustomAudiences for B2C business decision makers and educate them on how to use it tobenefit their businesses.

CUSTOM AUDIENCE OVERVIEW (CONT.)

ECHO1 2 3

SWOT

Strengths•Well known platform that is widely used•People already want to utilize services•Can reach current consumers (who are more likely to purchase)•Can target customers based on website activity, app usage, and gameusage•Includes time based (customers who haven’t visited the site in two weeksfor example)•Can also be used to exclude customers based on activity•Can import customer information from MailChimp•Can have multiple custom audiences based on different characteristics•Ads can’t be blocked on Facebook

Weaknesses•Relatively unknown tool•Confusing on how to implement•Needs differentiation between Custom Audiencesand general•Limited activity timeframe used to target individuals(6 months)•In depth targeting needs someone who isknowledgeable

Threats•Mail-list services (MailChimp, Constant Connect,EvenBrite, etc)•Other social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram,LinkedIn)

Opportunities•Can educate companies on how to use•Can expand audience based on similar characteristics to currentconsumers•Can used segmentation to test ads (for example, current usersvs. converted users)•Initial ease of use can be used to further involve customers

BRAND IDEAL

Facebook is all about social networking and fostering connections. While it isprimarily used for interaction among individuals, businesses have been able toutilize Facebook as an effective tool to communicate with customers. WhileFacebook wants to be the number one utilized social platform for advertising that istargeted using their Custom Audiences feature, Facebook will need to stay true toits brand ideal of enabling social connection. By highlighting that CustomAudiences can make advertising personal, Facebook will be giving businesses thetools to make better connections with consumers.

ADVERTISING OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this campaign is to increase awareness of Custom Audiencesand how it works. While using Facebook for advertising is a widely known practice,the use of Custom Audiences and the related Lookalike Audiences is relativelyunknown. These tools can allow businesses to better target their advertisements toconsumers, which can allow for a greater likelihood of purchase. By using Big Datathat has already been collected, businesses using Facebook for advertising willgain an advantage over their competitors.

Ideally, we want to educate business decision makers about how Custom andLookalike Audiences can be used, and to increase Custom and Lookalike Audienceusage by 50% over the next year so that companies are able to achieve individualcorporate goals.

ADVERTISING STRATEGY

While we are increasing awareness of Facebook Custom Audiences as a whole, wealso have specific goals that will signify the success of the campaign. Behaviorsthat we are hoping for businesses to increase include importing current customerinformation, utilizing the Facebook Pixel, using current customer details to identifypotential new target audiences, and creating Lookalike Audiences.

It is almost impossible not to gain information about customers while conductingbusiness in this day and age. Because companies of all sizes are already collectingthis information, it only makes sense for them to use it in a way that will helpbusiness. By importing customer details into Custom Audiences, companies will beable to target consumers that they know are more likely to make a purchase,because they have in the past (past behavior is a better indicator of future behaviorthan demographics).

ADVERTISING STRATEGY (CONT.)

The Facebook Pixel is the next best thing to importing customer details. By usingthis tool, companies will be able to gather information about the activities ofcustomers on their website. While current customers are great, consumers that falljust short of purchasing are also incredibly valuable because they hold thecompany high in their consideration set. By gaining more information about theseconsumers with the Facebook Pixel, companies can use Custom Audiences totarget these groups of people with messages to convince them to take the finalstep to purchase.

By examining the subset of consumers that are not the heaviest users of theproduct, Custom Audiences can detect the attitudes and behaviors that can help acompany to reach a new subset of customers in a more effective way.

By gathering information about consumers who are making the purchases, and thepeople who are almost making purchases, companies can use custom audiencesto create Lookalike audiences. These Lookalike audiences will have similarattributes to the first two groups, but may just not have been exposed to the brandyet. By building on certain characteristics in these groups that are present in currentcustomers, companies can more effectively target new consumer groups.

CUSTOMER PERSONAS

Experience with advertising on Facebook varies from company to company.Additionally, the advertising departments also widely vary. Because of this,Facebook will need to be sure to have the same offerings available for businessesto choose from, but they to have customized approaches based on company size,experience, and industry. For departments that are already familiar with FacebookAds, the focus will be to teach companies on how to apply Custom Audiences totheir current campaigns. For new users, Facebook will need to integrate educationabout Custom Audiences into their overall education about using Facebook Ads.

With that understanding of the playing field, this campaign will be talking to thedecision makers for companies. Company size (small business, mid-size, andenterprise), as well as structure will vary, but we feel that businesses will be similarto one of the four following business personas.

SMALL BUSINESS

Jeremy and David are launching their own business with a few of their friends,where they are selling an app that does amazing things. They are gaining venturecapital to help finish developing the app, as well as to promote the app. Theyalready have a waiting list of people who want the app, and have a website to helppromote the app. The website features a blog with the ability to sign up for amonthly newsletter to show customers how the app can benefit them, as well astips and tricks for doing different things inside the app. Jeremy and David are tryingto grow the app as quickly as possible, and want to tie the app into social media.While they are definitely a small business, Jeremy and David do not have a wellestablished advertising plan and hope to grow quickly.

SMALL BUSINESS (CONT.)

Katherine owns a small boutique candy shop, which has been in business for abouta decade. She has a loyal customer base that is slowly expanding, but she islooking to gain more customers. Katherine currently does not do much advertisingand relies primarily on word of mouth and participating in different events to gainexposure. She finds that as customers discover her shop, they quickly join hercommunity of specialty candy enthusiasts. Her most successful social media pageis Facebook, so she feels that advertising on Facebook will give her the best results.She takes orders online through her website, so she has a small database of onlinecustomers, but currently doesn't use it for more than record keeping. Even thoughKatherine has limited advertising, she is well set in her routine for events, and whileshe is not avoiding growth, it is not one of the key goals in her business plan in thenear future.

MID SIZE

Pam is marketing director of a small chain of clothing stores. She has several storesdispersed in the Midwest, and is able to compete with national brands. While theyhave decent sales all year round, she really relies on the push of holiday sales toclose the year out in the black. Part of what sets the company apart is that theyhave a functional website that not only promotes their products, but also promotesdifferent styles and new trends of wearing clothing. Customers can sign up for amonthly newsletter that gives them advanced notice of sales, and extra informationabout looking their best. The company targets fashion forward consumers who arewell connected socially, so Pam feels that social media is an integral part of theiradvertising strategy. On top of serving customers at their existing stores, othercompany goals include increasing awareness of new store openings, as well asincreasing website traffic and online orders.

ENTERPRISE

Latisha is the vice president of sales for a national cosmetic brand. The brand isfocused on promoting personal beauty, and seeks to develop a deep relationshipwith individual consumers to build loyalty. The nature of cosmetic brands allows fortrends to be easily shared, so there is a large presence on social media. Themarketing department is telling Latisha that social media is the place to advertise,but she doesn't know how to target specific groups on social media. They currentlyhave increasing sales online, so Latisha is debating if they should continue a socialmedia focus or move to in store promotions. The marketing department feels thatbecause of their loyal online customers have a community presence on Facebook,it would be a great way to keep in contact and keep them engaged.

MEDIA PLAN

Our media plan takes a two pronged approach. The first part is to make some changes to the layout ofthe advertising center on Facebook. These changes will offer more in depth explanations of how to useCustom Audiences, and highlight success stories of businesses that are using Custom Audiences. Bychanging the advertising center to encourage businesses to go back to making a connection with theirconsumers, Facebook will be continually encouraging businesses to connect with their consumers. Theadditional facets of this will be for Facebook to provide information to the businesses using CustomAudiences. This will be done using informational webinars (two per customer persona) and outreach attradeshows (at least two major shows).

The other prong of the approach is to raise the awareness of Custom Audiences to business decisionmakers. This will be done mostly through traditional print and digital advertising. We chose magazinesthat commonly target the business industry, but in a more casual way. These include Entrepreneur,Wired, Inc., and Fast Company. We feel that the campaign should run all year, because even thoughbusinesses vary on seasonality by industry, it will always be in season for some industries. Because wethought that these magazines were a good fit for potential consumers, we thought that utilizing theirdigital platforms would allow a second way to reach potential customers. Finally, because CustomAudiences is a product of Facebook, we thought it was important to advertise to businesses on Facebook.

MEDIA PLAN

We will be encouraging businesses to go back to their roots and look at what is thelifeforce of their company: their customers. In this respect, by knowing who the currentcustomers are, the company is able to identify who potential customers will be.

A key component of the campaign will be educate businesses on how customaudiences works. Not only can you import the information about your current consumersto target them for reminder messages, but you can identify characteristics about them soads are better targeted toward new consumers that will be most likely to buy.

"BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: MAKE IT PERSONAL"

CREATIVE STRATEGY AND EXECUTION

Facebook already has a bit of a training plan in place to educate businesses on how to useFacebook advertising. Our campaign will transform those features, and expand on thosefeatures. We will change the instructions to not just be business friendly, but user friendlyas well. Instead of just having little instructional pieces available, they will be changed intoa format that serves to onboard users, teaching them step by step and giving them afeeling of accomplishment. This will motivate advertisers to better learn how to implementCustom Audiences, and become more proficient at implementing them.

CREATIVE STRATEGY (CONT.)

Additionally, an advertising community needs to be established and promoted (such asthrough the Facebook for Business page). This community can allow members to sharewhat has worked for different campaigns, and offer suggestions on how to improvedifferent strategies.The open source format of the community would allowcollaboration between businesses in similar industries or facing similar problems.Additionally, the community could allow for fast feedback of crowd sourced ideas.

The community would also need to include representatives from Facebook to makethe community feel like they are being taken care of. This could be utilized in multipleforms. The most laid back approach would be to generate content to share withbusinesses. Educational webinars are a cost effective opportunity that would allowusers to gain general information. Personal service from representatives would setFacebook apart in creating a connection with the businesses.

CREATIVE STRATEGY (CONT.)

This forum is also a great place to allow recognition of different companies. Thisrecognition could include a short blurb about the company and what they haveaccomplished. Additionally, badges could be awarded for individual achievements.Individual achievements could include tasks such as improving click through rates,increased video views, and increased page likes (or other metrics as fitting). Thesewould be a rotating competition that would turnover every quarter, and would havedivisions based on business size.

EXECUTION

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EXECUTION

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STRATEGY AND TACTICS SUMMARY

Educate potential clients about how Custom Audiences works

Listen to the advertisers

Promote interaction on Facebook for business’s Facebook account

Encourage and assist community

Can reach audiences similar to current consumers

Highlight benefits of using Custom Audiences

Save money by targeting customers businesses know will purchase

SUMMARY

Facebook Custom Audiences is a tool that can greatly benefit businesses wishing toadvertise on Facebook. It allows businesses to tap into their current network ofconsumers to target future advertisements.

While the groundwork for Custom Audiences is solid, some changes need to be made.Awareness needs to be increased, and businesses need more education on how toimplement Custom Audiences to improve their ad campaigns.

By encouraging businesses to go back to their drawing board and make theircampaigns personal with targeting, Facebook will be encouraging businesses to makea connection with consumers and develop loyal customers. Through this, Facebook willalso be making a connection with businesses, creating their own loyal customers.

REFERENCES

Entrepreneur. (2015). Entrepreneur media kit. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/mediakit

Facebook (2015). What is a custom audience? Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/business/help/341425252616329

Fast Company. (2015). Media kit. Retrieved from http://infographics.fastcompany.com/fastcompany-mediakit-2016.pdf

Marketing Edge. (2015). Collegiate ECHO marketing challenge official rules. Retrieved fromhttp://www.marketingedge.org/sites/default/files/pdf/Official%20Rules%202015-2016-FINAL.pdf

Molay, K. (2010). How much to webinars cost? Retrieved from http://wsuccess.typepad.com/webinarblog/2010/01/how-much-do-webinars-cost.html

Ragan, S. (2014). The cost of doing business at the RSA conference. Retrieved fromhttp://www.csoonline.com/article/2134429/it-careers/the-cost-of-doing-business-at-the-rsa-conference.html

Wired. (2015). 2015 Rates. Retrieved http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/2015_WIRED_Rates1.pdf