A Fond Farewell

As I conclude this blog for Social Media Strategies, I reflect on the past three months and what I learned from this most enjoyable and enlightening module.

Firstly, I have a greater appreciation for social media as a business tool.  I now realize that simply having a Facebook or Twitter page that looks pretty is not enough.  It’s about interaction.  It’s about connecting to your customers 24/7.  It’s an always on communication medium, delivered at high speed.  It’s fast.  It’s about engaging in conversation.  This means asking questions, responding to queries promptly, posting images (and more images), having giveaways and promotions.  The goal is to generate interest in the business’ product/service by attracting followers to the particular social media platform.

When monitoring the Facebook page of the organisation employing me, I observed posts with images and greetings for special occasions resulted in hundreds of views and several likes.  Indeed, at the time of writing a photo was posted of some staff live in studio at a local radio station and within an hour of posting on the organisation’s timeline, there was a like.  

In contrast, postings without images generated very little interest.  In general, updates were sporadic...before taking this module.  An effort is now made to create content more frequently. The result is an increased number of weekly likes – it’s still a learning process but, personally, valuable insights have been gained to date.

Secondly, I discovered that many companies in Barbados are on the social media bandwagon, not maximising their social media presence, much like my organisation.  For instance, I briefly reviewed the social media platforms of a few regionally-based luxury jewellery stores.  Their followers were more than my organisation’s, so they have potential.

Facebook and Twitter were the most popular tools used.  None had a YouTube Channel or Instagram account – two of the more visually appealing platforms.  

Thirdly, I wanted to find a Barbadian brand skilfully using social media marketing.  This led to Billboard chart topper, Rihanna. #RiRi has perfume, socks, and MAC make-up lines and is embarking on her own make-up line with LVMH.  She has been a Nike and Cover Girl model.  Why would these global brands be interested in this Bajan belle?  They sensed star power, perhaps.  But how did she get to be a household name in music in the last decade?  She worked the social media platforms.  She (or her team) post pictures, have competitions. One day she is seen out clubbing; another day she’s side-by-side with Oscar-winner, Leonardo DiCaprio.  In another photo she’s celebrating a record-breaking moment for the most weeks at No. 1 on billboard, with Sir Paul McCartney and Kanye West.  Quite an achievement!

Local businesses would do well to follow her example for building and maintaining a social media presence.

On that note, I wish a fond farewell to the SMS module as I look to the future and completing my three-year experience with Durham Business School.

So Long, Farewell...

Barbados’ Biggest Export

So, are there any Barbadian companies to master the art of working social media? But how is social media defined.  I’ve been using the term, but what is it? 

According to Barker et al. (2013) social media is a term to describe online “social networks,..blogs, wikis,...other online collaborative media”.  The more well-known social media tools are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr. 

I decided to browse for social media profiles of local entities.  The very popular Beer of Barbados (Banks Beer) has 29.6K Facebook fans and 3.5k Twitter followers. A comparison of regional luxury jewellery stores with a presence in Barbados revealed that the New York-based Diamonds International had more than 70k Facebook fans, 2.4k Twitter and almost 900 Pinterest followers respectively. In contrast, Little Switzerland had more than 41k Facebook fans and no other social media presence. Colombian Emeralds International, under the umbrella of a locally-based holding company Duty-free Caribbean had approx 7.5k Facebook fans – which is quite fledgling. These are all minnows in the current social media environment. 

The question then is: does Barbados have a major exponent of social media either as a brand or a product.  The answer is: the Barbadian born and bred, American-branded mega R&B star...Rihanna, Barbados’ biggest export to date.  

Hers is a real-life Cinderella story.  Robyn Rihanna Fenty, a pretty teenager with a flair for the dramatic, an ability to dance and sing gets a big recording break and today seven albums later, her Facebook page has 81 million fans and her Twitter followers number 575k. Unbelievable! That’s the power of her personality. Her Twitter page, for example, is updated regularly with re-tweets, original tweets about her appearances, her achievements, her nights or days out, her nominations, her new mobile app. They all reinforce her popularity. Who under the age of 21 would not want to know about Rihanna’s daily jaunts? 

Having heard, anecdotally, of her social media success over the years, it was still remarkable to read her Facebook stats in Barker et al. (2013) for 2011, when her page was the fifth most popular with 41.8 million fans. However, even then her page had the second-highest daily growth of 57.1k and highest weekly growth of 479.7k. Clearly, she was a viral sensation in an age when peer-to-peer influence via social media is greatest among millennials. Clever management of social media certainly seem a key contributor to her popularity.

REFERENCES
Barker, M., Barker, D., Borman, N. and Neher, K. (2013) Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach. International Edition. Boston: South-Western Cengage Learning.