Digital Marketing
Strategies — Quick Review

Social Influence Theory (Cialdini) explains persuasion through 6 principles:

• Reciprocation — free trials/content create obligation to buy or share.
• Commitment & Consistency — loyalty programmes and opt-ins tie users to the brand.
• Social Proof — reviews, ratings, and influencer endorsements guide decisions.
• Authority — expert partnerships and certifications build credibility.
• Liking — relatable ambassadors and behind-the-scenes content build affinity.
• Scarcity — countdown timers and limited stock create urgency (FOMO).

Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner) says people form identity through group membership via three processes: Social Categorisation, Social Identification, and Social Comparison.

• Build brand communities where customers share values.
• Use social proof to reinforce the brand's in-group identity.
• Align campaigns with causes that resonate with the target audience.

Setup steps in Facebook Ads Manager:

• Go to facebook.com/business/tools/ads-manager, confirm payment details.
• Click + Create and choose a Campaign Objective: Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App Promotions, or Sales.
• Declare Special Ad Categories if the ad covers credit, housing, employment, or politics.
• Enable A/B Testing to compare two variants (images, copy, audience) shown to separate segments.
• Enable Advantage Campaign Budget to let Facebook auto-distribute spend to best-performing ad sets.

Audience targeting types:

• Core Audiences — demographics, interests, behaviours, and location.
• Custom Audiences — re-engage people who already interacted with the business.
• Lookalike Audiences — reach new users similar to best existing customers.

Budget models:

• Daily Budget — average daily spend; may exceed by 25% on high-opportunity days, capped at 7× weekly.
• Lifetime Budget — fixed total for the full campaign; Facebook distributes flexibly day to day.

The 7 social media site types:

• Social Networks (Facebook, Twitter) — content sharing and two-way dialogue.
• Social Streaming (YouTube, Twitch) — video/live content and sponsorships.
• Social Search (Google, Yahoo) — search-driven discovery; SEO and paid ads.
• Social Knowledge (Reddit, Quora, Wikipedia) — expert Q&A and subtle brand positioning.
• Social Blogging (Company Blog/Forum) — owned long-form content and thought leadership.
• Social Customer Service (Support portals, Twitter) — public real-time complaint handling.
• Social Bookmarking (Pinterest) — visual discovery for identifying trending content.

No single type covers the full consumer journey — from discovery (search, bookmarking) → consideration (knowledge, reviews) → loyalty (networks, customer service). Each type has unique demographics, formats, and algorithms, so a multi-channel presence is essential for reach and engagement.

Twitter ad formats:

• Promoted Ads — Image, Video, Carousel (up to 6 cards), Moment, Text.
• Follower Ads — grow account following.
• Twitter Amplify — Pre-roll and Sponsorship video ads alongside publisher content.
• Twitter Takeover — Timeline (top-of-feed) and Trend Takeover (alongside trending topics).
• Dynamic Product Ads (DPA) — retargeting and prospecting via product catalogue.
• Collection Ads — 1 hero image + up to 6 thumbnails, each with separate destination.

Instagram ad formats: Image, Story, Video, Carousel, Collection, Explore, Shopping, and Reels Ads — all managed through Meta Business Suite with full Facebook targeting.

Recommendation: Instagram for a fashion retailer, because:

• Visual-first platform — high-quality imagery drives purchase intent in fashion.
• Shopping Ads allow direct product tagging and in-app checkout, compressing the funnel.
• Reels Ads align with trending fashion content (styling, unboxings).

Social Media Marketing is the monitoring and facilitation of customer–customer interaction across the web to encourage positive brand engagement, occurring on company sites, social networks, and third-party platforms.

Meta Business Suite (business.facebook.com) provides centralised management of Facebook and Instagram:

• Single dashboard for notifications, inbox, posts, stories, and ads across both platforms.
• Unified Insights for audience and performance analytics.
• Connects Instagram business accounts to Facebook's ad targeting infrastructure.

A/B Testing — compares two ad variants shown to separate non-overlapping audience segments. Variables: images, copy, audience, or placement. Determines the better performer statistically. Limitation: requires sufficient budget and audience size to be conclusive.

Advantage Campaign Budget — sets one budget at campaign level; Facebook's algorithm reallocates spend in real time to best-performing ad sets. Limitation: can under-invest in newer ad sets with less data, potentially creating a performance feedback loop. Ad-set spending caps can mitigate this.