A talk delivered to entrepreneurs as part of a grant programme. Find out more here: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/libraries-leisure-culture/business-intellectual-property-centre-cambridgeshire

1. I need help with my social media strategy!
Business & IP Centre Cambridgeshire (BIPC) – 27 October 2022

2. Simone Castello - @simonecas - www.linkedin.com/in/simonecastellodigitalstrategy/
• Macro/micro trends: Digital landscape – marketer’s playground
• Sales funnel for marketers: Aligning strategy to business
objectives and measuring impact; SMART framework
• Campaign overview with focus on social media: Insights
• Content marketing: Insights and ideas (B2C and B2B)
• Campaign examples (B2C and B2B)
• Training and resources: Free and paid
Today we will look at:

3. Simone Castello - @simonecas - www.linkedin.com/in/simonecastellodigitalstrategy/
The World (2022) – digital landscape

4. The UK (2021) -
digital landscape
Data: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-united-kingdom and UIS, University of Cambridge. Flag: Wikimedia
• Population: 68.05m - 50.6% female; 49.4% male - 84% lives
in urban centres; 16% in rural areas; 12.2m children
• Internet users: 65.32m
• Internet penetration: 96%
• Social media users: 53m - 77.9% of the total population
• Mobile connections: 67.61m - 99.4% of the total population

5. The sales funnel for marketers
Business
Objectives
Audiences
Business
Objectives
Performance
Metrics*,
Impact
Channels,
Paid & Organic
Competitor
analysis
*Reach, Engagement, Impressions, Mentions, Post clicks, Video views

6. Simone Castello - @simonecas - www.linkedin.com/in/simonecastellodigitalstrategy/
Specific: Concrete targets that align to business objectives (for
instance, increase B2B customers or launch a new product/service)
Measurable: Tools and data to measure performance (web analytics)
Achievable: Budget, tools, time and resources to achieve the goals (for
instance, you may need a content creator or a videographer)
Realistic: Goals are achievable with your time and resources
Time-bound: Deadlines for achieving goals (for instance, three months,
six months, by year end)
SMART

7.  Cost-effective channels. If you post content organically, it only costs time. However advertising on
social media brings more value to small businesses than going through traditional channels. You can
set quite a low budget on most channels and you can then measure its impact.
 More exposure. All the world is online. There are over 7bn people on planet Earth and most have a
mobile phone, especially in developing countries where the phone is the only access to banking.
However, internet speed varies.
 Boost brand awareness. Increasing online visibility boosts awareness of your brand and
products/services. It’s important to find a good balance between paid and organic activities.
 Drive traffic to websites. Your social media marketing should drive traffic back to your website,
where customers can take action by filling out enquiry forms, making purchases, book services, etc.
 Support customers quickly. Online customer service requests can be handled quickly and easily.
Questions can be answered in real-time, improving their experience with your business.
 Increased credibility. Posting engaging and educational content will increase your authority and
trust in your products/services, attracting new customers. Good reviews are proven to convert as
well as world of mouth. Even handling negative reviews with integrity can win customers.
Benefits of social media Global reach,
Cost-effective
channels

8. Google Analytics
Digital marketing campaigns - overview
More Activities & Follow-up
Campaign Planning Building & Implementing
 Use customer queries and
insights for content (product
information, reports, case
studies, infographics,
podcasts and videos;
re-purpose content).
 Set up an editorial calendar
and monitor reactive
opportunities (i.e. events,
debate or item of news).
 Identify needs using
customer insights from
sales/marketing. Assess
budget for goals.
 Insights: demographics to
define messaging. Personas:
if on the move, consider
mobile devices.
 Choose channels (Facebook,
LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram,
TikToK, etc).
 PR initiatives
 Product launches
 Events
 Communities
 Consumer and/or trade
publications channels
 Strategic alliances with
organisations and brands
 Blogs – blogger outreach
 Email marketing (newsletters)
 Measure engagement to
fine-tune the campaign and
assess performance.

9. Focus on social media strategy
• Where is your audience?
• Where do your competitors post?
• What do your metrics tell you (previous campaigns, analytics)?
How to make the most of each digital platform
• Facebook offers quality video streaming, messaging and customer interaction
• Instagram supports eye-catching posts and creative short videos
• YouTube is best for longer informational or entertaining videos
• Twitter enables real-time conversations, news and alerts
• LinkedIn works well for long-form written content: posts and articles
• Pinterest lets users discover content and relies on visuals
• TikTok is ‘fast and furious’, engages a growing audience of different age groups
Use insights
and objectives
to leverage
channels

10. Audience Overview
1 Nov 2018 – 28 February 2019
Content that converts – more than words!
Infographic: EU 2013, European Parliament
• How-to articles OR
tutorials
• Curated information
• Original
research/data
• Reviews
(products/services)
• Blogs/news
Videos, Podcasts,
Photos,
Illustrations,
Infographics…
Play to your
strengths!

11. Business
Objectives
Increase sales by 50% in the next 6 months
[campaigns to drive buyers to website/store]
Develop brand awareness and take up of
technology [create a professional network or
community]
Launch new product or service [develop
creative collateral and messaging to be noticed
by influencers and mass/trade media]
Campaign examples – part 1

12. Campaign – B2B
Professional network
• Events: webinars,
conferences, trade shows
• Resource curation (on
website, shared on social)
• Channels: LinkedIn, YouTube,
Twitter – maybe Facebook
• Measurement: social media
analytics, google analytics
Campaign – B2C
Consumer product/service
• Social media listening – entry to market
and customers’ needs
• Evergreen content
• Channels: Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook,
Twitter, TikTok…
• Measurement: social media analytics,
google analytics
Measurement
• Google Analytics (website); Social Media (free)
• Social Media monitoring: Hootsuite, Buffer
(freemium)
• CRMs (Customer relation management tools):
HubSpot, Salesforce (freemium/paid)
Campaign examples –
part 2
Data-driven
Marketing

13. Digital marketing training
@simonecas
• https://learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalgarage
• https://app.hubspot.com/signup-hubspot/academy
Free training & resources
E-newsletters & other training
Search Engine Watch, Social Media Examiner,
HubSpot blog, Hootsuite blog, E-consultancy,
Smart Insights
Using Social Media to Build the Loyalty Loop in Omnichannel Retail
David Cattrall and Simone Castello
Customers make purchases through a multi-stage, omnichannel process, which now extends to social media. A loyalty loop can be achieved
when an existing customer bypasses the initial stages –consider and evaluate– to make a direct purchase. However, to build that loyalty
loop, a retailer must embrace techniques and software across social media marketing, social CRM, and omnichannel CRM. Reviewing
literature from academic researchers and industry practitioners, this paper identifies emerging industry trends and discusses an illustrative
case study of a UK digital retailer. The importance of social media for omnichannel retailing and building loyalty is highlighted and discussed.
https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202206.0027/v1 (or from my LinkedIn’s profile)

14. Simone Castello - @simonecas - www.linkedin.com/in/simonecastellodigitalstrategy/
• Macro/micro trends
• Sales funnel for marketers
• Campaign overview with focus on social media
• Content marketing
• Campaign examples
• Training and resources
Questions on any of
these topics?