Monday, 11 April 2016

We’ve Reached the End!

So we’ve reached the end of our digital marketing campaign examining a variety of smartphone brands and how they use their social media channels to engage and interact with consumers.
We want to thank you for taking this journey with us over the course of the last 5 weeks, viewing our blog and commenting on our posts. 

At the beginning we set out to examine a variety of smartphone brands' and their social media and digital marketing strategies.  We have looked at Apple, Samsung, BlackBerry, LG, HTC and Nokia over the last few weeks providing blog posts about the type of content these brands post, how they utilize SEO, where they are active on social media, and a variety of other topics.

As we bring this campaign to a close we ask that you please head over to our YouTube channel to watch our reflective analysis video that wraps everything up and discusses what we have learned.

Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/MR00ras1tvA

We hope to see you again!

Cheers,

The Smartphone Crew 

Sunday, 3 April 2016

Nokia Social Media Marketing Plan

As we saw in the previous blogs about Nokia and HTC we can determine that Nokia has a very poor social media presence. Their Facebook page is the only page that competes with HTC’s Facebook page. I believe that I could drastically improve Nokias social media presence by making a few changes in order to increase their consumer base.


In order to increase their brand presence they really need to work on their YouTube and link their various social media accounts to their YouTube account and instead of posting a lot of videos at once do maybe one a day. The content of the videos should also be adjusted instead of putting videos with lots of technical information maybe post some promotional videos that highlight product features and how they could benefit the consumer. Their Instagram is another social media outlet that needs to be improved, they should definitely contact Instagram in order to get their account verified. In addition they should also follow a few of their partners is order to have a greater chance for their partners to mention them. They should also post more often so that their account will be on the discover page which will allow consumers to see their picture and maybe give Nokia a Chance.


This social media champagne would be mainly directed to teenager and young adults because they are the age group that are more prominent on social media. The goals for my social media campaign would be to increase followers by 15% on Instagram and YouTube, the Facebook social media presence is sufficient as of now but wouldn’t hurt to see a few more likes. I would like to implement this plan as soon as possible after the logistics have been figured out. I believe this campaign would help Nokia to get to know its consumers and be able to serve them better now and for years to come.

Saturday, 2 April 2016

BlackBerry vs LG Content Marketing

This is my content marketing campaign idea for LG Mobile. 

The idea is to run a contest on the LG USA Mobile Facebook page and LG Global Mobile Facebook page giving away 1 free LG G5 smartphone each day for seven days beginning one week before the official launch of the smartphone.  LG will post on the Facebook page a post that will have an image of the new device and the rules for the contest.  

LG G5 smartphone

The rules for the contest would be:
  1. Like the LG Facebook page
  2. Comment on the post with an emoji to show your excitement for the new LG G5
  3. Tag a friend

At the end of each day a random person will win a brand new LG G5 smartphone for 1 week.  A total of 14 LG G5 smartphones will be given away before the official release between the two Facebook pages.

This contest would run at the beginning of April, 1 week before the official release date of the smartphone.

The primary audience for this marketing campaign is all LG fans who are active on social media.  The secondary audience is all smartphone consumers who are active on social media.

The social strategy is to promote this on popular social media platforms including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

The contest will attract people to the LG Facebook page because people will want a chance to win the brand new flagship smartphone from LG.  It will also engage the audience because it requires individuals to follow certain steps on the Facebook page in order to participate in the contest and have a chance to win a much anticipated flagship smartphone.  Finally, the interest in the contest and the specific rules of the contest will help acquire more likes on Facebook because the first rule is to like the Facebook page.  Also the rule requiring you to tag a friend will also acquire more people because people will be interested to win a brand new smartphone.  The contest will also help to build awareness and demand for the new phone prior to its release.

Thursday, 31 March 2016

Overview of Nokia's Fan Pages

Nokia has fairly strong brand presence since they are a fairly old company. They don’t have many fan pages thought but the fan pages that they do have are on Facebook. The most prominent page was “Nokia Fans” (https://www.facebook.com/Nokia-fans-1554248494848817/). They only have 98 likes on their page however they post fairly often at least a few time a month. They post updates about the Nokia brand as well as articles and different info about the market share that Nokia owns.


Unfortunately there was no Twitter fan page for Nokia however I did manage to find a fan blog about Nokia that had a couple posts every few months, the name of the blog is “The Nokia Fan Blog” on blogger(http://thenokiafanclub.blogspot.ca/). They post recent news about Nokia whether it’s negative or positive. The only downside to this blog is that people might forget about the blog because they do not post very often.


Nokia also did not have a fan page on Instagram however, I went back to Facebook in order to find another one. It was really hard because just like HTC many of the fan pages were inactive and had not had any posts since 2014. After looking through a lot of pages I found one that was active but it was in a foreign language (https://www.facebook.com/groups/805241302840867/). It also didn’t seem like much a fan page because people were selling their old Nokia phone on it. Sad to see most of Nokias fan pages dying.

Wednesday, 30 March 2016

LG Mobile Fan Pages


Below are links to unofficial LG Mobile fan pages where fans post content (video, photos, reviews and blog posts) about the LG brand.

Facebook Fan Page: LG G3

LG G3 Facebook page is a fan page that provides the latest news and rumours of the upcoming flagship smartphones by LG.  The page has 26,894 likes.


Click the link to check them out: https://www.facebook.com/G3byLG/?fref=ts

LG G3 fan page

Forum Fan Page: LG G Forum

The LG G forum is self-proclaimed as the #1 LG G Phone News and Discussion Site covering the G4, G3 and G2 Phones by LG. They’re an informative, friendly and passionate community dedicated to all G Phone enthusiasts. In the forum you'll find news, help, tips, tricks, custom ROMs, step by step instructions on rooting and tons of awesome fellow LG enthusiasts to help you get the most from your G2 and G3 and G4 Phones.

Click the link to check them out: http://lggforum.com/index.php

LG G Forum

Twitter Fan Page: @My_LGPhone  LG G4 Page

This page provides all you need to know about the LG G4 smartphone including rumours, news, accessories, tips, tricks and more.  The page has 9,460 followers and they post often.

Click the link to check them out: https://twitter.com/My_LGPhone?lang=en

LG G4 Twitter fan page

Monday, 28 March 2016

Overview of HTC Fan Pages

A fairly recent trend is Brand fan pages. It happens when consumers are such big fans of that brand that they create a page where they can socialize with other brand lovers as well. HTC has many fan pages on Facebook, some are open and some are closed meaning that you need to ask to join the group before you can become a part of it. One group is called HTC fans(https://www.facebook.com/HTC-fans-388871134536891/)  which has 118 people that follow them. However, they haven’t posted anything since 2013 which basically means that the page is inactive. It’s unfortunate to see these fan pages die off but it’s due to the fact that there are so many that consumers just don’t know what ones to join.

A page that is decently active is HTC fan club(https://www.facebook.com/HTC-fan-club-121546084581500/)  their last post was on February 5th 2015 and post every few months. In addition most of the posts are in Italian with few being English with only 47 likes on the page. The biggest Fan page that I was able to find was Official HTC Fan Club(https://www.facebook.com/officialhtcfanclub/?fref=ts)    which has 545 people who like the page and post every few months as well although haven’t posted since last November. There is not much input from consumers as well which doesn’t encourage fan interaction.

Every Fan club that I found was either inactive or was in a foreign language or both. I guess since the decline of the HTC brand fan pages have started to decline as well. Most of the fan pages started to be inactive in 2013.

Sunday, 27 March 2016

BlackBerry Fan Pages

Below are links to unofficial BlackBerry fan pages where fans post content (video, photos, reviews and blog posts) about the BlackBerry brand.

Blog Fan Page: Crackberry.com

Crackberry.com is a site dedicated to BlackBerry users and abusers featuring news coverage, how to guides, forums and BlackBerry software, themes and accessories.

Click the link to check them out: http://crackberry.com/

crackberry.com

Twitter Fan Page: @BB_FanClub  BlackBerry Fan Club

This twitter account is a twitter page designed to create a community dedicated to all BlackBerry lovers posting news about BlackBerry.  The page has nearly 2000 followers.

Click the link to check them out: https://twitter.com/BB_FanClub?lang=en

BlackBerry Fan Club Twitter page

Facebook Fan Page: BlackBerry Empire

BlackBerry Empire is a community page about BlackBerry that brings cutting edge news about BlackBerry and tech knowledge in general using some of the best resources and people.  They also have a website.  The page has 4,292 likes.

Click the link to check them out: https://www.facebook.com/BBerryEmpire/?fref=ts

BlackBerry Empire Facebook page

Instagram Fan Page: BlackBerry Life Style

An Instagram fan page for people to send their original BlackBerry images.  The page has 19,000 followers.

Click the link to check them out: https://www.instagram.com/blackberrylifestyle/

BlackBerry Life Style Instagram page

Friday, 25 March 2016

Who Utilizes YouTube Better, HTC or Nokia

Since YouTube was founded in 2005 it has grown drastically and has given individuals and organizations a lot of opportunities. Nokia had joined YouTube in 2005 and has since had 56 million views on their YouTube page and have 353 thousand subscribers. Their YouTube channel is linked to their website, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ via hyperlinks. Recently they have not posted anything about their smartphones, but they’ve been posting about their new virtual reality product. However they do not post very often but when they post they tend to post multiple videos at one time. A great advantage to their channel is that they are verified which validates that they are legitimately related to the Nokia brand.
HTC created their YouTube channel in 2006 and have since accumulated 81 million views and have acquired 347 thousand subscribers. They have their website, Twitter, Blog, LinkedIn and many more  social media outlets related to their YouTube. They post a video at least once a month and tend to post more than one video at once. They receive lots of views on their videos especially on videos where they are introducing a new product or if it’s a commercial for one of their phones.  The length of their videos vary from 30 second to 4 minutes with a couple videos being 15 minutes or more.


Nokias YouTube doesn’t even compare to HTC’s. It just seems that Nokia doesn’t put any effort into their YouTube account. They don’t link most of their social media to their account they post videos with unappealing content and they don’t post regularly or share their YouTube post on their twitter or Facebook. HTC however does a fantastic job of gaining consumers attention and linking them to their other social media so they can continue to support a brand that they love.

Thursday, 24 March 2016

BlackBerry vs LG on YouTube

How often does each brand post a new video?

BlackBerry is not very active on YouTube especially when compared to other social media channels that it is on.  The last video posted on YouTube was one month ago and it was an official demo for the Priv BlackBerry smartphone.  LG in comparison is much more active on YouTube but a lot of that can be attributed to the fact that they are releasing new smartphones like the G5 and want to get awareness out there to drive demand and increase sales.  LG USA Mobile posts videos a few time a week.

What kind of video content does each brand post?

BlackBerry posts a variety of different content on YouTube from commercials, official demos for all of their devices, videos explaining BlackBerry’s Enterprise Portfolio, BBM related videos, launch event videos and videos of BlackBerry Mercedes AMG sponsorship.

LG posts various content as well including commercials, celebrity spots, and videos showing off the features of the various smartphones

In the description area, what kind of content is included?

In a typical BlackBerry video the description area includes a description of the video, keywords, and occasionally a link to a BlackBerry webpage.

In a typical LG video the description area includes a description of the video, keywords, and occasionally a link to a LG webpage.

Which are your two brands most successful recent videos?

A recent BlackBerry video that is successful is the video titled “Introducing Priv”.  The video introduces BlackBerry’s first secure smartphone powered by Android.  The video has 1,034,149 views, 6,278 likes and 1,189 comments.  

You can watch the video by clicking here:



A recent LG video that is successful is the video titled “LG V10 and Joseph Gordon-Levitt — In-Between Moments Extended :60 TV Commercial”.  It’s a commercial starring actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt using the V10 smartphone to film himself walking around.  The video has 5,926,865 views, 3,128 likes and 354 comments. 

You can watch the video by clicking here:



Why do you think these two videos were so successful? 

The BlackBerry video is successful because it’s the first BlackBerry smartphone to be running the popular Android software and so you have a large following of Android users who are interested as well as BlackBerry users who are interested in learning more about the device.


The LG video is successful because it is a commercial that was also shown on TV and it stars a celebrity - Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Who Utilizes Instagram Better, HTC or Nokia?

Instagram is one of the newest social media outlets that are being widely used by many organizations and businesses. HTC has an awesome Instagram they have a short profile description which includes a hashtag and a link to their website. Their photos are of good quality with a professional level of editing. Their Instagram posts don’t include much dialogue mostly of artsy pictures of their products. They also give little preview about their new products that are being released. They don’t really tweet about their industry but they do tweet about their products and post questions to consumers sometimes. They have posted 689 pictures, they have 583 thousand followers and follow 408 people, and they are also a verified account on Instagram.

Nokia seems to be new to Instagram since their first post was about a year ago. They’ve only managed to accumulate to 47.2 thousand followers and are following 0 people. They have a good short description that includes their website link. They are posting pictures about the company as well as the industry with short dialogues and have also posted about current events such as International women’s day. A big disadvantage to their Instagram is that they are not verified so people do not know for sure if the account is actually real even though the content that they post is the same as their other social media outlets.


It’s very unfortunate that Nokia has such a weak social media presence on Instagram especially since they have just reported a loss in profits. However HTC has a great presence on Instagram with a lot more followers than Nokia with a lot more posts. The verification that HTC has may not seem like much but it is a great advantage to have it shows that Instagram is acknowledging you as a premium account and it can really help you reach more consumers.

Monday, 21 March 2016

BlackBerry vs LG on Instagram

How often does each brand post new content?

BlackBerry is present on Instagram but is not particularly active on the social media channel.  BlackBerry averages about one post per week.  In comparison, LG USA mobile is much more active on Instagram averaging one post per day.

What kind of content does each brand post?

BlackBerry posts images and short videos of the Priv smartphone, artistic photos of the Priv smartphone, photos of various Priv advertisements (ads on buses, on billboards etc.), and images of celebrities at BlackBerry events.  

Example of BlackBerry Instagram post


LG posts photos of the soon to be released G5 smartphone and photos that were taken using the G5 smartphone. Later posts from LG show images of the V10 smartphone and photos taken using the V10 smartphone.

Example of LG Instagram post

Is there a description feature on this platform? What kind of content is included?

On Instagram to the left of the Display image is where the description is located.  On BlackBerry’s Instagram page, the description is “BlackBerry”.  It includes the #hashtags: #Priv, #PrivacyOn, #BlackBerry Passport, #widerworld.  It also includes a link to www.blackberry.com (BlackBerry’s website).  It also displays the number of posts (190), number of followers (118,000), and the number the brand is following (91).

On LG’s Instagram page, the description is “LG USA Mobile Life’s Good.  Meet the #LGG5: bit.ly/24lcWla which is a link to a webpage containing information for the new LG G5 smartphone.  It also displays the number of posts (515), the number of followers (65,800), and the number the brand is following (39).

Which are your two brands most successful recent images/videos? 

The most successful recent BlackBerry Instagram post was a post of an image of a slid open BlackBerry Priv smartphone (https://www.instagram.com/p/BAQyM3DmrNO/?taken-by=blackberry) displaying the physical keyboard with the Apple Music application interface on the screen.  The description of the post was “blackberry Play nice. #applemusic available on #blackberrypriv. Powered by #Android”.  The post has 2,673 likes and 103 comments.

Successful BlackBerry post


The most successful recent LG mobile Instagram post was an image of the soon to be released G5 smartphone with the removable battery (https://www.instagram.com/p/BCLw-0dFG47/?taken-by=lgusamobile) sliding out from the bottom of the phone. On the battery is written “life’s good when you play more”.  The description of the post is “lgusamobile Modular Design = 100 #LGG5”.  The post has 2,173 likes and 114 comments.

Successful LG post

Why do you think these two images were so successful?

The BlackBerry post was successful because they used #hashtags for popular brands including #applemusic, #android, and #blackberrypriv.  #Hashtags improve search engine optimization and so it is safe to assume that people were made aware of the post when they were searching for things like Apple Music or Android smartphones.  BlackBerry users would also be happy to learn that they could access Apple Music on their new Priv smartphone so that would have increased likes and comments as well.

The LG post was successful because the post was about the new flagship LG smartphone soon to be released.  There is a lot of interest and demand from LG customers and smartphone enthusiasts for the new device.  In addition, LG is the first mainstream smartphone maker to use a modular design making it unique in a market that is very competitive.  The uniqueness of the upcoming device increased interest and that lead to more likes and comments.


Saturday, 19 March 2016

Who Utilizes Twitter Better, HTC or Nokia?

In order to compete with other companies and understand your consumers it is a good idea to have a twitter account. This blog will be talking about How Nokia and HTC use their twitter and how they compare against each other. Nokia posts almost every day many times posting 2-3 tweets a day. They joined twitter in 2009 meaning that they were early adopter to twitter. They tweet mostly about their company and have not seen a tweet about the industry, however they do retweet tweets that have to do with the industry. They have 2.1 million followers and they follow 165 thousand people. In addition they are pretty low on likes they only have about 757  on their Instagram some teenagers have more than that as well they only have 39 thousand tweets since 2009.
HTC has a great Twitter. They have been on twitter since 2008 and have 137 thousand tweets. They follow around 5,500 people and have 1.51 million followers they also have 9,214 likes. They tweet every day and tweet mostly about their products but there is a tweet here and there about the industry, they even post motivational sentences such as “Push the boundaries. Test your limits”. There are two hashtags that are prevalent on their twitter one would be HTC vive which is their new virtual reality headset that is coming out and the other one would be “HTConem9”.


To compare the two, HTC has a better twitter than Nokia in almost every way. They have more likes, more tweets and they follow less people. It looks like Nokia only recently started to work on their twitter and HTC has been doing it since day 1. Even though Nokia has more followers I don’t believe they have a more effective twitter than HTC. 

Friday, 18 March 2016

BlackBerry vs LG on Twitter

How often does each brand post?

BlackBerry is very active on Twitter posting multiple times a day.  On Blackberry’s main Twitter page, during a typical work week (i.e. Monday – Friday) BlackBerry posts 8-10 times per day.  On weekends, they are much less active posting once or twice over the two days.

LG is far less active on Twitter in comparison to BlackBerry.  On LG’s USA mobile Twitter page, they consistently post only one or two posts per day.  On weekends they are similar to BlackBerry in that they only post once or twice over the two days. 

What kind of content does each brand post?

BlackBerry posts various content on their Twitter page.  The content is very consistent to their Facebook posts, often sharing the same information.  The content ranges from event registration, device reviews, profiles of people who use Blackberry devices, posts about the new Priv smartphone, and posts relating to how blackberry devices and services can help you be productive and keep your data secure. Images and videos are also included.

BlackBerry Twitter posts


LG posts a variety of different posts about their new flagship smartphone called the LG G5 which is set to be released in early April.  The posts are a mix of promotional material trying to build awareness of the new smartphone and posts about the unique device features.  Many of the posts incorporate a visual aid including images and videos.

LG Twitter posts

Does each brand use the 50/50 rule?

Blackberry promotes device reviews created by others on their Twitter page directing people to read a review by bloggers or professionals.  They also promote their own content about their devices and their mobile security products/services.  LG’s recent tweets (i.e. last few weeks) promotes their own created content and does not use the 50/50 rule.

Keyword sentences used by either brand.

Blackberry uses several #hashtags consistently in their Twitter posts including #Priv, #BlackBerry, #TeamBlackBerry, and #BES12.  LG uses several #hashtags in their Twitter posts including: #LGG5, #ManualMode and #MWC16.

Which are the most successful recent posts?

The most successful recent BlackBerry tweet was on March 3, 2016.  It has 117 retweets and 152 likes. The tweet informed BlackBerry users that the Priv smartphone officially launched at Verizon and was available for purchase.

Successful BlackBerry Tweet


The most successful recent LG mobile tweet was on March 1, 2016.  It has 180 retweets and 845 likes.  The tweet was promoting the LG G5 smartphone quick swap battery design using a comedic video to help get the message across to consumers.

Successful LG Tweet

Why are these posts successful?

The Blackberry tweet informing consumers that the Priv smartphone is officially available on Verizon in the U.S. was a successful post because Verizon is the largest mobile carrier in the U.S. and customers have been waiting since November 2015 for BlackBerry’s first Android powered smartphone to become available so there was pent up interest.

The LG tweet was successful because it was interactive; the message was conveyed in a short 40 second comedic video.  Consumers tend to be more responsive to interactive media so the video informing consumers of LG’s new unique removable battery system peaked consumer’s interest.

Thursday, 17 March 2016

What makes Samsung successful with Facebook


Apple Facebook’s Page: Apple Store

Unfortunately on the Apple’s verified Facebook page have no posts.

Samsung Facebook’s Page: Samsung Mobile

How often does each brand post?
Samsung posts about every 2-3 days and rarely they will post more than 1 in a day. 

What kind of content does each brand post?

Right now Samsung is launching their new product Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge and because it needs to be promoted they have their advertisements of these new products from Feb 21st as a “pinned post” (orange bookmark on the page) so it will always be on the top when anyone visits the page.


Example of Samsung’s pinned post

Samsung posts are about their new product launching and advertising what the phones can do. Also it has a lot of post regards to the GearS2, which is another new product launching of theirs. Many of the posts include, videos, images, advertisements etc.

Does each brand use the 50/50 rule?

Samsung mostly posts about new products and devices on Facebook themselves but occasionally they will post about the olympics. 


Example of a 50/50 post 



Which are the most successful recent posts?

The most recent post from Samsung was on February 18, 2016. It has 2.6 Million views, 82,000 likes and 18,828 shares. It’s a post from their Facebook page titled “Discover Samsung’s innovation story, unpacked, one box at a time”

Example of a successful post from Samsung


Why are these posts successful?


This post is successful because it gives fans an insight of how Samsung has changed over the years and specifically showing the viewer a video the physical changes of the product. And it’s a nice video to watch because it gives the viewer a summary of the history of mobile phones.

Wednesday, 16 March 2016

Who Utilizes Facebook better, Nokia or HTC?



HTC and Nokias both have very successful Facebook pages. However in this blog post I am going to highlight the key differences between the two. HTC has a very consistent routine with blog posts they post on average every second day with sometimes multiple posts a day. Posts generally consist of pictures which I believe give them a better chance to capture the readers eye. They get between 400-1000 like per post. However, the number of people that share their posts varies drastically from 4-64. They generally never post anything about the industry just about their products, actually from the posts that I viewed on their wall I actually didn’t even see one about the industry. In addition they post these competitions between apps called “AppClash”. AppClash pits two apps against each other and get the reader to vote on what apps they prefer, the last AppClash that I saw spit HULU and Netflix against each other. Not many keys words are utilized on their Facebook however they use a couple hashtags such as HTCOneA9.
Nokias Facebook page utilized their brand color which is blue however the blue is similar to the Facebook blue so it kind of blends the page and doesn’t stand out much. Nokias posts are very inconsistent they sometimes post once a week and then sometimes they will post three times a week. However they don’t post about their company, even though the majority of the post are about their products. I recently saw a post congratulating all the Oscar winners, the post also included a picture of the iconic Oscar trophy. Their shares vary from 15-80 for every post and all post include either video or a picture. Their likes vary from 400-1000 likes and they do tend to receive more comments on the videos they post rather than on the pictures they post.


If we compare the two brands we can see that Nokia has almost 10 million more likes than HTC but I attribute that to Nokia being around much longer than HTC and they also used to be industry leaders. In addition the problem that HTC has is that out of all the posts that I saw there were none about the industry just about their products. Nokia does not post about the industry but they do post about what’s going on in the world like Valentine’s Day and the Oscars. If I were to decide which company utilises their Facebook better I would say it would have to be Nokia since they get more shares and likes.

Tuesday, 15 March 2016

BlackBerry vs LG on Facebook

How often does each brand post?

BlackBerry is very active on Facebook posting several times a day.  On Blackberry’s main Facebook page, during a typical work week (i.e. Monday – Friday) BlackBerry posts 3-6 per day averaging about 5 posts per day.  On weekends, they are much less active posting once or twice over the two days.

LG is far less active on Facebook in comparison to BlackBerry.  On LG’s mobile Facebook page, they consistently post only one post per day.  On weekends they are similar to BlackBerry in that they only post once or twice over the two days.  What was interesting on LG’s page was that there was a gap between February 27th and March 1st where there were no posts made.

What kind of content does each brand post?

BlackBerry posts various content on their Facebook page.  The content ranges from event registration, device reviews, profiles of people who use Blackberry devices, posts about the new Priv smartphone, and posts relating to how blackberry devices and services can help you be productive and keep your data secure.  Many of the posts include videos, images or infographics to make the posts more visually appealing.

An example of a BlackBerry post.

Over the last few weeks, LG has posted a variety of different posts about their new flagship smartphone called the LG G5 which is set to be released in early April.  The posts are a mix of promotional material trying to build awareness of the new smartphone and posts about the device features.  Many of the posts incorporate a visual aid including images and videos.

An example of a LG post.


Does each brand use the 50/50 rule?

Blackberry promotes device reviews created by others on their Facebook page directing people to read a review by bloggers or professionals.  They also promote their own content about their devices and their mobile security products/services.  LG’s recent posts (i.e. last few weeks) promotes their own created content and does not use the 50/50 rule.

Keyword sentences used by either brand.

Blackberry uses several keyword sentences in their Facebook posts including: “Priv smartphone”, “productivity and security”, and “Blackberry”.  LG uses several keyword sentences in their Facebook posts including: “LG G5”, “Learn other features of the LG G5”, “playful and fun”.

Which are the most successful recent posts?

The most successful recent BlackBerry post was on March 3, 2016.  It has 4,200 likes, 544 shares, and 371 comments.  The post was a link to an opinion posting on LinkedIn titled “Why I won’t give up my BlackBerry”.

"Why I won't give up my BlackBerry" post

The most successful recent LG mobile post was on March 1, 2016.  It has 29,000 likes, 638 shares, and 299 comments.  The post was promoting the LG G5 smartphone quick swap battery design feature that allows you to quickly remove the battery.

Successful LG post

Why are these posts successful?

This post is successful because Blackberry users and fans of the brand are able to use the post to show their support of the brand.  The post is an opinion piece about why a particular individual loves their BlackBerry device and thus others are able to show their support for the brand and can comment on why they like their BlackBerry device.

The LG post was successful because the post is highlighting the quick removable battery feature on the new G5 smartphone which is very unique. LG is the first smartphone maker to have this feature and people are excited about this feature and the many others that the new G5 smartphone will bring when it is released.

Saturday, 5 March 2016

An Evaluation of LG’s Social Media Channels

LG Mobile Social Media Study
An Evaluation of LG’s Social Media Channels
Kevin Smith

Introduction

LG is a South Korean multinational electronics company that delivers home electronics, appliances, and mobile solutions that allow individuals to embrace life and prepare for its greatest moments.  LG Electronics was established in 1958 and has since led the way into the advanced digital era thanks to the technological expertise.  LG Electronics has unveiled many new products, applied new technologies in the form of mobile devices and digital TVs in the 21st century and continues to reinforce its status as a global company. 


LG is very active on social media networks and they are present on all of the most popular social media networks including:


The objective of this post is to study the social media strategies of LG and explore their social media presence by examining their social media channels to see where LG gets the most traction.


LG is active on its various social media channels.  LG is consistent with their posts, averaging a post per day on each of their social media channels.  When looking at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, LG is least active on YouTube, where they post at most, only once a week.

LG encourages customer feedback through social media.  LG Mobile’s Facebook page has 3,047,712 likes and there is about one post per day.  The most recent content over the last 2 weeks is about the new LG G5 smartphone that is about to be released in a few weeks.  In many of the postings the buzz words ‘fun’ and ‘playfulness’ promoting that the product is a fun product to have.  These buzz words continue to come up in their posts about the device including posts on Twitter.  The LG USA Mobile twitter page has 269,000 followers.  There are 23,200 tweets and 1,298 photos and videos that have been shared.  Recently, the tweets are about the LG G5 smartphone, particularly the camera abilities of the phone (e.g. the 135 degree dual rear camera, and wide angle lens).  Again similar to their Facebook page, LG posts one tweet per day.  On YouTube, LG Mobile (Global) has 214,435 subscribers and 79,404,180 views.  On Instagram, LG Mobile (Global) posts once every couple of days for a total of 453 posts and has 79,600 followers.  Over the last week, the Instagram posts have been exclusively about the LG G5 smartphone.

Facebook Post for the LG G5 smartphone
The purpose of the posts on social media is to get consumers aware and excited about the products that LG offers in order to try to get a sale.  LG wants to generate interest for the brand and the product offerings, especially new products, so they focus on promoting content that helps to promote awareness of the products.  In addition to trying to bring brand/product awareness and to sell, the posts are about engaging with the customer.  For instance, on the LG Mobile website, users can share content on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest. 

 Twitter post for the LG G5 smartphone

LG seems to be most effective on Facebook and YouTube because they have the most followers on those social media channels.  The posts get many likes, shares and comments demonstrating that customers are engaging in the content that is posted by LG.


Conclusion

LG is available on all major social media channels providing an opportunity to interact with their audience and create brand awareness.  The company’s focus is to help build interest in their soon to be released LG G5 smartphone where the posts across their social media channels are about the new phone and its unique features.  What is unique about LG is that they allow people to share information right from their website, something competitors like BlackBerry do not.  This gives LG an upper hand in trying to engage with customers.  Overall, LG is definitely getting the message out there about the new LG G5 smartphone and its features but they could be more active on social media.  In comparison, BlackBerry posts several times each day on Facebook and Twitter, whereas, LG posts only once a day.  Increasing the number of posts and using the 50/50 rule may help to increase the number of followers or likes they receive on their social media channels.