AMP-425 Benchmark Assignment - Social Media Strategy Analysis

AMP-425 Benchmark Assignment - Social Media Strategy Analysis

There are many brands competing to be top dog in every industry. The brand that gets the top dog spot is the one that is the most successful in understanding their target market and how to appropriately target that market. Those that dominate each industry are executing these skills very well. This paper will exam the consumer segment for a product, the social media outlet use, the effectiveness of social media use, how the company distinguishes itself from others, and two specific strategies for the company to use to more effectively use social media.

Baby Tula

Baby Tula is a company that sell various products for children including baby carriers in many styles, accessories for the carriers, stroller sunshade, baby blankets, shoes, backpacks, lunch boxes, cover-ups and hooded towels. They also carry products for women/mothers including shoes, torba bags, and hip pouches. Baby Tula has been a very successful company that has flooded the baby wearing market with many styles and prints to choose from. This paper will examine Baby Tula’s free to grow (FTG) baby carrier.

Customer Segment

Baby Tula targets parents and caregivers. The free to grow carrier is for parents and caregivers that have infants and small children weight 7-45 pounds. They segment the carriers by geographic location, income, and loyalty. The FTG carrier comes in a full panel and coast options. They target colder regions with full panel and warmer regions with coast carriers. The FTG carrier comes in various prices starting at $160 for the canvas FTG to over $1,200 for their fancy and highly sought after FTG carriers. This is the income segmentation, not everyone can afford (or justify) spending an excessive amount on a baby carrier. They also segment customers with loyalty to the brand. They offer rewards points for new and returning customers to use on their website.

Social Media Outlets

Baby Tula uses Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to promote their products in the social media world. They use the social media outlets to announce new products, give educational information on babywearing, blogging, and giveaways. On Facebook and Instagram, they use the live features to announce new products and give educational babywearing information. Pinterest is used for their blogged articles. The most recent article was about Halloween babywearing ideas. YouTube is used for instructional videos. They also have a Facebook group “Tula Love” where they collaborate with other companies that sell baby items to do giveaways. These same giveaways are also used on their Instagram account. Baby Tula used #GrowWithTula as for their social media campaign when they released the FTG carrier (Piencka, 2018).

Effectiveness

Baby Tula’s Facebook page has had a steady growth of new followers, raising 8,000 followers in six months (Baby, 2018). Since the campaign began there have been 91 pictures posted on Facebook with the hashtag. While Instagram had a much higher success rate with 977 posts with the campaign hashtag. Twitter had the least success with only six campaign hashtags. When the FTG carriers were released they were quickly sold out and the resale value was more than twice the retail value. The social media campaign to get consumers interested in the product was very successful given that their carriers sold out the same day they are released.

Compare

Ergobaby is another baby carrier brand on the market. Ergobaby also used Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Pinterest. The two brands use the social media sites in similar ways to promote their products. Tula has continued to distinguish themselves from the competition by continually adding new products to their line. Another way they distinguish themselves is by using handwoven materials from mothers around the world. The handwoven carriers have high value points and are always one of a kind.

Strategies

Two strategies that Baby Tula could use to better target their customers and increase their competitive advantage would be to treat each platform as its own entity and social listening. Each channel needs to be treated as individual platforms (De Cunha, 2018). If Baby Tula were to tailor its posts to a more specific audience on each platform, they could get a better response from the users on each platform. Social listening is demonstrated on social media when a company listens to what their consumers want and then interact with their thoughts (Henneberry, 2016). When consumers feel they are being heard by the company, they will be more likely to become/remain customers. Utilizing these two strategies will help Baby Tula to continue gaining their competitive advantage.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Baby Tula has been very successful in their social media use. While some sites had a better response than others, they were able to effectively get the word out about new products, educational information, giveaways, and their blogs. They have a straightforward and loving approach in their messages on social media sites. Their creativity is what keeps them going. People all around the world will continue to grow with Tula as they innovate babywearing products.

References

Baby Tula | Detailed statistics of Facebook page. (2018). Retrieved October 14, 2018, from https://www.socialbakers.com/statistics/facebook/pages/detail/299691780049280-baby- tula?country=singapore

De Cunha, M. (2018, May 10). 5 Social Media Marketing Strategies to Improve Your Efforts in 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2018, from https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/01/09/social-media-marketing-strategies

Henneberry, R. (2016). Developing a Social Media Strategy. Retrieved October 14, 2018, from https://www.digitalmarketer.com/digital-marketing/social-media-marketing-strategy/

Piencka, C. (2018). PRESS RELEASE: Baby Tula Announces Innovative New Carrier. Retrieved October 14, 2018, from https://babytula.com/pages/press-release-baby-tula- announces-new-carrier