Reference no: EM133026486

Question: Imagine you are employed by a business or organization which is seeking to expand its social media presence. Your supervisor has asked you to research the strategies used by another business in the sector and to provide a short report. This type of investigation is a form of observational research in which you use 'raw data' (social media posts) rather than published reports (secondary research) as the basis for your analysis.

Step 1
Select a business or organization with a strong social media presence. This could be a brand you are already following or a business in the sector you are preparing to join. Next, select one of its social media sites: Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

Step 2
Create criteria by which to categorize the social media posts observed on the site within a one-week time period. These criteria could be topics, purpose (promotions, information, community engagement, etc. ), tone (humorous, sad, shocking, etc.), negative/positive customer comments, types of responses to customer comments, and so on. (I've included a page in this module on social media 'metrics', which might give you some ideas of what to measure.) Once you have created the criteria, count the number of posts which fit each category. Aim for three to five criteria.

For instance, if you picked Ikea's Facebook page, you might notice a trend in negative comments related to product shortages! You could dig deeper to see if there were particular products mentioned, or you could investigate to see what other issues came up in negative comments, identifying the top three consumer issues. In a business setting, this primary research could then be used to provide better customer service.

Another approach would be to create criteria related to engagement metrics. You might count the number of likes, comments, retweets, or shares etc., during a set time period, creating number ranges for engagement (eg. Low - 20 or fewer likes, Medium 21-50, High 51 - 100, Very High - 100+). You could then count the number of posts which received likes in each of your number categories.

In your third paragraph analysis, you could then further identify the type of posts (topics, purpose, etc.) within each number range. For instance you might discover that the most engaging posts were those that promoted children's products and the ones which received the least engagement were the 'lifestyle' posts.

Step 3
Create a visual to present your data. Review Chapter 11 (pp. 297-304) for strategies related to creating and incorporating graphics in reports. I've included a link in this module to a Word tutorial on creating charts. Or, you might also just insert a simple table.
A chart based on the Ikea example above might look something like this:

Step 4
Draft a one-page document, organizing it into three sections:
1. Introduction-include the purpose of your document and the business/social media site under investigation
2. Findings-identify the criteria you selected, introduce the data visualization, and include your graphic
3. Summary-sum up the data trends you observed, highlighting the brand's social media strategies; for this observational report, your summary is based solely on your primary research data-do not consult secondary sources for outside analysis

Step 5
Apply memo-style formatting to this short, internal report. (See an example on p. 277.)
1. Headings-use a centred Level 1 (Title) heading at the top of the page to identify the business and social media site; include 'Date', 'To' (your instructor), 'From', and 'Subject' headings as per example; use centred Level 2 headings for Findings and Summary sections
2. Paragraphs-left-aligned, single-spaced with one extra line between paragraphs
3. Length-not to exceed one page

Step 6
Revise, edit, and submit:

1. Review the content to ensure it is complete and organized according to assignment instructions

2. Edit for grammar and mechanics (pay particular attention to your 'problem areas')

Attachment:- social media presence.rar