Reference no: EM132223919

Summary of ABN Australia ABN Australia is a family run online business registration and legal document provider which operates from Adelaide. Since its establishment in 1976, the business has aimed to assist small businesses and professional advisers in affordable and timely businesses registration services. ABN Australia provides services to cater for all business structures including the establishment of trusts and self-managed superfunds. The current scope of ABN Australia’s social marketing presence consists of their website, Facebook and various online paid advertisements. Catering to a range of potential clients, the company website allows a business to be launched efficiently and affordably within 24 hours. Further, ‘ABN Australia Startup Community’ is the title of the business’s Facebook group “where ABN Australia business owners and advisers support each other”. The business administrates this group through its page and aims to grow the group as a support system for existing and potential clients. Situation Analysis The following table presents a SWOT analysis of ABN Australia’s business operation and social media presence. This aids in the comparison and analysis of competitors as well as determining appropriate recommendations. Strengths - One stop shop - Good customer service - Quick turn around - Wide variety of products - Trustable [especially in Adelaide] - Experienced - Qualified and competent employees (Chartered Account) - Good branding / colour scheme - Can service a range of individuals Weaknesses - Demographic is hard to target - Hard to google the name due to Government websites - Grasping a wide demographic with content is difficult - Tracking the conversation rates of marketing campaigns Opportunities - Raise brand awareness - Online presence: Most businesses can access the internet. - Connect potential customers in local communities and around the world. - Easily gather information Threats - Multiculturalism - Individualism - Competitive market Social Media Audit Below is an audit of ABN Australia’s main competitors’ website and social media presence: Competitor Web Site Observations Social Media Channels Activity / Presence Strengths Weaknesses Law Path -Easy to navigate. -Live, interactive help. -Self-promotion. -Facebook -YouTube -Twitter -LinkedIn -Facebook: 3189 page likes. 1-2 posts per month. Few likes and comments. -YouTube: 38 subscribers. 14 total videos. 5063 channel views. -Twitter: 2044 followers. 63.5 avg. posts per month. Few likes, comments and re-tweets. -LinkedIn: Identical posts to Facebook and Twitter. Little interaction. -User interface easy to use. -Links to website on social media. -Utilising multiple platforms. -Little to no interaction. -Lack of engagement. ACIS -Difficult to navigate. -Language on website may be misunderstood. -LinkedIn -LinkedIn: 88 followers. Post 2-4 times per month. Few likes and comments. -One of Australia’s largest providers. -Difficult to find online. -Weak social media presence. -Lack of engagement. TopDocs -Self-promotion. -Reasonably easy to use. -Lots of links. -No social media links. -LinkedIn -LinkedIn: 306 followers. Post 1-2 times per month. Avg. 10-20 likes per post. -Lots to offer. -Credible, award winning. -Weak social media presence. -Lack of engagement. ClearDocs -Easy to navigate. -Self-promotion. -Lots of links. -No social media links. -Facebook -Twitter -YouTube -Facebook: 530 page likes. 1-2 posts per month. Few likes and comments. -Twitter: 845 followers. 1-2 Tweets per month. Few likes, comments and re-tweets. -YouTube: 18 subscribers. 17 uploads. 600-1000 views per video. -Credible, award winning. -Lots to offer. -Utilising multiple platforms. -Little to no interaction. -Lack of engagement Taking the findings from the audit into consideration, ABN Australia’s core competencies and competitive advantages are: · Convenience and speed. · Customer service. · ‘One-stop-shop’. · Trustworthy (especially in SA). Objectives OBJECTIVE 1 ABN Australia is a business that can help take a life-long idealistic lifestyle or dream of an individual and turn it into a reality. This is something that portrays a really empowering message and this should be taken advantage of. Thus, the first social media objective for ABN Australia is to tie in a consistent core marketing message that can be utilised across all platforms – not limited to online media. An example of this objective would initially see all graphics hosting the below features; A consistent catch phrase Consistent colour scheme in all graphics (orange, white and black) Succinct reviews or testimonials Figure 1 demonstrates what a cover photo graphic for Facebook may look like; Figure 1: Facebook Cover Example Where ABN Australia offers a variety of products, the aim of this objective is to encompass that the company is more than a business registration and legal document servicer. Potential clients should feel that ABN Australia is the answer to their dreams daunted by the legalities of the business world. This will be emphasised further in the Action Plan. Target Audience For the purpose of this report, the target audience we will be focusing on 18-30 years of age, but overall is not limited to a certain age group as anyone with an interest to start a business would be considered as a potential customer. Buyer Persona (18-30) Name: John Age: 25 Gender: Male Profession: University Student Annual Income: $19,000 P.A (Part Time Position) Interests: Electronic Mechanics Hobbies: Gaming, Reading Innovator/Late Adopter: Innovator Benefits Sought Create a platform to launch new inventions. Create an online store to sell inventions. What do they like to do on Social Media Post about new inventions or creations. Connect with like-minded innovators. Type of Social Media User Maven (High Interactive Participation and High Information Needs) Actively used Social Media Channels Instagram SnapChat LinkedIn Facebook Social Media Zones and Channels It is evident that companies and organisations like ABN Australia are looking to online social marketing programs and campaigns in an effort to reach consumers where they ‘live’ online (Hanna, Rohn, Crittenden, 2011). Although companies recognise the importance of being active in social media, they do not truly understand how to do it effectively (Hanna, Rohn, Crittenden, 2011). To meet the desired objectives of ABN Australia, the strategy needs to follow the social media patterns of their target audience being university students. Zone 1, Social communities feature two-way and multi-way communications, collaborations and conversations which is necessary to create in order to achieve ABN Australia’s social media marketing objectives to engage with a younger audience and attain brand recall and recognition. Marketing is no longer solely about capturing the attention of potential consumers via reach; instead focus has now moved to both capturing and continuing attention through conversations (Hanna, Rohn, Crittenden, 2011). Zone 2, also known as social publishing is the “production and issuance of any content, (including user generated content) for distribution via social publishing sites” (TEXTBOOK). According to Edelman and Intellissek (2005) blogs or weblogs are “easily published sources of commentary, opinion and uncensored, unfiltered sources of information on a variety of topics”. It is through the social publishing zone that companies are “able to put a face on their company” through topics which are of interest of the target audience (Scott, 2016). Donnelly (2018) explains that there are 2.01 billion monthly active users of Facebook per month, making it the most widely used social media platform. As ABN Australia clearly state the goal for the business using social media is to gain brand exposure and reach a younger generation while increasing website traffic and lead generation it is clear that Facebook will make up a sizeable part of the marketing strategy (Donnelly). Social publishing and social community are both integral to meet the desired objectives of ABN Australia for the following reasons: - By creating a business blog which aims to inform and educate can allow ABN the opportunity to use this as a marketing tactic to drive traffic to the business website. - Well written, engaging and informative blogs demonstrate the company as an industry leader. By posting topics which resonate with the consumers in that particular market will ultimately show your knowledge and this tool can be used to market your skills in business as well as the services and products. - By creating a community that allows users to communicate with the company as well as one another through common interest/s will enable ABN Australia to form relationships with current and potential consumers (Lithium, n.d). - The social publishing zone will enable ABN Australia to deepen the connection with its consumers as they follow the blog and get to know the company and the products and services ABN provides (wishpond, 2018) Activation Plan Objective One Cohesively coordinating both objective one and two together is pivotal for the success of the activation plan. Firstly, objective one is primarily exemplified through the consistent use of graphics across Facebook and any website features. These graphics are the first thing a consumer looks at, meaning it is the primary message that a consumer may perceive (i.e. Figure 1 example). Further, the ‘dream unlocking’ motif can be especially emphasised with the aid of previous clients (if willing). Testimonials reflecting ABN Australia’s service in accomplishing the dreams of a client could send a powerful message to new potential clients. These can then be used as a primary marketing and content tool where testimonials (i.e. videos) could be sponsored around Facebook and on YouTube ads. MyBudget – although an alternate business service – utilises this strategy very well. Objective Two Our second marketing objective is to promote #goodadviceaustralia community group the ABNAustralia private facebook group, in an effort to retain current customers and users. Our team believes that by promoting the closed group ABNAustralia will be improving the quality of its online offerings and incentivise users to actively engage with the companies online presence, and to ultimately generate sales by fostering deeper relationships with users within the group by allowing ABNAustralia to be perceived by customers and clients as an ‘authority’ within the industry. In conjunction with our focus on students as the main marketing segmentation, we recommend that content by applicable to the needs of this group. This means using both the facebook and linkedin accounts posting content related to educating consumers on the topics relating to the products and services that ABN Australia can provide. The group itself can be used to foster young talent, such as that found in the Flinders business school. Activision Plan Objective Two - Promotion of ABNAustralia private group Re-evaluate and create a new content calendar with focus on educational and convincing content to promote the brand and desirability of the group The content of both the Facebook and Linkedin pages should be based on educational content related to the business and its industry. This can include some social publishing like easy to produce content such as lists, how to articles, relevant business news and opinion articles, infographics, promotion of networking events and ABNAustralia’s product demonstrations. Building the social media reputation of the public page will then allow the private group to have more appeal and credibility. The next section of posts can start to concentrate on promoting the group as a valuable resource to current and aspiring small business owners. As of now the group is described as being a safe space for small business owners to share problems and solutions, so the posted content should reflect this and be used as the hook to increase engagement. Measurement Expected Outcomes Considering the nature of the business, attracting new customers as well as retaining customers and keeping them satisfied is key; the two objectives aim to do just that. The first objective is expected to help attract new customers by making ABN Australia’s website and Facebook page equally visually enticing. The testimonials will also aid in inspiring confidence, and appealing to potential customers’ emotions towards sss tarting a business. The expected outcome of the second objective is to grow the company’s online community across multiple platforms, along with the ability to interact with the customers and their questions/needs much more effectively. This is expected to also aid in education about new and current products, which can be dictated by the online community discussion. We expect the online community to be a significant help. What is the measurement of ABN Australia? (A table including main objectives + metrics + recommended KPIs)