SLW Capstone Poster
-
Upload
samantha-weaver -
Category
Documents
-
view
22 -
download
0
Transcript of SLW Capstone Poster
Building A Community Through Social Media Viterbo University
Samantha Weaver
Many people have a love-‐hate rela+onship with CrossFit, whether they fear the intensity, believe it causes injury, or think it is too expensive, the average person is hesitant about becoming a member or even trying a workout of the day (WOD) to see what it is like because of the inCmidaCon factor (Knapp, Massengale, Partridge, 2014).
This study focused on CrossFit UDX, a new CrossFit box located in the La Crosse Wellness Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. CrossFit UDX competes with two other CrossFit boxes within a 10-‐mile radius. The purpose of this study is to create a posiCve community at CrossFit UDX (UDX) through social media, specifically Facebook and Instagram. Then to examine the effect it has, if any, on the engagement and growth.
COMMUNITY NaConwide, more people are heading to their nearest yoga studio, barre class, or CrossFit box rather than to a standard gym or health club (Garcia, 2015). CrossFit affiliates have been a part of a major shiW in the health and fitness industry over the last few years. • 2000 -‐ CrossFit was introduced as a fitness training program • 2004 -‐ Facebook was founded • 2005 -‐ only 13 CrossFit affiliated boxes were opened • 2013 -‐ 10,000 affiliated boxes were opened Heywood (2014) suggests the reason for this major increase was due to the introducCon of Facebook. He backs up his claim by explaining prior to social media consumers would access the CrossFit videos via the website and could share them through word of mouth or by email linking the website. The growth of CrossFit—which is both a training methodology and a compeCCve sport, is potenCally developed by the visual communica+on of the immersive sport (Heywood, 2015).
FITNESS INDUSTRY GROWTH Consumers were not just looking for a gym anymore, but a connec+on created at the gym with other members, coaches and even owners, making CrossFit boxes, yoga studios, boxing gyms, and many more stand out among compeCtors (Garcia, 2015). Because the number of fitness centers is increasing in urban areas, a consumer can choose from among a dozen fitness centers within a 15-‐minute driving distance making compeCCon fierce within the fitness industry.
Researchers find that health and wellness is a mul+genera+onal trend, however, the biggest push into specialty classes is happening among Millennials because of the connec+on created at a yoga studio, Zumba class, CrossFit box, etc. (Garcia, 2015). Compared to four or five years ago, consumers especially Millennials are now finding more value in specialty training because of the community created among other members and coaches (Sena, 2014).
SOCIAL MEDIA BEST PRACTICES Today’s reality is that both personal related acCviCes and business related acCviCes are culCvated via social media (Beqiri, 2015). Social media plaaorms include different tools and tacCcs that provide users with a sense of ownership allowing them maintain the feeling of being in control. When done correctly, social media markeCng has the ability to expand a company’s range of engagement assets (Evans, Bracon, & McKee, 2010).
Social media is the Cadillac of word of mouth marke+ng, good or bad messages spread at a click of a bucon. This is both a disadvantage and advantage of social media markeCng, which is why developing a markeCng strategy and posiCvely formulaCng a brand message is criCcal to successfully execuCng social markeCng tacCcs (Beqiri, 2015).
UDX GENDER & AGE DEMOGRAPHIC
FACEBOOK RESULTS
UD
X C
OM
MU
NIT
Y
POST REACH & ENGAGEMENT
Researchers recommended to post on THURSDAY & FRIDAY for
most engagement
Compared to 47% of Facebook users are MALE and 53% FEMALE
ME
TH
OD
OL
OG
Y
SOCIAL MEDIA BEST PRACTICES
BEST TIMES TO POST BEFORE 8AM & AFTER 5PM
INSTAGRAM RESULTS
The BIGGEST words were the most frequently used hashtags and smallest were least used
How can a small business use social media as a marketing strategy to build a community of engaged customers?
Given the results from both Facebook and Instagram plaaorms, the Facebook results were more telling than Instagram. INSTAGRAM The use of trending or popular hashtags and quality images were the most significant factors in increasing follower engagement. Trending hashtags used to describe high quality images, generally resulted in more post likes and comments. Consistency was a factor as well, but not sacrificing quality for quanCty.
FACEBOOK PosCng videos and pictures were the most significant factors in increasing follower engagement. The analyCcs suggest the best Cme to post on Facebook is between 7PM and 9PM, any day of the week for the highest engagement and most reach. 64% of UDX’s fans are within a 90-‐mile radius meaning Facebook is an effecCve tool to send out markeCng messages to a targeted demographic. UDX engages more females than males and has more female than male members. There was no major increase in followers during the study; however, there was a major increase in follower engagement.
RECOMMENDATIONS • Post high quality photos on Instagram daily with popular hashtags • Post videos and photos more oWen than links and statuses between 7PM
and 9PM, at 8AM or 12PM • Engage more male Instagram and Facebook followers
• Quan+ta+ve methodology was used for this study
• Analyzed the company’s social media descripCve staCsCcs
• Experimented with several forms of posts of two different plaaorms and then analyzed the subsequent engagement over a 10 week period
• Set expecta+ons/strategy based off of social media best pracCces prior to conducCng the study increased the validity of the quanCtaCve
analysis
FACEBOOK RecommendaCons from researchers for increasing engagement:
• Best Cme to post 7AM to 9PM • Post 3 to 4 Cmes a week • Only post once a day for maximum reach • Videos have the highest potenCal for engagement then pictures
INSTAGRAM RecommendaCons from researchers for increasing engagement:
• Be acCve – post daily • Post high quality photos • Maintain a consistent idenCty or brand message
• Use hashtags to target followers
BA
CK
GR
OU
ND
L
ITE
RAT
UR
E R
EV
IEW
D
ISCU
SSION
& R
EC
OM
ME
ND
ATIO
NS Beqiri, G. (2015). Marketers and social media markeCng. Proceedings Of The Mul3disciplinary Academic Conference, 91-‐98
Evans, D., Bracon, S., & McKee, J. (2010). Social media markeCng: The next generaCon of business engagement. Sybex; 1 edi3on. Garcia, T. (2015, September 17). BouCque fitness studios are leading growth in the health club industry. Retrieved April 01, 2016, from hcp://www.marketwatch.com/story/bouCque-‐fitness-‐studios-‐showing-‐the-‐most-‐growth-‐in-‐the-‐health-‐club-‐industry-‐2015-‐09-‐16 Heywood, L. (2015). The CrossFit sensorium: Visuality, affect and immersive sport. Paragraph, 38(1), 20-‐36. doi:10.3366/para.2015.0144 Kemp, S. (2015, January). We are social USA. Retrieved April 09, 2016, from hcp://wearesocial.com/ Sena, M. (2015, January). Fitness industry analysis 2016 -‐ cost & trends. Retrieved April 01, 2016, from hcps://www.franchisehelp.com/industry-‐reports/fitness-‐industry-‐report/ R
EFE
RE
NC
ES