About
Ciao Bella is my own personal lifestyle and travel brand based in Southern Italy. As an influencer, I strive to provide users with high-quality content that shows them everything the country has to offer. Whether I’m highlighting exciting adventures on my podcast, partnering with amazing brands for contests and giveaways, or posting visually-stunning photos and videos on my social media platforms, I always try to give my audience a little taste of “The Italian Dream.”
Main Campaign Goal
Increase Ciao Bella brand awareness across five social media platforms.
Five S.M.A.R.T. Objectives
- Improve post engagement rate—“the number of engagements divided by impressions or reach”—on TikTok by 35 percent within six months (Sprout Social, 2020). *Engagement metrics include likes, comments, shares, and mentions.
- Grow average engagement rate—“the number of engagement actions a post receives relative to my total number of followers”—on Instagram by 15 percent within six months (Hootsuite, 2020). *Engagement metrics include likes, comments, and shares.
- Increase the number of subscriptions to my YouTube channel by 40 percent within six months.
- Boost post reach on Facebook by 20 percent within six months.
- Strengthen conversion rate on Pinterest by 30 percent within six months.
Main Audience
For my social media marketing plan, I will be targeting women between the ages of 18 and 29 who are interested in all things lifestyle and travel. With 78 percent of American women using social media, the highest percentage of users falling between the ages of 18 and 29 (with the exception of Pinterest), and beauty, travel, fashion, and lifestyle among the most popular social media marketing niches, this particular demographic is likely to resonate most with the Ciao Bella brand (Hootsuite, 2020; Viral Nation, 2020).
Platform #1: TikTok
Why TikTok?
With over 800 million active users, using TikTok to market my brand will allow me to reach a massive audience (Forbes, 2020). Not only that, but because the app is available in 155 countries, I can introduce my travel content to users who are not just from the United States (Oberlo, 2020). Because 90 percent of users visit the app more than once per day, there will be significantly more opportunities for newcomers to stumble across my content (Omnicore, 2020). All of these factors tie into my S.M.A.R.T. objective of increasing my post engagement rate by 35 percent because a high number of users checking the app multiple times a day could potentially lead to more impressions and engagement.
Target Audience
Because approximately 50 percent of TikTok’s audience is under the age of 34, I am choosing to target women between the ages of 18 and 34 in order to reach as many people as possible (Omnicore Agency, 2020). Even though only 44 percent of TikTok users are female, I am hoping to build a substantial community of women who enjoy the lifestyle/travel niche and find Ciao Bella’s content both authentic and engaging.
S.M.A.R.T. Goal #1: Improve post engagement rate on TikTok by 35 percent within six months.
Creative Strategies and Tactics to Achieve S.M.A.R.T. Goal #1
- Host travel contests
- Create a branded hashtag
- Interact frequently in comment section
- Create my own TikTok challenges for people to participate in
- Collaborate with other prominent TikTokers and brands in and around my niche
- Post clips from my YouTube videos and encourage followers to check them out by following the link in my bio
TikTok Travel Contest
Fans will have the chance to win a magical week-long vacation to Italy with influencer, Ciao Bella, as their guide. The contest will be in partnership with Booking.com and will be fully paid for. During the trip, Ciao Bella will show one lucky follower everything Italy has to offer and will document the entire experience on social media. In order to be considered for the contest, users must:
- Post a TikTok video explaining what their ultimate travel destination is
- Tag @ciaobella in the video and include #ciaobellacontest in the caption
- Comment “Finito!” under Ciao Bella’s “TikTok Travel Contest” post when they’re finished
This contest is an excellent way to achieve my main goal of increasing brand awareness for several reasons. First, the branded hashtag could potentially start trending on TikTok due to the sheer number of people who include it in their own posts. If people are not familiar with my brand, but see the hashtag trending or come across a fan’s entry on their “For You Page,” it might encourage them to click on my page and see what the contest is all about. Then, they might like what they see and decide to enter too. After a winner is selected, people will be able to observe on social media (tapping into FOMO) and see if the trip truly lives up to the Ciao Bella name. If it does, they’ll be motivated to stick around and apply when another travel contest comes along.
TikTok Advertisement
For this advertisement, I am choosing to target women between the ages of 18 and 34 because 60 percent of TikTok users are female and 58 percent of users are between these ages (Hootsuite, 2020).
Caption: Want the chance to win a week-long trip to Italy with Ciao Bella? All you have to do is follow the instructions above! Good luck and happy creating 😉✨ #ciaobellacontest #fyp #travel
This contest will help me reach my S.M.A.R.T. goal of improving post engagement rate by 35 percent because it facilitates both engagement (e.g. likes, comments, shares, and mentions) and reach. It encourages engagement because users are required to tag my account, comment on my post, and use my hashtag in order to be considered for the trip. It boosts my post reach and account reach because of hashtag use and brand mentions. This advertisement exemplifies my creative strategies and tactics of hosting a travel contest, creating a branded hashtag, forming my own TikTok challenge, collaborating with brands around my niche, and incorporating clips from my YouTube videos.
Platform #2: Instagram
Why Instagram?
With 63 percent of Instagram users checking the app at least once a day, there is a good chance that the majority of my followers will be exposed to new Ciao Bella content daily (Hootsuite, 2020). By regularly posting content during times when users are most active, I will have the chance to increase average engagement exponentially. Also, with more than 50 percent of Instagram accounts using the “Explore” feature every month, if I effectively utilize hashtags and facilitate high levels of engagement among my following, I can potentially accomplish my main campaign goal of increasing overall brand awareness (Hootsuite, 2020).
Target Audience
On Instagram, I will target women between the ages of 18 and 34 who are interested in topics of beauty, fashion, food, lifestyle, and travel. I am choosing this specific audience because around 30 percent of female Instagram users fall into this age demographic and more than 50 percent say they make purchases based on influencer content from Instagram (Statista, 2020). Because Ciao Bella is constantly working with brands to promote their products and services, these factors are driving forces behind my decision to target this group of women.
S.M.A.R.T. Goal #2: Grow average engagement rate on Instagram by 15 percent within six months.
Creative Strategies and Tactics to Achieve S.M.A.R.T. Goal #2
- Create Instagram stories that swipe up to my YouTube videos
- Produce partnered posts and videos with other travel brands and influencers
- Post short travel diaries to IGTV
- Promote brand partnerships through sponsored posts
- Facilitate engagement by asking followers fun questions
- Incorporate hashtags into captions to increase exposure
Instagram Promotion
Ciao Bella will utilize Instagram to promote travel videos on YouTube. I will create a brief video that includes visually appealing clips and high quality audio elements from trips I’ve taken. The video will serve as a way to direct people to my YouTube channel and increase my number of subscribers, which is one example of how I will cross-promote and advertise my brand. In each video, I will facilitate Instagram engagement by asking my followers to perform specific tasks pertaining to the content. Whether I ask them to type their dream travel destination in the comments, tag a friend they would like to go on an adventure with, or ask me travel-related questions to address in my next video, I will always help my followers get the conversation started.
Instagram Advertisement
Because this advertisement is drawing attention to my YouTube channel, I am going to target 18 to 34 year olds because YouTube is the “second most-preferred platform for watching video" among this group (Hootsuite, 2020).
Caption: Florence was bellissima. While I loved everything about the city, I have to admit that the food was probably my favorite part! Which Italian dish have you been dying to try? Let me know in the comments below 😋🍕🍝 #ciaobella #italy #travel
This promotion will help increase my brand awareness because it advertises one of my main social media platforms. It will make Instagram users aware of my YouTube channel, which in turn will help me achieve my S.M.A.R.T. goal of boosting my YouTube subscriptions by 40 percent within a six month period. This advertisement/promotion also ties into my Instagram S.M.A.R.T. objective of growing my average engagement rate by 15 percent because I am making sure to facilitate conversation surrounding each of my travel video posts. The more engagement each of my posts receive relative to my number of followers, the closer I am to achieving this specific goal. This promotion exemplifies my creative strategies and tactics of posting travel diaries to my Instagram feed, creating content that drives users to my YouTube page, incorporating hashtags to increase brand exposure, and advancing engagement through intriguing questions.
Platform #3: YouTube
Why YouTube?
With 68 percent of U.S. female adults using YouTube and 37 percent of users between the ages of 18 and 34 using the platform daily, YouTube is a great place for me to reach my target audience (Omnicore Agency, 2020). With more than 70 percent of what people watch dictated by the YouTube algorithm, effective SEO can help me achieve my S.M.A.R.T. goal of increasing my subscription percentage by 40 percent. YouTube is also a great social media platform for my brand to use because beauty, fashion, lifestyle, and travel are among the top 10 most popular types of videos on the website—all of which are Ciao Bella’s main areas of focus (Mediakix, 2020).
Target Audience
Similar to Instagram, I will also be targeting 18 to 34 year olds on YouTube because it "is the second most-preferred platform for watching video" among this age demographic (Hootsuite, 2020). YouTube is a great social media platform to use for marketing my brand because beauty, fashion, lifestyle, and travel are among the top 10 most popular types of videos on the website (Mediakix, 2020). As the “single most popular social media site in America,” YouTube has the power to increase brand awareness in unimaginable ways (Pew Research Center, 2018).
S.M.A.R.T. Goal #3: Increase the number of subscriptions to my YouTube channel by 40 percent within six months.
Creative Strategies and Tactics to Achieve S.M.A.R.T. Goal #3
- Upload video collabs with other travel brands/influencers to gain exposure
- Include relevant keywords in titles to make videos easier to locate (Hootsuite, 2020)
- Create visually stunning, customized thumbnails to entice viewers to click on my videos
- Create end screens to help promote my other videos, social media accounts, and website (Hootsuite, 2020)
- Remind viewers to like and subscribe after watching each video in order to build the Ciao Bella community
- Post clips from podcast for cross-promotion and extra YouTube content
YouTube Giveaway
Ciao Bella will partner with the Italian travel company, Belmond, for a very special giveaway. As mentioned in my influencer project, Belmond specializes in everything from hotels and river cruises to restaurants and tours. For this ad, I will create a YouTube video explaining Belmond’s company, what is included in the giveaway, and how people can enter for a chance to win. The giveaway will include four different packages provided by Belmond for four different winners. Each giveaway will consist of a fully-funded Belmond package and tour in one of their South America, Europe, Africa, or Asia locations. In order to be considered, users must:
- Be following/subscribed to Ciao Bella and Belmond on Instagram and YouTube
- Create their own Instagram post explaining why they should win the giveaway
- Tag Ciao Bella and Belmond in their post and include #ciaobellagiveaway in their caption
YouTube Advertisement
In this advertisement, I will be targeting a broader demographic than usual in order to appeal to as many people as possible. This giveaway targets women between the ages of 18 and 49 because this group encompasses the highest percentage of YouTube’s age demographic (Sprout Social, 2020).
Making a Ciao Bella channel subscription necessary in order to be considered for the giveaway will provide incentive for new users to stick around and help me achieve my S.M.A.R.T. goal of increasing YouTube subscriptions by 40 percent. This giveaway exemplifies my creative strategies and tactics of including relevant keywords in my titles to make videos easier to find, creating aesthetically-pleasing thumbnails to draw in viewers, reminding viewers to subscribe to my channel, and partnering with travel brands to gain exposure.
"La Dolce Vita" Podcast
By including video clips from my podcast recordings on my YouTube channel, it motivates listeners from Spotify and Apple Podcasts to head to my channel to view the footage. If I ever interview another influencer or celebrity for the podcast, podcast fans might want to visually see the interview instead of just hearing it. This will help me accomplish my goal of increasing channel subscriptions because it introduces my podcast audience to a new form of Ciao Bella content that they might not have known about. Additionally, posting podcast clips on my channel will expose my YouTube subscribers to “La Dolce Vita,” which will help boost my podcast fanbase.
Platform #4: Facebook
Why Facebook?
With the highest level of traffic occurring midday on Wednesday and Thursday on Facebook, the platform provides ample opportunity to achieve my S.M.A.R.T. goal of boosting post reach on Facebook by 20 percent (Sprout Social, 2020). Because Facebook users spend an average of 38 minutes on the website/app per day, my creative and engaging strategies will help ensure that they spend at least a portion of that time interacting with my content (Hootsuite, 2020). Not only that, but with the 60 percent of Americans who watch digital video doing so on Facebook, it will allow me to expose my travel videos—a huge part of my overall brand—to users who might not be active on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube (Hootsuite, 2020).
Target Audience
With 81 percent of Facebook users falling between the ages of 18 and 29 and 74 percent of Facebook users being women, my target audience for Facebook is reflective of my main audience (Hubspot, 2020). Not only that, but 74 percent of Facebook users report using the app at least once per day, which means that Ciao Bella has the chance to reach an incredibly wide audience through effective social media marketing tactics (Sprout Social, 2020).
S.M.A.R.T. Goal #4: Boost post reach on Facebook by 20 percent within six months.
Creative Strategies and Tactics to Achieve S.M.A.R.T. Goal #4
- Host sponsored product giveaways that require followers to take action
- Create and post high-quality images from my own travels to foster engagement
- Post previews of content that will drive people to my YouTube channel
- Include call-to-action buttons/links under relevant content
- Incorporate hashtags that are unique to my brand and make my content easy to find
Facebook Advertisement
I will cross-promote the aforementioned YouTube video by creating a Facebook post outlining its giveaway features and entry rules. By advertising the YouTube giveaway on Facebook, I am able to achieve my S.M.A.R.T. goal of boosting YouTube subscriptions by 40 percent because it exposes more people to my channel.
When advertising my YouTube giveaway on Facebook, I will be targeting women under the age of 35 because 65 percent of users fall into this category (Oberlo, 2020). This particular demographic is also reflective of my primary target audience on YouTube.
Caption: Ciao everyone! I am delighted to announce a very special giveaway that I will be hosting alongside Italian travel company, Belmond. Four lucky contestants will have the chance to win a fully-funded Belmond package and tour in one of their South America, Europe, Africa, or Asia locations. In order to be considered, please follow the directions above. For more information, head to youtube.com/ciaobella. Good luck! 🤩✈️ #ciaobellagiveaway
Even though the main goal of this post is to drive traffic to my YouTube channel, it will also help me achieve my S.M.A.R.T. goal of boosting post reach on Facebook by 20 percent within six months. By implementing creative strategies and tactics like posting previews of YouTube content, incorporating a branded hashtag, including a visually-stunning image, and adding a link in my post, I am able to facilitate engagement in a way that leads to higher post reach.
Platform #5: Pinterest
Why Pinterest?
With 90 percent of weekly users making purchase decisions on Pinterest, this platform is an excellent way to help me achieve my S.M.A.R.T. goal of strengthening my conversion rate by 30 percent (Omnicore, 2020). Not only that, but 77 percent of weekly users have also reported discovering new brands on Pinterest. This means that through my effective creative strategies, I will be able to reach my main goal of increasing Ciao Bella brand awareness. Also, because Pinterest has such an overwhelmingly female audience, I will have better chances of exposing my brand to my target demographic. Because more than half of Pinterest’s users reside outside of the U.S., marketing on this platform will allow me to expand my global following (Hootsuite, 2020).
Target Audience
Because more than two-thirds of Pinterest users are women, this platform is an excellent way for me to connect with my female audience (Hootsuite, 2020). On Pinterest, I will be targeting women between the ages of 18 and 24 (38 percent of pinners) and 25 and 30 (28 percent of pinners) (Sprout Social, 2020). With 85 percent of women saying they use Pinterest to plan life moments, this is a great opportunity for Ciao Bella to tap into FOMO by posting high quality lifestyle and travel content (Hootsuite, 2020). Also, Pinterest users have the highest level of purchase intent than any other social media user, which will significantly help with conversion rates (Hubspot, 2020).
S.M.A.R.T. Goal #5: Strengthen conversion rate on Pinterest by 30 percent within six months.
Creative Strategies and Tactics to Achieve S.M.A.R.T. Goal #5
- Incorporate branded hashtags to make my content easier to find
- Include links to relevant posts, website content, and videos when creating pins
- Share downloadable content such as packing guides and travel guides
- Organize boards by category—such as beauty, fashion, food, and travel—to streamline content navigation
- Create “Shop the Look” pins that allow users to quickly locate all of the pieces that I’m wearing
- Include high quality keywords in board names and pin descriptions for search engine optimization
Pinterest Promotion
Because Ciao Bella is a lifestyle brand in addition to being a travel brand, I will use Pinterest to promote topics like beauty and fashion. In order to do this, I will include photos from my Instagram account and add them to specific boards. Then, I will make the pins shoppable, which will help me accomplish my S.M.A.R.T. goal of strengthening my conversion rate by 30 percent. Not only will these shoppable pins generate revenue through affiliate links, but they will also expose users to my brand and other social media accounts.
With my Pinterest advertisement, I am going to target women below the age of 40 because they account for the majority of active pinners (Omnicore, 2020). By catering specifically to active pinners, it increases my chances of introducing my Instagram account to new people.
This promotion utilizes my creative strategies and tactics of creating “Shop the Look” pins to help users find specific pieces, including high-quality keywords in the pin description for SEO, adding links to relevant website content in my pins, incorporating a branded hashtag to make content easier to find, and organizing boards by category to streamline content navigation.
Evaluation
TikTok
Improve post engagement rate on TikTok by 35 percent within six months. *Engagement metrics include likes, comments, shares, and mentions.
In order to evaluate the success of my first S.M.A.R.T. objective, I will use the TikTok analytics tool, Pentos (Digifloor, 2020). Some of Pentos’ most beneficial features in regards to my goal are weekly performance reports, video analytics, hashtag analytics, and profile analytics (Pentos, 2020). Because I am looking at the “number of engagements divided by impressions or reach,” being able to visually see which tactics are working and which aren’t will help me tailor my TikTok strategy even further and reach my goals with ease. With in-depth data on branded hashtags, branded video content, engagement metrics, and audience demographics, Pentos will help me discover which of my contests and/or challenges are succeeding, how my videos are performing when compared to other influencers around my niche, and who is interacting with my content most often.
Grow average engagement rate on Instagram by 15 percent within six months.
When it comes to evaluating the success of my second S.M.A.R.T. objective, I will rely on the Instagram Insights tool for business profiles. Because Instagram Insights is free, it allows me to access valuable information like reach, impressions, content interactions, story insights, and more without spending a dime (HubSpot, 2020). With the goal of increasing “the number of engagement actions a post receives relative to my total number of followers,” Instagram Insights will allow me to see my post and story interactions, top posts, stories, and IGTV videos, and reply rates. These insights allow me to directly measure my engagement actions, which include likes, comments, and shares. Not only that, but Instagram Insights also helps me evaluate how well my strategies and tactics are working. I will be able to see how many people swipe up on my stories for YouTube videos, the amount of impressions partnered posts receive, which question-style captions facilitate the most engagement, and which hashtags generate the highest reach.
YouTube
Increase the number of subscriptions to my YouTube channel by 40 percent within six months.
Similar to Instagram, I am going to use YouTube’s built-in analytics feature to evaluate the success of my third S.M.A.R.T. objective. With a lofty goal of increasing channel subscriptions by 40 percent within six months, YouTube Analytics will allow me to track everything from channel traffic and top performing videos to impressions and audience demographics (Hootsuite, 2020). Perhaps one of the greatest features of YouTube Analytics is the ability to access in-depth information regarding subscribers. It will allow me to look at the number of people who have subscribed to my channel during a designated time period, which helps me see if I’m on track to meeting my S.M.A.R.T. objective. Also, there are several elements that measure the success of my tactics and strategies. Top YouTube search terms reveal which top search terms led to my videos the most, top videos uncover which thumbnails and titles are most appealing, and audience retention indicates whether or not my end screen is effective enough.
Boost post reach on Facebook by 20 percent within six months.
In order to evaluate the success of post reach on Facebook, I will use Facebook Insights because it will allow me to access information regarding paid versus organic reach, post engagement (clicks, reactions, comments, and shares), actions on page, recommendations, and audience demographics (Hootsuite, 2020). By being able to see the amount of organic reach each post generates, it will help me understand which types of posts fare best and why. This will also reveal which of my creative strategies and tactics are most successful. Not only that, but by looking at post engagement and actions on page, I will be able to assess the success of my giveaway and reveal whether or not my cross-promotion tactics are working. Finally, by regularly checking the “When Your Fans Are Online” tab, I can evaluate which days/times produce the highest post reach and refine my strategy even further.
Strengthen conversion rate on Pinterest by 30 percent within six months.
In order to evaluate the success of my fifth and final S.M.A.R.T. objective, I will use the Pinterest Analytics tool through my business account. Because my goal is to get users to click on affiliate links, check out my website, and visit my Instagram, being able to track clicks, top pins, original pins (“The number of unique pins created from you website using the Save button”), and all-time stats is incredibly beneficial (Hootsuite, 2020). The click rate alone will allow me to visibly see which call-to-actions are working and which aren’t. With access to this information, I can easily assess my conversion rate and tailor my strategy if need be. Also, by looking at the “Top Pins” category, I can measure my top 50 performing pins within the past month, which offers valuable insight into the success of my keywords, branded hashtags, and downloadable content. By looking at my audience demographics, I will be able to tell which “language, gender, country, and metropolitan area” has the highest conversion rate. This also helps me reveal whether or not I’m reaching my target audience and if I need to re-evaluate who I’m trying to reach (Hootsuite, 2020).
References
Rodriguez, N. (2020). Assessment/evaluation: Social media marketing [PowerPoint Slides].
Rodriguez, N. (2020). Building a social media marketing strategy [PowerPoint Slides].
Rodriguez, N. (2020). Social media marketing strategies, ideas, & tips [PowerPoint Slides].
Credits:
Photos are either from Unsplash or they're my own. Marketing Plan Resources: https://blog.hootsuite.com/smart-social-media-goals/ http://www.hubspothelp.io/blog/setting-smart-inbound-marketing-goals-for-your-business-size https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-goals/ https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/boost-brand-awareness-with-instagram-stories-a-how-to-guide https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-metrics/#:~:text=9.,rate%20goes%20beneath%20the%20surface. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-metrics/ https://blog.hootsuite.com/youtube-marketing/ https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-marketing/ https://www.omnicoreagency.com/tiktok-statistics/#:~:text=TikTok%20Demographics,26%25%20between%2018%20and%2024.&text=TikTok%20users%20spend%20an%20average,per%20day%20on%20the%20app. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/state-of-social-media-demographics https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/ https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/ https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-demographics/ https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-marketing-tips/ https://blog.hootsuite.com/pinterest-seo-top-keywords/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomtaulli/2020/01/31/tiktok-why-the-enormous-success/?sh=55b27d6e65d1 https://www.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics https://www.omnicoreagency.com/tiktok-statistics/#:~:text=TikTok%20Demographics,spent%20using%20TikTok%20in%202019. https://www.omnicoreagency.com/youtube-statistics/ https://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-stats-for-marketers/ https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-statistics/ https://www.omnicoreagency.com/pinterest-statistics/ https://www.oberlo.com/blog/facebook-statistics https://blog.hootsuite.com/youtube-stats-marketers/#user https://blog.hootsuite.com/pinterest-statistics-for-business/ https://pentos.co/ https://www.digifloor.com/best-tiktok-analytics-tools-16 https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-use-instagram-insights https://blog.hootsuite.com/youtube-analytics/ https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-analytics-insights-beginners-guide/