Social media in Argentina – Oriana Muñoz

Have you always been sure that you wanted to dedicate yourself to marketing? How did you decide to create your own agency?

I was always very interested in sales, and at the same time I was very active in the internet. I merged my work and my hobby, and turned it into my new passion. Both form a perfect mix between marketing, creativity, consumer analysis, and the management of social networks. I studied Digital Marketing and Web Design. Shortly after I finished studying, I got my first client. After him, many more proposals emerged. Until I decided to start, and take the risk of leaving my fixed job in a company and working as a freelance to create my own digital marketing agency. I associated with a colleague and together we created Social Media Style. Day by day I continue to update myself constantly to give the best to our customers.  

You define Social Media Style as an agency with a “fresh, simple and innovative vision of digital marketing”, what kind of strategies differentiate you from other types of agencies?

Since I started with this project, I had as goal to have some differentiating element. Our proposals are very personalized and we are in constant contact with our customers. This is important because brands, both personal and business, want to show their more human side, humanize. On the other hand, we not only provide community management services, we also want to create a community of entrepreneurs in which we can create a place where we can discuss and carry out coworking. We also create workshops that can be face-to-face or online to provide key tools for social media management, branding, and content creation. Another innovative element of our work is that we not only want to “sell” our services, but we want to form a strong community in our social networks and share quality content.

You take pride in creating personalized and unique proposals for each client, how do you develop these proposals? Do you use analysis tools?

Our proposals are 100% personalized. That is why, as step number one, we arrange a meeting with the client, then we do an extensive analysis in which we take into account different aspects. In the internal analysis, we determine how is the current situation of the company and where we can detect the actions to optimize it. For that we analyze:

• The website
• SEO
• Social networks
• Email Marketing
• Web Analytics
• Advertising

In the external analysis, we determine which is the social context, the market, with whom they compete, and define the public of the company. With all these guidelines, we set up a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Opportunities, Weaknesses and Threats), the best tool to detect when the company is located. After the analysis we define the objectives, we create strategies and actions. To which we attach great importance, since without a good plan of action, there can be no return on investment.  

What advertising formats are best suited to convert Argentine users into customers on social networks?

The advertising formats that work for me personally and with which we work the most are the Social Ads (advertising paid on social networks), the Display network, where you can segment the specific audience you want to reach and Remarketing, I am more surprised by the results and the ROI it has. Something fundamental is Native advertising. While the content without advertising has no reach, it is key to generate quality content that generates organic reach. For example, a key channel to generate it, are the stories on Instagram. It lasts 24 hours and is where the brand really has to strive to create quality content in 15 seconds. (Less, because average users look at stories 5 seconds). The payment advertising of the stories is also key.  

What can you tell me about social media management in Argentina? Do companies worry about keeping these channels active?

Social Networks in Argentina are increasingly used by companies. Each time they invest much less in traditional advertising and they do it in digital advertising. Social networks are part of our daily life, the user is constantly stimulated by advertising. That is why more and more companies in Argentina want to invest in digital advertising and less in traditional advertising. A fundamental action is to redirect users to the website or the ecommerce store. The process to reach the purchase is much shorter. A key tool is shopping on Instagram. Although, there are still companies that do not bet on investing in social networks, the demand for Community Managers in Argentina is increasing more and more, which makes clear the importance of good management of social networks. Companies increasingly implement this to “humanize the brand”. Consumers are tired of following accounts or profiles that are constantly promoting what they sell. So always, when starting a project, we conducted a field study and, at the same time, we asked ourselves:

• How does the brand dress?
• How old it is?
• Where it is?
• What ideals does it have?
• What does it eat?

Personifying the brand is something key to give life and humanize it. Storytelling is increasingly installed. The brand has to be able to transmit something with the content that it publishes.  

In that same context, is attention paid to the management of the reputation of social networks in Argentina? How do you approach these issues from the agencies?

Social media reputation is something essential that no company should leave out. Today more than ever, the consumer wants to have an immediate response and generate a link. It is also the means by which the brand communicates with users and customers, establishes links, generates opinions and perceptions. In short, build your reputation. Personally there are a number of strategies that I always recommend taking into account to create a reputation strategy in social networks:

• Before the claims, be quick and efficient.
• Be decisive.
• Always respond to all messages, positive and negative (not only to generate a good reputation, but the new Instagram Algorithm, “rewards” the accounts that interact more with their audience).
• Assume the responsibility.
• Maintain good forms and respect. And in case there is a conflict and this is not easy to solve, try to solve it privately and not in the public account.