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Social media Is a method of communication between Individuals and sharing of Ideas and thoughts through virtual media. Most individuals are very familiar with social media (Faceable, Twitter, Mainstream etc. ). Many individuals use these sites daily to communicate with colleagues, friends and families. Companies however have decided to do away with the some of the traditional marketing techniques and migrate to social media to market. Advantages of Social Media Marketing There are many advantages to using Social media as a means of marketing.
One of the top outstanding reasons Is that this form of marketing Is cost effective. Advertising with Social Media versus traditional advertising such as commercial and radio ads seem to be more cost effective. Just think TV and Radio advertising spots are normally sold in time increments, when advertising or marketing with Social Media there are no time restraints and the target audience that would be touched in a 30 second prime time television ad would differ greatly than the audience that can be touched In a 30 second social media conversation.
Social media Is transforming marketing In a cost effective way because It offers a new collaborative mean along tit an authentic voice of a company (Wilson, 2009). Social Media marketing facilitates open communication with an array of markets, so companies are able to target different groups. Since social media takes place in the virtual environments it also allows for a company to expand its market research. Companies are able to create online focus groups to gather a sense of what the consumer may want.
Which In turn allows a company to build a relationship with consumers that can seem almost personal giving consumers the sense of security and belonging to a brand, product or service. Social Media fields such as Twitter, Faceable and Youth allows not only company employees to post information regarding their products and services, but customers are also able to facilitate in posting , ideas, suggestions, likes or dislike or create their own videos and blobs that can help others review common views or uses on products or services.
Word of mouth of Social media quick way to get a product and service seen or heard of. With Social Media marketing companies are able to check on other companies who they may be in competition with and view the comments or video of their customers to reassess heir stance and give a view into how to gain that customer from them or this view can also allow company A to review their product or service to better target a different group.
The various ways social media can be used can drive traffic and business to a company’s site. A thrifty and educated COM (Chief Marketing officer) will observe the different marketing tactics and based on their evaluation be able to decide which environment within social media will better facilitate the goal for the organization. Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing In spite of its countless advantages Social Media marketing is extremely time misusing. Social media is a medium that is ever changing.
What may have been posted ten minutes ago in a discussion thread may no longer be relevant because the discussion could have turned in another direction; therefore social media requires users to constantly update status or response. This also forces companies to consistently have to find ways to maintain their target audience and draw in new. One of the advantages listed previously regarding social media marketing was the speed that information could get to different audiences, ironically this is also a disadvantage associated with social media marketing.
Advertising or marketing yields the same type of response despite the venue or avenue. A negative consumer review to a girlfriend regarding a hair product that did not live up to its reputation face to face is only going to lose a company maybe a handful of possible consumers. However an electronic communication regarding the dissatisfaction of the same product is going to reach more people faster and could potentially send the company into a recession. Social media marketing is also subject to hacking and spamming.
Wall-Mart is one organization that uses social media not Just to promote their reduces but to also show their community involvement. Faceable hackers and fishers are famous for attacking individuals’ news feeds claiming to give away a Wall-Mart gift card for free. People that are faithful to the brand or product can fall prey to many online scams like the Wall-Mart gift card offers that could seem genuine and their participation could result in data loss, viruses and even identity theft.
Is Social Media Good for Business Entrepreneurs or Small Business Business entrepreneurs are affected by social media in a lot of the same ways that larger companies are, the only difference is that smaller businesses and entrepreneurs don’t often see the benefit in social media marketing right away. This does not seem to be directly related to something the marketing personnel is or is not doing, it simply relates to the size of the company, the business or product the company is offering , and whether or not there is another company or person monopolizing the market with that product.
To provide an example comparing social media usage of Compact versus Broad stripe ( a locally owned cable company in Anne Roundel County, MD). Compact has manage to monopolize the cable TV and internet striation in Baltimore, MD and surrounding counties through traditional advertising and social media marketing. Because of this many individuals don’t even know that Compact and Verizon are not the only option for cable television and other the impact of social media marketing seems to be irrelevant for them.
Business entrepreneurs can lose valuable time trying to maintain social media and everyone knows time is money. Pepsi Gains More Insight The Pepsi Brand is already well known simply by name but Pepsi launched a project via social media called The Pepsi Refresh Project. Pepsi developed a website ND encourage the community to submit videos containing “Refreshing” ideas that would facilitate moving the community forward. The community in turn had the chance to vote on the videos submitted and those individuals who won were given grants.
Pepsin’s use of social media enhanced the name already well known by the public but also gave the public a new greater view of the brands sense of community involvement. Pepsi noticed through their use of social media traffic to their websites increased significantly, which showed that social media marketing was quickly more beneficial than traditional advertising. Old Spice successful use of Social Media Another company that has successfully used social media marketing is Old Spice. According to a Old Spice Case Study, Old Spice’s “Smell Like a Man Campaign” is donned as one of the most successful social media marketing campaigns.
Old Spice had always been known for men’s personal care but when competition hit the market, they realized something would need to be done to both reinvent the brand and maintain their target audience. Through their use of social media they launched a new campaign called “Swagger”, which allowed them to continue to compete in the raked and target the younger male audience that began to show interest in the new brand that emerged. Based on the Old Spice Case Study, and P;G this campaign was a major success through the use of social media.
The question may be ask, how was P;G able to determine that this campaign was success? Through monitoring the sales of products advertised with social media. P;G noticed an increase in the sale of their Glacier Falls sent as well as over one million visits to their Swaggering me website (Old Spice Case Study, 2010). Sprint use of Social Media Marketing When sitting down in the movie theatre one will notice that Sprint is another mainstream company who uses social media marketing to keep customers interested in their products.
During a recent movie trip, when the advertisements ran before the main attraction, sprint request that moviegoers turn off their phones, but then the commercial poses the question does a phone dream? In order to find out moviegoers must text a number and turn off their phones and they can find out after the show. Once the moviegoer powers their phone back up they are directed too Faceable link to watch a video of what their phone dreamed. This use of social media marketing targeted established sprint customers and keeps them intrigue in the use of their mobile phones.
Capos Uses Social Media to Maintain Customer Relations Many companies invest in to social media marketing to see the quickest return on their investment, but social media marketing is not only focused on profits but customer service as well. Capos is another company that uses social media marketing responsibly. Capos is known for shoes and excellent customer service. The company encourages excellent customer service through interfacing with the maintains the personable relationship that the company has formed with the customer.
Social Media’s impact over the next decade It is no surprise that technology evolves every day and as technology evolves those things related to it will tend to follow but one cannot be so sure with social media. Social media is on top right now because its emergence is relatively new. The opportunities seem to be endless now but social media can be seen as a rumor. When a rumor starts it’s Just one little story and it tends to grow because everyone participates initially but eventually everyone will have heard about it and the rumor onto be so interesting anymore.
This is one perspective of where social media could go but social media marketing could also continue to flourish. As social media marketing continues to be used companies will be able to study other company’s metrics as well as marketing styles to gain key audiences (Lifespan, 2012). Social media marketing representatives or Chief marketing officers will have to use social media to perform market research. They have to remain aware of the constant changes and the competition as well. Understanding their product will help them better target their markets demographics and therefore allow them to use social Edie in the best way possible.