Reasons why Social Media Marketing has become exceedingly popular among businesses
The use of social media marketing has experienced a significant increase in the past few decades. The application of social media promotion of organizations’ businesses has led to the diminishing trend in the application of traditional forms of marketing (Dobele et al., 2005).
Studies show that the social media attract millions of people who visit the sites every day. On this note, websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogging among others have become major destinations for business organizations in posting their services, website links, photos as well as assessments (Dobele et al., 2005).
As such, businesses have been able to share with the global community and interact with the clients. Consequently, the contacts create a large pool of online society that is customer-driven thereby making it influential. In addition, through social media marketing, an online community trust and common interest is achieved.
Moreover, with social media advertising, the companies are capable of publishing highly accessible information that allow the clients to share and read the news contents of the companies’ services (Li & Bernoff, 2008). As a result, many firms have increased their spending on the social media advertising and there is anticipation of further increases in the coming years.
In the recent past, many businesses have embraced the use of social media not only as a means of connecting with their customers but also as a significant tool of marketing the organizations’ activities and their services to the target customer base (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).
In essence, the business organizations are able to take into account the needs as well as the opinions of the clients. Noteworthy, social media being a viral channel for prompt information, the organizations are able to study the clients’ changing trends of preferences and tastes. Further, the business organizations are provided with a forum of interacting with their clients thereby capable of seeking and sharing the customers’ knowledge, views and information.
Just to begin with, social media promotion has increased in popularity among businesses because it serves the significant role of influential societal listening instrument (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). In other words, the companies using social media are able to gain an opportunity for collaborative communication with the clients. In this regard, the clients are able to access the companies’ websites. On the other hand, the companies are capable of seeing the customers’ views towards the organizations’ brands.
Consequently, the firms take the positive reactions from the clients and devise better ways to enhance their operations. Further, online advertising especially through the social media has proved significant for many firms in assessing their competitive capabilities in the global market. On this note, companies become proficient in evaluating the competing products as well as establishing their rivals’ products that are more appealing to their targeted clients (Vollmer & Precourt, 2008).
Secondly, the social media is critical in the provision of the company’s trademark on the internet. In essence, using the business blogs, many firms have been able to display their trademark attributes and culture. In addition, the use of blogs has enhanced the platform through which firms communicate with the aimed customer base (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).
Thirdly, businesses are capable of engaging with the customers in their operations. The engagement forms the fundamental basis in the running of business organizations. In this regard, social media promotion provides a forum for the organizations to engage with their customers.
In other words, the firms create customer loyalty using online advertising techniques such as push out advertising emails, non-intrusive ways that is ideal for being in contact with customers (Li & Bernoff, 2008). Further, through the active cooperative contacts and online promotions, the companies have been able to enhance the customers’ devotion to their brands and trademarks.
Many businesses are embracing social media promotion since it provides the commerce sector with a competitive arena that is fairly level for business engagements. Unlike the conventional marketing methods that required huge chunks of resources for running the promotional campaigns by the organizations, it is evident that operation through online marketing systems provides an ideal arena for all the companies to begin from the same balance.
However, increased successes of the businesses depend on their ability to employ the valuable tactics, interest capture and link worthy contents (Muniz & Schau, 2007). As such, business firms employing these tactics have registered massive achievements and increased cyberspace viral. The techniques have out-networked and out-written other competitors through the provision of advanced services and client attention thereby increasing online sales.
Further, social media marketing has gained increased popularity among many firms due to the cheap expenses involved in running the social networking adverts. On the contrary, venturing in online campaigns realize enormous returns despite the cheap capital involved in its operations. In addition, the businesses are offered with the prospects of meeting customers unknown to them who eventually buy the firms’ products (Vollmer & Precourt, 2008).
For example, using Twitter, following explicit keywords provides the companies with the opportunities of reaching customers in need of the products they offer. In addition, Facebook marketing provides the companies with the opportunity of being members of groups dealing in their related customer base as well as products.
Advantages and disadvantages of Social Media marketing for business entrepreneurs
Advantages of social media marketing
Social media marketing has initiated enormous changes in the operations of different business organizations around the globe. As a result, the organizations have continuously exploited diverse websites such as twitter and Facebook among others to market their products and services due to the benefits that comes with their applications (Vollmer & Precourt, 2008). Further, the use of social media offers businesses with wide network of customers around the globe.
Social media advertising plays a critical role in society construction. In other words, firms have the prospects of being in contact with the clients through the internet at any given period. More specifically, the firms are capable of engaging with the consumers in discussions and respond to their queries through the social networking accounts. In addition, the customers as well as the potential clients are able to scrutinize the responses given by the businesses.
Through the business-customer contacts, there is enhanced business trademark status as well as establishment of the self-governing company that builds the society. Moreover, engaging the customers through social media generates a long lasting picture of the company’s brand in the clients’ minds thereby keeping them connected to the organization’s products and services (Li & Bernoff, 2008).
The other advantage of social media advertising is that it makes the company enhances the creation of its trademark awareness among the clients. In other words, with increased number of customers accessing the business’ details including trademarks, name and the links to the websites, there is a potential of expansion in the establishment of brand awareness among the company’s client base.
In essence, social media marketing enables firms to share and distribute the contents of their services across a wider base of potential clients (Muniz & Schau, 2007). Further, through the company blogs, the firm is able to respond to the available opportunities and customers on the social networking avenues.
In every business operations, traffic forms the fundamental acquisition conduit. In this regard, social media has continued to offer a platform for businesses to drive opportunities to their sites and websites.
The businesses have achieved increased traffic through presenting a variety of links in their blogs to other sites. Consequently, the firms acquire escalating number of potential customers. Further, the firms are able to search for optimization through presenting their products with advanced visuals to make them appealing to customers.
Through social media, organizations are offered the opportunity of listening and learning the prospects that are existing in the market. Further, the companies get to listening to what their customers and the public say about their services and products.
On this note, businesses have been able to observe and comprehend the activities of their rivals. In addition, organizations have been able to understand the well-informed nature of consumers and thus are able to encourage their customers to share their perceptions of the company’s products (Dobele et al., 2005). Moreover, the social media offers a platform where the businesses can personally interact with their potential customers.
Social media marketing enables the extension of business connections. Therefore, businesses are able to reconnect with the past contemporaries and build on the precedent associations. In addition, through online marketing, promotional costs are reduced since the businesses reach a wide base of clients through the low-cost means of communication and delivering its services.
Further, social media is critical in providing optional means for business organizations to show on the search engine pages. With such alternatives, businesses are capable of optimizing their brand images thereby increasing the association with the potential customers (Dobele et al., 2005).
Disadvantages of Social Media marketing
Many business organizations have increasingly embraced social media marketing as a tool for promoting and advertising their products due to its associated benefits. In fact, the use of social media is a significant advertising method. Despite these advantages, the use of online advertising has its dark side related to its use.
Just to begin with, for a business to gain the optimal results from social media, upbeat input involving regular posts and tweets are required for the connections with the clients. In other words, the business must respond to the views of customers and offer a convincing answer to their clients about the valuable nature of their services (Muniz & Schau, 2007). The participation involves the consumption of the quantitative amount of productive time.
The other disadvantage of social media is that it faces the threat of being hacked. In fact, hackers have accessed the accounts of diverse organizations over the years posting and tweeting false information about these organizations. Therefore, the firms have a duty of sealing the loopholes associated with the use of web marketing.
Further, companies offering low-quality goods and poor services can use the promotional tool to accrue returns. Moreover, the use of web marketing exposes businesses to legal risks concerning patents, copyrights and false advertising. In this regard, the companies can be fined by portraying false information about their products (Muniz & Schau, 2007).
In addition, posting misinforming information about products misleads the customers. Further, social media marketing has experienced an upsurge in the number of sites thereby making it complex for firms to know where to begin. The forums regularly alter their systems to appeal to the diverse market segments. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the firms to identify which accounts suites their products.
How Social Media Marketing is helping Pepsi gain more customer insight
Through the “Live for Now” marketing campaign targeting those between 18-35 years, Pepsi has effectively established its brand through the utilization of client engagement and employing contents that are used.
Further, utilization of data aggregation, geo-local and inbound promotion have proved useful in the operations of Pepsi. The firm engages its customers through its digital dashboard that enables its customers to remark on the Fox network reality television that has enabled it remain relevant with the well-informed clients in its operations.
Further, through the dashboard, Pepsi has been able to sustain its promotion through the user-generated texts from Twitter and Facebook. Through the data aggregation, the firm has been able to improve the client-engagement paradigm thereby magnetizing new customers. Pepsi has also integrated the social media with local-based mobile promotion. As such, the firm has been able to capture customers from diverse geographical locations.
Consequently, the firm has seen a massive growth in the number of its clients. The firm has also recognized the application of inbound marketing practices in engaging the customers to meet their nature of being perceptive. As a result, the firm has registered enormous benefits from the direct communications with its clients. The firm has been able to listen to its customers’ changing requirements.
Other businesses that have used Social Media Marketing
The Coca Cola Company values the use of social media in the promotion of its products. As such, the company has created a digital communication and social media within its public affairs that has increased the firm’s capacity in connecting the customers to its products around the globe.
Through the digital communication, the firm reviews what the social community is saying about the products. Further, the company is able to answer the issues raised by clients directly. The company uses its corporate blog, Facebook, the Coke tag and Flicker called the “Coke Side of Life.
Just like the Coca cola Company, Mercedes-Benz has embraced the use of social media in engaging their customers as well as improves their sales. The company engages its clients through posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Youtube. The accounts allow the company to receive feedbacks from the clients about the experience with the company’s products. The firm does not only tweet or post about its brand but also about the fashion week event the company sponsors thereby improving its trademark.
Impact of Social Media on business over the next decade
The use of social media marketing has increasingly acquired a broad user base over the years. An upsurge in the number of social media users is expected to continue escalating. Therefore, the use of web marketing will influence the businesses’ communication, promotion as well as employment tactics. In addition, the businesses using social marketing strategies will be subjected to set of laws concerning intellectual property, market practices, confidentiality and data safety.
In essence, social media will provide prospects of recruiting potential personnel by the firm. Moreover, the communication of business and advertising will have to follow the stipulated promotional acts. Therefore, to take advantage of the changes, a firm must outline its objectives and goals that are measurable in its operations. Further, the firm should establish the prospective stakeholders with whom it will conduct the business.
References
Dobele, A., Toleman, D., & Beverland, M. (2005). Controlled infection! Spreading the brand message through viral marketing. Business Horizons, 48(2), 143—149.
Li, C. & Bernoff, J. (2008).Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston: Harvard Business Press.
Mangold, W. G. & Faulds, D. J. (2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business Horizons, 52(11), 357—365.
Muniz, A. M. & Schau, H. J. (2007). Vigilante marketing and consumer-created communications. Journal of Advertising, 36(3), 35—50.
Vollmer, C. & Precourt, G. (2008). Always on: Advertising, marketing, and media in an era of consumer control. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.