Social media has become a big part of people’s lives in the recent years. Due to this fact, it is essential for a company to have a social media presence as a communication channel with prospective customers. According to Patel (2018) “it’s no longer just a place for your family and friends” (para. 1). A company can benefit from social media presence as it will allow it to have a communication channel with its customers.
According to Lindsey-Mullikin and Borin (2017), the critical aspect of creating a social media strategy is understanding how potential clients behave online. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the competitive advantage a company can achieve when utilizing social media, in particular, live streaming services for video content.
The fictional organization in this assignment is a clothing brand the primary distribution channel of which is its online shop. The company can decide to utilize social media, spesifically, video sharing services to engage more customers. Patel (2018) states that 95% of brand executives plan on including live video streaming into their marketing strategy for the following year (para. 10). Thus, the brand should utilize the opportunity of exploring a new marketing strategy to be able to achieve a competitive advantage.
There is a variety of options that can be used to stream video for the company. As research suggests, consumers are becoming more interested in visual content, such as videos (Patel 2018). Therefore, many existing social networks have included the option of video streaming into their interfaces, for example, Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, services solely dedicated to the purpose have emerged, such as Periscope.
According to Patel (2018), Facebook and Instagram are the two most popular streaming services; thus, the company should utilize those channels. According to Quesenberry (2018), it is essential to not solely focus on the numeric data from social media (amount of likes, shares, and comments), but to identify how the business model will be connected to it. It will engage potential customers and will help introduce the brand to the people. The usage plan for the strategy is to create a social media account in one of the platforms and advertise it through paid ads and social influencers to gain followers.
The company can utilize the tool to stream different aspects of its operations that will help build a connection with potential customers. According to Patel (2017), people are interested in being engaged in the streaming process by commenting, which is another advantage of this strategy. Firstly, the videos can showcase the photo shoots of new collections that are being prepared for a season. This can give consumers an insight into what to expect regarding colors and shapes from the closing. Secondly, streaming can be utilized for live events where stylists and fashion influencers answer questions from the viewers. Finally, streaming can be used to display the clothes presented on the website in the form of a fashion show.
The technical requirements for the implementation of this strategy are a smartphone with good video filming capabilities and a stable internet connection. The organization would need to have at least one person responsible for the video streaming strategy. The person will have to plan events and visit photo shoots to be able to produce live stream content. The workflow should include constant updates to engage viewers. The customer requirements, in this case, will be having a social media account and access to the internet to be able to see the content created by the brand.
The proposed strategy can be used to enhance the existing sales model of the clothing company. The organization can benefit from the social media following as it will allow the brand to display its clothes in a new way. The potential clients will be more engaged, as they will be able to watch the content and comment on it. Therefore, utilizing video streaming as part of the social media strategy would be beneficial for this clothing business.
Bibliography
Lindsey-Mullikin, Joan, and Norm Borin. 2017. “Why Strategy is Key for Successful Social Media Sales.” Harvard Business Review. Web.
Patel, Neil. 2018. “The Top 10 Social Media Trends of 2018.” Quicksprout.com. Web.
—. 2017. “Should You Jump on the Live Video Bandwagon?” Quicksprout.com. Web.
Quesenberry, Keith. 2018. “The Basic Social Media Mistakes Companies Still Make.” Harvard Business Review. Web.