Social media marketing involves a process that focuses on creating specialized programs and websites that attract customers. A corporate message that is spread through these tools also encourages online users to share this content with their social networks.
Social media is regarded as a platform that provides an access to internet content and ensures close communication between an organization and their customers. There are a great number of new media tools for marketing and advertising through social networking, including blogs, social bookmarking sites, and famous social networks.
Mostly 80 % of marketers are inclined to use blogs as the most efficient and expensive way to advertise their goods and services. Indeed, focusing on blogs has become a beneficial tool of influence and attention grabbing (Stelzner, 2009).
Attention given to blogs introduces a number of advantageous opportunities for marketers. This is of particular concern to defining customer’s feedbacks and engaging actively into discussions and forums (Stelzner, 2009). Clients are now overtly debating on various topics regarding the products they buy because online websites provide immediate information on price and quality of available goods.
Using social networks as a platform for marketing campaign is also approved to be efficient in carrying out business. According to Camusio (2013), “A full 88 % of respondents use social media networks, and 81 % of them reported gaining business exposure as a result” (Camusio, 2013).
Widespread social networks, such as FaceBook, have become the leading instruments of corporate influence because there are millions of users who are in pursuit of beneficial propositions and constant exchange of information. What is more important is that these media platforms are efficient for analyzing and predicting consumer behavior.
Additionally, it is possible to define age categories, gender, nationality, and geographical information about clients who are interested in an advertized product. Such data is a valuable contribution to a marketing process because it outlines further steps in conquering the identified market segment.
Social bookmarking is a process that provides a quick access to websites promoting goods and services of a certain company. Bookmarks are helpful for exposing a list of topics and resources for users to find the information they need. Cooperative tagging is among the techniques that most organizations use (Barnes, 2010). This tool focuses on a phrase or word that is directed at a focus group with similar interests.
The collection development, therefore, is an excellent means for exchanging relevant content with users, as well as finding the topic that interest them most of all (Barnes, 2010).
Additionally, cooperative tagging through bookmarking is beneficial in terms of possibility to trace other clients identifying resources (Educase Learning Initiatives, n. d.). Hence, introducing bookmarks to a specific website does not only allow to facilitate the advertising process, but also provides new tools of highlighting the percentage of people attending this website.
In conclusion, social media marketing tools have been advanced greatly due to the emergence of social networks and online blogs. Such tool as social bookmarking is another important approach to marketing goods and attracting client’s attention because it encourages users to attend the company’s websites and learn more about the product.
Social networks are beneficial for companies because they provide valuable information about clients, including their age, gender, and preferences. This data contributes to analyzing and predicting trends of product development and branding in future.
References
Barnes, L. L. (2010). Social Bookmarking Sites as Collection Development Tools. The Informant: The Quarterly Newsletter of the Illinois Chapter of the Social Libraries Association. Web.
Camusio, Z. (2013). Social Media Networks as Marketing Tool. Starup Nation. Web.
Educase Learning Initiatives. 7 Things You Should Know about Social Bookmarking. Web.
Stelzner, M. (2009). Social Media Market Industry Report. Social Media Marketing Industry Report. Web.