Nowadays, social media has become a popular marketing tool. Different companies, especially the ones exercising e-commerce, use it to promote their products and services. The primary reason for this is the fact that social media like Facebook and Twitter allow advertising to seem more credible since most users receive this information from friends. This is the source that is reliable by default for the large portion of auditory. Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming services that has successfully addressed social media to promote its service.
Marketing Functions
Spotify has used Facebook and Twitter for several functions, which are core to their business. The primary goal of the company is to distribute music. The first step is to determine which music is currently trending. Social media is a great tool for this since people are eager to share tracks and albums that they liked. The brand also uses these platforms as a source of news. Various posts including information about the new music releases create awareness among users and encourage them to listen to it, making this function the most important. Finally, it is easier to distribute songs among the large audience. For instance, Facebook had more than 1,5 billion monthly active users in the second half of 2016, and the numbers are increasing.
One of the most important features of social networks is that they allow users to share feedback with companies. This may become a crucial factor in a business’s survival. Facebook and Twitter allow Spotify to receive opinions about its service and to plan further strategies for development.
Rapid Growth
Tying up its business to social media is one of the reasons identified in the article that explained the rapid growth of Spotify’s audience. There are several features of this combination. For instance, users are required to have an active Facebook account to get access to Spotify. Other elements include the possibility to play songs on Facebook if they appear in the news feed or to share tracks with friends via messages. This step has changed the company’s pricing policy, for it switched from offering a 10-hour listening time for free each month to provide six months of access without payment. However, there are also some drawbacks to this strategy, for Spotify does not receive enough revenues from free accounts to cover the expenses.
Nevertheless, choosing Facebook and Twitter as promotion tools appears to be a reasonable step. Users are interested in the news of the musical world. As the article states, the company’s posts receive a lot of “likes” if they feature information about bands visiting their premises. There is also the interest of the audience in playlists that are a part of various festivals. Besides, music is an important part of the mass culture, and people tend to explore new releases and events. They recognize the need to be acquainted with the latest soundtracks to be a part of the community. I have noticed that most of the information regarding music and other services reach me and my friends mainly through Facebook. It is our primary source of information that we receive daily. Moreover, friends usually share the same taste in music, which allows Spotify to expect several users related to each other to be interested in the same playlists.
Conclusion
Social platforms like Facebook and Twitter has become a great opportunity for Spotify to increase their audience. Its primary goal of familiarizing users with its service has become possible due to the model of sharing common to social media. While these platforms expand, there is a good prognosis for Spotify regarding its growth.