Social media present a platform for potential business growth. People use them on an everyday basis. Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks have become the primary source of information for many people. The reason for this is that each of these sites uses a newsfeed. The posts of their friends are mixed with the posts of communities, channels, and public pages they have subscribed to. Using the newsfeed service, it is possible to capture users’ attention to any business entity, including Happy Valley Yogurt.
Facebook has a unique feature, which allows sharing fiscal cards between Facebook users. Once a user receives the card by e-mail, they can make purchases with the money stored on it. Happy Valley Yogurt can send out Facebook cards to its followers. They will receive cards with the balance that allows them to buy the company’s drink. Such an action would attract social attention, which will, in turn, bring about an increase in sales.
Customers are driven towards seemingly costless experiences. Social media can provide such experiences with minimum effort involved (Wilcox and Cameron 240). For instance, Happy Valley Yogurt may promise a free drink to any customer who posts an image of themselves with the company’s product on Instagram. Instagram is known for its stories, which have shoppable tags. These tags allow businesses to mark their products. Anytime a user posts a story with Happy Valley Yogurt’s product, their subscribers will see the company and its initiative and will be compelled to purchase products for themselves.
YouTube analyses the videos and sorts them according to their popularity. The more popular the video is, the more likely it is to appear in the recommended video feed. Happy Valley Yogurt can utilize this mechanic by posting a video about a new product and making it viral by inviting people to like it or making an advertisement based on it. Media interest generates consumer attention, which leads to more purchases of the promoted products.
Twitter has the function to create Twitter Moments. It allows authors to create continuous stories by linking various tweets into one narrative. It is a useful feature, which helps distinguish a certain event among the thousands of other tweets. Happy Valley Yogurt can create a Tweeter Moment, which will refer to a certain event, such as a free giveaway, a temporary discount, or the introduction of a new product. Users will instantly see the corresponding tweets and will be more aware of the Happy Valley Yogurt’s offers.
Finally, Pinterest allows advertisers to do targeted marketing. Each user has a pinboard, which comprises images and videos of interest to them. Considering that many people use Pinterest for shopping, advertisers can create content, which is similar to the one contained in personal pinboards. When a user sees an image or a video that coincide with those in their portfolio, they will take interest. Thus, Pinterest’s targeted marketing increases the chances of users getting acquainted with Happy Valley Yogurt and buying its produce.
In my opinion, the use of social media for business purposes is the direct continuation of the virtualization of communication. The more time people spend on the Web and social networks, the more accustomed to advertisements and promotions they become. What is more, everyone can regulate their newsfeed or install an extension, which blocks ads. Therefore, users who do not limit exposure to advertising and promotion are willing to accept it and expect the companies to remind of themselves on the media.
Work Cited
Wilcox, Dennis L., and Cameron, Glen T. Public Relations Strategies and Tactics. Pearson Education, 2013.