In light of this, this paper will discuss several reasons why social media marketing has become exceedingly popular among businesses of all sizes. It will also examine some benefits and pitfalls regarding business
Social media is defined as a group of Internet-based applications which build on the platform of Web 2.0 and the contents of these applications can be modified by all users in a participatory and collaborative method (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Social media creates a platform for companies to talk to their customers as a hybrid element of promotion mix. With the emergence of social media, the tools and strategies for companies to connect with customers have also changed (Mangold and Faulds, 2009). To adapt with the emergence of social media in the marketing, companies should have unique insights about these significances (Quan-Haase and Young, 2010). The significances of social media embody three main aspects which are technology, decision-making and purchase behaviors of customers.
The use of social media marketing has become a standard way in which organizations advertise their products or services. Social media marketing allows consumers to have immediate access to other consumers reviews or to post a review about a product or service. There is engagement between the company and the consumer (Evans, Dave 2010). Social Media emerged in the late 1980’s when websites such as Prodigy, Compuserve and America Online. Prodigy was first of it’s kind and was known as a ”consumer online service”. Half of the page is devoted to advertising. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Hi5, Bebo and Orkut are all social media platforms that are utilized as platforms today.
It is interesting how social media today is influencing the marketing role of many companies and how it’s playing a big role in their success. The more the company advertises on social media, the
Social Media: Social networks like all the online matter such as Youtube, Twitter and Facebook are so important that relevant companies should not defer their efforts to create the public image and enhance their both market and products’ effectiveness”
Marketing is continuously changing and growing within the business field. Recently, social media is becoming one of the main marketing strategies used by companies, which is known as social media marketing. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and blogs are some of the platforms used in this area of marketing. These types of social media allow consumers to be updated by following their favorite companies. It is not a surprise companies are starting to regularly use this form of marketing due to the role social media has in today's society. Social media does, however, impact a company in a multitude of ways. There is much debate on whether companies should or should not use social media to market themselves. Even though there are some flaws
In today’s business world, social media is being discussed on a daily basis. This phenomenon has taken over the marketing and advertising industries and has changed the way they handle their efforts to attract customers. There is a big misunderstanding that social media are only popular networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, but as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, social media are “forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and micro blogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos).” The rise of these online communities has given companies an opportunity to engage in conversations with their customers. This in
In this era of internet marketers, Social Media (blogs, social networks, content communities, wiki 's and podcasts), have largely changed the face of marketing and media. Social media relies on consumer generated content and hence doesn’t conform to the ideals of traditional media where content, both commercial and other, is ‘engineered’ to suit the need of a promoter or seller. (Fernando 2007). This hence is in direct contrast with the traditional promotional mix as consumer interaction and orientation is at an optimum. This medium, in the light of a business communication strategy, is highly conversational, collaborative and credible. This involves opinion makers, journalists, seasoned practitioners and the audience who interacts with one another on a regular basis. (Fernando 2007). This high level of interaction and involvement is devoid in the traditional media and the marketing field as well. Capon and Hulbert have observed that the modern consumer is different: demanding, individualistic, involved, independent, better informed and more critical (2000 cited Constantinides, E 2006). Social Media as a whole provides the
The marketing industry is an elaborate network that links companies to their consumers, primarily through written communication. The main objective of marketing is to identify trends and patterns in consumer behavior, and utilize the data to influence consumers to purchase more goods. From a macroenviroment standpoint, the general conditions of a market are heavily dependent on global environmental factors. The most significant factor that influences the markets today is technological advancements. Since the release of Facebook, Linked-in, Twitter, and Myspace in the early 2000s, the number of people using social media has increased to over sixty-five percent. The ever-growing dependency on social media platforms, has given marketers the tremendous opportunity to further market potential consumers. Social media marketing is a specific form of marketing that focuses on producing ad content that social media users will post on their own networks. This particular marketing technique is effective because ads and content are created, based on what personal information users post on social media. Firms and organizations that advertise their brands on social media are more likely to increase their customer base and annual revenue. By doing so, companies are able to increase exposure of their brand and widen previous hidden, customer bases. As a marketer, the fine line between right and wrong is often blurred. The amount and
Social media has taken off like a rocket throughout the years. The annoying sound of a modem connecting has turned into a soundless transaction. The wait time to connect is instant, opening a global world of interactions for people. You can now connect with anyone, anywhere at anytime at least once a day. Social media defined by Goyal is “Any platform,which provides the facility of sharing ideas, exchanging information and sending messages over an electronic medium, is considered as social media.” (Goyal,222). This is to include online magazines, Facebook, Twitter, Newspapers,Email, Blogs, YouTube and many more. Advertisers have taken notice to these platforms, utilizing social media to promote their brands, develop trust with the consumer,save money and target audiences faster than ever before.
The invention of the internet could be considered the most notable technological advancement in the Twenty-First century as evidenced by its widespread availability and excessive use by people all over the world. As people of all ages and demographics spend increasingly more of their time on the Internet, daily social media use is simultaneously increasing for these users. Currently, about one-fourth of the world’s population uses social media and more than one billion internet users watch YouTube videos monthly (Knoll, 2016, pg. 266). As these social media sites gain popularity, businesses have also decided to enhance their internet presence by way of utilizing social media platforms as advertising mediums used for reaching consumers.
The way that individuals and businesses communicate and interact has radically changed. With the development of technology and the internet, people can connect almost instantaneously and with very little effort. Social media has come to play a huge part in the way that the world communicates with each other. In fact, a recent report shows that in a single month people spend over 25 hours on social networks (“The Digital Consumer”). With consumers committing that much time to social media sites, social networking has become an important aspect of everyday life for individuals—and businesses. Like most marketing activities, social media marketing poses some risk. However, it is advantageous for businesses to exploit this opportunity, and develop an effective and ethical marketing strategy that includes using social media as a marketing tool.
In recent years, traditional marketing strategies have been questioned about their ability to be implemented in the present. As customers become more technologically oriented and explore the opportunities that the web has to offer them, marketers have identified that there is a need for the implementation of strategies that would allow them to create and maintain relationships with customers on social platforms. As a result, marketers have updated traditional marketing strategies to newly developed strategies that meet their current needs. They have adapted this strategies with the purpose of developing relationships with prospect customers, maintaining relationships with current customers, and fostering and creating loyal customers for the purpose of finding a mutual benefit for the business and the customer. Finally, this topic was chosen because the transition from traditional marketing to the new concept of social customer relationship management tends to be overlooked by some companies. In addition, those companies need to comprehend that the future is here and it is also changing how customers interact with the seller. The goal for paper is to understand and visualize the importance of adapting new social media strategies with the objective of benefit both the seller and the customer.
The term social media define the attribution to the fact that it relates to the technology and platform to allow interactive web’s creation, collaboration and exchange of comments of the participants and public. Social media in today’s context changes the way of communicating between many users: business executives, individuals, as well as the public. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and Youtube are examples of various user-driven (inbound marketing) channels that are widely used presently.
Furthermore, Rubathee Nadaraja and Rashad Yazdanifard discussed social media marketing and have come to a conclusion. They state that: “social media can be established anywhere provided there is an internet connection and this must be considered by marketers, advertisers and online content creators as a basic part of their communications because social media affects all aspects of the internet and transforms the role of the internet in peoples’ lives”. (Yazdanifard, 2012)