This report provides a detailed analysis of the significant similarities and differences between the utilization of social media between Business to Business (B2B) marketers and Business to Consumer (B2C) marketers. This analysis is necessary to combat the widely accepted notion that social media marketing campaigns primarily serve B2C marketing only. To contest this false stereotype, this paper will justify reasons that B2B social media marketing is not only pertinent, but is also crucial in the success of companies to establish and maintain relations with customers in modern times.
Additionally, previous research has shown that B2B marketers will use media “targeted at professionals whereas their B2C counterparts tend to utilize more sites targeted to the general public for engaging in one-on-one dialogue with their customers. Moreover, B2B professionals tend to use relationship oriented social media technologies more than B2C professionals for the purpose of prospecting, handling objections, and after sale follow-up.” (Moore, Jesse N., Christopher D. Hopkins, and Mary Anne Raymond) This report will outline directives B2B marketers can take to better understand their customers and their needs, develop their brand, and efficiently use real time data to gather analytics and improve relationships. These directives derive from tactics B2C marketers have incorporated in their social media marketing practices. Specifically, this report will examine Coca-Cola’s successful B2C
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.
One of the key roles of social media from a marketing perspective is the development of a client based platform. It is becoming an increasingly important part of any business’s marketing. Businesses can utilize existing online platforms to build networks of current and potential clients. By being active online allows businesses to connect with their customers in innovative ways to become a trusted source of information and convey the passion they have for their industry.
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
Social media marketing is relatively new to the ?integrated marketing communications systems of several public and private businesses.? (Mercadal, 2013, para. 2) Social media is used by almost sixty-six percent of American adults. (Lanham, 2016) Integrated marketing communications try to connect companies and other organizations with their target audience. (Mercadal, 2013) Therefore, social media marketing strategically looks at demographics of the audiences in each social media platform and use the platforms that match the audience who would be interested in products or services sold. (Smith,
Social media is not new. Facebook has been around since 2004, YouTube since 2005, and Twitter in 2006. What is new is how social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are affecting the way businesses market their products and services. Never before in our history have consumers been able to communicate so effortlessly with each other and with the businesses they frequent. Never before have businesses been able to interact and react to customer feedback so quickly and efficiently. However, just because businesses have the ability to use social media for their marketing and advertising efforts, does not necessarily mean they should. This paper intends to
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.
September 4, 2015, I had the opportunity to interview Brynne Tillman, CEO of Social Sales Link to discuss marketing as a field. Publicist Brynne, tells her clients to “think in the box” in her book: Social Sales Link, which has been a guide to sales teams and marketers alike. She also devotes time each week to publish a new social media blog. Something she has been doing every Sunday morning for the last 2 years. Graduating in 1990 with her bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management lead to several sales positions. Brynne, at the forefront of the social media revolution, found a use in engaging customers in business. Using her sales experience she applied it to social media, becoming CEO of her own company, Social Sales Link. I was able to walk away with a better understanding about communications, importance of LinkedIn, expert opinions on social media, what every business owner should know, and innovation.
We cannot deny how big of an impact social media has on our lives now, not only on people but businesses too. It has opened a whole new door to the business world and given them a big opportunity to interact and attract a larger amount of customers. It’s given us a new and faster way of communication by exchanging pictures, stories, news, blogs, online discussions, etc. In exchange businesses have benefited by a long shot just by the click of a button. With the help of the Internet a company no longer is dependent on a particular customer base to survive because now it can reach out to a worldwide audience within seconds. It’s imaginable the countless business attributes of all social media to this day and still is growing. Social media
Social media in business continually rises to be an in important tool in everyday business and this means that communication is greatly evolving. In this development period, social media has had a prodfound impact on businesses especially in marketing. As a result, many are using social media as a communication tool regardless of the negative impacts experienced in some aspcts of social media.
Social media is capable of connecting a brand with its consumers and discover how they are being perceived, it also has the power to change perceptions and identify the key people within the business network. The unique feature of social media is that it can provide corporations and businesses solutions developed through operating with consumers and stakeholders. Basically, social media serves as a visible connection to one’s corporation and its stakeholders, consumers, suppliers, etc, who each have a defined role within the system to filter and regulate information. As mentioned earlier, the influence of social media is spreading in a proliferative pace that has resulted to an essential transformation in society, technology and business customs.
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
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
The purpose of this report is to show that even though some state that Social Media has fallen short of their expectations, it is actually good for business, given that it enhances the visibility of their brand and helps businesses stay connected to potential customers.
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.
In this paper we will identify different ways of measuring the effectiveness of social media marketing by using any real life example. We will also emphasize on how branding is done in today's digital age as well as identify social business objectives. Some key performance indicators (KPI) will also be assessed here which measures the overall success of the business.