Digital Marketing: The Importance of Social Media - Essay Example

Digital Marketing: The Importance of Social Media Number Department The Outline I. II. Introduction A. Social Media Marketing B. Technology C. Online Consumer Behaviour III. Background A. Social Media Platforms B. Evolution of Marketing Programs IV. Marketing Mix A. Place B. Product C. Price D. Promotion V. Online Consumer Behaviour A. Millions online B. Preference for subtle campaigns VI. Consumer Relationship Management A. Value TRInity B. Direct Communication C. Feedbacks and their implementation VII. Importance of Building Relationships A. Successful Marketing Campaigns B. Loyal customers VIII. Conclusion Abstract Social media marketing has become an important strategy for promoting businesses and products. Many companies are increasingly adapting to the social media, especially in the wake of the current technology revolution in the world. The widespread use of social media can enhance marketing initiatives by drawing the marketing mix closer to the technology users who basically comprise the consumer base and prospects. Social media is developing at a rapid pace due to the integration of new technologies into human culture. This paper explores the impact of social media, and how it can be transformed into an imperative marketing platform. Introduction The rapid development of Internet-based social networking sites has been triggered by the proliferation of portable Internet-enabled gadgets like mobile phones, tablet computers, and laptop computers. These tools offer social marketing teams and organizations immense potential for interacting with consumers in exceptionally new ways. These new technologies have provided better communication platforms, and as such can make marketing initiatives easier and cost-effective (Anjun, 2011). Notably, the likelihood of developing a closer engagement with the customers; improved interaction with customers; and “place-based” interaction tools and messaging has been made viable due to the rapid growth and use of social media. This paper explores the role of information in utilising social media to help in developing a competitive advantage and marketing strategy. Background of social media marketing Social media is increasingly becoming a significant avenue for marketing products, especially in the current state of rich technology innovation. Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and Google+ have become household names in social media marketing. People’s lives today are more inexorably related to the Internet than anyone thought of the issue at the beginning of the century (Naylor et al, 2012). The ubiquitous role of the online medium is an appealing power that unavoidably attracts marketers to capitalize on the opportunities that the millions of people on the social sites provide (Evans, 2012). Companies like Google, SAP and Royal Bank of Scotland have shown a greater predilection to capitalize on the huge audience in social networks to beat rivals (Zarella, 2009) Unlike today, the past social networks adopted conventional methods of communication (O’Brien, & Marakas, 2008). The networks were built upon face to face interactions. However, since recently, the technological revolution has provided rich marketing opportunities for social marketers. The current marketing environment has effectively integrated modern behavioural tends and technology. The Internet and the popularity of the online environment enable companies to present their brands to the community in a far easier and a different way. The popularity of social media was manifested in Ford Motor’s launch of its Ford Explorer on a leading social network, Facebook in 2011. The company managed to circumvent industry rules to unveil the new car model to the customers instead of the usual insiders and players within the industry (Kumar, & Mirchandani, 2012). The direct interaction that company created led the Facebook users to have a perception of being valued. This kind of a new marketing program serves to emphasize that old strategies are increasingly becoming irrelevant, especially with the social media. The Marketing Mix Place Social marketing programs have provided an easier implementation of the marketing mix in order to ensure achieve profitability (Naylor et al, 2012). Unlike in conventional marketing strategies, the new social media has offered companies and business organizations with the best platform where to meet customers and prospects at the click of a button – place. In social marketing programs, “place” does not necessarily mean where an individual’s business is situated or the actual location of the market, but rather it is the actual place where customers are positioned (Evans, 2012). This basically means customers can be reached anywhere. Dominic (2012) notes that, in conventional marketing strategies, “place” is premised upon physical spots, as a factor affecting the distribution of commodities. For instance, a health care organization would put in place nutrition posters at local supermarkets to persuade buyers to shop for nutritious foods. These initiatives require a bigger budget and more time to effectively deliver the message to target customers (O’Brien, & Marakas, 2008; Bird, 2007). Additionally, such conventional marketing moves are often difficult to measure, in terms of effectiveness. On the contrary, new social media has the potential to provide the marketers with the capacity to openly engage customers from the comfort of their homes, offices, educational facilities, in real time (Furlow, 2012). This implies that the social media can extend "Place" from the exact locations, where business goes on to consumer’s natural environment by aiding interactions with them through Internet-enabled gadgets anywhere and all the time (Giamanco, & Gregoire, 2012). Product According to Zarella (2009), social media has offered companies the opportunity to consult their customers from time to time in an effort to deliver products that they like. Through social media, companies have been able to receive customer feedbacks, especially at important points of company processes and product manufacturing. Divol Edelman, and Sarrazin (2012) have pointed out that these direct communications can now happen very fast and in a seamless way, and as a result companies are able to plan future product in decision-making units of an organization. Price Through social media, marketers have the capacity to make a direct appeal to the consumers at relatively cheaper rates. In the recent past, social marketers have been able to exploit these new interaction channels to bring on board millions of consumers, who otherwise would not have been brought on board or reached via conventional marketing channels (Dominic, 2012). The social media platform offers great opportunities, but saves a lot of resources as compared to other platforms, and thus, it is arguably the best for business organizations whose goal is to minimize costs and maximize profits (Evans, 2012). Promotion The rapid development and use of social media has impacted a transformation of many organizations' marketing culture from conventional concepts driven by brand to the modern approach that is customer-based (Stephen, & Galak, 2012). This transformation is mainly due to fact that there has been a widespread use of social media by business organizations and consumers. Social media basically offers a consumer-centred marketing strategy. In contrast to conventional media, information created through these marketing platforms is naturally maintained, and distributed within the consumer networks. Evans (2012) avers that the widespread use of social media is being witnessed for the first time in history and offers the targeted consumers the capacity to make direct contact with the eager company agents regarding the company products being offered. Moreover, the social media campaigns are often popular with consumers, mainly because they regard them as credible platforms for getting information on various commodities as compared to traditional communication channels of the marketing mix, which are limited to certain places (Sood, & Pattinson, 2012). Generally, through social media, marketers can make direct communications with a larger population more profoundly than can be achieved through conventional marketing programs. Online Consumer Behaviour There are different types of social media, which can be used by the marketers to achieve better returns for the company. The most common platforms include electronic channels of interaction like social networking sites, real-time customer feedbacks and ratings, online chat rooms, blogs, and discussion boards (Thurston et al, 2012). These channels offer effective opportunities for direct exchanges between company marketing agents and consumers (Rodriguez, Peterson, & Krishnan, 2012). Despite the huge membership of the social networks, consumer behaviour plays an important role in the marketing operations, and could spell either victory or doom to social marketers (Andzulis, Panagopoulos, & Rapp, 2012). The success depends on the kind of marketing strategies social marketers engage. Simple technology Giamanco and Gregoire (2012) indicate that users of social networking sites often shy away from rigorous marketing campaigns and are easily put-off by awkward adverts. Ads such as those appear to be distractive like pop-up windows or those that are complex easily scare them. Bird (2007) notes that sites like Facebook provide the online memberships with the authority to navigate it as they deem fit. YouTube offers social marketers a unique platform for viral promotions that under conventional media can be very expensive. The two social media sites are successful because their applications are in tandem with free and social nature of consumer behaviour. It is therefore imperative for social marketers to use popular sites that are easy to navigate for their marketing operations as it will pay off (Giamanco, & Gregoire, 2012). Tweets and Facebook updates The behaviour of members of the online community is basically driven by the social networking sites. Facebook is tops the list of popular social networking sites, with more than 750 million members around the world by the end of 2011, with an estimated half of the members logging in at least once every day. On the other hand, Twitter is another trendy social networking site that enables members to post short notes and related web hyperlinks, pictures and video for viewing by “follower.” The site boasts of the more than 200 million subscribers who key in about 140 million updates each day (Giamanco, & Gregoire, 2012). The higher tendency of consumers to resort to online social networking websites for communications is a significant consumer behaviour that has the potential of yielding generous returns for companies that use it effectively (Dominic, 2012). Unlike the previously held belief that social networks are a generational tool that is used mainly by the younger population segments, current developments have reversed this ideology as more members of the older population segments have adopted the trend. Owing the widespread use of social networks for communications and making friends, as opposed to other conventional forms, companies can tap in the huge potential of the online community (Kumar, & Sundaram, 2012). This use of social networks is far beyond those who spend time watching the television or listening to the radio (Agnihotri et al, 2012). The world is currently witnessing the growth of new media communication channels, especially with the proliferation of portable devices among the tech-savvy segments of the population. Companies should use many the new forms of social media such as mobile phones and other portable devices, which have Internet access to reach a wider range of consumers and attain leverage in the market (Kumar, & Mirchandani, 2012). Consumer Relationship Management Consumer Relationship Management is an important practice that keeps the customers abreast with the latest product brands and corporate news and getting back their responses. This practice enables companies to tailor their products and services to suit the consumer preferences (Lipsman et al, 2012). Although, the success of social customer relationship management (CRM) is still debatable, social media is changing how business organizations promote their commodities and engage the customers (Giamanco, & Gregoire, 2012). It is important for companies to deliver positive results to their consumers by studying the transformation of conventional CRM to sCRM. CRM delivers different forms of information related with the market, and with these diverse value traits social marketers can evaluate each individual’s tastes and preferences, and tailor their products and services to fulfil these aspirations (Dominic, 2012). Value TRInity Traditionally, web applications have been advancing transactional operations. However, the new social media platforms have generated some kind of an influential relationship between companies and the consumers (Furlow, 2012). An increase in the volume of data strengthens CRM’s conventional pointers: first, transactional experiences establish a consumer’s financial value based on how recent they made transactions, their regularity and the amount of money they spent in the last transaction (Bird, 2007). Database social marketers have based their operations upon these features for many years now. Secondly, the relationship in CRM involves the nature of communication flows and data sharing between the company and the consumers; and whether the type and details of information given by end users is constructive and directly associated with the product brand in question; and finally, “influence” refers to the social potential of the product’s end user as a valuable media partner, premised upon their frequency to make important product-based updates (San, & Camarero-Izquierdo, 2012). The integration of these three values helps to complement the current state of CRM in an effort to deliver a better understanding of the diverse consumer needs for easy management processes. Some social marketers are currently integrating the three values of Value Trinity. This can only be achievable when customers are encouraged to communicate with the organization via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter (Giamanco, & Gregoire, 2012). Some organizations have taken this program a notch higher by creating interactive programs where customers stand to win rewards based on their transactional activity on the website. According to Tuten and Marks (2012), the program is mainly common in the hospitality industry where players such as hotels are placing invites to customers or offering competitive deals that are premised upon their loyalty in the use of company’s social media platforms, and therefore, their potentiality to attract more people to follow the organizations in the networks. At the same time, PR organizations have been crafting relationships with strategic influencers via the blogosphere to reach their target clients (Thurston et al, 2012). According to Anjun (2011), CRM enables social marketers to structure their promotions around the sound product being promoted; set up a user-friendly website; and establish a compelling blog to woo and retain consumers. Companies should implement some protective policies as a way to coming to terms with the nature of competition in the market. Social media enables companies to know what market rivals are doing so as to establish whether is worth doing. Moreover, through market research a company will know how successful companies are communicating with their consumers. According to Chiu, Ip, and Silverman (2012) social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs are a rich source of important information to this effect. Through a deliberate use of the different social media sites and technologies there are numerous strategies that can be implemented by a company to help in positioning itself ahead of the pack, regardless of the nature of competition. Nassar (2012) notes the importance of establishing the mechanisms and keywords that enable social marketers to understand the developments within the industry. A business organization that aims to have a competitive edge over market rivals often strives to be aware of various terms including those involving the business operations and commodities; industry policies; events, personal details of members of social networking sites; and bloggers who discuss issues related to the industry (Hill, & Moran, 2011). Research enables an organization to identify popular consumer trends and behaviour for implementation. These programs are virtually untenable without the social media: companies should combine social media, public relations, and customer care as well as loyalty programs so as to cash in on the value (Furlow, 2012). Importance of building relationships Building strong relationships on social media platforms enables companies to run effective marketing campaigns online (Trainor, 2012). A proper B2B and business-consumer relationships between a company and consumers, establishes a strong target audience. Moreover, it enables it offers an effective approach to engage the consumers, and most importantly, it helps to outline the uniqueness of the commodity that is being offered. A strong relationship that is supported by social media can enable social marketers to reach the target audience more quickly and efficiently (Brennan, & Croft, 2012). Castronovo and Lei (2012) suggest that strong relationships enable companies to distribute their ware to a bigger and more loyal audience. It allows businesses, through their social marketers, to develop quality content and distribute it on different social media sites. McCorkle and McCorkle (2012) add that through relationships, social marketers can know when to engage content writers, especially to re-purpose product attributes that have been overtaken by events and which may draw negative sentiments from social network followers. Kumar and Mirchandani (2012) says social marketers should be aware of the fact that members of such sites can begin to post negative information about the products, but with a strong relationship, the company will be better prepared to weather the storm by relying on the loyal members. Furlow (2012) argues that a strong relationship will create a situation whereby the followers talk positively of the company’s products and producer, and make constructive criticisms of the same. This will enable the company to improve on the product weaknesses, and provide products that not only meet but exceed the customers’ expectations. Relationships enable businesses to appreciate the effort of members who follow their products from the business page on the social media site. It enables the followers to have a feeling of importance to the company. Conclusion Social media is the new centre of focus in marketing campaigns. Technology revolution and the growth of the Internet have altered the landscape of marketing campaigns, because more people tend to use social networks than other conventional media for marketing. In light of the change, businesses that wish to gain a competitive edge in the market are being forced to venture into the new marketing opportunity to keep in touch with the evolving consumer behaviour. The new marketing opportunity offered by social networks is usually cheaper and has enabled companies to reach out to millions of customers and prospects located in the whole world in real-time and personally. It also offers businesses an opportunity to appeal to a more diverse and focussed market than ever before. The need to develop loyal followers in the network calls for the building of strong relationships with the users of social networks. These relationships can be highly effective in booking the business a place among the most successful companies that depend on social media marketing. However, the successes can only be achieved if CRM is done properly. Successful relationships are premised upon listening to the followers; focussing on their tastes and preferences; providing quality goods and services; sharing quality content; maintaining direct communication, and putting in place reciprocity programs. In a nutshell, social media has the widest audience in the world, and as such if it is properly utilized by marketers, it could enable a business to have a competitive edge in the market regardless of the nature of competition. References Agnihotri et al. 2012. 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