Companies' Use of Social Media

933 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social media as an advertising tool related theories

Introduction:
Times have changed and so has the way businesses do business. Companies are using social media to help them build their brand, find customers, and reach new markets. According to the 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, “94% of all businesses with a marketing department used social media as part of their marketing platform” (Stelzner). Retail businesses have proven to be a great way to (re)direct shopper’s experience. With the rise of smartphones, customers are using social media more than ever, “Facebook and Twitter are among the favorites since 48% of customers respond to retailer posts” (Stelzner). While retailers are using social media for marketing purposes, they often fail to realize the full potential social media has, especially in customer relations.
Problem:
An area that is often overlooked by retailers is the use of social media for customer relations. According to a research done by Oracle, in today’s world 35% of businesses don’t integrate social media for sales or customer service (Oracle 4). Social media can benefit retailers in many ways, but they can also negatively affect them. The customer’s voice is becoming louder because of social media, and customer complaints no longer remain in a small group of people: they go viral. According to Lauren Paxman, this happened to Keara O’Neal who was on a shopping trip to find bridesmaid dresses for her wedding at the high-end store GASP. At the beginning the sales assistant, Chris, was very helpful trying to find her dresses, but then he turned aggressive by pressuring her to get the dress; he even turned disrespectful by ridiculing her size 12 and made inappropriate comments such as “Have fun shopping at Supre… I knew you were a joke the minute you...

... middle of paper ...

... in today’s world a customer complaint no longer stays private. We live in a world where everyday the borders shrink: the power of the internet has made people more integrated and has made communications easier. According to Michael LeBoeuf, “a typical business hears from only 4% of its dissatisfied customers” (LeBoeuf) without realizing that with social media that 4% can become closer to 100%. That is why managers should be well prepared to confront these situations. Managers should prepare their employees to give the best service and show them how to solve problems in a manner that allows both parties to benefit. It’s always better to avoid making the problem bigger. Social media must be used to be responsive so that when customers have a problem; employees are available to help them. Social media needs to help retailers get closer to the consumer, not repel them.

Show More
Related

  • Critical Analysis Of Walmart

    1152 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dissatisfaction from customers showed with a decrease in revenue. They complained of dirty bathrooms, empty shelves, endless checkout lines and impossible-to-find employees. Including little pay for their employees, the company had a reputation for minimizing employee cost. Thus, leading to unsatisfied customers that end up shopping from their competitors and with no one wanting to start a career with them.

    Read More

  • Sephora Marketing Strategy

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the advent of the digital era, Sephora was among the very first few to adopt the digital media not only for promotional activities, but also for strategic marketing activities through Sephora Direct. Year after year Sephora has created a well-valued digital experience for its customers. However, most of the customers complain about a single thing all the time and that is the experience they get from the store is different than that they get from the digital experience from the website and the existing Sephora apps. In addition, the experience few of the customers experienced during the holiday season of 2014 had further tarnished Sephora’s brand image and the Asian customers perceived the brand as an anti-Asian brand. Most of the Asian customers claimed that the website has locked out for people either with Asian names or email ids with domains from Asian countries. This event led the customers to vent their anger on the various social media

    Read More

  • United Airlines Instagram: Crisis Management

    1443 Words  | 3 Pages

    The revolutionary challenges that social media has brought has forced businesses to adapt in terms of marketing, customer service, business-consumer networking, and product delivery. Although these changes to business platforms by the use of social media has mostly had a positive impact, the aspect of social media that companies are still learning use are in situations that require crisis management. Social media could be considered a double edged sword when evaluating a crisis management case within a business. A business could be threatened by social media with its ability to spread news quickly especially in the case of a crisis. But, a business could also utilize this spreadability issue to their benefit by reaching consumers directly,

    Read More

  • Nothing Too Small To Whine About Analysis

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Teddy Wane’s article “The Microcomplaint: Nothing Too Small to Whine About” he claimed, “Now, in a seismic shift for the moral culture, abetted by technology, we tolerate and even encourage the “microcomplaint”: the petty, petulant kvetch about the quotidian.” Through social media, individuals can ramble on about any possible act that is bothering them. They hide behind social media to complain without having to display their face. Technology has made it so that people can complain at any time of any given day during any situation by simply pulling out a smart phone. Over the years, companies have even began to reply to complaints made by shoppers. This year, the social-media analytics firm Simply Measured concluded that “the number of top brands with dedicated customer service [Twitter] handles has increased by 19% year-over-year.” Although this may seem like a favorable thing, a large number of complaints made are still ignored. The complaints on social media only serve to create bad publicity for these companies. Additionally, complaining on social media can easily transform one careless thought into a larger issue. Therefore, individuals should not waste their time objecting on social

    Read More

  • What Are The Pros And Cons Of Customer Service In Healthcare

    1438 Words  | 3 Pages

    In many business industries such as retail, sales, and manufacturing, customer service is a must. If the mentality of ‘the customer’s always right’ didn’t exist then these industries may not have very good success with customer service. It doesn’t always mean all customers are right all the time but it gives them the ability to work through their differences and make the customer

    Read More

  • Customer Service Recovery

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    In summary, as a customer representative, I have been in unpleasant situations that have required me to calm irate customers. I’ve discovered first hand, that an apology is worth a thousand words; from experience, I understand the impact of being a great listener, especially when dealing with irate customers. However, we know that providing great customer service doesn’t end with apologizing, or being a tentative listener. It is our duty as CSR’s to go above and beyond providing customer satisfaction. We must show our customers that we value and appreciate their services, by providing them with the value of service they will appreciate. In the process we will gain loyal customers, prevent customer defections and generate free advertising by word-of mouth.

    Read More

  • Marijuana Advertising Ethics

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    Among the billions of social media users, there is a percentage dedicated to businesses who use social media as part of their marketing strategy. The sheer number of people who use services like Facebook and Instagram on a daily

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Social Media On Business

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sometimes the best way to see if your business needs help with social media is to get your hands dirt with a social media evaluation. Although you might not be a social media expert...yet, you can still use these questions to see how to improve your presence.

    Read More

  • Social Media In Amazon

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    Amazon is arguably the biggest Internet-based retailing company in the world. It has been very successful in using the Internet as a platform for commerce, where it conducts its transactions electronically. Part of the success of Amazon can be attributed to its heavy investment in social media advertising and positioning. The advancement of technology has increased the importance of social media and most companies often resort to social media advertising and presence since it can reach out to a large and diverse audience. The other advantage of social media is that it can be used to gauge customer feedback and respond to different issues raised by customers. This helps in making an organization customer centric thereby increasing profitability

    Read More

  • Social Media for Business Communication

    1104 Words  | 3 Pages

    The writer finds social media is important in her current organization, Modern Business Concepts, Incorporated (MBC). With small business organizations such as hers, social media is important in spreading information on who the company is and what they do. Also as a business-to-business sales and marketing company, spreading the word is important in gaining customers and potential employees. Ucok (2014) uses research and experiments to prove how social media is essential to marketing. These platforms were essential in Ucok’s research, resulting in higher response with marketing campaigns proving “the importance of social media in marketing strategy and communication” (Ucock, 2014, p. 95).

    Read More

  • Effects Of Social Media Marketing

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    Social media in marketing is used as an apparatus that builds an identity for a brand and gives awareness that they thought they could have. It does not only respect buyers, but also customer allegiance. Social media is widely-ranged so it can be used in whatever way that best conforms to the strategy and wants of the business. In accordance to the social media marketing report of 2014, a considerable (64%) of marketers use social media for at least 6 hours or more and 41% for 11 hours or more weekly, more importantly nearly (19%) of marketers use up to 20 hours each week on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and many more. The report also showed 7 social media platforms that led in 2014 which are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Youtube, Pinterest and Instagram.

    Read More

  • Specsavers Case Study

    1494 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 2016, the value of Internet retailing improved to 84% (Euromonitor International, 2016). Thus, online marketing became vital to businesses to promote their products. In respond to that, market players continuously promote their products through social media such as Facebook and Instagram. Businesses improve their customer relationship management as these platforms provide a swift and convenient 2-way interaction (Euromonitor International,

    Read More

  • Essay About Social Media Marketing

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since social media users grow larger and larger, many companies take the opportunities of using social media marketing to reach more customers. Companies use social media marketing in order to achieve marketing communication and branding goals. Social media allows companies to see what prospects are saying about their brands and competitors. It also allows companies to build deeper relationships with existing customers that drives them to purchase again and again. Not only it can help them generate new leads, but it allows them to build deeper relationships with existing clients that drives them to purchase again and again. It has become common for businesses to branch out and experiment with multiple networks with the aim of reaching the maximum amount of costumers.

    Read More

  • Social Media as a Marketing Tool

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    Social media marketing is a new trend of marketing where different Businesses have taken to social media sites to market and promote old and existing products and brands or create more awareness of their new products. Facebook and Twitter are the two most well known sites where firms market and promote themselves. Over one billion users worldwide use both sites everyday; from averages Joe’s to famous celebrities. Such is the power of each social media site that one post can make or break you.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Moment Of Truth In Marketing

    1797 Words  | 4 Pages

    Companies differ widely in their approaches to complaint handling and in the importance they attach to this element of serviceability. Some do their best to resolve complaints; others use legal gimmicks, the silent treatment, and similar ploys to rebuff dissatisfied customers. Recently, General Electric, Pillsbury, Procter & Gamble, Polaroid, Whirlpool, Johnson & Johnson, and other companies have sought to preempt consumer dissatisfaction by installing toll-free telephone hot lines to their customer relations

    Read More

More about Companies' Use of Social Media

Open Document