The advent of new technology such as the social media has penetrated into the market and altered the way customers seek information. As the number of social media users escalates companies are advised to take advantage of the emerging marketing channel and effectively communicate with customers. Its interactivity, ubiquity and accessibility qualify it as one of the most cost effective marketing tools today. This research paper is an exploratory study about the role of social media in marketing.
Introduction
The meaning of the term ‘social media’ can be derived from two words which constitute it. Media generally refers to advertising and the communication of ideas or information through publications/channels. Social implies the interaction of
Similar statistics, albeit from a different source – Role of social media in marketing:
Social media is now increasingly becoming an ingrained aspect of political campaigns, national defense strategies, public policy, public relations, brand management and even intra company communication.
Since the major task of marketing as tool used to inform consumers about the company’s products, who they are and what they offer, social marketing plays an important role in marketing.
- Social media can be used to provide an identity about the companies and the products or services that they offer.
- Social media helps in creating relationships with people who might not otherwise know about the products or service or what the companies represent.
- Social media makes companies "real" to consumers. If they want people to follow them they need not just talk about the latest product news, but share their personality with
Many companies are coming big way for Social Media Optimization for their Product or Services nowadays. During Election 2009 Social Media was used for Influence Indian Voters. Social Media Marketing in India is being undertaken by brands like Tata Docomo, MTV India, Channel V, Clear Trip, Tata Photon, Axe deodorants, Microsoft, Naukri, Shaadi and many more. Besides, numerous Indian celebrities are also using SMM platform to promote their movies, music and events via Twitter, Facebook and personalized blogs. Social Media Marketing is also boosting public relations business. Several PR agencies in India are undertaking brand building exercises for corporate organizations, brands and celebrities. However, to the delight of many among us, the biggest gainers from SMM till date have been the organizations from the Not-for- Profit sector. Several Campaigns like ‘Bell Bajao’ and ‘Jaago Re’ have been quite successful on Social Networking Sites. These campaigns have been spreading the word about their cause through blogs, Twitter and
Social media is a modern way to manage the business; this is a useful to the companies to manage the existence in the market approach to the brand and consumers. Also, using a social media they are able to get the feedbacks from customers and able to improve their business. Additionally, social media is used everywhere by everyone and people go on it a lot of times in a day. Therefore it is important for the business to fit to the changes occurring in the market frequently in order to keep the business working properly and not losing customers.
Social media has set in a new wave in the business world. As per the recent study carried out by Internet Advertising Bureau UK, a business having social media presence is likely to attract 80 percent more customers in future (The Guardian, 2013). Especially, for small businesses having limited time and budgetary constraints, it is important to chart out an effective social media marketing policy to give the required boost to the business expansion. There are different purposes for different small scale business organizations to use social media. Major ones are discussed holistically in the essay.
Social media is known as ‘Collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration.’ Rouse, M. (2012) It is a method of marketing and selling that businesses must make good use of in order to match or surpass their competitors. Although a relatively new phenomenon, social media is rapidly turning into a vital part of the modern marketing mix. Most businesses now have a social media based platform and managing a flexible presence on each of the "BIG THREE" (Facebook, Twitter and Google+), has become a must for any business aiming to sell or promote their business.
Many organizations have had to change the way they operate because social media has become such a powerhouse that has to be implemented in their marketing and communication strategies.
It is proved that developing social media has improved the marketing platform. According to many marketing consultants, social media marketing efforts get up to 50% better return than tradition average tv or radio spot (Horovitz). These reviews show the growing connection American has with social media. Also, according to my research, “more than 80% of small companies use social media to promote their businesses list Facebook as their top marketing tool, followed by LinkedIn and Twitter, according to a recent survey of 2,292 small businesses by Webs” (Loten). This information shows the impact of social media on small businesses. According to Penenberg, “ Social networking sites, a component of social media, was responsible for more than 13.8 billion display advertisements in August 2009, which accounted for at least 25 percent of all display advertisements viewed via the internet” (Penenberg 125). This shows that, social media has changed global marketing, where marketers are not only depending on just communicating to a target audience, but also discovering new methods to impress people through Social
Social media has made the world a global village. In the global village, if people need to find some things, they can search information on the Internet. “Social media marketing is an influential marketing method” (Chang, 2014), many different people will see. If a company puts some information on social media, communication will be a very big problem because there have many different languages in the world, but companies can use social media to send the information to different countries. So social media can expand international marketing. Also, social media uses different ways to show information, like news, blogs, pictures, websites or videos. Many people should be happy to look when their friends share some interesting videos about new products on their blog. And good companies always know the target group for their products is. If a company knows what is target group is, then the company can find that group easily on social media because there many different kinds of a forum, people who are different ages, different jobs or hobbies. So social media can help the company find their customers more easily (Narayanan,
Social media in marketing is beneficial to any company in that it helps businesses organize control, and streamline communication and information, and help companies to better promote their brand (Paus, 2013, p.77, 78, para. 13). Social networking is not a bad way to promote a business or an organization but there has to be strategy implemented to monitor the images and information that can potentially foster negative perceptions of the
Social media is an imperative public relations tool for companies to utilize in their business practices. Social media cannot be regulated so anyone can say what they please about the company, whether it is good, bad or ugly. Social media is developing rapidly and there are new platforms
Marketing through Social Media (Exploratory Essay) Throughout the ages there have been many intriguing ways that businesses have portrayed their product or services for accessibility. Recently, businesses have been researching how to market the businesses product through the World Wide Web. With websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, it started becoming popular within the past 20 Years. People have started to rely heavily on the internet over the past decade, whether it be for searching for information on products or people.
Social media avenues are a new, upcoming, and popular way to advertise for businesses and for people to connect to each other. Alexis Ohanian once said that "Being effective at social media, whether for business or personal use, means capturing people who have short attention spans. They 're only a click away from a picture of a funny cat, so you have to make your thing more compelling than that cat. And that can be a high bar." (Ohanian) Powerful usage of social media can have a big impact.
Today 's generation is all about social media. It is the new way to have instant connection to thousands all over the world. Today 's company are now doing less traditional television, radio, and print advertisement and more promotion via Twitter, Facebook and/or Instagram. Companies are invested in getting famous people to post pictures or tweet about their products, knowing that, one person can connect with millions with just one post. Over half of the world has access to social media, making them great consumers. Social media benefit marketing by giving the companies the opportunity to learn their audience/consumers, having access to instant feedback and bring awareness to here product.
Social media is pertinent in use of communication throughout today’s organizations. There are many social media platforms that allow organizations to convey communication to potential consumers, stakeholders and the public. “It is essential for leaders to integrate these technologies and seek the best way to use social media and networks to the advantage of the business” (Billington, 2012, p.1). Business owners find that keeping up with current technology trends is essential in having a competitive advantage in the market place and having a strict set of standards and strategy is important in quickly adapting to social media trends.
Nowadays, social media is growing very rapidly throughout the whole world. Social media has changed the way that we communicate with others through using these common social networking sites like Face book, Twitter, and Instagram…For that, social media has positively and negatively impacted our life.
The first advantage of using social media in business is increasing brand awareness. Social media can help business to build their brand awareness by increasing interactions with a business brand. Brand awareness means the total percent of a target people who know the company exists and what the company offers of products or services. When the brand awareness is increased, the possibility of buying is increased. Thus, efforts should be made to make the brand a part of the consciousness of customers. For example, Coca- Cola is one of the best companies that enjoy unusual...
Social media is becoming more and more popular day by day. It has become a part of our lives.