Target's Leadership On The Importance Of Social Media Presence

This memo was written to gain the attention of the company's leadership on the importance of social media presence. To get an outside opinion of the company's current standing, comparison with competitors and to further understand how a strong social media presence can lead a business to achieving its goals.

Importance of Social Media

Within the retail industry and beyond, the need for a social presence is more important than ever. Traditional marketing styles have been becoming forgotten as technology continues to prosper the need for quicker tools to promote, connect and relate to customers have become a must for every organization. Corporate executives and vendors have been becoming more involved with networks that gives them a direct

Target has been involved and engaging with customers on social media platforms such as twitter, facebook and linkedin totaling for a social audience of 138,441,927 as of May 19, 2014 according to Lucy Hitz publication of simply measured. Target is allowing Customers to see promotions voice concerns and experiences and get a better view on the organization standing in current debates or news. For example, gay rights, national disasters, public concerns. Furthermore, Target has been actively since early 2012 innovating the mobile application market to create a platform for customers to save money with the cartwheel application on mobile devices, the target app which enables customers to shop online, view ads and plan shopping ventures. Targets approach to the social media market is the difference that separates them from their competitors such as Walmart, Sears and other major retail chains. In financial terms, Targets social media has provided mass sales growths throughout the years. For example in 2015 Target aired a black friday ad that was seen almost 3 million times and generated over 7 thousand comments and 820 shares. Furthermore that season Target 3.14 percent of customer traffic with Target was generated from the social media network ads with a 34 percent sales

Within the last few years the need for development, introduction and investment into creating and establishing a social media presence has been attempted by every organization. This has also led to the creation of start up business that allow support for organizations to enter this marketing approach. Such as Facebook, Twitter and Google have all helped boost the user base for organizations. Through advertising and permission for selling mobile applications to their own users companies are gaining the attention of younger generations. One of the major current platforms for organizations if mobile applications for phones. For Target, the creation of Cartwheel, target and pay applications allow customers to view products, promotions and shop out of the palm of their hands. This platform allows for real time engagement with customers, getting feedback through surveys and allowing customers to voice concerns via direct messages and contact information. The use of Social media being incorporated into a company's strategic strategies, marketing plans to achieve future success is now more important than