Social Media has expanded greatly in a short amount of time. It has become so popular that it is now a new form of marketing. It is yet another way to reach consumers. It has been developed so that consumers are only a click away from creating more brand awareness in their community. Notice how I mention brand awareness. Social media “supposedly” benefits both the brand/company and the consumer. However if you look a little closer, it seems to be more beneficial to a seller /marketer than a consumer.
Think about it. We the consumer are able to enjoy the entertainment of this new found form of marketing, but what happens after we have visited a company’s facebook page and click like? What happens when we decide to follow them on twitter and get others to do the same? What happens when we subscribe to YouTube and get our friends to join? We receive more promotions and news on what they have to offer, and the company potentially makes more sales, and gets their name further out there. However, the consumer is left with nothing more than just information and more entertainment.
Now I am not in any way negating the fact that this is a fast-growing and innovative way to use social media as a marketing tool, I am simply saying that its tools are not being used to its full potential. No matter the brand, the marketing tool or strategy, consumers want to feel as though they have made a difference or are being heard. Having them “like” you is not enough. The seller/marketer needs to also “like” the consumer. The marketer needs to use all the tools offered on these different media outlets to become more interactive with its target market, wouldn’t you agree? Not only will it generate more business, but it will create more loyalty. Consumers will be more intrigued, and feel more desire to engage in the entertainment a brand offers. Connecting not just technically but emotionally will introduce more growth. As stated in an article/blog I read “If you do not make it easy, fast and safe for consumers to engage you will end up with more than 90 percent lurkers trolling your content.” Basically marketers need to ensure that they to are interacting with the consumer and that their media outlets aren’t a one time stop.
How will marketers grow from this?
Ashley Farrell
You are right Ashley, collecting clicks, likes and friends for a business, without putting any effort to keep those who joined the company's social media efforts interested, is not the most effective marketing strategy. At the same time by simply amusing the customers with new posts is not enough.
ReplyDeleteCompanies' social media efforts must be highly coordinated and planned in order to succeed in the highly competitive business environment. Every interaction and post puts the business out there for everyone's judgment. So the moves must be strategic.
Some of the strategies to keep customers' interest in being part of the SM networks (so they don't unsubscribe) are providing truly valuable information to them. Either informative articles about the industry or the company's product, as well as on the topics of interest of the target audience are a good start. Sending valuable promotions and discounts to the subscribers, mentioning that they would have not received those otherwise, will keep them waiting for more. Announcing and organizing events, and inviting subscribers' friends and family to assist, could be a good way to build long-term brand loyalty. I think it can be applicable even to big businesses.
For example, Harley Davidson is a big company with countless dealerships and distribution shops around the country. However, it didn't loose its personalized approach and is still very close to their customers. Harley organizes events such as bike weekend rides and cook-outs at selected dealerships. Note that all kinds of Harley Davidson's owners participate, including many of the company's executives.
You are very right Ashley, It is important for companies to keep people interested. It is not just a matter of having people like your page just collect by amounts of followers, the point of creating business profiles on Facebook or any other social page is to maintain people interested and close to the products or businesses they prefer.
ReplyDeleteLike you said in your blog, many companies are not using this resources to its full potential. I think the same way, more can be done to improve, but I am very sure as time progresses and the social media marketing becomes stronger, then more businesses are going to put more effort and emphasis on their techniques to attract new customers and of course keep people interested and motivated with their products.