Social media has been a phenomenon, right from when it was born. With billions of people connected, social media is a potential place for brands and businesses to market their products and/or services.
Social media gives business marketers a way to communicate with customers, and to find specific potential consumers. It personalizes the "brand" and helps business to spread your message in a relaxed and conversational way.
With social media website on both desktop and mobile devices, the engagement allows anyone and everyone to express and share an opinion or an idea somewhere along the business’s path to market. Each participating customer becomes part of the marketing department, as other customers read their comments or reviews. The engagement process is then fundamental to successful social media marketing.
What role should it play in your marketing plans? Marketing is a tool you use to inform costumers about your products and/or service, who you are and what you offer.
- You can use social media to provide an identity to who you are and the products or services that you offer.
- You can create relationships using social media with people who might not otherwise know about your products or service or what your companies represent.
- You can be more "human" to costumers. If you want people to follow you don't just talk about the latest product news, but share your personality with them. (read: Social Media, a Place for Brands and Human Authenticity)
- You can use social media to communicate and provide the interaction that costumers look for.
- You can use social media to associate yourselves with your customers, that may be serving the same target market.
There are a lot of ways a social media can affect your business:
- Social media is just one way out of the many ways to promote your business. You cannot just depend on social media, you must integrate it with other vehicles of marketing.
- Be yourself, reflect personality. There are no rules written when it comes to social media, only you can determine what will work for you.
- Be consistent, if you do not plan on being consistent don't do it at all.
The role of social media in your marketing is to use it as a communication tool that makes you accessible to those interested in your product and makes you visible to those that don't know your product. Use it as a tool that creates a personality behind your brand and creates relationships that you otherwise may never gain.
This creates not only repeat-buyers, but customer loyalty. Fact is social media is so diversified that it can be used in whatever way best suits the interest and the needs of your business.
Social media has created a new way of word-of-mouth marketing. It has taken the human nature to share. When someone likes something, he/she can share his/her experience with his/her friends, family, colleagues, and everyone connected in his/her 'shares', 'circle', 'friends', 'fans' and 'followers'. For brands and businesses, social media can be used to target specific customers and create relationship as "humans".
With its ability to go viral, traditional advertising techniques that include print and television advertising, has been slowly overtaken by the internet as the largest advertising market. Websites often include banner or pop-up ads. Social networking sites don’t always have ads. In exchange, products have entire pages and are able to interact with users. Television commercials often end with a spokesperson asking viewers to check out the product website for more information. Print ads are also starting to include QR Codes on them. These QR Codes can be scanned by mobile devices and computers, sending viewers to the product's website. Advertising is starting to move viewers from the traditional outlets to the electronic ones.
Social media gives marketers a voice and a way to communicate with peers, customers and potential consumers. It personalizes the "brand" and helps you to spread your message in a relaxed and conversational way. This can further create a bond that benefits both parties. However, social media marketing must be a part of your everyday life in order to keep the momentum and attention you need for it to be successful.
Conclusion
The role of social media in marketing is to use it as a communication tool that makes you accessible to those interested in your product and/or service, and makes you visible to those that don't know your product.
Use it as a tool that creates a personality behind your brand and creates relationships that you otherwise may never gain. This creates not only repeat-buyers, but customer loyalty. Fact is social media is so diversified that it can be used in whatever way best suits the interest and the needs of your business.