Social Media as an Effective Marketing

Social Media as an Effective Marketing

Abstract

In an era with the prevalence of technology, marketers and entrepreneurs see the risk of being outdated and the need to embrace the changes. It is now practically impossible for businesses to design marketing strategies that do not consider social networks. This means social media is now an essential gradient when developing a marketing and promotion mix. The use of social media in the adaptation of various online marketing strategies has become a significant node for many businesses, especially in industries with constantly changing trends such as hospitality, tourism, handicrafts, and fashion. Therefore, the use of social media as a strategic marketing tool has become essential because it gives businesses huge benefits such as increased sales revenues, a large audience, and brand awareness. The paper seeks to understand how social media has become an effective marketing tool that influences consumers’ buying decisions through the promotion of products and services. The first section will discuss the popularity of social media in targeting potential consumers. The second section will discuss the use of social media as a strategic marketing tool for increasing the visibility and profitability of products and services. The last section will analyze some industries that have adopted social media marketing. Findings from the research show that the popularity of social media networks has made companies rely heavily on social media marketing to find information and stay updated with consumer markets to maintain market share. Secondly, fashion companies and the tourism industry use influencer marketing across different social media platforms to lure audiences to use their products. Lastly, social media networks use tools such as Hootsuite Analytics to study audience demographics, improving brand loyalty and retention.

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Introduction

Social media networks such as blogs, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter have become an essential part of our daily lives. Consequently, businesses have started using these platforms to connect with stakeholders, offer consumers information, grow their audience base, heighten communication flow, create hype on their products and services, and expand beyond their competitors, generating more sales. To promote organizational vision, tone, and culture, business salespeople use social media platforms to engage with their potential and loyal customers. Therefore, social media has become an important marketing tool because it enables businesses to reach many customers and earn maximum benefits (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick, 2019). Through social media, companies have developed effective marketing approaches, created customized customer experiences, diversified profiles, and used brand ambassadors such as celebrities to promote their products and services. Moreover, marketers have tapped into social media platforms to sway people’s perspectives on certain products, influencing their consumption behaviors. Through my research, I will prove that social media has become a trendy marketing model for growing the business in terms of brand loyalty, sales, and customer base.

As new social media networks become more available, technology-driven companies, including Google, Amazon, eBay, and Microsoft, are using such platforms to benefit greatly. This means that social media has introduced a new marketing concept that every business owner wishes to use to generate value (Szatkowski, 2019). For instance, social media marketing has enabled companies to improve brand loyalty by cultivating a culture of social interaction with customers. Through social platforms, salespeople can engage with their customers, whereby they get to learn the customer’s specific needs and how to meet them. By doing this, brands can retain customers and earn their loyalty.

Significance of Social Media Platforms in Marketing

Companies use marketing to reach potential and loyal customers, and social media networks have played a significant role in gathering people to a common platform where customers communicate with business salespersons. Findings from a survey conducted by marketing managers in Portugal show that 87% of the population value social media as the most effective means of exchanging information since it ensures direct contact with customers, promoting internal and external relationships for businesses (Tiago & Veríssimo, 2014). Communication tools, including mobile phones and computers, have been made greatly available; as such tools continue to be introduced to the market, different social media networks equally continue to become more popular. For instance, the availability of more smartphones has enabled teenagers to have continuous online interactions. Moreover, Social media platforms register new members daily. In this case, a good example is Facebook, which registers over 750 million new members each year, making it one of the most popular social media platforms (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick, 2019). Other social media platforms also continue to gain popularity daily as social media networks become the basic means of communication for most people.

Almost every individual, especially in developed countries, has access to a communication tool such as a mobile phone with internet access. Such communication gadgets make social media networks addictive due to their convenience in usage and appealing nature (Jones, 2013). Therefore, it is evident that social media has become quite popular and a general trend that every individual seeks to be part of to interact with friends. As noted earlier in this study, the increasing popularity of various social media networks indicates their potential and significance to the marketing purpose. This means that social media has become an effective marketing tool due to the huge population that has adopted its use, making social media networks one of the most efficient marketing platforms for targeting the marketing audience.

How Various Social Media Networks Have Become Strategic Marketing Tools

Social media networks have become good sources for gathering consumer interest information and sharing views on different topics. Companies can track conversations and engagements through shares, comments, and clicks depending on the business goals. Such analytics give the business basic data about audience demographics. For instance, analytics tools such as Hootsuite Analytics provide the company with social media data, making it easier to see how the audience responds to various products and services. The opinions also reflect the attitudes and feelings of those who post them.

Moreover, social media networks allow companies to create profiles, which they use to collect comments regarding their products and services from potential and loyal customers (Jamil et al., 2022). Such comments enable companies to create new products that meet the customer’s changing demands while improving on the existing ones. This implies that through social media networking, companies are now able to create products based on rigorous research and informed data and are open to different perspectives (Lipschultz, 2016). For instance, if customers post negative comments regarding the company’s products and services, such comments are taken seriously, and efforts to rectify the situation are made.

Marketing is all about creating a positive, pleasant, and personalized interaction that attracts new customers while retaining the existing ones. Through the same lens, businesses have adopted the use of social media to make it easier for customers to find their companies by connecting with them. Most companies now use social media networks to connect with their clients and improve brand loyalty and retention. A good example is the Harry Robinson Automotive Company, which connects with its clients through social media networks to create a cultivated community for its customers, making it easier for customers to find the company, contribute, and follow conversations associated with the brand (Szatkowski, 2019). Such businesses have realized that using social media to communicate with clients offers the company quick response compared to physical office visits.

Companies that Have Tapped Into Social Media Platforms to Enhance Their Business’s Popularity While Increasing Sales

Fashion companies are some of the businesses that depend on various social media networks to popularize their products. For instance, fashion companies use influencer marketing whereby social media influencers endorse and mention products to the online audience. Influencers can also blog posts and look at books where products are promoted, making it easier for the audience to get familiar with the brand. One of the most influential social media marketing campaigns is that of the fashion brand Prada, which partnered with the American robot character Lil Miquela as a social media influencer who shared her experience on Instagram after using the company’s products. Such strategies offer the company huge audiences, especially among youths. According to Norum (2003), most youths do not purchase fashion products based on their needs but simply because such products are trending. For instance, a youth could have over ten pairs of sneakers but still intend to buy new ones to keep up with the current trends. Therefore, companies can use social media as the best way to approach such a market because most youths engage daily with different social media platforms.

Due to the visual aspects integrated into various social networks such as Facebook and Instagram, tourism or travel agencies use these platforms to generate a great network of customers. Travel agencies use social media networks such as blogs to pass information, creating brand reputation (Kashyap & Satija, 2015). Through such an approach, tourism agencies can target potential customers while encouraging content creation by creating debates and conversations. By doing this, tourism and travel agencies get valuable customer insights regarding their services and products, allowing them to develop more effective ways of marketing their products and staying updated more frequently. Social media also helps agencies to inform their customers and potential customers about new travel destinations. For instance, tourism agencies can use social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook to affect tourists’ beliefs, ideologies, and perceptions about new places. Videos and images posted on social media also form an effective connecting element that connects the destinations advertised with potential tourists.

Conclusion

From the research, it is evident that social media networks present great potential for companies to market their products because many people use these networks in their daily lives. The study revealed three critical insights. First, the availability of communication tools, including mobile phones and computers, contributes to the increasing popularity of various social media networks, indicating their potential and significance to marketing purposes. Secondly, social media networks use tools such as Hootsuite Analytics, clicks, and comments regarding their products and services from potential and loyal customers. This means that social media networks enable businesses to connect with their clients while improving brand loyalty and retention. Third, fashion companies such as Prada use social media influencers to lure audiences to use their products. In other words, the connection people create through various social media networks makes it easier for businesses to access information regarding their products, hence presenting an opportunity for creating new products that align with the customer’s changing demands while improving the existing ones. This is because most customers now use social media networks to share views regarding products offered by different companies. The study shows that social media has become the most effective marketing tool for the company’s products and services.

References

Chaffey, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2019). Digital marketing. Pearson UK.

Jamil, K., Dunnan, L., Gul, R. F., Shehzad, M. U., Gillani, S. H. M., & Awan, F. H. (2022). Role of social media marketing activities in influencing customer intentions: a perspective of a new emerging era. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 6464.

Jones, R. G. (2013). Communication in the real world: An introduction to communication studies. Flat World Knowledge.

Kashyap, M., & Satija, K. (2015). Blogging-A Powerful Public Relation Marketing Tool, A Study of Public Awareness With Reference to Nagpur City. SAMVAD, 8.

Lipschultz, J. H. (2016). Book review: Social Media: How to Engage, share, and Connect, by Regina Luttrell, measuring the Impact of Social Media on Business Profit & Success: A Fortune 500 Perspective, by Cong Li and Don Stacks, Participatory Culture, community, and play—learning from Reddit, by Adrienne L. Massanari, social networking: Redefining communication in the digital age, by Anastacia Kurylo and Tatyana Dumova (eds.), social media and social movements: The transformation of communication patterns, by Baris Coban (ed.) and critical perspectives on social media and protest: Between control and emancipation, by Lina Dencik and Oliver Leistert (eds.). Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 71(4), 497–500. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077695816673471

Norum, P. S. (2003). Examination of generational differences in household apparel expenditures. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 32(1), 52-75.

Szatkowski, D. (2019). Social media focus brings in customers: Using Facebook, the group builds its fan base with videos and monthly prizes.

Tiago, M. T. P. M. B., & Veríssimo, J. M. C. (2014). Digital marketing and social media: Why bother? Business Horizons, 57(6), 703-708.a:link {text-decoration: none;}a:visited {text-decoration: none;
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