Social media and networking are no longer in their preliminary stages. As these platforms keep on developing quickly, they become significant bits of the online design and experience that reshape how brands engage with their consumers. In the world of business, marketing has always been of primary importance. In days gone by, marketing was all about the conventional methods that had been around for a very long time. From print advertisements to letter-drops to television ads, this type of marketing was common and tried. But then something changed within marketing that hit the sector like a wave of awesomeness. What were these unusual changes?
Social media has changed the way organizations market their brands in 2 basic ways:
- To start with, the brand is never again under the influence of the marketing manager nor any other individual in the organization. It now is under the influence and control of the CUSTOMER.
- The other factor is that more clients today know and DECIDE what sort of content they would share online. Marketers can’t DECIDE for them.
Social media platforms that help boost marketing:
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are at the bleeding edge with regards to social media platforms that help enhance marketing. Furthermore? These platforms are available on mobile devices as free applications. As the use of cell phones has shot up in the recent past and an ever-increasing number of individuals getting to the internet through cell phones, organizations have taken full advantage to tap these clients through social media platforms. Let’s take a look at them individually, on how they have changed the marketing game in recent years.
Since its advent, Facebook has been seeing thriving growth in popularity, success, and the number of active users, among other accomplishments. As of June 2019, Facebook recorded 2.41 billion active users monthly and 1.59 billion daily active users. This means that Facebook is one of the greatest stages an organization can use to target multiple audiences belonging to various geographies, ethnicities, and ages. The advertising department of the organization has brought in the highest revenue share when compared to other income-producing sections. As reported by Market.us, as of Jan 2019, there were 90 million business pages on facebook and 8 billion messages are sent among clients and business accounts each day. There are 0.3 Mn bots monthly active, on messenger. 700 million users make use of Facebook events per month. Ad Espresso reports that people spend an average of 35 minutes per day on Facebook. These stats have pushed an astounding 93% of social media advertisers to use Facebook advertisements.
Whether it’s the latest news or the latest meme, Twitter consistently punches above its weight in the cultural consciousness. With 326 million active users per month on twitter, marketeers have considered twitter as a robust brand promoting tool. Even amazing that customers themselves help promote the brand on twitter. As reported by Hootsuite, 24% of US adults use Twitter. Brands can easily lose customers or gain potential customers based on reviews shared on twitter. Twitter reported that Twitter ads are 11% more viable than TV ads during live events. And 40% of users state they’ve made a buy-in view of an influencer’s tweet. Good customer service means receiving real-time feedback and acting upon the feedback. Even a quick reply to a customer query via twitter goes a long way in customer satisfaction. Twitter is the go-to tool for small and medium businesses where 85% of them use Twitter to provide customer service.
Instagram started as a photo-sharing platform in 2010. It soon evolved into a marketing and sales platform for mainly small and small-medium businesses. With 22 percent of millennials rating Instagram as their favorite social media platform, it’s no surprise that social media marketing experts have rushed to the platform. Instagram promoting is the way that brands use Instagram to connect with their target audiences and market their offerings. 1 billion people use Instagram every month. Of the social networks, just Facebook and YouTube have more individuals signing in. Hootsuite reports that 72% of U.S. teens use Instagram. 4.2 billion posts are ‘liked’ by users per day. What are the odds of a brand’s post not been seen or liked by anybody? It’s safe to say that the figure is very negligible. Instagram also offers a feature to promote a post. This means that at a small fee, thousands of users will see paid ads pop up on their feed browsing Instagram. This has led to 71% of U.S. businesses to use Instagram for marketing and promotional activities.
The influence of consumers
The intensity of Electronic Word of Mouth (e-WOM) is practically top-notch compared to traditional media with regards to how consumers impact and persuade other consumers. With customers ‘liking’ and ‘hashtagging’ items or brands they like, the marketeers’ job has been cut down concerning social media visibility of the brand. This means that happy consumers act as advertisers or promoters to specific brands or products. The consumers and the online communities have taken over the power of communication from marketers where they share and create information about brands. Marketers now realize that the use of social media decisions is no longer always subject to them, it is increasingly reliant on whether the consumers like their product or brand or not.
Lego is a great example of a company that has taken advantage of social media, in a way that enabled the company to communicate and collaborate with its customer communities online. Lego’s adult enthusiasts have a rich tradition of sharing their innovations. The Internet made it possible for fans to share their innovations. The Lego building system was improved by many of the fans. Some fans also presented new ways to use it. All these aligned well with Lego’s strategy. A win for Lego leveraging social media? DEFINITELY YES!
A last note
It is no secret that the digital revolution has changed advertising and marketing for good and social media has an enormous hand in this. As it is easy to use, free and gives direct access to millions of the individuals you need to connect with, it surely is one of the most fruitful modern ways to market the business. With millions of users logging onto social media every day, it is not likely to slow down anytime soon.
