In my opinion, social media is not just a fad. Although I believe marketing through social media will change and evolve, the perks of this method are too great to disappear any time soon. Current day social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, serve as the foundations for what awaits social media marketing in the future.
When someone sets out to do something, they are there for that specific purpose. For example, when I go to watch TV, I’m there to see a show, not advertisements; when I read a newspaper, it’s for the stories, not the ads that are just randomly placed on a page. The great thing about social media is that you target and attract people who are specifically interested in your product or service.
People in today’s world crave interaction. Social media allows customers to actually be a part of the advertising. By being able to offer suggestions and comment on what they like and don’t like, they can feel like they are actually being heard and working with a person rather than a company. It gives them something to get excited about.
This benefits the customers and the company because people are more likely to blog or post information about a product when they are satisfied with it, and customers trust other customers more than they would trust a company trying to sell something, according to Paul Gillin in his book, “Secrets of Social Media Marketing”. Most people no longer trust traditional ads, especially younger generations.
The companies are also given the opportunity to set up different sites to address the needs of different customers and build better relationships. They can do all this without going broke, too. Social media outlets are much cheaper than traditional advertising, according to David Meerman Scott in his book, “The New Rules of Marketing and PR”.
The social media marketing efforts have so many benefits, it would be challenging for any company to go back to relying solely on traditional methods.
I have an example in my life about social media marketing and how organizations and individuals do not want to go back to traditional ways of marketing. My mom is a realtor and realtors used to market themselves in older traditional ways that were quite expensive. They put their name and information on billboards and put information in magazines and newspapers. About a year ago I informed my mom about Facebook and Twitter and how she could use those sites to market her real estate for free. She now has me in charge of updating her Facebook and Twitter on a weekly basis to promote her business. Social networking sites have become a great marketing tool and I cannot wait to see how they help my moms business.
ReplyDeleteI agree that social media will change and evolve more then we will know in our life time. I also agree that social media has learned how to target their advertisement to the appropriate audience. For example Facebook targets their advertisement to the user, based on what they have in common on their profile. Since my profile says that I am in a sorority the ads on the side of my page relates to greek life.
ReplyDeleteSocial media has allowed users to take networking to a whole new level. You can find out someone’s morals, interest, views and family life before ever meeting them face to face. Even though I believe social media is here to stay, I do think it takes away from the contact of other individuals. It allows people to use means of technology to communicate and less effort in human interaction.
I really liked what you said about the way companies will market through social media will change and evolve. If you look at television (which i think we can all agree is not a fad), advertising has certainly changed over time, now people don't have to sit through commercials through the use of dvr, but now companies are finding ways to advertise with product placement. Already, people are finding ways to avoid the ads on the internet, so it only stands to reason that companies will find new ways to make there product seen by the largest audience possible.
ReplyDeleteExcellant opinions. Social Media attracts anyone who is anyone from people interested in music all the way to history and all of the above. All of these interests can be shared with friends,family, etc. and Social Media is the way to do it through microblogs such as twitter and social networks like Facebook. Television has been an excellant advenue for advertising, and the Internet is the route of Social Media Marketing. Not only a trend but something that companies could learn from and incorporate into their agenda.
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