Using Social Media to Connect with Consumers Essay Example

is a very powerful tool considering only the social network site.

A study in 2015 in the US showed that 75% of the citizens had a social media profile (Besse, 2015), meaning sharing of information couldn’t be easier. Social media offers users a megaphone to the world, people are able to be at par with the happenings in the world, share opinions, find entertaining content, meet new friends and share everyday experiences all at the touch of a button. Companies and individuals have realized that with all the traffic, social media is or can be a powerful marketing tool. An overwhelming statistic by Wall Street Journal shows that Facebook users post close to 5 billion items online daily, Twitter users compose 400 million tweets on the daily, YouTube enthusiasts watch 4 billion videos daily (Agrawal,2015).

Companies are now connecting more efficiently and real quickly with consumers using social media. Despite primarily designed as tools for connecting with friends the evolution of social media as marketing or business tool is real. Consumers are looking for products on sites like Facebook and Twitter. This therefore means that goods and service providers must command a good presence on these social network sites. Companies cannot afford to ignore promoting their brands on these sites. It’s a scenario of shape up or ship out, if you don’t innovate by way of social media aggressive marketing you will be edged out by your competitors. Social media by interpretation by users is a virtual world where somebody interacts with people, share thoughts and opinions andlook for interesting products on the market and shop them all at one place.

To emphasize on social media as a

marketing tool we have seen big brands hiring social media managers. To go to such extent as to create posts as social media managers and marketers shows how paramount to corporate success social media has become. A post on Times magazine described the job of being a social media manager as demanding as it requires time commitment, funs are not so patient to wait all day for a reply about a query pertaining a brand. An effective social media manager must be privy to details about how different social networks work. A successful marketing strategy on YouTube may not generate the same outcome on Twitter. A social media manager must also be aware of the dangers of this model of marketing, the choice of words play a big role in social media marketing. Misspelling a word can generate instant mockery from users. The social media marketing team must not leave any room to be exploited by individuals looking to opportunize a loophole in branding and marketing of a product.

Focusing on the major brands in social media including Facebook, Twitter, Youtubeand Whatsapp we look at how each have impacted interactions between companies, brands and their consumers. Facebook is considered as the mother of social media revolution, despite social media era dating back in 1978 with the CBBS system developed by Randy Suess and Ward Christensen its Facebook innovation that tilted the industry into a new era. Facebook was fortunate enough to having been invented in an era of technology and mobile penetration. Within two years of invention Facebook was a world acclaimed brand. Individuals and corporates all wanted a presence on the mind blogging platform. Today

Facebook has 1.6 billion active users a market share of 20%, this is a very large consumer market (DeMers, 2016).

So how has Facebook been used to reach consumers? Of importance to note is that Facebook use is free, so any individual or organization using the platform to connect to another incurs absolutely no cost. In corporate world cost management is a concept that is of the greatest essence. At the tap of a button an organization connects with its consumers at no cost. It therefore needs no explanation as to why when we visit almost all webpages we find organizations link to their Facebook accounts. They prompt you to follow them so as to make your interactions simpler. Facebook pages and profiles are easily discoverable; consumer friendly interface makes consumer and organizations interactions easy.

On this platform consumers and organizations can have a one on one conversation. Organizations can thereafter tailor their products as par the suitability of their consumers. Analytics on an organization Facebook page may be used to provide insightful understanding of consumer needs. The timeliness of reaching consumers is another great aspect of Facebook pages and profiles use by business entities. With a message tailored to consumers a Facebook page reaches dozens of the target group, they are also enabled to share the page and the post which increases the overall traffic. On Facebook pages organizations provide links to their websites which further helps consumers to sort more details about the organization if such details are not available on the page.

Facebook promoted pages that are chargeable reaches certain number of users which widens the scope of reach and impression. 45% of small businesses

in US use Facebook as their primary advertising and marketing media (Baker, 2015) due to the extensive audience reach. Use of social media can however be enduring and challenging as the high level of interaction may provide little time for organizations to respond, an emphasis on this was a study that showed 87% of posts on Facebook pages go unanswered (Baker, 2015). 75% of brands using Facebook in the US use Facebook promoted posts. The main interest of these data is to emphasize how Facebook is a great tool for organizations and brands to reach their consumers.

Another social media widely used to reach consumers is Twitter. Twitter has over 500 million active users, the numbers make it ideal for organizations to promote their brands and interact with their consumers on this platform. Major brands in the world make their announcements on Twitter. If for instance Samsung releases a new product they take to twitter and within no time the world is aware of a new product. Twitter has a strict etiquette of using 140 characters while composing a post, this in some perspective is very friendly to brands promotion. Brands compose tweets with precision due to character restrictions. To reach out to consumers organizations optimize their Twitter biography by branding them well and creating website links on them.

With changing nature of customers' shopping habits it implies that compelling advertisers must adjust to shoppers' new conduct by making advertising effort that directs individuals into their business. These changing habits include shoppers looking for products on sites like Twitter. Organizations have to therefore come up with strategies on how to tap into this development.This methodology is called

inbound advertising and Twitter comes in handy.Organizations on Twitter offer helpful data, tools and assets to draw in individuals to their business and websites, while additionally collaborating and creating associations with customers on the web.

The keys to brands reaching their consumers on Twitter are content creation and search engine optimization. Customers can send direct message to their suppliers provided they are mutually following each other. This effectiveness enables one on one interaction between both parties and organization can actually improve their brands depending on consumer’s feedbacks on Twitter. Hash tags are also interactive forums on Twitter where an organization can promote a trend or a consumer starting a trend about an organization or brand.

Consumers air their views and the organization responds or takes action. Traditionally it would consume an organization a big chunk of money to conduct a market research on its products and improvements needed to be done if need be. With Twitter consumers give credits and critic product online and all that is needed is an organization presence on the platform to consume that information and utilize it appropriately (Garst, 2016).

Other organizations use social media like YouTube to reach their consumers. A quick preview of how this is achieved; YouTube is a video sharing platform that has billions of users. YouTube is a basic advertising tool for all organization in any industry. Bringing in and transferring video content has never been less demanding, which makes it consistent and coherent to incorporate in any marketing strategy. For business, online video promoting presents a one of a kind open door. Utilized effectively, video advertising can establish trust and set up an organization as being powerful.

In

addition, it makes it less demanding to associate and connect with clients. YouTube the second biggest search enginetool on the web offers organizations an immense stage to pick up viewers. Consumers are dissatisfied by physical advertisements and static promotions. They want intuitive, innovative, and mind blowing content. By uploading videos with tips and procedures, organizations can get consideration as well as give assistance and esteem to clients, which will ultimately impacts positively on organization image. Tips and procedures are an awesome approach to build up your organization as a specialist on the subject.

At the point when viewers see the recordings, they will perceive your business as a specialist for giving tips and recommendations. Connecting to consumers couldn’t be easier. YouTube isan effective types of communication, and more captivating than other less dynamic advertisements. Individuals appreciate watching videos. It is easy for the viewer, and regularly engaging. Video uploads are an incredible approach to associate with your viewers and give all the more an individual feel than traditional marketing strategies.

The list of various social media and how they help shape organization and consumer interaction could go on and on. Our focus is on how social media can be used to connect to consumers, to achieve this, illustrations on how some selected social media sites achieve the said purpose is inevitable.The relationship between a brand and its consumers has changed significantly on account of the effect of social media.It has given enormous control and energy to consumers and expansive companies and prominent brands no longer have the upper hand on the market. Company’s top officials and entrepreneurs have comprehended that social media can represent the deciding moment

in their business, so they have taken the initiative to create social media presence on platforms like Facebook and Twitter to connect with consumers.

By utilizing online networking, organizations now can make systems after they break down the analytics to comprehend the objective consumer requests, likes and dislikes.Organizations now offer preference to consumer’s participation in their social media marketing. They are making surveys and clients created hashtag campaigns to deliver engaging podcasts and making recordings to promote their brands. Some create contests where the consumers are requested to submit or share thoughts of substance made exclusively by them; this motivates consumers to buy the products since they feel their views are valued.

It’s prudent to say therefore that in this era of social media brands and organization must utilize the various media available to drive their marketing agenda. Social media is the future of consumer organizations interactions.

References

• Besse, J. (2015, June 20). Social media as a marketing tool.from Forbes,
  http://forbes.com/social/social-media-for-marketing/
• Agrawal, A. (2015). Marketing on youtube.from Forbes,
  http://www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2016/01/03/3-marketing-on-youtube
• Umesh, R. (2016, January 18). What is the impact of social media on your marketing.from
• Content Marketing, http://www.ronsela.com/impact-of-social-media-marketing/
• DeMers, J. (2016, January 7). Social media marketing.from times, http://time.com/business/
• Baker, S. (2015). Youtube marketing.from wall street journal, http://wsj.com/US
• Garst, K. (2016, April 27). Website for marketing.from twitter grader, http://twitter.grader.com/