Social Media has become so successful in such a short amount of time, probably because it helps to satisfy the basic human need to communicate. It has never been easier to keep in contact with 100, 200, 500 or even more people. Social Media platforms like Twitter or Facebook give you the opportunity to keep in touch with friends, family or colleagues from all over the world. And they give you the opportunity to present yourself.
Presenting yourself has become a pretty popular thing. People just loooove posting pictures of themselves, videos of their new favorite songs or movies or checking in at any place they visit - even if it's the local walmart. It's a way to let their friends take part in their lives and often also a way to show off a bit. And that's exactly what brands try to do on Facebook and other Social Media platforms as well. Presenting themselves, showing off, getting customers to like and follow them.
Opposed to other instruments of the marketing mix, Social Media feels kind of intimate, like you're sharing insights on your life with your best friends at a bar (although you would probably call only 30 of their 300 "Facebook friends" real friends). But that builds a great base for brand marketing. Brands can presents themselves to their customers in an environment where the latter ones feel comfortable. They're open to suggestions of their friends and actually love watching a TV Ad on YouTube, if it's a post or recommendation of a friend, whereas they would switch channels right away when they saw that Ad on TV. The value of friend's recommendation shouldn't be underestimated and in a Social Media world it is really easy to share your opinion on anything with a wide range of people within just a few seconds.
Social Media is fast. That's a great thing for the "little people" using it, but it's a challenge for companies. People expect immediate responses if they post something to a brand's Facebook page. So if a brand decides to engage into Social Media, they should do it right and wholeheartedly. Otherwise it can backfire, for example when a brand doesn't monitor their Social Media comments and upsets their customers by not answering to their posts. That is even worse than not participating in Social Media at all!
So for us little people Social Media is fun. For companies it is hard work!
I really agree with you on the fact that social media can really be hard to deal with for the companies! It can be a powerful way to promote your own brand, but it can also destroy your image in a really short time...
ReplyDeleteI agree, some things are even new for me!
ReplyDelete