Social Media Marketing - Research Paper Example

? Literature Review: Social Media Marketing Grade (November 19th, Literature Review: Social Media Marketing Introduction Communication is a fundamental aspect, especially for effective learning of any institution. Further, a well-structured communication network serves as a competitive advantage for an organization, when it is targeted towards reaching out and informing the world regarding the existence, operations and performance of a given institution, and thus luring and arousing interest from people who may need the products or services offered by the institution (Cambria, 2011). Having such targets, the social media becomes an important tool for an institution to expose itself to the outside world in modern day, considering the growth, and increasing importance of social media as a communication tool. However, it is important to understand that the success of social media marketing is not realized in a single day, and thus there is more work that needs to be done, to realize the benefits of social media marketing (Kietzmann & Canhoto, 2013). At this point, it therefore becomes essential to ask the question; what is social media marketing? Defining Social Media Marketing Social media marketing refers to the concept of gaining traffic and attention through launching and running promotional campaigns, through identifying and engaging with influencers and interested parties through social media (DeMers, 2013). Social media marketing is most especially effective and vital for businesses, institutions and organizations that rely heavily on referral and the word-of-mouth as their marketing and communication strategies, considering that there is no easier ways to make referrals or pass word of mouth, than through the social media, owing to its extensive coverage and accessibility (Kietzmann & Canhoto, 2013). Social media marketing is thus a category of internet marketing, which applies the social media networks as the platforms for communicating and achieving the branding goals of an institution. Fundamentally, this form of marketing entails sharing of written content, audio, images and videos through the social networks, to make such contents accessible by other parties within the social media networks, for marketing and branding the institution (Deis & Kyle, 2010). Is Social Media Marketing effective tool for educational institutional marketing? Posing for a moment to dissect the assertions that Social Media Marketing is effective for referrals and word of mouth communication, it is apparent that there is no better way to market an educational institution, than through referrals and the word of mouth. Social media is the most effective channel of discovering and combining news with promotional content, while also serving as the most effective tool for building links to different other networks (DeMers, 2013). Thus, finding and responding to online conversation can be the most effective way of marketing, since social media enables even small business which have no established systems and channels of advertisement, as well as those facing resource shortages to reach more customers (Deis & Kyle, 2010). Therefore, social media does not only offer an opportunity to advertise and promote a brand, but also an opportunity to combine and reinforce the branding content with more informative news, and in a more entertaining and interactive way, that is rarely offered by other communication and promotional channels. Thus, despite the concept of Social Media Marketing being a comparatively recent phenomenon, its role in the current business world has shifted from that of a trendy presence, into a necessary marketing and advertising platform for any business that seeks to remain relevant both in the traditional and the digital marketing (DeMers, 2013). According to a report published by the Forbes Magazine, the 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry indicated that 94% of all businesses that had a marketing department utilized the social media as one of their major marketing tool (Bosari, 2012). The most important aspect that differentiates the social media from the rest of advertising and promotional tools is the fact that; as opposed to merely viewing the content of the advertisement or the promotional campaign, social media offers a further advantage, in the form of allowing for interactions between the institution advertising its brands and the interested parties (Trattner & Kappe, 2013). This is a very important aspect, considering that it allows for clarifications and immediate responses, thus making the advertising campaign even more effective. The changing global trend in matters of advertisement points to the fact in the future, Social Media Marketing will have become a core aspect of every single business that seeks to thrive in the competitive market (Bosari, 2012). This is because, in addition to offering an interactive marketing and advertising platform, social media offers the most versatile platform for company branding, since the presence of a company in different Social Media Network, coupled with the creation of network linkages makes it possible for the company profile to be accessed and viewed by a wide array of social media users (DeMers, 2013). In addition, Social Media Marketing offers an opportunity for the creation of brand awareness, especially due to the interactive nature of the platform as a marketing tool, while also ensuring that such brand awareness is divulged among a large number of potential interested parties, owing to the advantage of the word-of-mouth communication mode, offered by the social media (Cambria, 2011). Further, there is no better way to improve audience reach and influence, more than through social media marketing. This advantage is not only offered by the fact that millions of people are already subscribed to different social media networks globally, but by the fact that it is easier to have brand and institutional ambassadors boosting the image of the company and promoting its image through social media, as opposed to other channels of advertising and marketing (Deis & Kyle, 2010). Facebook and the Image-Centric Tendency The image-centric advertising and brand promotion strategy is poised to attract more attention than other forms of promotion, considering that there is a developing trend of leaning towards a combination of images, writing and video perceptions, as opposed to any separate form of them (Trattner & Kappe, 2013). Facebook has emerged as a variable and integrated marketing tool, owing to its suitability in integrating written, image and video content within the same promotional message, thus delivering diversity that meets the interest of different parties (DeMers, 2013). Further, Facebook offers an exceptional opportunity for business and institutional marketing, due to the offer of an opportunity to create a page for the organization or brand, which is akin to creating a business website only that with a Facebook page, the advantages of poplar accessibility, influence and direct interactions are added (Bosari, 2012). References Bosari, J. (August 8, 2012). The Developing Role of Social Media in the Modern Business World. Retrieved: November 19, 2013. Fromhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/moneywisewomen/2012/08/08/the-developing-role-of-social-media-in-the-modern-business-world/ Cambria, E. et al. (2011). Sentic Computing for Social Media Marketing. Multimedia Tools and Applications 59 (2): 557. Deis, H. & Kyle, H. (2010). Using social media to increase advertising and improve marketing. Entrepreneurial Executive: 87. DeMers, J. (September 24, 2013). The Top 7 Social Media Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2014. Retrieved: November 19, 2013. Fromhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2013/09/24/the-top-7-social-media-marketing-trends-that-will-dominate-2014/ Kietzmann, J.H. & Canhoto, A. (2013). Bittersweet! Understanding and Managing Electronic Word of Mouth. Journal of Public Affairs 13 (2): 146–159. Trattner, C. & Kappe, F. (2013). Social Stream Marketing on Facebook: A Case Study. International Journal of Social and Humanistic Computing 2, 1-20. Read More