Social Media as a Part of the Society - Essay Example

?Social Media Introduction Social media is one term everybody around the globe is getting accustomed to (Wellman 1999, p.1-5). Several years down the line, its impacts are impossible to ignore. In every sphere of life, social media has played a key role in either a negative and positive way. Social media is defined to as the communication tools that are available online that give people a platform to share opinions, views and obtain the resources that they need. It is also known as social network, including networks such as the Face Book, YouTube and LinkedIn. In the business context, social media continues to be the most used tool especially in the recent past (Lefebvre and Flora 1988, p.301). Some of the areas in business using social media as a platform to achieve goals and objectives are advertising, public relations and marketing. This is essentially because these are the very branches of the corporate world that need to come into close contact with the masses of people Research indicates that the corporate world spends billions of dollars on the social media to advertise and market their products. For example, in United States of America, the corporate world spent close to four billion dollars on the social media marketing (Hamill 1997, p. 300-323). The trend has continually changed, with exponential growth in the amount of money spent every year. Some of the social networks, for example LinkedIn, concentrate mainly on the corporate world (Ibrahim 2010, p.3-10). Here, networks are created between various business persons and firms. Other business firms chose to use the platform for public relations by posting the videos of their CEOs giving insights about them. This means that social media is intertwined with the business world and its impact cannot be wished away. Social media brings in a shift in the concepts of reaching out to the consumers and selling the products to them. The traditional way of communication, say for example through posters, newspapers and televisions are slowly being replaced by the use of the social media (Xia 2009, p. 469 – 478). The implication to both the corporate world and the consumers is the change in the way the concepts of marketing and advertising are viewed. It is in this regard that I look at how the concepts of marketing, the consumers and the audiences have changed with the use of social media. Change in the Conceptions of Marketing, Consumers and Audiences The historical concept of marketing was that the consumers were provided with the manufacturer’s good, whether good or bad (Zwick and Dholakia 2008, p. 318-325). However, with the social networking, it is not easy to penetrate into the market with this kind of an approach. The concept of marketing has broadened to include the processes of developing the product to its distribution. It also works closely with the research and development departments to learn on the necessary innovation on their products (Ibrahim 2010, p.3-10). The social media has therefore brought the need to have a comprehensive look at marketing. Its definition has changed to; the processes of planning and implementation of the concepts in the production chain to meet the demands of the consumer. With the understanding of how important social media is, the marketing strategies have taken a different turn (Mangold and Faulds 2009, p.357 – 365). Most of the marketers have moved to integrate marketing mix with the social media. The marketing mix includes the product, place, price and promotion. Looking into these four key aspects of marketing, one realizes that the concept has totally changed. For example, the products are varied and numerous. The tangible products have been modified to include the personal needs of different groups of people. The products vary in characteristics even as the characteristics of the consumers vary. In the second aspect of the marketing mix, the place, the location is now very flexible (Ibrahim 2010, p.3-10). A consumer may not have to be in a specific place as it was before. It includes the medium of receiving research information, the context in which this information is used and finally the processes of accessing the origin of the data. The price is no longer fixed and predictable. The costs of production may be varied depending on the various needs of the consumer. This variation is what accounts for the total price and not a specific price for all goods. On promotion, the focus has shifted from trying to convince people to buy the product, regardless of their needs (Wellman 1999, p.1-5). Rather, the focus is on an interactive kind of a forum where both the consumer and the firm discuss the brand extensively. The promotions have to take into account the needs of the people and respond to their questions with precision. Failure to do this, the consumer gets the wrong perception on the product, ruining the reputation of the firm. The firms have realized that social media comes with a different culture than what they have always worked with (Mangold and Faulds 2009, p.357 – 365). This has called for restructuring of the operations to try and adapt to the culture. In most companies, the strategies are being developed to get acquitted with all the necessary information about the social media. Therefore, the companies are training the concerned members in various departments on how effectively to use social media to the advantage of the firm. More so, investment on extensive research is done on the field. The concept of marketing mix has further been broadened to include partnerships, policy and politics through social marketing (Brad et al 2003, p.75-81). It is now easier to get partnerships with the people who are directly involved in the development of products that meet the needs of the consumer. For example, the organizations that do research exclusively have partnered with the marketers to give them the necessary information. Mergers with the suppliers of the products have also occurred, thanks to the social media’s platform. On policy, there has been a need to change the policies in the manufacturing so as to improve on the efficiency. Further, the political barriers have been eliminated through cultivation of good rapport with the government of the day. This is done through presentation of the product to the political figures and winning them over to the firm’s side. The marketing executives have realized the gold of employing the young generation to lead in social media marketing. The young are associated with speed of learning and application of the new methods of marketing and advertising (Thackeray et al 2008, p. 338). The young have also grown with the social media at their disposal. It is in such understanding that there has been adoption of reverse mentoring, where the young are allowed to reach the older generation on the important skills of marketing. Experience and expertise may not be as vital as is speed and social skills. The older generation may not be accustomed to this as the young are. The concept of marketing has become easier with such integration. This is because the audience has become innumerable. It is estimated that around 25 billion people are connected to the internet (Hamill 1997, p. 300-323). The people are further connected to various social networks, spending a lot of time in them. For example, at least seven billion minutes are spent on Face Book alone. This figure does not account for other social networks for example the YouTube, twitter, and FlickR among others. The content from such net work is further passed on across to other thirty billion people in the global economy. For any marketer, this is a great chance to reach to as many people as possible. It is important to observe that marketing is no longer in the hands of the institutions. Rather, it has successfully been placed in the hands of the consumer (Xia 2009, p. 469 – 478). People discuss the products even before a marketer finds their way into the social media. For example, if an individual bought a product that is newly produced, it is likely that they will want to share the information with the rest of the people through the social media. Given the chance of satisfaction from the product, the information is likely to spread fast than it would have been in the past. The word of mouth concept is used in marketing through social media (Xia 2009, p. 469 – 478). Marketing today is different in that the marketer does not have to spend their good fortune on marketing. The costs have been reduced greatly, changing the concept of heavy investment on marketing. In the past, once a marketer set their mind to reach as many people as they would, they had to sit down and count the costs. However, this is all different today (Wellman 1999, p.1-5). They have been able to use the word of mouth without necessary having to set aside finances for it. The thing with the word of mouth is that a people spread it in different forms and in the best way they understand it. The curiosity that comes with such kind of marketing will have a positive effect on the sales of the company. The ability of social media to reach and connect people with the same interests is a major breakthrough for a marketer (Thackeray et al 2008, p. 338). The wonder of social media is that in the ultimate, the information reaches audience beyond the friend’s friend. Any interested person gets to know about the information, even though they were not the primary targets. For a marketer, the task becomes easy. All than they need is to pass across the information to a few people. In the end, a whole lot of people from all parts of the globe have the information. Some of the companies have successfully introduced personalities who act as their ambassadors in the social media. These personalities answer all the questions that are asked by the consumer online. They also act as the cheerleaders for the company and help the consumers get into close contact with the corporate. For example, in the year 2007, Fiskars Brand Inc launched such a program in the internet (Hamill 1997, p. 300-323). This followed an experience of loss by the company in the previous years. However, with such a program, the losses were reversed. The ambassadors helped create an emotional attachment with the products the company is selling. This was the turn around point for the company. The consumers in this kind of marketing have more say than they ever did. They give their views on certain products and help the marketer come up with the very best of the product. The marketer in this case takes the advantage of the situation and engages the consumers on related conversations. For example, Baxa Corporation encourages comments and views from the consumers using Face Book and LinkedIn (Zwick and Dholakia 2008, p. 318-325). The company welcomes all consumers to give their opinion, whether negative or positive. This way, they have constructively used the information to their advantage. Such kind of conversations will obviously yield fruits while developing products. This is a shift from the traditional study of demographics of the consumers to the full engagement of the consumer in the product development. It is no longer easy to exaggerate information with the social media marketing (Brad et al 2003, p.75-81). The traditional marketing has always used exaggerated information concerning products. This is majorly because of the less scrutiny and spread of the true information to the consumers. This has however been put to test with the coming of social media. The consumers are made more aware of whatever is genuine and the exaggerated. The corporate has to be transparent and accountable in this regard. The experience of Wal-Mart in the year 2006 clearly indicated that it is not easy to hide much with the social media engagement (Thackeray et al 2008, p. 338). They in this year launched an online campaign to try and interact with the consumers in a broader sense. They however were not transparent about the source of the employees. On the discovery of the true information, the reputation was completely ruined. They ended up failing to realize the goals of the campaign. In the same line, the provision of quality and personalized goods is inevitable with the rise of social media (Mangold and Faulds 2009, p.357 – 365). The marketer is brought to book by as many people as possible if in case the products are poorly perceived. Further, the chances of losses are more as the word of mouth spreads to as many people as it could. It is in this regard that marketer have changed their concept of exaggerated information approach to marketing. They realize that what is behind the curtains will somehow find its way to the consumers. Virtual consumers are products of social media marketing and advertising (Hamill 1997, p. 300-323). It is now possible to sell goods in the social media without having to come into contact with the consumers. People now purchase all their goods in the social media. They will therefore give their specifications and expectations to the corporate even before the manufacture of the product. This essentially calls for a change in the approach of reaching such consumers and meeting their demands. The organizations have realized that the consumer has to be respected even if they criticize brands openly (Xia 2009, p. 469 – 478). The consumer in this case has been empowered to voice their concerns without fear or intimidation. Organizations have no choice in this case but to try and create a good rapport with the consumer. It only calls for one demeaning blog to ruin the reputation of the organization. This has had to be changed by making them enthusiastic about their products and be open to them in all the issues that they raise. Disadvantages of Using Social Media in the Corporate World There is another side to the use of social media in marketing, advertising and public relations. With time, the misconceptions concerning the platform have ruined many organizations achievement of goals and objectives (Simour et al 2011, p.3-9). For example, some consumers believe that the social media is only a platform for the young people. Therefore, the products offered are sometimes perceived to be friendly to the young. This means that there is a possibility to reach a certain groups of people while ignoring another. People resist change (Thackeray et al 2008, p. 338). They are uncomfortable with situations that have to move them from their comfort zones at most times. Therefore, some of these ideas may take quite sometimes to get conceived in the minds of many the majority. Therefore, a company may not have to necessarily rely on the social media entirely. There is need to continue using the traditional approach to the reach to the consumers in some aspects. Further, as quickly as information can be spread to the consumers, so is the ease of destroying the reputation of the company. Only one wrong move is needed to ruin the reputation of the company. The ill of the social media sometimes is that information spreads so quickly and to so many people at the same time. This calls for caution and calculated moves while engaging in the social media platform. The focus may be shifted from pursuing the mission statement of the corporate to the use of the new information from the media (Kotler et al 2002.p.23-38). Any company that fails to marry the new with the old may find itself at a disadvantage in the long run. More so, the costs of doing research and innovation, if not foreseen in advance, may act against the organizations returns. Competition becomes the major battle field for the organizations (Brad et al 2003, p.75-81). If an organization fails to recognize the need to keep pace with other firms, there is no doubt that the returns will be minimal. Therefore, the strategies of the company have to be better than they have been in the traditional way of marketing. For the smaller companies, this may ruin their progress. This is especially because there are brands already known in the market and they are given the same platform to compete. Obviously, more efforts will be required for the small company with lesser economies of scale. Conclusion Social media is a part of the society today. The business community must realize the need to maximize the benefits of using social media. This is only achievable by realizing the dynamics of it and acting accordingly. It is important that future strategies are developed with the consideration of the shifts in the needs of the consumers and the ease of reaching them through the social media. At the same time, caution should be taken to ensure that there are minimal consequences of using the platform. Every corporate is therefore called to invest in the understanding of the shifts and changes that come with the social media. This way, they will have more informed decision making processes as far as marketing, public relations and advertising is concerned. 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