Social media as a Method to Drive Acquisition of Customers - Assignment Example

Social Media Marketing There have been major advancements in the modes of advertising adopted by companies in the modern world. One of the most momentous and drastic form of marketing is the social media marketing. Social media marketing refers to the form of marketing that is done through the social networks, communities and blogs to increase awareness among prospective customers (Ryan and John, 2009). The common tools that are used for social marketing include Face book, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Flickr (Chandler, 2013). The sites are used to make sales, create publicity for various brands, handle customer service and connect businesses with their target markets. The social media is known as an important means for creating brand awareness and customer acquisition (Holzner, 2009). However, the major question is how companies are supposed to convert users of various social media sites into actual customers. Furthermore, different brands face varying challenges concerning customer acquisition. This owing to the fact that different companies have varying market positions, objectives, target audiences and acquisition techniques (Chaffey and Ellais-Chadwick, 2012).. Companies are advised to come up with strategies that are appropriate for their brands. This essay critically assesses social media as a method to drive acquisitions of customers and marketing campaigns for two campaigns. Social media marketing is used to drive customer acquisitions through brand recognition. This is known as one of the most effective tools of using social media as a branding tool. This is because with social media marketing, companies can decide the kind of information their customers are exposed to and decide on how they want the company’s position to be (Chandler, 2013). Companies can build brand name using the great content and consistent effort around the company values and benefits. Well- established companies including Wal-Mart, Starbucks and The Weather Channel Shows Off have developed more attractive advertising initiatives on social media sites including You Tube, Instagram and Vine respectively to develop their brand names in the online market leading to an increase in the number of users (Overbey, 2013). The companies have successful used social media marketing to reach their customers and make sales. Other small companies are advised to follow suit as the social media has proven to be an effective tool to build a company’s brand name. Social media sites create a sense of community among the buyers and this helps companies to reach higher number buyers (Chandler, 2013). When customers feel associated with the company, they are more likely to buy their products due to brand loyalty. When the company’s followers become part of the community, it means that the company has direct access to them. This means that companies can find out the challenges facing them and find out what the customers feel about their products. Furthermore, companies can take part in a dialogue with the users and this may prove to be more valuable than market research. Social media marketing acts as a basis of repeat exposure (Chandler, 2013). This has proven to be one of the most effective marketing tools as continued exposure to the images or details of a certain product or brand will eventually result into a sale. In fact, there is an old saying that states that it takes a minimum of six to eight exposures before a prospective buyer makes the decision to buy (Scott, 2010). An apparent benefit of social media marketing is that it gives the users the benefit of repeat exposure with the company’s brands. Therefore, companies have the chance to remind their users repeatedly of the offers available and this can reduce the sale cycles considerably. For speakers, coaches, therapists, authors and consultants and other service based industries, social media can be a very important tool for setting up authority in the respective field (Chandler, 2013). Customers can forward their questions to the desired service provider thereby improving their efficiency and improving their sales at the same time. This gives the service providers an opportunity to share their content, serve their customers and consequently, establish a huge customer base. Social media marketing helps to increase that a company has in the online market. Having a considerable social media audience leads to the establishment of a snowball impact that attracts media interviews, new customers, joint ventures and a wide array of other opportunities (Chandler, 2013). It is compared to a situation whereby one sees a crowd hovering around a particular scene, one cannot help but peer to see what is happening and this attracts a larger audience. Additionally, social media marketing creates website traffic owing to the fact that when companies share videos, blog spots and other content from their website; it gives users a reason to go through the site (Tapp, 2009). Once the companies have inspired users to visit the site, they can invite these users to make a purchase, sign up for the mailing list or get a free consultation. Gaining a competitive advantage in considered being a strategic business move in the contemporary world (Chandler, 2013). Companies that do not use social media marketing give their competitors an upper hand to capture their audience and make more sales. Marketing Communication Campaigns Social media advertising is an important tool in Microsoft’s marketing mix. This has helped the company become the biggest brands in the global scene through the attention grabbing campaigns on the online market. The company’s campaigns take real life stories account and bring them to life with highly creative and unique advertising solutions (Microsoft, 2014). This results into a campaign tactic that adopts powerful social features to support the brand’s goals and objectives. These people powered advertisements are seen as a fusion of real life stories and the brand story which increases the number of users visiting their site and their marketing campaigns are more believable. Additionally, Microsoft offers distinct experiences that connect consumers on a uniform social network and share their experiences. For example, the company works in collaboration with Bazzarvoice allowing them to integrate the voices of real consumers in their ads (Microsoft, 2014). Secondly, the company brings to life the authentic stories told by their users through their creative and unique solutions and this improves their reviews and responses on the social media platforms. In a move to increase its efforts to reach more people on social media platforms, the company has collaborated with Exposure, a leading communications agency to lead its various advertising initiatives (Microsoft, 2014). The agency has come up with product placements, social engagements, influencer activity and pop up events to promote the sale of Microsoft products. Finally, the company’s website is highly interactive and designed in attractive manners resulting to an increase in the number of users. Microsoft’s Surface marketing initiative was accompanied by an aggressive social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter. This is done by coming up with ways to increase the number of users on the Microsoft site who are invited to subscribe for their products using e- mail invitations (Sterling, 2013). According to a recent research by Chitika, Microsoft’s web traffic has grown in the recent past. Microsoft Surface RT received a major boost in its social media advertising when Oprah Winfrey tweeted about it. This led to increased popularity of the brand in the social media sites resulting to a rise in the number of customers.  From this evidence it is the marketing communication strategies used by Microsoft Surface are used. Nike+FuelBand is a perfect example of a successful social media marketing initiative. In the past, Nike adopted a different style of marketing by involving celebrities in the Magazine and television ads (Miller, 2013). However, the recent developments have led to a change in marketing by placing more emphasis on social media advertising and other forms of web technologies. Nike first introduced the Fuelband brand on twitter and this was the first social media campaign undertaken by the company. This resulted into a stir across all major social media sites even before the official launch of the product. The product was advertised on other social media platforms including You Tube and Face book (Miller, 2013). In an effort to increase popularity for their products, the company worked together with top players From Manchester United and Arsenal on Twitter to promote their brand further. This has turned to be one of the most successful social media advertising tales in the present times. References Chaffey, D. & Ellais-Chadwick, F. (2012) Digital marketing, strategy, implementation and practice. Pearson. Chandler, S. (December, 3 2013) The hidden benefits of social media marketing: Why your strategy may be working better than you think, viewed January 30, 2014 . Holzner, S. (2009) Facebook marketing: Leverage social media to grow your business. Que. Microsoft. (2014) Social advertising, viewed January 31, 2014 . Miller, M.J. (January, 19 2012) Nike's FuelBand: Game changer or slickly marketed $150 monitor? Viewed January 30, 2014 . Overby, D. (November, 6 2013) 3 Big brand social media ideas small businesses can use. Retrieved from http://www.verticalresponse.com/blog/3-big-brand-social-media-ideas-small-businesses-can-use/ Ryan, D. & Johns, C. (2009) Understanding digital marketing: Marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation, Kogan Page Publishers. Scott, D.M. (2010) The new rules of marketing and PR: How to use social media, online video, mobile application, blogs, new releases and viral marketing to reach buyers directly, John Wiley & Sons Tapp, A. (2009) Principles of direct and data base marketing, Prentice Hall. Read More