Social Media Marketing Issues - Essay Example

Introduction In the current world of modern technology, social media networking websites have become a place where marketers can diverse their marketing ventures to a huge range of customers.  Bangs (2010), discusses social media marketing as a link between consumers and brands, while presenting a personal medium and currency for consumer centered social and networking communication. The techniques and approaches for interacting with consumers have altered hugely with the evolution of social media, thus, businesses must realize how to employ social media in a way that is persistent with their plan of business. This is specifically true for organizations striving to obtain a competitive advantage. This literature review analyzes existing literature that emphasizes on a retailer’s growth and usage of social media as an elaborating of their marketing strategy. This incident has only emerged within the past ten years, therefore social media study has hugely emphasized on elaborating what it is through the details of new terminology and ideas that combines its basis, and discovering the influence of an organization’s incorporation of social media on the behaviors of consumers as well as critically evaluating its features that poses ethical dilemmas to the society. This research initiates with a detailed expression of terminology that elaborates social media marketing which will be followed by a discussion of the some major themes discovered within existing research studies. Even though, the topic of social media marketing has been discusses and researched quite a lot with numerous perspectives, it has only been researches through theoretical and experimental studies, researches never concisely elaborate the advantages retailers obtain from this marketing trend (Barker and Barker et al., 2012). In reviewing the affluent excess of multi disciplinary literature, the study has become precise that researches are emphasizing on elaborating what social media marketing is as well as evaluating what aspects influence consumer behavior associated to social networking. In spite of the beginning progress created by researchers, growth in this field of study has been restricted. Research requires elaborating by offering a profound understanding of the strategic promotional advantages retailers get from social media marketing. Further structured researches are also required to develop beyond predicted or theorized results in order to obtain insight of practical life applications and uses. This literature review touches over the disparities that currently persists within social media marketing research and highlights the requirement of future researches to discover the advantages acquired by marketing with the help of these social media marketing websites, particularly for retailers. Defining the Concept of Social Media To understand social media as a marketing trend a retailer must realize every feature of this latest marketing tool. Social media marketing cannot be realized without first elaborating the concept in detail. Web 2.0. is a terminology which elaborates an innovative way in which final consumers employs the World Wide Web (Carter, 2011). WWW is an avenue where content is changed and updated on a continuous basis through all operators in a sharing and integrative way. It is hugely related with the uses people extract from this new and increasingly emerging technology as compared to the technology itself. For a certain extent than just obtaining information, social media users are currently creating and using it, and therefore adding importance to the sites that allow them to experiment with numerous ways. Web 2.0 has emerged from easy data retrieval to communication, interoperability, and integration. Carter (2011), define the concept of social media as a network of internet based software that are created on the technological and ideological basis of Web2.0 and permit the specific creation and share of user generated material. Carter and Levy (2011), cite the definition of O’Reilly’s (2005) elaboration of social media which expresses that it is a huge term that elaborates software techniques that make user generated material that can be shared and distributed. Although, there are few fundamental aspects important for a website to fulfill the needs as a social network web page: the site must have user content, profiles, a system that allows users to interact with each other and share comments on each other’s profile pages, and interact on social virtual networks which are based on mutual interests like politics or fashion. The term social networking websites is mostly utilized alternatively with social media. Although, social media is somewhat different since it permits users to combine through generating personal data profiles and engaging colleagues and friends to gain access to those public profiles. Therefore, social media is the context in which social networking interacting takes place and has shifted the way in which users collect information and make purchasing decisions. The concept of CSM or Consumers’ Sentiment towards Marketing is an aspect understood by researchers to gauge how well users will visualize social media marketing (Coles, 2011). The term CSM is elaborated as a notion which refers to the common emotions that users have for marketing and the industry. A person’s viewpoint of the complete marketplace plays a major responsibility in whether or not they are encouraged to partake in spending activities. For the purpose to create an effective marketing campaign through social media, a user must be adaptive towards the latest technology. User technology adaptation and readiness is elaborated as the propensity of the people to accept and utilize new technological advancements for acquiring objectives in home and in office. Consumer technology readiness is an important aspect for retailers to consider when marketing on social websites because if their destined target market does not utilize social media networks, is not aware with the technology, or assumes it pessimistically, then their social media marketing will be unproductive. Evaluation of technology readiness can define if marketing through interactive advertising would be a better match for a retailer’s intended market. IAP or the Innovation Adoption Process is another tool that offers information on a user’s acceptance of innovative technology (Coles, 2011). The IAP is the gradual progression by which a person undergoes the process of innovation decision. There are five phases which constitutes the process: understanding about the innovation, developing an outlook toward the innovation, choosing to accept or decline the innovation, execution of the innovation, and verification of the decision. Understanding of IAP can assist marketers gain a social media marketing plan that is rewarding  (Davis and Hilbert, 2013). Social media has emerged from simply offering a podium for people to stay connected with their friends, family and peers. Now it is an avenue where users can understand further regarding their favorite organizations and the brands they market. Retailers and marketers are using this website as an alternate way to influence users and offer new method to shop. Technology associated developments like the emergence of powerful search engines, improved mobile or portable gadgets and user interfaces, online social networks and peer to peer interaction mediums have diversified marketers’ capability to reach buyers through innovative touch spots. Buyer marketing is a novel idea that has evolved, making a new touch spot for the communications between consumers and brands. Buyer marketing is the campaigning and implementation of all marketing actions that impact a buyer along, and ahead of, the whole path of procurement, from the area at which the motivation to buy initially develops through buy, using, re-buy, and recommendation  (Davis and Hilbert, 2013). Supposed match is an imperative aspect for retailers to understand for buyer marketing; supposed match is the quantity of similarity between an addition product segment and current products related with the brand. The more individuals perceive buying services on the websites of social networking as beneficial and convenient to employ, the more likely they are likely to buy for products on social networking websites. Offering consumers services on social networking websites can offer business development for retailers because of the diversity of users who employ social media websites. The huge array of buyers using social networks refers that the majority of the target audiences can be touched. This offers a successful prospect for retailers to market their product and brands to future buyers. According to Funk (2012), buyer marketing can combine forces with buyers to enhance products, generate precise messages, recognize marketers, and work as a link to in-store jobs, therefore showcasing the significance of social media for the marketing plan of a retailer. Improvements within social media websites have generated user communities that are elaborating innovative methods in which organizations and consumers can communicate with each other to share data on brand items. For instance, virtual product communities are making a computer generate area for users and retailers to link with each other through marketing. The Features of Social Media Marketing Trend Social media marketing is an innovative marketing trend and quickly developing way in which organizations are reaching out to their intended target markets conveniently. Social media marketing can be easily elaborated as the utilization of social media mediums to market and organization and its brands. This sort of marketing can be considered as a subset of internet based marketing promotions that fulfill conventional web based marketing tactics, like Electronic Mail (e-mail) newsletters and internet based marketing campaigns. Through motivating consumers to share messages to individual contacts, family and friends, social media marketing has infused an innovative terminology of exponential sharing and trust to public or mass communication as well as mass media marketing. With the help of this innovative approach of marketing and outreach, innovative techniques are being generated and augmented in turn for organizations. Social media promoters are currently going improved and more successful insight via the introduction of logical applications through official platforms of social networking (Heart, 2014). There are various different websites of social media networking, and they acquire numerous and varied types and have distinct interfaces. Without any doubt, the most familiar social networking website that instantly strikes the mind is Facebook (Heart, 2014). The social networking giant was initially introduced during February 2004, operated and owned by Facebook, Inc. Facebook generated more than 900 million users around the globe by May 2012  (Lamb and Hair et al., 2012). Users of Facebook are required to register to the site before they can begin using the portal; they may make a personal profile, invite other people as friends or family, and share messages, comprising automatic alerts when they change their profile information. Moreover, users may link mutual interest user generated groups; characterize their friends or family into lists like Close Friends or People From Work. The social network’s major mission is to offer people the command and influence to share and create the world more connected and open. Many other social media networking websites like Google Plus, Twitter, and LinkedIn may vary in some features, however importantly they operate using the same rule. Marketing utilizing social media like these can accept numerous shapes or forms. The conventional model of Facebook, in specific, engages shifting the idea of a human companion with a tangible product or brand or making a group or page. A user who chooses to like a company or brand markets that link to their individual personal network of friends. This idea diverse to other types of social media also. According to  Lieb (2011), Twitter is a mix of social network and micro blogging. Twitter permits users to get little updates and marketing campaigns from interested producers also. Twitter offers options to consumers to engage in practical sharing. A tweet is normally comprises of under 140 characters. These tweets can be seen by the followers of the person. These two major social media medium are among the highly popular and greatly utilized options currently. As understood by Nadaraja (2012), that there are number of diverse channels that comes under the segment of social media and each of these sites has unique options and exclusive benefits for marketing purposes. Collaborative tasks, like wikis and information sources which are editable by the users, are specifically poignant platforms of contact. As a matter of fact, marketing trends show that they are rapidly becoming the major source of data among user populations. Blog which are managed by either organizations or individuals are another greatly utilized marketing platform. Via blogs, organizations can encourage brand recognition through sharing internal information with consumers, updating consumers about new launches, as well as offering connections to the major sales mediums. Followers will be updated frequently on any exclusive events, quizzes or a fresh promotion managed by the product or brand. Blogs also enable the posting of feedbacks and comments, permitting followers and critics to post questions or suggestions to manufacturers. This promotes the sharing of concepts between colleagues and can also encourage honest debate between organizations and people to enhance their defaults. The approach of social media requires understanding to ascertain the biggest option of victory with social media marketing. As per the expressions of O’Reilly (2005), which refers to the significance of the extending a social media plan to ascertain that messages are delivering suitable target markets. Consumer Behaviors and Objectives It is important for marketers and retailers to be acknowledged about the aspects that impact consumer behaviors and objectives since consumers are progressively making content about products, something formerly managed only by organizations. As a consequence, existing research has elaborated what features of social media websites impact consumer behaviors and objectives. Paquette (2013), analyzed the connection between the brand of Facebook and associated group contribution, marketing reactions, and the factors associated with the psychology of attitudes and self-disclosure among users and non-users of Facebook communities. The research defines that consumers who are participants of groups on the website are more likely to reveal their private information as compared to nonmembers. Scott (2010), elaborates group involvement and participation with internet advertisements needs an increased level of private information since members openly show their links with Facebook groups and encourage product or brands when they share on ads to the connections. Groups of Facebook offer mediums that users deem beneficial when seeking their status in a category of a product, as does sharing on viral material regarding products to their social connections. Scott (2010), also discovered that people who are members of Facebook groups retain a more favorable behavior toward advertising and social media. Users who poses more optimistic behaviors toward advertising are more interested to join a retailer’s or brand’s Facebook page to read advertising messages. Relied on this outcome, Treadaway and Smith (2012), recommends that a connection is present between user’s employment of and involvement within group applications over social media websites. The association between buyers’ use of and involvement within group applications impacts the ratio and success of advertising of these social media websites, especially Facebook. Normally, as Treadaway and Smith (2012), highlights, the college going Facebook users have the most appealing attitudes toward advertising and social media and they are the biggest emerging demographic, which recommends that social media websites are a futuristic and rich avenue for internet based promotional campaigns, particularly for organizations with a younger target audience. Trost (2013), also discovered the interrelation between attitude and age and discovered that social media network user behavior toward online marketing formats such as video, blogs, brand channel or page, varied to some level across many age groups. Moreover, a user who comes under the age group of 18-28 had robust and optimistic approach towards video, blogs, as well as brand channel formats of advertisements. This was due to the fact that user discovered these formats on video and brand mediums because they discovered them to be more attractive, informative, and had improved placement within the internet page design. As a whole, online marketing formats with optimistic approach are welcomed by consumers; although, ads that are interfere or intrusive with internet social media networking tasks, like pop up, floating formatted or expandable advertisements were not appreciated by network users. According to Trost (2013), users assume advertising variedly relying on the social media network, which recommends user inspirations for online social networking may present an important role in elaborating consumer’s reactions to social media advertising. As expressed previously in the elaboration of Trost (2013), research, the TAM (technology acceptance model) was also utilized by Zimmerman and Ng (2012), although used TAM as a form of an independent structure that joined trust and the aspects related with TAM, which are perceived joy, convenience of utilization, and benefits. The TAM defined that users particularly students, possessed a hierarchy of belief when utilizing social media network like Facebook. The trust of students is more the actual friends, then friends on Facebook, following by specialist blogs and individual reviews websites and lastly retailers and celebrities websites  (Powell and Groves et al., 2011). Critical Issues Related with Social Media Marketing The internet environment generates not only opportunities and new prospects, however also challenges and complications for the social media marketing procedure. The clarity of the internet makes online data accessible to all users, and strengthens the requirement for persistency in the design, planning, executing and control of internet marketing communication. There are some major critical issues that need to understand on social media marketing. These are: Time demanding As the term entails, social media is dynamic, successful and interactive, two way sharing demand commitment. The theme of marketing alters in social media networks, with the emphasize placed on developing strategic associations that can transform into more sales and profits. Somebody has to be authoritative to check every network, react to comments, resolve queries and post information of product the consumer considers important. Companies without a service to handle these social networks will think it complex to complete. The initial preliminary understanding and potentially the most crucial one is that social media marketing needs an important time dedication. As a common rule, merely dabbling in a few resources of social media and expecting to understand huge returns is imaginary. An organization must understand the important time dedication and either reject or accept that commitment as reasonable for its operation. Issues of Copyrights and Trademarks According to Singh and Diamond (2012), it is of the highest significance for organizations to prevent their individual copyrights and trademarks when utilizing social media to market their products and brands. An organization’s brands along with other intellectual property are mostly almost as important as the services or products that they provide. Social media’s potential to enable informal and unplanned interaction mostly on an actual basis can help organizations in promoting their products and spreading copyrighted content, however it can also enable third party mistreatment of a company’s copyrights and trademarks. When utilizing social media, whether through third party channel or an organization’s own social media mediums, marketers must frequently monitor the usage of their copyrights and trademarks. Organizations should check their own channels of social media along with the third part social media mediums to ascertain that those offering material through the media channels are not abusing their intellectual property. Online screening and tracking services are accessible to check the use of the business’s copyrights and trademarks on third part websites, comprising checking social media websites for profile or consumer names that are similar or quite striking to the company’s brands or names. Trust, Privacy and Security Issues Employing social media to advertise one’s products, services, or brands can also associate privacy, trust and information security problems. It is crucial for organizations to aware of these problems and takes suitable initiatives to reduce their exposure to responsibility associated to private information collection, maintenance and use. Trust, specifically the unique directions of transactional privacy and security, play an important role in creating consumer loyalty to social media marketers. A research by Scott (2010), has expressed that fear of internet credit card deception has been one of the big reasons consumers have not conducted more widespread online purchasing. Furthermore, issues related with the privacy have directed to a public relations failure for some big social media marketing resulting in considerable brand perception erosion. Social media firms such as Twitter and Facebook normally have their individual privacy policies that rule their utilization of user data as well as third party responses on the social media channel with regard to private information. Marketers utilizing third part social media channels should ascertain that their marketing plans do not motivate customers or any other users to involve in activities that would breach the social media organization’s privacy policy, also marketers should also ascertain that they are enduring by the policies and procedures as well. Firms that manage their own social media platforms or blogs should also sustain detailed policies that reveal the firm’s information collection, utilization, and storage activities, and any roles that third parties poses about data and privacy security. Trust, which is greatly associated to security, is the most critical aspect in the internet buying procedure and behavior. In common, an individual cannot sense, touch or smell the product. A person is not able to look into the eyes of a sales person. Thus, these methods of establishing trust are expelled on the Internet. Product trust normally contributes to a lessening of uncertainty. Moreover, trust is an element of the extra part of loyalty. Thus it is certain that loyalty in common and brand trust in specific can assist to overcome few of the online marketing issues. For example, to cope up with the perceptions that the online buying is not safe, is dishonest and unpredictable industry. In reality, these assumptions are still ceasing some potential people from conducting business on the internet. An approval from a third party is a technique to build trust. Harmful Feedbacks In a way, social media shifts consumers into advertisers and marketers, and customers can make negative or positive pressure for the organization, its services, and its brands, relying both on how the firm is offered on the internet and on the excellence of services and products presented to the consumer. Customer generated product critics, tags, images, which offer as an important source of data for consumers making brand choices over the internet, have mounted rapidly on the web and have had an immense influence on electronic commerce following the evolution of Web 2.0 advancements of online technology (Powell and Groves et al., 2011). One feature of social media networking that is particularly devastating to marketing campaigns is pessimistic post reactions. Unsatisfied consumers or company competitors are capable to post offensive or disparaging posts, images or videos. Also, there is not much prevention which can be carried out by the marketers in order to stop or avoid these events. Yet, harmful or negative feedback cannot be overlooked. Social networks should be managed competitively enough to instantly react and defuse negative comments, which takes much time. Discussion According to Paquette (2013), the internet marketing context augments an array of opportunities and also confrontations for social media marketing specialists. The target markets become more segmented and proactive, however, on the other side, the organization has the probability to join various methods and segments of data in an intricate communication. Social media also allow the organizations to gather, register, evaluate and use consumer information and feedback for enhanced targeting internet audiences and personalizing its communications. In reality, the particular traits of the online and social media applications are creating the executing of incorporated online marketing both unavoidable and competent for an internet approach. The price associated aspects, social communications, interactivity, intended market options, and consumer services are brilliant features for firms to accept a proactive and reactive attitude and to gain victory in social media marketing. Contradictory to these, criticisms of social media marketing like time demanding, issues of copyrights and trademarks, trust, security and privacy concerns, user generated material and harmful feedbacks from consumers are big barriers confronting by social media marketers. According to crafting and implementing a particular model incorporated social media marketing can incorporate these traits. The message conveyed online should be primary infused with the basic business values, then accepted to the online tactics and strategy of the firm, and eventually personalized for a particular combination of targeted market and online medium. The selection of the suitable communication mix requires taking into account the traits of social media marketing. Conclusion In conclusion, study has defined that retailers can augment awareness of their product by being innovative when involving consumers on social media websites. As more buyers are utilizing social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and MySpace and depend on them for marketing buying decisions, promotion via these media has become crucial. As per O’Reilly (2005), social media websites like Facebook are better as compared to other marketing portals since it stores data on all its members therefore ascertaining marketing touches a retailer’s particular target market. Social media websites are an excellent platform for retailers to generate an exposure and retailers can utilize information saved on social media websites to enhance consumer experience with their product. Moreover, many other research studies develop that an organization can gain advantage from social media networks to expect the probability of buying decision. This can be carried out by taking into consideration a company’s selection of network, such as Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or LinkedIn, and through evaluating that network’s information. Evaluating a network’s information considerably enhances an organization’s marketing attempts because it offers the organization with important data on the network’s users, which assists in the determination of the best social media techniques for that specific site. Dependent on this research, it can more be discussed that understanding which social media websites a firm’s target audience uses is another major aspect in assuring that internet marketing will be effective. Since social media websites can be used for the data it offers on customer attitude with respect to their buying decisions, research more recommends that organizations should integrate social media networking websites into their corporate model or marketing mix. An organizational model is a mechanism of interdependent frameworks, tasks, and procedures that serve as an organization’s logic of management and generate value for consumers, itself, as well as its associates. Heart (2014), suggest that social media should be considered as an imperative element of a company’s integrated strategy of marketing and should not be considered lightly. According to Heart (2014), nearly 1 in every 12 people around the globe is an active member of Facebook, which refers to the capacity of discovering a dynamic market for any service or product. Social media marketing can be developed anywhere with the help of an internet connection, and social media should be regarded by marketers, online content makers, and advertisers as a fundamental element of their interactions since social media impacts all features of the world wide web and shifts the role of web in people’s lives. Currently, customers acquire a new responsibility with social media. Shoppers are transforming into the creators of the content and therefore, functional users instead of merely using, as in the history. Social media tools or applications that offer this are micro blogging, blogs, and social media networking portals, podcasts, photo sharing and video sharing websites. Given this fact, it is beneficial for organizations, particularly marketers, to incorporate social media into marketing as well as their marketing tactics. This research has attempted to recognize the main impacts and critical issues related with the development and emergence of social media as a marketing trend. Social media is a contemporary technique for marketers who attempt every medium to get their message reach out their target audiences. The channel has numerous benefits and disadvantages as well relied on their organization, and numerous organizations still strive to discover the appropriate way to utilize it. The medium scale business marketers or owners do not completely realize the challenges and threats in it. The field is yet so new that it is complex to analyze the requirements of social media professionals who provide their services on the internet. Thus, prior an organization step into the field of social media marketing, the firm has to conduct complete research on social media activities. A firm has to master fundamental rules and techniques of utilizing social media as an efficient trend in order to exist in the field of social media marketing. Major objectives of an organization or company have to involve consumers, to prevent organization reputation, to offer consumers with good quality of services and products and to satisfy consumer’s need. References Bangs, D. H. 2010. A Crash Course on Financial Statements for Small Business Owners. Entrepreneur Press. Barker, M., Barker, D. I., Bormann, N. and Neher, K. 2012. Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach. Cengage Learning. Carter, B. 2011. The Like Economy: How Businesses Make Money With Facebook. Que Publishing. 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