Use of Social Media in Small Businesses - Coursework Example

Use of Social Media in Small Businesses Internet is the emerging information technology with the credibility of immediacy and swiftness, thus, it brings globalization in every aspect of communication. In its current form, it is primarily a source of communication, information and entertainment, but increasingly, it also acts as a vehicle for commercial transactions. One of the primary uses for internet as a business medium is for marketing. The internet has become a serious distribution channel for successful enterprises. One amongst them is marketing, and spreading brand communication through social networking sites (Thompson, 4). As World Wide Web grew in popularity, social networking moved to web-based applications. In 2002, social networking era really started and by the year 2006, anyone with an email address could sign up in social networking sites. When applied properly, social media has a potential of being a great tool of benefit to businesses, helping them to reach untapped and potential customers, as well as to stay connected to the current ones (Nicole). Social Media Marketing Today Marketing, just like other phenomena, continues to evolve with the passing of time. For a while, banner ads and keyword campaigns used to be the advertisement of choice in the cyberspace. However, the change in technology and evolution of social relations online resulted in a new way of marketing - Social Media Marketing (SMM). Companies, especially small and newly established ones, can take advantage of Social Media Marketing techniques and reach a broad market quickly and inexpensively (Thompson, 2). What is Social Media Marketing? Social media is the internet based channels of communication, like Facebook and Twitter, in which individuals share contents with each other. Organizations can use this media to reach out to mass audiences efficiently and at a very low cost. They can promote brand awareness in many different markets. They can also network with current and potential customers (Weber, 110). Social Media Marketing (SMM) uses the resources of Web marketing through social media sites with the purpose of building ideas and concepts, raising internet visibility, managing PR, branding and reputation, and above all, promoting products and services. Social Media Marketing incorporates podcasts, blogs, references, online videos, message boards, and posts on social networking sites to reach a great mass of audience. Other examples of media used for Social Media Marketing are news sharing, game sharing, and photo sharing (Tulchinsky, 3). Advertising on internet offers a major role to marketing. It not only provides information about a product or service, but it also stimulates invention and facilitates consumer satisfaction. Companies, individuals, events, etc., nowadays lay their base on social network advertising to get recognized in the market. With over 200 million active users, Facebook and Twitter have become heart of corporate branding. Every brand on social networking site has the ability to create a page, share resources, add multimedia etc (Tulchinsky, 5). . Role of Social Media and Networking Sites A social networking site creates network communication among the user community. Though social networking site serves for communication purposes among special interest groups, the marketing strategy has also entered this medium for creating awareness. People get exposed to various kinds of brand communication through this media. They tend to interact with the brand and also get awareness about the brand and its service in an interesting way (Nicole, 2). The reasons for brand promoters preferring online web for marketing is that the tools, techniques and content are constantly evolving (Scott, 18). Marketing in some social networking websites are still the most popular in their niche. There are millions of users on sites like Facebook, with 2.6 billion minutes spent on Facebook each day (Shih, 29). These websites are empowering brands to get involved with the right people, in the right discussion, and at the right time. Marketing the brands through social media is becoming precise, personal, interesting, interactive and social. Facebook is becoming one of the greatest internet communications now days. Many companies have tried to match Facebook’s success, but Facebook has demonstrated that the fundamental strength on which all of its services are erected is much more strong and dominant than many others once predicted (Ricadela). Promoting a community is just like promoting a new brand, product, or service to the consumers. Social media is used to communicate promotional aspects to people, and inclined to involve the people. Traditional advertising and direct marketing in social media is to send people to the digital community to be informed, entertained and heard (Weber, 55). Nowadays buyers want to be engaged differently than in the past and many old-style marketing strategies do not work any longer. Social media marketing is an innovative way to form firm relationships with customers. Low cost, brand building, staffing advantages, loyalty and level playing field are key benefits of social networking sites as a successful marketing media (Scott, 10). The roots of online social networking can be traced to the 1980s bulletin board systems (BBS). These systems allow the users to create personal profiles, helps to share information by sending private messages, public messages and post events at low speed connectivity. After inception of social networking technology in the internet world, it grew higher and popular among the internet users. Twitter gives the ability to share nearly 140 characters thoughts in a split second, where users can easily share links to press releases and stories about their business, service or product (Scott, 30). The capability of social networking and other such sites, like Google and Yahoo, to produce bulk of web traffic is evidence of their popularity (Stroud, 156). Coca-Cola has been running promotions on MySpace for the past two years for brands including Cherry Coke and Fanta and has promoted Diet Coke and other drinks on Googles YouTube (Ricadela, 2). People typically enjoy sharing their experiences with their products, and the social networking sites offer the setting for those discussions to happen. Social media is best for promoting brand recognition, and there is no doubt that advertising through them as it is an effective way to grow profits (Weber, 100). How Social Media Marketing Boosts Small Businesses Social Media Marketing is simply a form of advertising that reaches out to a wide range of target audience in a fast, convenient, and inexpensive manner (Kim, 313). With the use of social bookmarking, media, and networking sites, a small-medium business entrepreneur can afford to promote their services or products on the Internet without dipping into profits. The secret to effective Social Media Marketing is focus. Social Media Marketing experts recommend targeting a limited number of websites that serve the needs of a specific target market instead of focusing on numerous social media and bookmarking websites. The rationale here is that not all Web readers or visitors will buy product or service. Therefore, instead of fishing for traffic in highly irrelevant websites; earn real audience at websites that provide Web visitors with the same or related service to what your company offers (Kuhn & Burns, 255). Furthermore, learning about a social media sites characteristics, its strengths, and weaknesses, can help you know how to efficiently use each site for your small business. Aside from focus, another important element of Social Media Marketing is earning credibility. This means that you have to deliver exactly the product or service you promised. For instance, when you are using a blog to promote your products, a great description and title of your article or entry must be supported by useful and informative content. Web readers will not read entire article and click on links if the content is poor and over-staffed with keywords. Important Characteristics of Social Media Marketing The actual definition of Social Media Marketing is something that is still not completely determined (Kim, 311). But whatever the final definition may be, Social Media Marketing has unique characteristics that can be used as references when discussing its meaning: Social Media Marketing allows people to participate and contribute Many people participate regularly in Social Media Marketing. One example of the most popular sites is YouTube, which gets around 25 million visitors each month. This simply indicates that a lot of people enjoy communicating with others in interactive communities. By using YouTube alone, a company can increase its chance of attracting more clients, especially if its videos are interesting and are of high quality (Shih, 78). Social Media Marketing is open, direct, and transparent Social Media Marketing has to be honest and it must disclose the companys nature to easily build trust with current and prospective clients. It is important to be truthful in dealing with online viewers the same way one would when dealing with friends off-line. A companys brand image rides mainly on how people see them, thus, in using social media marketing, being honest and open is important (Nicole). Social Media Marketing builds relationships In Social Media Marketing for small businesses, it is important to establish connections with those people who visit and contribute often. To do so, conversations must be maintained for a certain period of time. Conversations must occur in real time with real people. Customers do not merely wish to be offered products and services; they want to be connected and be heard. It must be kept in mind that each customer can bring referrals; hence, online communication cannot be treated as a one-time sale (Nicole). Social Media Marketing is community focused Social Media Marketing for small businesses depends entirely on online communities. This is because online communities are the most trustworthy source for information and review a certain product or service. People provide opinions based on their real-life experiences. What companies must remember is that the most valuable opinions are the ones that have not been endorsed or sponsored. If a company can offer a good service or product and take care to build relationships with online communities, they will get off the record positive opinions and the word about them will spread. This, however, requires patience and time (Kim, 311). Best Practices for Small Business Websites Some of the best practices for small business websites are to use video on Websites, promote your phone number and email everywhere, publish high quality content, create effortless, predictable navigation, publicize other small businesses and establish credibility (Shih, 50). Conclusion Overall, Social Media Marketing is an excellent medium for a small business or young startup. It allows them to promote their products and services while also building lasting relationships in targeted online communities. Therefore, when technology is leveraged to facilitate and enhance the social interaction, a great deal of value can be created, but one has to be careful as this savvy audience can be turned off if approached in the wrong way. Works Cited Kim, S. “A Framework for Advertising in the Digital Age”. Journal of Advertising Research. (2008): 310-313. Print. Kuhn, A. and Burns, K. “From MySpace to Brand space: Elements of Brand-Sponsored MySpace Profiles”. American Academy of Advertising Conference Proceedings. (2008): 242-255. Print. Nicole, K. 4 Ways to Measure Social Media and Its Impact on Your Brand. Social Media Examiner, 15 June 2010. Web. 11 Mar 2012. Ricadela, Aaron. Fogeys Flock to Facebook. Business Week, 6 August2007. Web. 11 Mar 2012. Shih, C. The Facebook Era. Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences and Selling More Stuff. Prentice Hall Publication. 2009. Print. Stroud, D. “Opinion piece: Falling in Love 2.0: Relationship marketing for the Facebook generation. Social networking: An age-neutral commodity- Social networking becomes a mature web application.”Journal of Direct Data and Digital Marketing Practice. 9 (2007):105-165. Print. Scott, DM. The New Rules of Marketing and PR. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc. 2009. Print. Thompson, SH. “Attitude toward Online Shopping and the Internet”. National University of Singapore. 21(2002): 4. Print. Tulchinsky, Anna. “Advantage for Small Businesses and Young Startups”. The Social Media Marketing. (2007): 3. Print. Weber, L. Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. 2009. Print. Read More