Marketing and Social Media - Case Study Example

Keywords: Social, Consumers, Business, Organization, Company, Media, Platform, Technology

Marketing and Social Media

In the recent past, companies have lost their clients as a result of social media marketing fails. For instance, the highly-acclaimed discount store, Wal-Mart, offered an all-expense paid tour in the US for bloggers with the intention of marketing the business. Unsuspecting followers of the bloggers bought the notion that the opinions expressed about the retailer were genuine with both parties having no affiliation. In the end, keen observers revealed that the tour was a marketing strategy for the gigantic store (Mejdal, 2014). Therefore, it lost new, as well as, potential buyers lured by the social media forces. Such an incidence sheds light on risks related to promoting a good or a service utilizing technological tools.

Twitter and Facebook are the frequently used platforms by businesses to lure consumers (Brennan & Schafer, 2015). The majority of the digital firms operate their accounts with the aid of a department which specializes in capitalizing on technology to improve the output of the venture. The minority, on the other hand, rely on any employee with access to the social media accounts. The first-mentioned users are likely to prosper in accomplishing the desired goal, which in this case is expanding their market. The organizations which fail at specializing in digital activities are prone to making errors which are costly. By way of illustration, a few years ago, Kmart looked into extending its operating hours during Thanksgiving which coincided with Black Friday. The company took to announce its decision on Twitter which received complaints concerning ethics. In turn, the concerned received an automated tweet which was out of context with the matter at hand (Milisavljevic, 2013). The resultant effect of the blunder was the loss of buyers.

Calculated marketing is synonymous with success in the business sector (Bruce, 2014). When a company goes wrong at advertising itself, it is likely to make losses, which is undesirable to any investor. The majority of the social media users aim at entreating themselves in the context of communication when they log in to Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. In case they access a business account, they are either complaining or replying to a tweet which comes across as insensitive. Therefore, the downside of a business engaging in the likes of Facebook is that it is likely to attractive negative attention as opposed to the desirable intention. Besides, social networking with customers diverts focus from formal communication to personal interaction. The consequence of such as scenario is that the business in prone to making mistakes where personal information about a user is in jeopardy.

Social media marketing is the fad among businesses, but it is threatening to the revenue where an organization lacks a solid plan concerning the use of the technological tool in its growth. Consequently, where an employee is responsible for misuse of a company’s social account, the expenditure of a venture is prone to increment in the context of settling lawsuits. Organizations ought to look into the intricacies of the subject of discussion because the discussed platforms are likely to cause more harm than good in the long run.

ROI and Social Media

In the virtual world, social media followers act as an indicator of the worth an individual. The advancement in technology is entertaining the buying of followers to elevate one’s importance in the platforms of communication. In reality, on the other hand, social followers are irrelevant. Thus, one’s purchasing power along with their contribution to society determines the success. By way of illustration, Charlize Theron, one of the highly-paid actresses, has a following over a little over 400 thousand. Besides, the majority of her movies have seen viewers soar both in the box office, as well as, virtually (Decarie, 2010).. The distinction is that her following is low compared to her fellow colleagues with less accomplished career, but her income is beyond average. Therefore, social media proves to be a misleading measure of revenue.

In the context of businesses, investment returns concerning social media lacks in definition. Besides, virtual popularity is a concept as opposed to a fact which assures one of financial rooting (Chalotra, 2016). For instance, the recent past saw a local bank in East Africa going into receivership due to its wanting financial statement. The reputable bank in Kenya had a huge following along with participation on Twitter and Instagram. The virtual image created a sense of power. Therefore, Chase bank came off as stable which attracted over 1 billion Kenyan Shillings from depositors. Recently, legal documents unveiled that the bank was running low on operating money due to fraudsters within the organization. The news caught the attention of both international and regional investors because its image of the technological platform sent a differing message, the financial institution was progressing and in good books concerning operations (Dyrud, 2011). Therefore, the documented incident is a clear-cut scenario that followers do not necessarily reflect the expansion of a market along with the growth of a venture.

ROI of social media classifies as a perceived notion compared to what is on the ground. Relying on such information concerning followers, communication with users among other aspects affiliated to the likes of YouTube is a certain way of drowning a business. The Generation Y is the avid users of technological tools such as Facebook. The majority of Generation X together with the older generations relies on other channels to interact and access vital information. Therefore, measuring the worth of business in the context of social media is inconclusive because it tends to leave out a bigger percentage of the actual consumers. Besides, the measure focuses on a small percentage of potential buyers while dwelling on the incorrect population in the context of the market.

Social media became famous for communication, in particular, informal interaction. Utilizing the mentioned platform as a channel of determining investment returns is inaccurate on all angles because it is keen on the wrong market (Kishore Kumar & Anand, 2013). Although technological advancement made operations inexpensive and less-complicated for a majority of the organizations, the reality is that the technological used in modern day marketing are inhibiting on desirable growth. Hence, social media fails at capturing the correct date concerning the market acquisition.

Significance of Social Media in Marketing

Marketing ought to capture the attention of the targeted audience as stipulated in a business’ objectives. Where advertising fails at attracting the desired population, the business is prone to closure due to little sales (Joshi, 2011). Social media marketing is a booming trend which is getting the attention of businesses. Some organizations are going to the extent of endorsing celebrities with over one million followers to market their commodities or services. Besides, corporations are catering for trips for famous individuals in a bid to build a reputation for the potential consumers. The platform comes off as a cheap avenue for attracting buyers, but in the long run, it ends up costing a business more as opposed to printing a billboard on a highway (Buckley, 2009). For instance, start-up A employs upcoming actress B to advertise its good on Instagram. Three months down the line, news surfaces that the celebrated individual is a fraudster. The incident is likely to lead to business turbulence if the investor does not end the endorsement. Consequently, the business will incorporate other advertising techniques in popularizing its products which translates to the increase in expenditure.

Although about 60% of people utilize social platforms for informal interaction, creators did not anticipate that it would double as a marketing tool which classifies as a formal activity (Schachinger, 2012). Thus, its features limit it from promoting goods together with services conclusively. When one accesses YouTube, for example, it is likely that they have a particular thing in mind. A user is unlikely to search an advertisement on the social platform. Therefore, the majority of users are prone to skipping an advertisement because it acts as a distraction in the context of taking up time for the desired search item. Therefore, marketing on social media is proving to be expensive for business due to the undivided attention it receives from users.

In the recent past, a bakery which utilized the Boston tragedy to market its commodities on Twitter faced backlash from users. Thus, its promotion strategy impacted negatively on its business operations. Today, its reputation is blurred because of the insensitive nature of its tweets in the name of marketing. The hidden factor about social media is that it exposes a user’s flaws (Burkhard & Koch, 2012). Psychologists argue that it is likely that an individual’s online persona is their inherent character (Buckley, 2009). Therefore, in the context of business, the persona of the operator of a social account, be it the owner or an employee, dictates the business ethics of an organization. For instance, if an account operator communicates in a rude manner to a consumer, the latter may collect that the venture does not value its market. Thus, the image of such an organization is likely to deteriorate.

Social media marketing does not play a significant role in market acquisition because of its numerous shortcomings as discussed in the discussion above. Therefore, businesses ought to refrain from relying on it as a channel of promotion. Instead, investors should look into it as a research tool because of the unbiased information it has to offer (Schachinger, 2012).