Do Ads Work on Social Networks - Assignment Example

Contents Contents INTRODUCTION 2 Background 2 Research Question: 3 LITERATURE REVIEW 3 Conclusion: 5 METHODOLOGY 6 DATA ANALYSIS 6 Basic Information 6 Usage of Internet 8 Purpose to use internet 8 Response towards web ads 9 CONCLUSION 9 Bibliography 10 APPENDIX 11 INTRODUCTION Background With the arrival of Social Media, Brands have found new medium to advertise them. The conventional TVCs and Print Media is slowly dying and social networks are taking over the conventional media for marketers to advertise their brands. The reason for this is pretty simple. Social Media is much cheaper, more interactive and reaches a huge audience. The concept of 360 degree marketing is dying and a new concept of 6 degree marketing is being adopted by marketers all over the world. Social Networking Sites (SNS) are very popular among people all over the world. These sites are not only used by youngsters, but businessmen/women, housewives, and even retired people use them to get connected with their friends, share their thoughts with the world and find entertainment as well. The most popular sites Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn generate heavy traffic from all kinds of people around the globe. All these sites although have different purposes but are easily used by advertisers to advertise brands in a cost-effective and more interactive way. Social Networks Advertising (SNA) is a very distinct form of advertising. There can ads that are pushed to the consumers, and some that the consumers pull towards themselves. There are some advertisements that require the companies to pay to the social networking sites, whereas there are some that are for free (e.g. Fan pages, twitter profile etc.) There are some that are merely adaptation of the print media (e.g. Banner ads) whereas others are unique for the social media (e.g. fan pages, micro blogging etc) (Friends, Fans, and Followers: Do Ads Work on Social Networks?, 2011) In the beginning only FMCGs or Restaurants marketed themselves on the social media. But now even if you are a service company or you belong to an automobile industry, or you have a small business, you need to have your brand’s social media presence. This research paper will see how social media is used in the airline industry. Research Question: Is social media advertising effective for the airline industry? LITERATURE REVIEW Most of the great airlines have a social media presence and are engaging with their customers through these interactive mediums. However there are still some airlines where they consider social media as “just a silly fad” as mentioned in the article “All that twitters” by Madhu Unnikrishnan & Robert Wall. The article gives the example of JetBlue airline which has 1.4 million followers on Twitter. The company focuses on listening to what customers say and solving their customer service issues with the help of twitter. Many social media analysts say that even if the brand is not online, it will still be discussed there by the consumers. One popular example is about a video on YouTube by Dave Carroll about his eight month struggle to get compensation from United Airlines for a damaged guitar. The video was viewed by 6.6 million people and it became a Public relations nightmare for the company as it reached the news on television as well. The companies have now realized the need to change the conventional ways of pushing ads to the consumers. Consumers are no more interested in seeing your ads. They would rather enjoy if they can interact with your brand. Southwest airlines, announced a 2 day fare sale through twitter last July instead of taking the paid-advertising route. This resulted in two days that generated the highest traffic to the airline’s website and two days which had the highest revenue in the airline industry. While the article talks about some airlines that are actively engaging their customers on the social media, there are many that think they don’t need it or do not find the time to do so. (Unnikrishnan & Robert, 2010) There are a lot of ways through which you can use social media to advertise your brand. Some do it subtly by adding their banner ads to their websites or blogs, some engage the users in interactive discussions on their fan pages, while some upload their ads on YouTube for consumers to watch, some post viral videos and blogs over the internet. Andrea Ahles in her article ‘In airline industry, social-media marketing takes flight’ writes that companies are starting to move beyond open social-networking sites like Facebook or Twitter and creating their own brand communities. This gives them a chance to connect with their consumers directly and they advertise freely through their website. (Ahles, 2009) Miyuru, a social media consultant for airlines says that it is very important for the airlines to market online. The customers are online most of the time, be it from their computers or mobiles. Social media can help you reach your customers in a way traditional advertising mediums do not. It helps you to establish deeper relationship with your current and prospective customers, it helps you to engage with them and make them your loyal customers. These loyal customers then spread positive word among their friends. (Airline industry review) Some airlines like Delta reinvent the way they interact with their customers through Facebook and Twitter. Virgin America tries to engage with fans on multiple platforms-YouTube, Facebook & Twitter. They put funny and entertaining videos on their youtube channels, offer their fans to win free flights through their Facebook page, directly address issues through Twitter. Another airline Air New Zeanland, carry some hysterical video campaigns and have other creative ideas to advertise. (Squeaky, 2011) Kris Oser, in an article ‘Web ads get results weeks later’ says that Continental Airlines in a survey found out that consumers act weeks later after they see the ad, they do not act right away after seeing the web ad. The research showed that point of sales was 129%over the control an hour later the ad was viewed. However a day later it was 204% higher, and the highest point of sales was 225% increase which was 2 weeks later the ad was displayed. Therefore consumers take some time after seeing a web ad to make their final decision to buy ticket. The company’s 67.5% sales conversions can be attributed to online ads. Their ad campaign reached 3.6 million users in February. Their ads also make users register for their newsletters as soon as they see them. Therefore for the company, social networking advertisements are bringing a huge number of sales and bringing new customers to them. (Oser, 2004) Conclusion: Since a lot of airlines have recently been using social media to advertise themselves, they have also received a good response from their customers. Social media enables them to reach out their customers in a more interactive way so that they can both understand each other better than before. Studies show that consumers not only see the banner ads, but also click on them. Apart from banner ads, there are also different types of formats for ads like pop ups (which no doubt are annoying for the consumers but might register in their minds for long), sponsorships and hyper link. (Essay Thesis, 2010) The literature and the current practices of airlines show that this medium is helping them serve the customers in a more cost effective way. They can therefore interact with them more and make them loyal customers, they can listen to their feedback to grow, and their sales no doubt are increased through the online ads. Secondly the phenomenon of your customers sharing the word with their friends brings them more and more customers. METHODOLOGY Primary Research on the topic was conducted by giving 50 questionnaires to consumers of airlines who also use social media actively. The questionnaires were emailed and provided through social networking forums. The questionnaire is attached in the appendix. The questionnaire consists of open ended as well as close ended questions. These questions probed the consumers to find out the quantitative information as well as qualitative information. Secondary Research was conducted through academic journals, online articles and researches already conducted by various experts in the industry. DATA ANALYSIS Basic Information Out of 50 respondents of the questionnaires, 23 of them were female and 27 were male. 12 of the respondents were business men, 5 students, 3 housewives, 2 retired whereas 28 belonged to the employed working class. Usage of Internet Most of the respondents use internet daily. The graph shows the percentage of respondents that use it daily for more than 2 hours, those who use it for less than 1 hour, a few hours a week and a few times a month. Purpose to use internet Mostly people use internet to use check emails and then to use social networking sites. Reading and information gathering through websites ranks third in the percentage whereas listening to music ranks fourth. Response towards web ads 78% respondents said that they are connected to brands through social media networks out of which 41% said they are connected to any Fan page, twitter profile or youtube channel of any airline brand. 69% of the respondents remember a few online ads they have come across. 17% said they remember a lot of ads whereas 14 % said they do not remember any web advertisement. 31 % of the respondents said that they click on the banner ads to know more about the brand. The format of advertisements consumers notice and like the most are Viral videos. Micro blogging is the second one of their favourite. Pop-up ads are generally disliked the most among the respondents. The information gathered through the internet regarding the brand affects the consumers greatly. 57% said that the ads affect them in making the purchase decision. 68% of the respondents said they preferred social media over the traditional media because it allows them to see what they want to see, and it helps them to engage with the brands and know them better so that they can make good decision for purchase. They also said that in this way advertisements are not bombarded upon them. CONCLUSION The primary and secondary research conducted clearly states that social media advertising is very effective. It not only helps the brands to engage with their customers, let their customers give feedback, add newer customers to their customer base, it also help them in increasing sales. People now spend a good amount of time on social media and your brand should be there where the consumers are! This method is not only cost effective; it reaches a bigger audience as well. Hence airline industries should invest in social media along with the traditional media. Bibliography Friends, Fans, and Followers: Do Ads Work on Social Networks? (2011, March). Journal of Advertising Research, 51 (1), p258-275. Ahles, A. (2009). In airline industry, social-media marketing takes flight. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Airline industry review. (n.d.). Consulting. Retrieved May 27, 2011, from airline industry review: http://airlineindustryreview.com/consulting/ Essay Thesis. (2010, October 30). Internet Advertising of British Airways. Retrieved May 28, 2011, from essay thesis: http://www.essaythesis.net/2010/10/internet-advertising-of-british-airways.html Oser, K. (2004). Web ads get results weeks later. Advertising Age, 75(30), 18-18. Squeaky. (2011, April 19). Airline Industry Takes Social Media To New Heights. Retrieved May 19, 2011, from The Squeeky Blog: http://blog.squeakywheelmedia.com/index.php/2011/04/the-airline-industry-takes-social-media-to-new-heights/ Unnikrishnan, M., & Robert, W. (2010, November 1). All That Twitters. Aviation Week & Space Technology, 172(2), 42-44. APPENDIX Social Media Advertising Questionnaire Dear Respondent, we are researching on the effectiveness of social media advertising of Airline industry. This survey will take hardly 5 minutes of your time. Thank you in advance. 1. How often you make use of Internet? Everyday 2-3 hours Everyday less than 1 hour A few hours in a week A few times in a month 2. For what purpose do you use the internet? (tick all that apply) Sending/Receiving Email Social Networking Listening to music Playing games Information gathering and reading 3. How much time do you spend on social networking sites like Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube etc? More than 2 hours a day Less than 1 hour a day A few times in a week Once in a month Never 4. Do you like fan pages, follow twitter profiles, and watch YouTube channels of different brands? Yes No 5. Do you remember any ads that are shared on these social networking sites? Yes quite a many Only a few None 6. You find these ads Interesting Tempting Annoying Boring You do not notice them 7. Are you connected with any airline brand through these sites or their own website? Yes No 8. If yes, which one : ________________ 9. Do you click on their ads? Yes No 10. Do you tweet or put up a status when you are going to fly somewhere? Yes No 11. Which format of advertisement do you notice and like the most? Pop up ads Banner ads Viral videos TVCs on YouTube Microblogs Facebook statuses 12. Which format of advertisement do you dislike the most? Pop up ads Banner ads Viral videos TVCs on YouTube Microblogs Facebook statuses 13. Does the information from social advertising persuade you to reach a purchase decision? Never Seldom Often Always 14. Do you prefer social media advertising over traditional media? If yes why? If no, skip to the next question. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15. How should airlines advertise on social media? Fan Pages Pop-up Ads Affiliation to websites Blogs Twitter IDs 16. Basic Information Age: 18-25 26-35 36-50 51+ Gender: Male Female Occupation: Student Working Man/Woman Business Man/Woman Housewife Retired Jobless Read More