Media Convergence: The Impact of Social Media, web 2.0 in the Advertising Industry in China - Term Paper Example

Name: College: Course: Tutor: Date: Introduction The world has now turned digital, and its technology is growing, which is responsible for the change. Visible major hi-tech changes over the precedent decade have been TV, computers and cell phones that are still evolving. Previous four to five years, media companies have been fine-tuning the thought of convergence. TV broadcasts, newspapers, website and radio stations have combined to shape totally converged websites. As these efforts bring convergence to an innovative level, many media organizations have yet to integrate all the essentials of media. Many converged organizations simply republish substance from one intermediate to the other. The typical newspaper and Internet amalgamation that developed in the 1990s is still convergence’s most widespread figure. On the other hand, media convergence has been accompanied with many challenges. Audiences protest in relation to information overload, which is overwhelming and find it hard to accommodate. Furthermore, the rapid technological change has thwarted audience’s actions. People lack the skills to seize full advantage of new media particularly the old people and those with a disability. Will an audience so used to conventional forms of media embrace a novel way of getting information? Furthermore, media companies chase after the audience by larger assistance from advertising and marketing by cross-selling. The impact of social media on the advertising industry in China. Positive impacts In the recent years most, organizations have turned to social media for advertising. The reason behind this is that a majority of the population spend most of their time interacting. From the time, they wake up, at work, during lunch breaks, and at home. Social media has proved to be the best platform for marketing of products and reaching out to consumers. Television made us of the developing media convergence by using diverse platforms to promote the means by which it presents news. Technology has changed how People consume the news. Watching TV is not the only mode of accessing the latest news. People can access the latest news bulletin on the internet by visiting the website of the News Corporation via downloads or visiting the social network sites which are updated on a regular basis. Smart Phones now boast internet access so they can check out the news anywhere. With social networking sites developing, people can connect with other members of society on the associated issue. (Trehan 2010, p. 151). Consumers use the social media to find very many things including brands and businesses that they identify with. Penetration of Google in the market has enabled the locals to experience the touch of Google to create online advertising campaigns for small businesses. It enables businesses to come up with budget parameters and engage with their primary consumers. What we are beginning to see is that marketers are creating online banner advertisements of things that their consumers want to see and remember. Thus, instead of directing their consumers to their websites they post the advertisements in the social media platforms example Facebook. (Trehan 2010, p. 151). Online advertising is cheaper than the traditional methods. This reflects to both the business and consumer. The traditional methods of using television, radio and news papers are cumbersome and do not reach a majority market at a go. There are people who rarely watch TV, listen to radio or even read newspapers. Majority of people converge in social sites, and it is a guarantee to reach a large number at a go. (Trehan 2010, p. 151). This term started gaining popularity in 2003 with the birth of social media site i.e. Facebook and Twitter. It involves magazine articles written to promote a product. This is done through blogs and advertorials published on the web for promotional purposes. It is a trending form of advertisement it has proven its effectiveness when it comes to creating awareness of a brand. It has created a new advertising road by strengthening connections between brands and consumers. It favours small businesses, which are numerous in the People market. The businesses can utilize the power by hosting a blog on their products and services or by running advertorials. (Suto 2013, p. 1). Penetration of social media has made it possible for an individual to converse with very many people on products and the companies that supply them. Thus, the impact of consumer-to-consumer interactions has been seriously magnified in the market. It is evident social media is a fusion of the promotion mix reason being it enables companies to talk to their clientele while, in a nontraditional logic it allows clientele to engage directly with one another. The timing, frequency, and content of the social media conversations that occur between consumers are beyond managers’ direct influence. This stands in contrast to the traditional incorporated advertising communications standard where a soaring extent of influence is present. Therefore, managers have learnt to influence consumer discussions to relate with the organization's goals and mission. This is done through providing consumers with networking platforms, blogs, social media tools, and promotional tools. (Suto 2013, p. 1). Social media has significantly influenced how People explore, and share information relating to products and brands. Active social media visitors get more information about product reviews online. Women tend to tell others about products that they like more than men do. Consumer merchandise ratings are the most favored sources of product information amongst social media users. Social media are increasingly becoming a platform that consumers utilize in expressing their loyalty to favorite brands, and many seek out to obtain reimbursement from brands for assisting endorse their products. (Tuten 2008, p. 33) Another interesting trend is consumers acting as ambassadors for brands through social media. A preponderance of active social interactions pursues brands. These brands are progressively recruiting their followers to stretch recommendations in relation to their products and services, a majority say they their experience to “present acknowledgment for work well done” by the business. Social media users also pay attention in associating with their favored brands, through improvement recommendations and product customization. (Tuten 2008, p. 33). Self service advertisements contain a link, brief copy, a headline and an image. They usually do not require a lot of time to design. A company only needs to identify goals and objectives together with expectations, define the reach and set a budget. The company does everything for themselves other than leaving all the work to traditional advertisers. Social media also allows organizations to narrow their target market according to interests, age, sex, geography, education and marital status. This data generates an anticipated reach that the organization can settle on if the reach fits their goals, objectives and expectations. (Walters 2012, p. 1). Advertising has evolved differently; an enterprise is able to establish trust with consumers through relationships that develop in the online community. Business websites get traffic from niche conversations had through social media. Search engine optimization is increased by high quality links to the site. The visibility of the business in search engines is boosted by the number of visitors who visit while searching key words relating to the industry. A diverse following on different social sites has assisted many companies decrease dependence on search engines, since they have several other websites that help in driving traffic to their site. The organizations are also able to view what is going on in the niche, get to know what people want first hand. This relates to changes in products and services toward their preferences. (Walters 2012, p. 1). Organizations that actively engage in social media have had an opportunity to mange their reputation in the market. This is by responding to issues in an appropriate approach, encourage consumers to talk about their beneficial experiences with the organization and observe what is being alleged concerning them. Generally social media have given all round reactions and responses of consumers to the organizations. Discovery of more needs, trends and desires that encourage company’s market niche to spend more money, and utilize that information to drive their marketing efforts. (Walters 2012, p. 1). Negative impacts With social media use being presently a sturdy drift in advertising, a small number of enthusiasts are eager to amuse the thought that disadvantages subsist. Not only does the use of this social media stage involve a number of risks, but it is also hard to weigh the correct worth of social media advertising. Add this to the pain of having to keep speed with rapid change in technology. Monitoring and responding to consumer comments on a daily basis occurs to be a misuse of time, and many cash-strapped businesses feel it is not significant to use social media. When businesses settle on using social media in target of more customers in their business, they seldom consider the time it is going to take. First an approach that works is needed and someone to execute the work. If individually executing, the task you will be investing your time on more than one social media sites interacting with prospective consumers and developing a brand. Developing the brand may also take some time because it requires you to convince the consumers and beat competitors who are also using the same platform. (Brookins 2013, p. 1) updating a social media account requires time along with effort. It requires a senior person with knowledge about the business and products to handle the social media presence, social media have a cost in terms of time. Companies have to find new angles about their products constantly and post information. Usually in social media the information can only be available for a little time prior to newer posts replacing it. In addition, to publish an apparent advertising print is not allowed in the social media community; consequently you have to present the information as conversations or you end up losing followers. (Brookins 2013, p. 1). To advertise in social media, you must have a proven strategy otherwise it will not work as expected. Many businesses think that social media advertising is easy because everyone else is doing. Advertising in social media is a skill that requires a business to research on success by other businesses. One purpose recognized social-media strategies ought to seek to comprise is the promotion of an online society. (Felsher 2011, p. 1) This is the most difficult task to pull off.  David McKnight, founder of Engage365 is qualified to speak about this issue. Engage365 is an information society owned by Omnipress, powered by Conference 2.0 and considered by know-how event professionals to be the debut society for event-specific social media. Many businesses have been phased out because they were unable to catch up with this trend. Another thing is that if you do not have the knowledge of social media advertising or you want to learn you have to pay somebody to execute it for you. This can prove to be expensive and eventually increase the overhead expenses of a business. (Felsher 2011, p. 1). Every other business is engaging in social media advertising. Visiting a social media platform proves that this is a popular advertising strategy. Competitors are numerous for whatever product or service that is sold. To outperform them, it requires you to be highly creative and innovative. If a business does not engage in comprehensive research, then there is no miracle for survival in this trend. . (Sandilands 2013, p. 1). Businesses advertising with social media have to embrace risks like, handing over an element of their brand’s administration along with a reputation to staff and consumers. If at one point, a member of the two groups feels they have been unjustly treated, they can utilize the social media profiles to tone their grievances with your business in public. (Sandilands 2013, p. 1). This can result to loss of trust towards your brand. In addition, consumers can have the tendency to post demeaning commentary on the business social media profiles that can injure its prospects with potential clients. Worse still, if you get rid of the comments, everyone one will think that you are covering up something. Social media also Exposes Company’s to legal risks, false advertising is a principal issue associated with social media. This can be the source of a company’s down fall drastically. It is also common for confidential information of a company to leak out draining its competitive capability to others. (Sandilands 2013, p. 1). A great deal of social media platforms exist that business owners have it rough deciding where to start in order to try and reach out to consumers. It becomes difficult for them to decide which platform to prioritize. If they chose a wrong one this may affect the success of the business negatively. The principal sites are Twitter, YouTube, MySpace and Facebook, but there are more than a hundred platforms to choose. Furthermore, each of them requires a different way of posting and the type of content to be presented. Another problem is that the platforms keep on upgrading their systems and tools regularly. The platforms also appeal to different market segments which can be different from that of the business entity. This calls for the need to use a number of platforms in order to effectively address each of the target markets. (Sandilands 2013, p. 1). According to Sandilands (2013, p. 1) the use of social media platforms in advertisements is considered by most as free. This is not the case on the ground because it is accompanied by very many hidden costs. In traditional methods of advertisements all cost are accounted. For social media to be effective in its use, businesses have to post updates on a regular basis on their chosen platforms. This process also requires acquiring a person who possesses in depth knowledge of the medium. He/she should have the ability to produce quality content and time for gathering information, planning and publishing the posts. (Sandilands 2013, p. 1). The visitors consume text in various forms as slide shows, podcasts, videos, photographs, press releases, articles and blog posts. It costs money to create these features for instance, in order to produce a quality video clip a professional videographer has to be hired which is expensive. Social media advertising effectiveness is highly difficult to account for. Does a “like” on Facebook or a “follow” on Twitter carry a monetary value? This is a question that different expert differ. There are no real and qualified sales leads from the two leaving businesses with questions as to whether social media advertising has any valuable impact. It is impossible to substantiate the success and reach of brand interactions in terms of recommendations to others. It is also hard to establish how many of the clients reached were successful to make a purchase, or is scheduling to do so. (Stelzner 2012, p. 6). Consumer opinions can be heard clearly because of their comments and posting in social network sites. Reviews, blogs, tweets, and Facebook updates allow consumers to have their voices to be heard. Moreover, any opinion shared by a close friend can affect a person’s decision in purchasing a product. Because of the powerful ability of social networks in influencing customers, companies should be cautious about maintaining a positive image to the public. Social media alters the way customers, purchase a product; they need assurance from other people before they consider spending for an item. In many cases, consumers research about a company, and read reviews on the products sold. When they see negative feedbacks about the brand, they are likely to consider buying from the competitor company. Entrepreneurs should keep in mind that social media has changed the buying process. It does not matter if the enterprise or company has a glamorous website; what matters most is the opinion of customers regarding the product. These customers can promote direct advertising to the company when they share their opinions through various social networking websites. (Sandilands 2013, p. 1). Conclusion Media convergence has brought all aspects of media to the same platform. Advertising is one aspect that has been impacted in this convergence. The process is inevitable because it involves technology which is ever changing. There are impacts both positive and negative associated with convergence reflected in the advertising industry. The industry is diverse and several literatures are reviewed to bring a clear picture of the topic. Media convergence is relevant because it makes the world to be a global community. From sharing experiences, interacting, getting access to information and knowledge about critical issues. Reference list Brookins, M. 2013. Disadvantages of advertising with social media. Demand media. Trehan M, Trehan R. 2010. Advertising and sales management. V. K (India) Enterprises, pp. 151. Felsher, L. 2011. Strategizing social media: A step-by-step approach to help you create a formal plan. Bright business media. Sandilands, T. 2013. Business and entrepreneurship: Disadvantages of advertising with social media. Demand media. Stelzner, M. 2012. 2012 social media marketing industry report: How Marketers Are using Social Media to grow their Businesses. pp. 6. Suto, W. 2013. Top 14 benefits of social media marketing. pp. 1. Tuten, L. 2008. Advertising 2.0: social media marketing in a Web 2.0 world. Westport, Conn, Praeger. Walters, D. 2012. Social media advertising: advantages and disadvantages. pp. 1. Read More