Why Social Media is Becoming Marketing’s Best Friend

Tessa Schumacher

Stance: Social Media is one of the most efficient marketing tools, and should be used by all businesses.

History of Social Media http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-media-history_b18776

Why is This Issue an Issue? Many people have different feelings towards social media.

“A new study from Insight Strategy Group concludes that (64%) of people say they “hate” when a company targets them through their social networking profile, and 58% view social media marketing as invasive. The findings also show that over half of respondents find social media sites a great platform for providing companies with customer feedback “ (Insight Strategy Group 2011).

Insight Strategy Group. (January 26, 2012). Consumers Feelings Towards Brands in Social Media. Retrieved from: http://mydisruption.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/consumer-feelings-towards-brands-in-social-media-strengthen-the-power-of-wom/

Technology

“Increased loyalty and advocacy from the customers you've connected with”, and also say “you can respond almost instantly to industry developments and become heard in your field” ( Business Link 2012).

Psychology and Marketing

Behavioral Science

“Using content that is relevant and has a personal feel to it is a very intelligent choice when it comes to your online marketing campaign” (Cohn 2010).

Need to understand how people’s minds work- How to really get them to buy

This is why a lot of companies aren’t able to use social media correctly- most of them don’t try and relate to the consumer, they are more concerned about the profit and don’t take a second look at the thoughts of the consumer.

Cohn, Michael. (May 18, 2010). The Psychology Behind Social Media. Retrieved from: http://www.compukol.com/blog/the-psychology-behind-social-media/

Economics In 2009, businesses spent

almost 14 Billion Dollars on marketing online

This is a third of what was spent on higher education in 2009.

Businesses would not be spending so much money if there was no payout from using social media.

The 2012 Statistical Abstract. (June 27, 2012). Retrieved September 16, 2012 from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/ information_communications/internet_publishing_and_broadcasting_and_internet_usage.html

The Proof- Nike “They use public social media channels like Facebook and Twitter to raise

awareness, answer people's questions, show video, and allow people to share their results, but they keep those results under lock and key in the Nike + website so they can offer consumer more Nike gear and ONLY more Nike gear tailored to that individuals activity. It's brilliant and it's one of the best uses of social media we have seen to connect a brand to a consumer” (Cashman 2012) .

http://digitalfireflymarketing.com/how-nike-killing-it-social-media-marketing

The Opposition Alaska Airlines- Not

always positive for marketing Can turn out bad if get

negative comments GM also had issues

with Facebook- however, Facebook didn’t work for them because they didn’t utilize it properly

Legal

CopyrightSlander

Society When people like something on a page, their friends will either see it on

their page, or if the person shares the page with a friend, then that friend will be exposed to it as well (Qualman 2009).

Future Outlook As more and more people log into these social media sites, over two billion and

nearing three billion as of 2012 (Bullas 2012)

There has already been research done, looking at the benefits of teaching students how to market effectively online in their MBA programs, meaning that when they get to their actual jobs, they will be much more apt to use the “web 2.0” (Hadar 2010).

Bullas, Jeff. (2012). 48 Significant Social Media Facts, Figures and Statistics Plus 7 Infographics. Retrieved from: http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/04/23/48-significant-social-media-facts-figures-and-statistics-plus-7-infographics/

Hadar, I. (2010). Teaching MBA students the Use of Web 2.0: the Knowledge Management Perspective. Journal of Information Systems Education, Vol. 21.1, p.55.

References Queensland Government. “Who Uses Facebook?” (October 5, 2012). Retrieved from :

http://www.business.qld.gov.au/business/running/marketing/online-marketing/using-facebook-to-market-your-business/who-uses-facebook

Bennett, Shea. (February 17, 2012). The History of Social Media. Retrieved from http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-media-history_b18776

United States Census Bureau. (2012). All levels of Education. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/education/all_levels_of_education.html.

Hadar, I. (2010). Teaching MBA students the Use of Web 2.0: the Knowledge

Management Perspective. Journal of Information Systems Education, Vol. 21.1, p.55.

Kunz, B. (May 22, 2012). Why GM and Others Fail with Facebook Ads.

Retrieved September 30, 2012 from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-22/why-gm-and-others-fail-with-facebook-ads#p2.

The 2012 Statistical Abstract. (June 27, 2012). Retrieved September 16, 2012

from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/ information_communications/internet_publishing_and_broadcasting_and_internet_usage.html

The Perils of Social Media. (August 13, 2012). Retrieved September 16, 2012 from http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2012/08/alaska-airlines-and-facebook.

Legal Guidelines for Small Businesses Using Social Media. (2012). Retrieved September 16, 2012 from http://www.nfib.com/business-resources/business-resources-item?cmsid=51995.

Bullas, Jeff. (2012). 48 Significant Social Media Facts, Figures and Statistics Plus 7 Infographics. Retrieved from: http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/04/23/48-significant-social-media-facts-figures-and-statistics-plus-7-infographics/.

Cohn, Michael. (May 18, 2010). The Psychology Behind Social Media. Retrieved from: http://www.compukol.com/blog/the-psychology-behind-social-media/.