Social Marketing Revolution

The article title “Social Media is Changing Business” is certainly an understatement. In my mind, the new and emerging ways of broadcasting is more of a revolution that is sweeping countries all over the world. In this particular scoop, the author describes four significant ways in which social media has been able to benefit companies and help them to become even more successful over the years. One major switch that has become a growing trend is the idea that directly selling is not always the most effective means of generating sales. Researchers have been finding that they can be much more efficient by working on building relationships with customers instead. Social media can be an extremely useful tool for engaging and it can help to give interested consumers a taste of what employees are like who work for a company as well as delving more into the personality of a business. By doing this, customers are going to feel much more connected to a brand and will be more apt to purchase something from a business whom they deem that they can trust and rely on. Another huge benefit of switching from traditional means of advertising to a more virtual take is the idea that feedback is instantaneous. Through being capable of attaining information about consumers right as they happen, employees are able to gather information on how they are reacting to changes or posts. It can also be a powerful tool for diluting any complaints that people may have about a particular product or service. In order to build a relationship with people, one must remember to act more like a friend rather than any old company representative. By talking to people through channels and expressing oneself based on personal interests over talking about products, the public are going to feel a lot more connected to that business as they feel like they are more friends and not just a brand they are following who is constantly pushing them to buy products. In doing so, businesses can generate more popularity by not making it so obvious that they are trying to do so. Lastly, social media certainly helps to broaden the manner in which consumers can communicate with a company. With so many different websites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc.), consumers can revert to following a company on whatever channel works best for them. This gives people flexibility and makes their lives easier than simply having to contact a company through an impersonal email or phone conversation. Overall, I look forward to seeing more companies convert to social media in the future and perhaps even find more efficient ways in which they can interact with their consumers.

This surprised me by making me laugh as well as getting some good points across. If that headline made your eyes widen too then read it and see what you think!

This article instantly grabbed my attention when I read the title. It was very blunt and seemed to give social media a negative connotation, but after actually reading it, I began to realize that it was more of a backwards way of promoting social media. The author initially talks about how a big reason as to why many businesses still exist out there who do not take much to promoting their brand online are generally an older generation of people who prefer traditional forms of media rather than websites that confuse more than benefit them. Writer Jeff Bullas also takes a stab at the idea that social media can be easily measurable. It is instantaneous just like the initial content is to post it on there. Feedback from customers can come by so quickly and at no cost at all over these sites. So much information can be gathered through social media as consumers get a chance to voice their opinions on what they are looking for in a brand. There are other good points that he does bring up such as being afraid of having negative comments posted on their main business website. However, on the contrary, there are ways to deal with this type of feedback. For one thing, companies can gain a better understanding of what customers are looking for and may be able to improve on something if there are any complaints. If anything particularly vulgar happens to arise, there are plenty of filters that businesses can use in order to prevent any unprofessional content from being posted on their wall. Lastly, Bullas also mentions how many people feel like social media is just a passing trend. He may be right about that but being a marketing major myself, one of the most important things to keep in mind is to try to stay ahead of the times. Trying to think of what is new and up and coming will be extremely beneficial since everything is constantly changing and companies’ must be certain that they are still satisfying all of their customers’ needs. Right now the hot thing is social media and who knows what will happen in another twenty-odd years.