Role of Social Media in Marketing

What is Social Media ?

▪ Social media is engaging with consumers online.▪ Social media is internet-based tools for sharing and discussing

information among human beings. ▪ Social media is all about networking and networking in a way

that espouses trust among parties and communities involved.▪ Any website which allows user to share their content,

opinions, views and encourages interaction and community building can be classified as a social media.

▪ Some popular social media sites are: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Digg, MySpace, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Scribd, Flickr etc.

Evolution of Social Media

What is Social Media Marketing ?

▪ Social media marketing consists of the attempt to use social media to persuade consumers that one's company, products and/or services are worthwhile.

▪ Social media marketing is marketing using online communities, social networks, blog marketing and more.

▪ It is a strategic and methodical process to establish the company’s influence, reputation and brand within communities of potential customers, readers or supporters.

SMM explained

User Information

Info fed into Social sites

The Social HUB

Example of MakeMytrip

User trying to book ticket through MakeMyTrip

MakeMyTrip flashes offers and Advertisements

User having Facebook account

Growth of Social Media Marketing

Source:- www.smartinsights.com

Growth of Social Media Marketing

▪ Social media usage by small business owners increased from 12% to 24%

▪ 75% have a company page on a social networking site.▪ 69% post status updates or articles of interest on social

media sites.▪ 57% build a network through a site such as LinkedIn. ▪ 54% monitor feedback about the business. ▪ 39% maintain a blog.▪ 26% tweet about areas of expertise.▪ 16% use Twitter as a service channel.

Businesses and Social Media

▪ Sell Products or Services

▪ Become a Leading Industry

Resource

▪ Provide Quality Customer Service

Role of Social Media in Marketing

▪ To provide an identity about the companies and the products or services that they offer.

▪ Makes companies "real" to consumers. If they want people to follow them they need not just talk about the latest product news, but share their personality with them.

▪ Can be used to associate themselves with their peers that may be serving the same target market.

▪ Can be used to communicate and provide the interaction that consumers look for.

▪ Helps in creating relationships with people who might not otherwise know about the products or service or what the companies represent.

Strategy 1Their catchy saying, “Let’s be in a Like-Like relationship,” shows they treat their potential fans as equals, solidifying their relationships even more.

Zappos is an online retailer which is known for the enormous emphasis they put on creating real relationships with their fans and customers.

Zappos.com

Zappos.com

• One great strategy they’ve employed is to first ask for the Like and then ask their new fans to join their email list. Once you click their Like button, the custom tab changes and you then see the opportunity to sign up for their email list and interact with their products, as seen in the image below. By waiting until after the fan clicks the Like button, Zappos is proving they care about building relationships with their fans first.

Strategy 2• In addition, Zappos uses a strategy often called “fans-only content” where they reveal content only

after someone has become a fan, such as the fashion images in the illustration above. Once you click the Like button, you get instant access to exclusive content, videos and special promotions.

Strategy 3• Fan of the week contest- They encourage fans to send in their photos with the Zappos box and

other fans get to vote on the best photo of the week. What’s great is that Zappos highlights the fan of the week by putting him or her in their wall image photo for all to see.

CreeCree is a business-to-business company that sells energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, industrial LED lighting. In their “Cries for Help” section, they encourage companies to showcase their terrible lighting on their site. 

Strategy 1• Great content is the key to a happy audience.

Strategy 2•Value of social proof

San Chez BistroSan Chez Bistro is a restaurant in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

•They’ve taken social media and infused it with the needs and preferences of their local audience. San Chez encourages their patrons to use Twitter to reserve a seat at their restaurant.

• They call it “Tweet-Ahead Seating” and it’s a great use of social media local marketing. Once you tweet your interest in a reservation, the online hostess tweets you back with a message similar to this: “Great, you’re on the list. See you in a little while.”

• With the number of smart phones on the rise, San Chez knows they can reach even more potential customers if they make access to their restaurant easy and quick. By combining smart phone capabilities, social media and local marketing, they were able to create an extremely successful marketing campaign online.

• In addition, San Chez Bistro utilizes Foursquare to gain even greater viral visibility. Foursquare, one of the top location-based services out there today, allows people to check in with their mobile devices and let all their friends know where they’re currently spending time. It’s fun for the fan and powerful exposure for the physical business.

San Chez Bistro

Traditional Marketing V/S Social Media Marketing

Benefits of social media marketing

▪ It provides a window to marketers to not only present products / services to customers but also to listen to customers’ grievances and suggestions.

▪ It makes it easy for marketers to identify various peer groups or influencers among various groups, who in turn can become brand evangelist and help in organic growth of a brand.

▪ All this is done at nearly zero cost (as compared to conventional customer outreach programmes) as most of the social networking sites are free.

▪ Social media marketing helps in Generating exposure to businesses.

▪ Increasing traffic/subscribers.▪ Building new business partnerships.▪ Rise in search engine rankings. ▪ Generating qualified leads due to better lead generation

efforts. ▪ Selling more products and services.▪ Reduction in overall marketing expenses.

Benefits of social media marketing

Cons of Social Media Marketing

▪ Privacy Issues▪ Data selling ▪ Fake profiles and reviews