The impact of social media on today’s world is growing more and more as each second passes by. Global social networks like Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, LinkedIn and likewise unite people from all parts of the world making the information flow faster than you can snap your fingers. Moreover, these means of social media are getting more popular every day and a smart entrepreneur cannot drop the importance of this fact for the promotion of his or her own business.
The definitions of social media vary. If we rely on Axel Schultze definition courteously researched by Chris Lake, the Director of Product Development at Econsultancy web-source (Lake, 2009), Social media is the collection of tools and online spaces available to help individuals and businesses to accelerate their information and communication needs. According to Marjorie Clayman, Clayman Advertising, Inc. (Cohen, 2011), Social media is a new marketing tool that allows you to get to know your customers and prospects in ways that were previously not possibleit’s just the beginning of marketing revolution - not the end.
Modern means of social media are being widely used as a successful marketing platform for businesses. However, it is also essential to use different approach while using social media for example by a large corporation or a small local startup, etc. The reason for that is that the influence of this tool on different types of businesses may vary greatly. In case the company is well-known nationwide there is no point waiting for better times rather than launch your own page on Facebook or your own business account on Twitter or Google +. This way your brand and products can be exposed to a wide range of customers, probably, also effecting your international business image. At the same time, social media can provide valuable help to those emerging businesses who need to target their local audiences, offer them something needed only in a specific community - something others simply cannot supply you with. Social media will be there to help those businesses as well.
The main thing that makes the use of social media for any business successful is knowing your own niche. Consequently, you will be able to effect that specific customer audience or business affiliates much easier, faster and cheaper than if you tried to ensure close business relationships by organizing some promotion events or applying other pricy marketing tricks.
Listing advantages of social media would be a tiresome activity since they appear to be obvious. A huge range of social media users would grab number one position. More than 250 million people are active Facebook users. More than 245 million people read blogs, and 184 million are bloggers themselves. Twitter claims to have 14 million registered users and You Tube reports 100 million viewers per month (Zarrella, 2010). With these statistics, it is a surprise that some businesses still hesitate to use this customer audience social media can offer. Cost of utilizing social media can be also put on the list. It is less expensive than offline marketing tools. Many businesses simply decide to combine SEO and social media to save money they used to spend before. And it pays off, considering the amount of time customers spend online. Relying on the information gathered in 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 43% of people aged 20-29 spend more than 10 hours a week on social media sites (Bosari, 2012). We can also name variety of tools that social media provide businesses with, namely podcasts, videos, blogs and more. This visualization of what business can offer plays a crucial role. In addition, social media offer a so-called two-way street for customer and business communication. Thus receiving feedbacks about products and services does not take up much time any more.
Having all these advantages on the side of social media, we still have some counter arguments though. Social media are age sensitive. So if you are aiming to reach out those customers who are 50 and older you may think twice before creating a Facebook page as it may get “liked” just a couple of times or so. Also you cannot always be sure how many of your Twitter followers or Facebook page visitors really buy your product. Maybe, they just searched your page on the web randomly and liked it because of the nice cover photo. Thus, social media may be tricky if you decide to monitor your customers’ activity. To sum up, the last thing that requires to be mentioned, that even though social media is cheaper and provides many opportunities you still have to spend reasonable sources on it. It needs to be managed wisely, so that your business performance can be successful. Social media management is a new field, which the company has to get accustomed to. Staying up to date with rapid changes implemented on different websites daily is essential for a company if it does not want to confuse its customers with outdated news. That is also the main risk social media holds for any company – if you show up somewhere on the web officially, make sure you keep your image fresh and clean.
References
Bosari, J., 2012. The Developing Role of Social Media in the Modern Business World, Forbes, [online] Available at: <http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneywisewomen/2012/08/08/the-developing-role-of-social-media-in-the-modern-business-world/> [Accessed 16 July 2013].
Cohen, H., 2011. 30 Social Media Definitions. [online] Available at: <http://heidicohen.com/social-media-definition/> [Accessed July 16 2013].
Lake, C., 2009. What is Social Media? Here are 34 definitions [online] Available at: <http://econsultancy.com/ua/blog/3527-what-is-social-media-here-are-34-definitions> [Accessed July 16 2013].
Zarrella, D. 2010. The Social Media Marketing Book. [e-book] O’Reilly Media Inc. Available at: Google books <books.google.com> [Accessed July 16 2013].
