Social media are web-based and mobile technologies that can be used to turn communication into interactive dialogue (Wikipedia) . If you ask the general public to provide examples of social media, you can almost guarantee that most people will provide the same sort of answers; Facebook, twitter, Youtube, Myspace, blogs etc. Why might most people have the same answers? Simply because, like it or not, social media is becoming an increasingly significant part of our everyday lives. Econsultancy.com boasts a set of statistics that show just how big a part the likes of Facebook and Twitter play in our lives, and please note that these stats are now over a year old!
Facebook claims that 50% of active users log into the site each day. This would mean at least 175m users every 24 hours. Only China and India have higher populations than Facebook as the sheer velocity of users has skyrocketed, which this table from Joe's Blog below shows.
Given the stats, it is easy to understand why companies would want to make the best use possible out of said social media, and slowly but surely they are catching on. How many times have you been on a website and been asked to "Like This Page"? This is an attempt by companies to try and interact with consumers. Liking pages also provides information on the type of indidual they are and what their tastes are, which is particularly useful to advertisiers who can then decide who to target products to based on their "likes". Looking at my profile will provide evidence for this as there is an advert for protein supplements, which i assume were added because I "Liked" a site I use called My-protein.
By establishing who "likes" what, companies can specifically target certain consumers on social networking sites, which are taking up an ever incresing part of our lives. Digital Buzz says that over 1.5 million local businesses have active pages on websites, and this number doesnt take into account the larger corporations.
Warner brothers have utilised the likes of Facebook and Youtube to promote the most recent Harry Potter Films. Using the free availability of Youtube enables them to release previews and teaser trailers that act as a Pre-announcement launching strategy that "can be used to hype interest in the upcoming product" 1. The Harry Potter film page on Facebook has reached over 16 million likes worldwide and has information such as when the DVD and other films will be released. This provides information to the general public free of charge and in an environment the consumers are used to.
Due to the success of these free advertising techniques that can be seen or viewed on a worldwide platform, perhaps the conventional marketing methods such as billboards will become obsolete. In my eyes with an ever digitalized world becoming the norm, these conventional techniques will struggle to prevail, particularly when considering the speed information can travel across new social media, and its inherent ability to instantaneously effect millions around the world at any given moment.
B2B Marketing methods with regards to social media are most appropriate when blogging and micro-blogging, says Jordan Julien because generally, blogs work better for B2B brands as they require a certain level of prior knowledge and interest. An example of such a B2B company is MLT Creative a marketing company specifically for B2B purposes. Having said this, due to the ease of using sites such as Facebook, companies do still try and utilise it, as MLT Creative show on their blog page. The top icon bar shows other social media areas where they can be followed or interacted with as well as their blog.
IBM have actually built, and use, a social software that can be used internally -- keeping sensitive business information safe -- or for external use to help you engage and build trusted relationships. IBM use this internally as a way of keeping in contact with colleagues and partners on a regular basis, this is similar to an inter-company Version of MSN messenger. This shows how the work place is transforming from a strict corporate hierarchical environment to more of a small social community.
I think that in reality most social media should be used with regards to B2C marketing as this is where it is at is most effective, communicating with potential customers on the media that they increasingly utilise. However, this is not to say that it cannot be useful in B2B, as my examples have shown. As Digital and social media keep improving in the years to come, I would not be surprised to see a majority of marketing campaigns utilising these to extend their reach to their target segments.
Social media is thriving and for companies to maintain competitiveness and keep in touch with new marketing techniques, the adoption of social media is, in my eyes, not just an option but a necessity.
References:
1: Crawford, M & A. Di Benedetto, New Products Management, 9th Edition.UK, 2008, McGraw Hill Irwin
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