Thursday, September 15, 2011

How Social Media Marketing is Changing Traditional Business ...

It is no surprise that the ability to reach people through social media has changed the way that businesses market over the internet.? While sites such as Facebook and Twitter work wonders in providing a direct line of communication with a dedicated audience, tools such as LinkedIn allow business to search for new hires, or for contacts to network in an online environment separate from their personal lives.

One of the most important ways in which social media has changed business is advertising.? When a user browses the internet, unless they have a setting that prevents it, their computer stores very small files from websites they visit and searches they make.? These files are known as tracking cookies, and websites such as Facebook can use these files to target advertising towards interested parties.? Ever wonder why you search for an apartment on Google, and then over the next week or so you notice that your Facebook side ads involve housing?? That is the tracking cookie at work.? Social media also allows businesses to cultivate their brand in a more direct form of communication.

In the past, in order to reach an audience with traditional advertising, you had to identify your target demographic and find the most appropriate medium, location, and time to advertise to them.? Women ages 18 to 24 might watch TV the most between 7 and 9 PM on the weekdays, and so if that were your market you would aim for that time frame.

However, if you weren?t running your ads during the other times of the day, potential customers would not see them, no matter how few they may have been.? With social media, by cultivating accounts on Twitter and Facebook, businesses are able to maintain a lasting presence on the internet to an audience base who is available all times of the day.? Not only that, but by getting a potential customer to ?Like? your Facebook page, you have a direct line of communication to that person through their news feed, and the results are directly quantifiable.

A study conducted by research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey stated that, in a study of over 1,800 people,? 56% of users are more likely to recommend a ?Liked? brand to a friend, 51% of users are more likely to buy a product by a ?Liked? brand, and 78% of users say that the ?Like? less than 10 brands total on Facebook.? The last piece of data shows that the decision to ?Like? a brand on Facebook is not just a whimsical decision.? The user has some connection and an interest in the brand to seek out the Facebook page, so that lends itself to the user being an interested viewer.? Besides marketing to an audience, social media has also allowed employees to find talented employees.

By using an online community such as Twitter, businesses have a chance to interact with other users and help personify the business itself.? This offers a new way for potential employees to become engaged with a company before they are even aware that there is a job opening.? LinkedIn has also proven to be a great resource for recruitment, as they not only offer postings for jobs, but they allow users to post their resumes on their profile, without having to worry about current employers questioning them.

In addition to the discretion that it gives users, the professional setting in itself attracts a more serious user base, which makes it a more appropriate recruiting tool for more qualified jobs.? No matter which social media tool businesses use, each one offers benefits towards different users.? A law firm looking to hire a new partner might not post on Facebook about it or tweet it, but they might post the listing on LinkenIn.? On the other hand, a music distribution company looking for college-aged interns might have more luck with Facebook and Twitter, where they can give the recruiting environment a more laid-back impression.

By utilizing social media networks, businesses can greatly increase their public image with observable results and a direct line of communication.? Whether they are looking to expand their consumer base or their labor force, these networks allow them to find people who match their online personality.

Photo uploaded to Flickr Creative Commons.

Advertisement

Like this:

Be the first to like this post.


Source: http://learningcommunication.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/how-social-media-marketing-is-changing-traditional-business/

texas a m robert downey jr bolivia aspirin aspirin mentalist mentalist

No comments:

Post a Comment