Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Social Media Marketing

For the final year project I had taken up the topic 'Social Media Marketing'. This is what I learnt from it:



Most companies had a wrong perception about social media during its inception however gradually with so many success (and failure) stories lessons have been learnt. Companies have now started realizing that only by creating accounts on different social media websites will not serve the purpose.

Also while marketing through this medium a structured process is needed to be followed which most of time is ignored by the companies. Generally someone from the marketing department is assigned the task of managing social media accounts. This makes sense only when the budget allocated for marketing activities is less. However, if you are a big company and looking to create a huge impact through this medium, hiring professionals to carry out tasks will bring success to your organization.

This medium offers a unique feature of interacting with your customers. It should be used wisely. Social media is not about you (company) but everything about the audience. They must not be ignored. Many a times I have seen brands simply posting status updates, they think their job is done there. Who is supposed to respond to the reactions of the audience? When you respond to what people have to say about you, they feel connected to you.

I am sure no other media helps you to reach your target audience so specifically. With social media you are rest assured that your marketing activities is directed to people interested in your brand and your potential customers. The waste of your marketing messages falling on deaf ears is eliminated.

There has been a huge debate about social media ROI (Return on Investment). The case studies mentioned in this project clearly indicate that if social media is used appropriately the returns are guaranteed. On the other hand, any haphazard treatment of social media marketing will lead to the downfall of the brand.

One of the major challenges still remains as to how you deal with all the ‘hate messages’ and negativity of your brand floating on social media. A powerful brand will come out with innovative ideas and strategies to tackle this issue.

Social media is all about relationship building. When I tweeted about a certain problem with my mobile service provider on my twitter account, the company immediately got back to me and asked me, “How could we help you?” More than anything, I was happy that my voice was heard. How did the company find me? The answer to that will be will, ‘POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA’.