Question: How many of you have a social media account?
I am sure most of you do!
Now, tell me, how often do you use it?
Come on, don’t be shy. I’m certain many of you cannot go to sleep without checking either Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.
This is how much social media has influenced and continues to influence the market; it’s like a drug that keeps you coming back for more.
What’s the latest news? Who’s getting married? Omg! She’s pregnant!
Trust me, we all do it.
Social Media Marketing is becoming the way of the future. It has evolved the way products and services are advertised to the Kings: Customers.
According to Hubspot, 64% of marketers are using social media for six hours or more and 41% for 11 or more hours weekly. (Social Media Examiner, 2015)
The Impact of Social Media Marketing
- Greater reach
There are 2.5 billion persons currently using social media platforms with Facebook being the leading network as of April 2017. These numbers are growing every day as digital media is becoming increasingly popular. Hence, with the number of people on this platform there is a greater chance of reaching your target audience than that of traditional media.
- Information at your fingertips
Due to the growing number of persons on social media platforms, companies are seizing every opportunity to post their offerings and more information about their products or to entice customers. So, if the companies are where the customers are, companies are now able to reach customers almost instantaneously; much faster than hearing it on the radio or TV or going to a store (which now increases the time difference of the sales process).
- More efficient than Traditional Marketing
Social Media Marketing targets a wider audience as it is able to reach persons both locally and internationally. Conversely, traditional media aims predominantly targets the local audience, tends to be more expensive and ROI is usually less than that of digital marketing. Traditional marketing makes it more challenging to analyse the information and to measure the success of the marketing campaign.
- Ease of analysis
Social Media Marketing offers ease of analysis by measuring everything you post daily. It’s not only convenient to marketers, it gives them the freedom to alter campaigns based on the results from the analytics. This means that you can make better financial decisions and can increase your ROI. Marketing thus becomes more effective, allows companies to understand and target their audience strategically and tailor marketing campaigns to suit the audience.
- Cost effectiveness
Compared to traditional marketing, which tends to be more expensive and results are uncertain, digital marketing puts you in control of your advertising budget as you have the capability of attaching the cost to the offer you are promoting to the potential customer.
- Facilitates Interaction with audience
Social media gives you one on one interaction with the customer. As a customer comment on your ad you have the power to answer directly and immediately to their concerns which can impact on their purchasing decision. Traditional marketing on the other hand, doesn’t give you this opportunity.
- Builds brand reputation
Most companies align the social media platform they appear on to support their brand image, be it Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Anytime they post, they provide relevant content to their target audience which drives awareness and goodwill and impacts positively on their brand.
- Provides better ROI for your marketing investments
As a result of ease of analysis, wider audience, opportunity to select your target audience and control how much you spend, social media is a great ROI for your marketing efforts.
Register for our International Master in Strategic Management September 2017 Intake now!
Call the academic advisor (Ms. Patrice Matthews) at 645-6700 ext. 200
