Today’s society does not respond to traditional marketing strategies like it used to. Consumers today are gaining independence and do not like to be told what they want or what they should buy. People today have the ability to actively participate in the customization of products. It is not about marketers telling consumers what they want anymore; it is about consumers telling marketing what they want. Social media marketing is the perfect way to encourage this. Organizations are able to get multitudes of feedback from their consumers and make alterations to their products and services to give them exactly what they desire. It is highly unlikely that society is going to revert back to its old ways of being won over by mainstream media messages; therefore social media marketing is here to stay.
According to statistics given in our class notes 3.5 billion Word-of-Mouse conversations occur every day and 2.3 billion of these include the discussion of a product, service, or brand. This is the result of millions of people interacting on social networking sites every day. The social network is where everyone is at. It is where they are talking. It is where they are talking about products, services, and brands. Social networking is increasing everyday and it does not appear to be slowing down. Therefore, Word-of-Mouse conversations that are promoting products, services, and brands will continue to consume social media marketing.
Although there are already many channels to social media marketing such as social networking sites, blogs, Listservs, and Wikis I believe that this is only the beginning. I foresee that there will be numerous other outlets developed in the future that will facilitate social media marketing in ways that we can’t even imagine.
First of all, I want to agree with you on the fact that social media marketing is a permanent means of advertising. I am a huge supporter of social media marketing because of how tech-saavy everyone is becoming. It's not just our generation and the generations after us that are relaying more and more on technology for information and news, but even older generations are learning how to use computers and cell phones more effectively. Television commercials and newspaper and magazine ads are no longer being looked at as closely when that's all consumers had to find the latest and greatest products. Now, when consumers want information on products the first place they turn is the internet. Like you said, consumers listen to other consumers' opinions on their experiences with that particular product. This not only lets other consumers know the pros and cons of that product, but it also lets the company and marketers know what consumers dislike about their brand and how they can better themselves. I completely agree that this is only the beginning of social networking sites. Social networking has exploded the past 3-4 years and with people figuring out how to perfect it and getting better ideas there is no doubt that social media marketing holds a whole new outlet for marketers of every size corporation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment about how organizations are able to get instant feedback on their products or services from their consumers. Today, most organizations have their own public forums where consumers can gather to voice their comments or concerns. Personally, I have been on forums to double check ratings on certain products before I purchase them and ask any questions that I may have. Online forums are beneficial to both the consumers and the producers. By receiving mass volumes of feedback on their products, producers are able to correct problems, make changes, and create better products for their consumers at an even faster rate than before. I am anxious to see what other steps producers will be taking in the future in order to bridge the gap between them and consumers.
ReplyDeleteA very well written and thoughtful post!
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