I believe social media has made an overall improvement in
the contemporary practices of marketing, PR, and advertising. Social media has allowed us to become
infinitely more engaged with our audiences. As Kerpen (2011) states, “You have a front seat to spontaneous chatter
of interest to your business. You have the ability to check in on prospective customers
or prospects discussing problems your company solves or listen to existing
customers talk about unrelated issues just to get to know them better.” (p. 14)
Before social media, customer service lines were used primarily for trouble
shooting or complaints, now aside from the traditional aspects of customer
service, we can also monitor the positives the audience speaks of and raise
awareness for potential problems in the future.
By listening to our audience rather than dictating, it
allows us to foster a two-way relationship. “If and when customers or prospects
acknowledge that you’re listening, you immediately strengthen your
relationships with them.” (Kerpen, 2011,
p. 15) By strengthening our relationships with consumers, we build a stronger
connection while stabilizing the foundation for brand loyalty. If we can garner
a following, this helps the brand become more successful and further growth.
With any new movement, technology, etc., there will be
certain challenges. The nuances created by social media have brought about
certain problems. For many organizations, it has created PR nightmares with
employees. Employees who post or tweet something offensive often become
recognized and shed negative light on their organization. Additional problems include
the increasing staff that may be required to monitor platforms and the
ever-changing environment social media dwells in. It’s nearly a full-time job
staying up to date on the technology itself.
The pros of the “social revolution” are bountiful. It helps
unite vast amounts of people whom otherwise wouldn’t traditionally interact. It
helps reach audiences that were previously untapped for small to medium
businesses, or just those growing. Before, only mega corporations could
mass-market and reach far and wide. Now, with the proper strategy, any business
has the capability of doing so.
Cons include the potential for misinformation to be spread.
Not everyone commenting on blogs, Facebook pages, and Twitter are legitimate
sources. This has the potential to hurt your brand if too much misinformation
is being spread. “Many blogs have turned into rumor mills, spreading
misinformation that people tend to believe just because it’s on the web.”
(TopTenSM Staff, 2013) Secondly, the
loss of productivity in the workplace has been a major topic of debate for
sometime. As the TopTen Staff (2013) states, “Social media platforms like
Facebook and Twitter are a direct cause for lost productivity at the workplace.
In a survey, 36% of people said that social networking was the biggest waste of
time in comparison to activities like fantasy football, shopping, and watching
television.” We have all witnessed and personally experienced how easy it is to
spend hours exploring the endless information on social media. This has become
a major problem with employers that has led to limited Internet access or the
blocking of many social media sites.
Overall, I believe social media has made a positive impact
on marketing, PR, and advertising. Between the instant access to consumers, the
endless engagement, and two-way relationship that is built using these
platforms; I believe social media has created limitless opportunities for
business and consumers alike.
References:
Kerpen,
D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to
delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing
on facenook (& other social networks). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Top TenSM Staff, (2013) 10
Pros and Cons of Social Media. Retrieved from:
Jordan,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the quote you included comparing social media to having an insider ear on spontaneous chatter – it truly is a form of “looking glass” that, when used wisely, can give brings a secret weapon in terms of understanding, decoding and segmenting their true target consumers.
You make a great point about social media being a fantastic tool for increasing brand loyalty. I am sure we can all think of brands that we feel infinitely more compelled to buy or use because of interactions we have had on the online sphere. Whether it be companies participating in popular culture jokes, or sharing humanized posts such as their employees at work, or even just shining through with a strong voice through Twitter or Facebook. Though these are just supplements of a well-thought out marketing plan – we attach them to the brand name and company – harnessing an emotional attachment and stronger loyalty.
Can you think of a time a brand’s personality really resonated with you – that may not have been possible prior to social media engagement?
Much like their current tongue-in-cheek advertising humor, I find Old Spice to be so funny on their social media accounts. Though I am clearly not the target consumer – I still follow their Facebook because the daily sarcastic posts are a breath of fresh air. I would say your theory is proven in my own case study – because I do recommend the brand to the men in my life, and even buy it for them. Though it is also a good quality product (in my personal opinion) – I think that quite a bit of my motivation is also because I associate the funny, sarcastic, entertaining posts as a “personality” that is an extension of the brand.
Check out their page and let me know your thoughts: https://www.facebook.com/OldSpice?fref=ts
Even the cover photo is a popular culture joke in itself – clearly appealing to the light-hearted atmosphere that surrounds social media.
Hi Jordan,
ReplyDeleteYou mention that social media can make employees less productive in the workplace. Kerpen talks about how it is a tragedy if a company does not allow computer access to Facebook for its employees (2011, p. 171). He feels that people will access their social media accounts through their phones anyways. In addition, there are so many business opportunities through social media, so employees should be using social networking to do their jobs better.
Check out this article about social media making us more productive: http://business.financialpost.com/fp-tech-desk/can-social-media-make-us-more-productive?__lsa=0571-5964
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on Facebook (& other social networks). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Allison,
DeleteI agree that trying to stop employees from using social media during working hours would be an impossible task. As discussed - smart phones and technology make it nearly impossible to block anyone from using these platforms at any point during the day.
In addition, many job incorporate social media into daily tasks. Especially in the marketing, advertising and PR field - I know most of my day revolves around monitoring, creating content and advertising on several social media platforms for many clients. Most of the hours in my day are on Facebook - how impossible it would be to avoid it.
However, I also understand Jordan's point in listing this as a possible negative. While the engagement we find through social media helps us to stay informed, keep up to date with relevant topics and constantly evolve our communication skills - it has also led to a generation of overstimulation. The internet has caused numerous psychological issues for heavy users, including overstimulation, hyper stimulation and sensory overload. Multi-tasking, a skill that used to be highly-regarded, is so overused due to the constant need for connectivity and communication - that many recent studies have linked multitasking during cognitive tasks with IQ score declines that were similar to what they’d expect if they had smoked marijuana or stayed up all night (Bradberry, 2015).
This is one of the reasons I feel it is even harder for advertisers or marketers to reach their target consumers - because it is increasingly difficult to find, hold and keep their attention on messaging without boring them or losing the prime moment for engaging them because they are already onto the next thought, ad or webpage.
Bradberry, T. (2015, March 27). Multitasking Can Damage Your Brain and Career, Studies Say. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
It is definitely harder to grab people’s attention. When we create healthcare videos for doctors, we run into huge challenges because of video length. Most of the data that we have points to developing videos that are five minutes or less. However, when we try to get these short videos through review, the legal or regulatory members typically need us to add in a bunch of extra information for fair balance, etc. This causes the video length to shoot up in total length and we lose our audiences before they watch the content in its entirety.
DeleteWhen I first started in the industry, it amazed me that people would not be willing to watch a video for at least 10-15 minutes. Because physicians have such busy schedules, they really only view something that grabs them from the first few seconds.
Hi ladies,
ReplyDeleteGreat points.
I can see both sides. As it is easy for employees to access personal accounts on their mobile devices, I feel it is more noticeable to catch someone doing so. If an employee is sitting back constantly scrolling through their phone, it's usually because they are checking out personal interests. As opposed to browsing on their PC where they could mask what they're viewing.
I also see where it is important to not take away privileges. When employers do this it may make employers feel threatened or cornered. This may lower morale and create animosity between themselves and management.
I have heard of some organizations allotting a designated amount of internet time each day for personal use. Do you feel this is fair? Or do you feel like it's another inhibiting management tactic? Interested to hear both your views!
Thanks for the insightful responses,
Jordan
I do not think companies should be allotting certain amounts of time for social media or other personal usage. As professionals, I feel as if we should be able to figure out what we need to do to get the job done. If I need to take a break from work and spend a few minutes here and there doing something else, I usually make it up by staying late or working at home in the evening. I know that the job still has to be completed, regardless of what I do during work hours.
DeleteEven if there was no social media, we find other ways to waste time at work. There is no way that we could be productive all day long. Instead, we spend time “chatting, paying the bills, surfing the net, daydreaming and waiting for the day to finish” (Fleming, 2015, para 17). Social media may be one of the ways we waste time at work, but it would be replaced by other activities if it was “banned” in the office.
Fleming, P. (2015, May 26). Viewpoint: Why do people waste so much time at the office? BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32829232.
Jordan,
DeleteI have to say I agree with Allison that social media (and the internet in general) is just the modern-day water cooler: a personal break for workers to have a "time-out" every once in a while. As Allison stated - taking away the technology will only leave other options (longer breaks, chatting, etc.).
I think this goal is particularly impossible for most modern companies. I know that at my job, a large chunk of my duties include managing client social media accounts. It would be difficult to ban the internet and/or social media when it is included in the job duties. Rather than try to place impossible standards of the usage - companies should instead evolve and learn how to manage it responsibly, maybe even incorporating productive efforts into how employees use social media during working hours.
Great points made by all!
Hi Jordan,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the two way relationship created by social media has been paramount in building trust and brand loyalty. You bring up an interesting and very real point about the PR nightmare facing many organizations due to offensive posts by its employees. Companies, now more than ever, are under a microscope and help responsible for everything and anything its employees do/say. You make an excellent point about the spread of misinformation and the potential damage it can do to a company, perhaps even permanently. As well as bringing up the issue of decreased productivity and distractions in the workplace cause by social media. Overall, however, social media's impact has been positive and only seems to grow and increase its reach and power with each passing day.
Great Post,
Debbie