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Meaning of Social Media Advertising
Social media platforms. Social networking websites
Social networking refers to the use of applications and websites to find people to establish communication with each other and build a good relationship with others. It enables the firm to directly communicate with its customers. People around the world can communicate in an informal manner, share ideas and interests among themselves. This strategy makes the consumers to feel better than the traditional methods of selling and advertising. Eg. Facebook, Telegram, LinkedIn, Skype are some of the social media platforms used by businesses to promote and sell their products.
Following are the social media platforms:
- Facebook is the largest social networking widely used. It is the first app to have surpassed the landmark of 1 billion users accounts. Apart from connecting with friends all over the world, one can also access different apps on Facebook to sell or buy products online, to market or promote a business, brand or any other products or services by using Facebook ads.
- Telegram is a site that is used for messaging and it is available in more than 8 languages. Telegram is focused on the privacy and security of the messages that are sent to others using its platform. Telegram can be used on multiple devices at the same time. The users of telegram can also send photos, videos, stickers, and audio of any type.
- LinkedIn: LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional social networking sites and it is available in 20 different languages. LinkedIn is used by most of professionals across the globe as it serves as an ideal platform to connect with different kinds of businesses; LinkedIn also helps companies to hire ideal candidates. It has around 400 million members and it revolves primarily around the B2B market. It is a site that is uniquely suited for social media marketing campaigns. LinkedIn has 3 types of ads i.e. sponsored content, sponsored in mail and text ads.
- Skype is an app which is specialized in providing video chat, voice calls between computers, tablets and mobile devices through the internet. Video conference calls can also be done by using Skype. Skype-to-Skype calls are free of charge whereas the calls made through mobile phones and telephones are charged through debit – based user account system called Skype credit.2.
Microblogging
In this type of social media a user can post or broadcast short messages, updates or news on social networking sites by the company or by entrepreneurs to other subscribers of the service all around the world. Blogs are Web pages developed by the company that contains information about the product & services and allow customers to view and share information to others. It allows the user to create some innovative online pages and share the contents using hashtags. Eg:- Twitter and tumbler
- Twitter has provided unparalleled access for users around the world to share short messages, posts, photos etc. It has also revolutionized breaking news to connect with both niche and mainstream influencers. It is a viable network for organic engagement, it helps to advertise and promote their product and service. There are no charges a company or a brand needs to pay in order to reach their followers. It enhances the value of the platform even when running paid ads.
- Tumbler has been owned by yahoo since 2013. These apps serve as social media cum microblogging platforms. This is used to find and follow things that people like. It moreover provides the flexibility to customize almost everything. It can be also used for posting any kind of news, lifestyles also include multi-media to a short-form blog.
Media sharing
Media sharing is publishing the user’s own digital photos & videos. This type of apps enables the user to share photos and videos with other users either publicly or privately. Media sharing services can help businesses to show their product and service to potential customers. It raises awareness of the company brand, builds closer relationships with the customer. Some people use media sharing just for their personal purpose while companies are also using the same as part of their marketing strategy. Showing people a picture or a photo or a video of the product or service will often be more powerful and appealing than writing about it. Eg:-Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Youtube.
- Instagram was launched as a unique special networking platform that is completely based on sharing photos and videos. Sellers of the product who are able to incorporate visual media into their campaigns tend to perform best on this social media channel.
- Snapchat This is an app of an image messaging social platform that enables users to chat with friends by using pictures and posts. It also allows users to explore news and even check out the live stories that happening around the world.
- Pinterest is an American social media platform. Pinterest enables people to discover information of products or services by using images, videos, etc. As of August 2019, Pinterest had reached over 300 million users. Pinterest was launched on March 2009 and has over 1600 employees.
- YouTube is a platform where different kinds of videos in various languages can be shared. Companies can also upload their videos and can get feedback, likes, and dislikes for the video. People can also subscribe to the videos of brands or companies to be updated whenever a company comes out with a new ad of a product or feature. The headquarters of Youtube is located in San Bruno, California.
Blogging
Weblog shortened to a blog, is a Web page that contains dated posts, by one or multiple users often pertaining to a particular topic. Like most new innovations on Internet, many entrepreneurs saw a marketing potential in having a blog and blogging took off from there, but also, a blog can be a home business in and of itself. A blog features diary-type commentary and links to articles on other websites. Eg:- blogger, MySpace BloggerBlogger is a blog-publishing service that allows multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. Google is hosting these blogs and they are generally accessed from a subdomain of Blogspot.com, MySpace
- MySpace is a social media website that is available in 14 different languages. It was founded on August 1st, 2004. The headquarters of MySpace is located in Beverly Hills, California. The largest social networking site from 2005 to 2008 was MySpace. MySpace helps users to interact with people around the globe.
- Blogs are web pages that are developed by companies and which contain information about the products and allow customers to view and share useful information to people around the world. Blogs have a positive impact as well as negative impacts which are doing the job of marketing: When consumers post their views, comments, and feedback through blogs it helps the businessman to understand their customers’ likes and dislikes regarding their product. And it also helps the companies to understand how they can improve their product which is a positive impact.
Crowdsourcing
This is a source that provides or obtains needed services, ideas or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, particularly those from the online community. It can be in the paid form or unpaid typically via the Internet. Crowdsourcing often leads to innovation, problem-solving, or efficiency. It is powered by new technologies, social media, and the Web. It can take place on many different levels and across various industries. For example, Designhill is one of the largest crowdsourcing websites that provide services to clients in the field of graphic designing. Clients can choose from the packages that the company provides to avail the services.
Reasons why Social Media Advertising is better than traditional advertising
- Marketing ExpenseTraditional advertising is expensive (print, TV ads, etc). Companies have to frequently market for long periods of time and use prime space thereby rendering it very expensive for businesses with limited budgets. Social Media Marketing is more affordable. Companies can advertise and can test various campaigns with any sized budget.
- FlexibilityIts hard to change traditional advertising. From a tactical perspective, you may still be in a contract to execute multiple advertisement insertions and cant make changes without a penalty. From a creative standpoint, it takes longer and more money/time to change your messaging. Social media, and digital marketing in general, is much more flexible. Companies can change tactics, be more creative. Companies can edit, pause and generate new messages, even test variables on social media.
- Generating a DialogTraditional Media is a one-way street. Companies do not get into a dialog with potential customers. Theres no chance for immediate contact through this advertising medium. Social Media Marketing, is just that: SOCIAL. Its built for a two-way conversation. Marketers can engage in a dialog with customers online by hosting an online event. Queries of potential customers can be answered and this helps to generate business which is not possible in traditional mediums of print or tv advertisements.
- Measurement & AnalyticsAttribution models have improved for ancient media, however, the action somebody took which may be directly attributed to ancient ads continues to be a bit fuzzy. And often the analytics and reporting are not in real-time or as detailed as needed to make strong business decisions. Reporting and analytics area unit vise on digital platforms and specifically Social Media Selling platforms like Facebook. Statistics are updated in real-time, with detailed information on actions taken down to specific ads and specific targets and companies can clearly see which ad messages or audiences are performing better.
- Target AudienceTraditional media is still very wasteful. Marketers do their best to target their audience based on demographics, geographies, and listening, watching, or reading habits, but its still a pretty broad audience. They are often left communicating to groups who may never show any interest in their product or service. Audience targeting is wherever social media selling platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter extremely shine. Due to tools available online for segmenting and predicting a behavior pattern of customers who browse particular products online it provides businesses with the ability to build very specific messages or advertisements to target their potential consumers. In addition, marketers can segment audiences in order to serve each one the message that resonates most with them.
Advantages of Social Media Marketing
Following are the advantages of social media marketing.
- Builds brand credibility. Social media allows regular interaction between companies and customers. Constant interaction with customers enables a company to know about their problems and also devise suitable strategies to provide better services/products. This will help the company enhance its credibility in the market.
- Customer loyalty. To run any business nowadays one should have a strong customer loyalty base. People can address their problems through social media easily. By listening to customer opinions, customer satisfaction rises thus creating brand loyalty.
- Less Advertisement cost. The best way for a company to cut down marketing costs is to advertise online. By doing so saves on cost and also gives the marketer a wide reach. It only focuses on the key customers by narrowing down the target customer, thus avoiding wasteful expenditure.
- Large customer base. Almost half of the worlds population is on social media. A company can tap maximum target customers through social media itself if they use the right plans which can increase their sales thus increasing profits.
Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing
Following are the demerits of social media marketing.
- Clarity of Message The message a marketer wants to convey about its products and services has been clear and concise. The customers looking at it should be able to connect to it. If it is not the attractive audience will not pay attention as the internet is flooded with online advertisements.
- Negative Feedback It is possible to tarnish the image of business competitors who may engage in negative publicity on social media. News and messages spread like wildfire on social media and hence can ruin the reputation of a company within no time.
- Works only on a targeted segment of online users. A huge segment of customers is still not on social media. Hence a company has to marketer even in the traditional modes along with online marketing thereby not bringing down the cost of advertising.
- Trust, privacy, and security issues. This is one of the major hurdles when it comes to marketing through social media. Consumers are sometimes hesitant to shop online due to the increasing number of online frauds like hacking, phishing, etc most consumers prefer not to purchase products or transact online. Trust builds up when there are no security issues. At the same time, there are chances of leak of private information of the consumer which can hamper the buying process.
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