The most effective social media networks for Digital Marketing

“The challenges facing global businesses and the people who lead them are now, more than ever, intertwined in the direct empowerment and involvement of customers and stakeholders. The world wide web – described by Sir. Tim Berners-Lee (founder of the internet) as (“an interactive sea of shared knowledge”) – has dramatically accelerated the shift to consumer-driven markets. For millennia, power has rested with those resources: first with land, then capital, and most recently, information. In a socially connected marketplace, shared knowledge is now emerging as the ultimate resource. Information wants to be free, and in these new markets it is: free of constraints on place, free of control on content and free of restrictive access on consumption”. (Evans. D & Dawsonera, 2011).

 

There are 7 main social media websites consisting of – Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram. Some are more useful than others for marketing and this blog will discuss which is the single best social media platform for marketing.

Commonly Used Social Media Platforms:

% of online adults who use the following social media websites, by year

Facebook is by some margin the most popular social networking site followed by Linkedin. All social media entities are showing growth over the last 3 years although Facebook the least. (Duggan. M et al. 2015)

 

The following results are based on data from the ‘Social Media Examiner, 2015’, the data was based on quantitative information from a questionnaire circulated among 3720 marketers, 61% of these marketers focus primarily on business to consumer (B2C) marketing and 39% primarily focus on business to business (B2B) marketing. The age of the participants was primarily 30-59 years old (69%) but all age ranges were involved, respondents were primarily from the United States.

Most important social platform for marketers:

Interestingly it was Facebook that was disclosed as being the most useful social media platform for marketing and growing a business with 52% of respondents selecting Mark Zuckerberg’s company. Linkedin came in second with 21% and Twitter third with 13%. (Stelzner. M, 2015)

 

So what makes Facebook in particular such a popular choice among these Marketers that responded?

1. The sheer number of users Facebook has (over 1 billion worldwide!!!), this means Facebook has the largest market share in it’s industry. (Kiss. G, 2014)

Facebook users(Kiss. G, 2014)

2. One of the biggest strengths is that when a user interacts with a company page on Facebook it is displayed on the ‘News Feed’ which then exposes all of the users friends to see the companies page. (Lesidrenska. S, Dicke. P, 2012)

3. “It’s extremely simple to update certain types of content on a Facebook page, including posts, photos and brand videos. This makes it easier to facilitate conversations about the brand and give fans a reason to make repeat visits to the page”. (Lesidrenska. S, Dicke. P, 2012)

4. Facebook allows a company to have direct, personal contact with it’s customers which can help the company to find out exactly what the customer wants and/or doesn’t want. (Lesidrenska. S, Dicke. P, 2012)  (What the customer wants it something that Amazon has focused on since their start-up and has resulted in huge success).

 

 

The single biggest benefit of social media marketing was stated to be “increased exposure” with 90% of respondents stating this. (Stelzner. M, 2015). If a company markets through social media effectively they can reap the benefits of many of the advantages listed on the chart all at once.

 

Conclusion:

It is clear to see that Facebook is an infinitely valuable resource for companies to tap into consumer ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. With a staggering 52% of respondents stating Facebook was their platform of choice for marketing (Stelzner. M, 2015) it is a fairly clear cut decision for both small and large businesses to get their Facebook pages set up to help raise awareness of their company. It should be noted that for a business to be successful it would be beneficial for them to market across all digital channels, a combination of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Youtube together can only help promote the company, increase awareness and therefore increase sales/profits.

 

References:

  • Duggan. M, Ellison. N, Lampe. C, Lenhart. A, Madden. M. (2015). Social Media Update 2014. Available: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014/. Last accessed 27th May 2015.
  • Evans, D. & Dawsonera 2011, Social media marketing: the next generation of business engagement, Wiley Technology Pub, Hoboken, N.J.
  • Jemima Kiss. (2014). Facebook’s 10th birthday: from college dorm to 1.23 billion users. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/04/facebook-10-years-mark-zuckerberg. Last accessed 27th May 2015.
  • Lesidrenska, S. & Dicke, P. 2012, “Social-media platforms and its effect on digital marketing activities”, Marketing ì Menedžment Innovacìj, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 44-52.
  • Michael A. Stelzner. (2015). 2015 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. Available: https://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/265458196?access_key=key-4mEDwlcvEMMQ5UZ1sf0O&allow_share=false&escape=false&show_recommendations=false&view_mode=scroll. Last accessed 27th May 2015.

 

 

 

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