In the modern world of business, using social media is one of the most effective marketing initiatives and also a great tool for customer service. I discussed the importance of this in my last blog. In this blog, I will be discussing the things that have to be considered when using social media as a digital marketing initiative. This includes great opportunities created and possible risks of using social media and a digital marketing initiative.

Sponsored Posts

Social media is a powerful initiative as it allows companies to reach far more people than they would through any other channel of communication. This is because the digital world we live in allows people to be connected through social media at all times. Something that will boost that reach is investing money into sponsored and boosted posts. Doing this will allow companies to receive a much larger reach. This is because social media can be used as a sales conversion funnel. If a company were to produce entertaining or engaging content on their social media channels, this could be a great influence for a customer to buy a product (Valos et al, 2017).

Analytics

One of the most important things when using social media as a digital marketing initiative is to analyse all of the metrics being received through posts, followers, likes shares etc. All of this is valuable free data that helps businesses further understand their customers (Tuten and Solomon, 2015). This is because it helps them discover what content, products or services that their customers like or dislike. If a business were to track and analyse their data to understand what their customers like, this gives them the opportunity to make accurate changes and only produce things that their customers like or will enjoy. If a business failed to analyse their data and metrics, they would be unaware of what their customers like and dislike. This can cause the business to keep posting things on their social media that their followers may dislike or not connect with which creates a negative attitude towards their brand (Dinesh, 2017).

Using the Right Channels

Not only is using social media to generate traffic to a website effective, businesses must make sure they are using the most effective social media channels (Tuten and Solomon, 2015). This can be done by analysing which social media platform is generating the most consistent likes, shares and engagements with the posts (Flores, 2013). Making sure the company are using the most effective social media channel allows them to generate more relevant traffic (Farris, 2010). Another way of making sure of this is by understanding their market and what social media they use. If their target audience is older, it is likely that Facebook would be the most effective, but if the audience is younger, Twitter or Instagram may be more effective.

Competitor Analysis

Another thing to consider with using social media as a digital marketing initiative is to analyse competitor social media. In order to be more successful, businesses must try and be more productive than their competitors over social media (Brown, 2014). This can include understanding their market better than their competitors, being more active and producing more interactive content. If a competitor has a far stronger social media it is likely that consumers are more likely to trust that brand instead. If a business’ competitors have a weak social media with a small following and low interaction, it is important to not copy their strategy.

Please find links below to resources that may help you further understand how social media is used as a digital marketing initiative and the benefits and risks of using it:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/11/the-top-10-benefits-of-social-media-marketing/#671f3b5a1f80

https://www.business.gov.au/info/run/advertising-and-online/pros-and-cons-of-social-media

References

Business.gov.au. (2015). Pros and cons of using social media for business. [online] Available at: https://www.business.gov.au/info/run/advertising-and-online/pros-and-cons-of-social-media [Accessed 5 Apr. 2018].

Brown, S. (2014). Six important factors to consider for a social media strategy. [online] Abacus Marketing. Available at: https://www.abacusmarketing.co.uk/six-important-factors-consider-social-media-strategy/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].

DeMers, J. (2014). Forbes. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/11/the-top-10-benefits-of-social-media-marketing/#671f3b5a1f80 [Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].

Dinesh, D. (2017). 7 things to consider before your next social media campaign. [online] Lucidpress Blog. Available at: https://www.lucidpress.com/blog/7-things-consider-before-next-social-media-campaign [Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].

Farris, P. (2010). Marketing metrics. 2nd ed. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall/Pearson Education.

Flores, L. (2013). How to measure digital marketing. 1st ed. Palgrave Macmillan.

Russell, J. (2018). 5 Social Media Security Risks and How to Avoid Them. [online] Hootsuite Social Media Management. Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-security-for-business/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].

Tuten, T. and Solomon, M. (2015). Social media marketing. 2nd ed. Harlow: SAGE.

Valos, M., Maplestone, V., Polonsky, M. and Ewing, M. (2017). Integrating social media within an integrated marketing communication decision-making framework. Journal of Marketing Management, 33(17-18), pp.1522-1558.

Thousands of companies all over the world use social media in order to attract more business and a chain of communication with their consumers. The reason for this is because there are a number of benefits to doing this. These include being able to have direct contact with consumers, it is another channel of communication to advertise through and everything is measurable through social media and can be analysed to further understand the consumer. Issues or risks with social media include the accidentally tweeting something inappropriate through human error, clicking on phishing links which cause security risks and having complaints to the company go viral and seen by anyone.

Opportunities

Social media is an incredible tool for businesses to use, which is why it is so popular. When businesses use social media, it allows them to use social communication channels to reach a wider audience that they may not reach using SEO or other digital marketing initiatives. This creates more opportunities for that business to make a sale, as they are reaching more potential customers. Using social media for a business is also useful as it allows businesses to use analytics and metrics to understand their customer further (Valos et al, 2017). This is by finding out the most common interests of their followers, how many people interact with post, how many people followed through and bought a product. This will allow businesses to understand their market and narrow down the people they should target with advertising. Another opportunity that social media creates is using it as a customer service tool. If a customer is happy with the service of a company, they may tweet or post about their satisfaction of the service or product received. If a customer is complaining about a product or service, the company can use the social media platform to show their good customer service. As this is on social media, any member of the public can see this and this can give a good impression, which could lead to a future customer.

Risks

Although using social media is a key tool and useful initiative for many companies, it still comes with some risks. An example of a common risk on social media is if a customer service issue is dealt with poorly, customers can take to social media and criticise the company for the public to see. This could lead in a fall in followers or even prevent future sales and consumer engagement (Valos et al, 2017). Another risk of using social media is the human error of posting something accidently that could be inappropriate or negative to their image. This can often make customers lose trust in the company and can cause a drop in followers and sales. One more risk from the use of social media is an account being hacked into and people embarrassing the brand. An example of this was Burger King, when hackers made Burger King look like McDonalds had bought it
out (Russell, 2018). This is embarrassing for the brand image.

Things to Consider

Investing money into sponsored and boosted posts will allow companies to receive a larger reach. This is because social media can be used as a sales conversion funnel. If a company were to produce entertaining or engaging content on their social media channels, this could be a great influence for a customer to buy a product.

Not only is using social media to generate traffic to a website is effective, businesses must make sure they are using the most effective social media channels (Tuten and Solomon, 2015). This can be done by analysing which social media platform is generating the most consistent likes, shares and engagements with the posts (Flores, 2013). Making sure the company are using the most effective social media channel allows them to generate more relevant traffic (Farris, 2010).

References

Farris, P. (2010). Marketing metrics. 2nd ed. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall/Pearson Education.

Flores, L. (2013). How to measure digital marketing. 1st ed. Palgrave Macmillan.

Russell, J. (2018). 5 Social Media Security Risks and How to Avoid Them. [online] Hootsuite Social Media Management. Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-security-for-business/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].

Tuten, T. and Solomon, M. (2015). Social media marketing. 2nd ed. Harlow: SAGE.

Valos, M., Maplestone, V., Polonsky, M. and Ewing, M. (2017). Integrating social media within an integrated marketing communication decision-making framework. Journal of Marketing Management, 33(17-18), pp.1522-1558.

Social media is becoming a more important tool for many companies and playing a bigger part in their marketing strategies (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2015). In order for companies to engage with a consumer base, one of the first steps they often take is creating one online. It is easier to grow an interest online than in stores in this new digital age of retail (Chaffey and Smith, 2017). This is because companies such as ASOS can promote themselves in ways to achieve interest from more people from their target market. This can include boosting a post on Facebook or sponsoring a post on Instagram or Twitter. An example of this would be if a company like Adidas were offering 20% off Student Discount, they would be able to promote this on their social media attracting students by using targeted post boosting.

One of the most important ways in which companies engage with their consumers over social media is through customer feedback (Chaffey, 2013). Whether the feedback is good or bad from customers, it is a good opportunity for businesses to show to the public how they respond to their feedback (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2015). This is a good opportunity to show people interested in their company how good their customer service is. For example, if someone was to make a complaint about an order or a product, and they handled the situation well, everyone would be able to see the service they offer. If someone were to share their good experience or praise a company on their customer service, that company could then share that with their larger following, for example retweeting a tweet of appraisal on Twitter.

Not only does responding to feedback on social media make a company look good, it also give companies such as ASOS to find out easily from consumers what their concerns are, to help them improve their services in the future. For example, if they find that a number of customers have the same issue with their service, they can focus on fixing it (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2013). Companies will find it easier to discover trends in their feedback when using social media. This can make it easier for companies to find recurring problems and also identify what they are doing right (Ferell, 2016).

An issue with social media as a channel for consumer engagement is that if a customer has a complaint, it is there for anyone to see. For example, if someone had ordered a parcel from ASOS and they failed to deliver it on time, that person could make a complaint for everyone to see. Further to this, if the company were to handle the complaint badly, this would cause more bad impressions on their customer service and possibly their company. This could potentially lead to a decrease in followers.

Once a company has established a following on their social media network, they can use this to advertise upcoming clothing lines, new products or other exciting news they would like to share with their consumers. An example of this would be if Topman were introducing a new line collaborating with another brand such as Adidas. Topman would then boost the post or try and get it trending with a hash tag like ‘#TopmanXAdidas’.

In conclusion, using social media marketing as channel for consumer engagement in the fashion retail industry is very effective. It is a great way to contact consumers and allow consumers to contact companies.

Reference List

Chaffey, D. (2013). Emarketing Excellence. 4th ed. Oxon: Routledge

Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2015). Digital marketing. 6th ed. Harlow: Pearson.

Chaffey, D. and Smith, P. (2017). Digital Marketing Excellence. 5th ed. Routledge.

Ferrell, O. (2016). Marketing strategy. [S.l.]: Cengage Learning.

Jobber, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2013). Principles and Practice of Marketing. 7th ed. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education

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www.salonsuitesolutions.com/social-media-whats-plan/

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