Facebook is a convenience tool social media tool which is very famous in terms of internet. The official report of Facebook indicates that the number of registered increasing dramatically. Though the data and analysis of Facebook itself might be unrealistic in some extent, but it does prove that Facebook plays an important part in the life of many users. Besides, many of these users prefer to log on Facebook every day in order to share what happened in their life daily, or showing their favourite like for friends, big shots and so on. It seems that Facebook could be able to consider as a representative one when talking about social media and the network. However, the definition of social media is so widely that Facebook is just one of the examples in this definition, especially in the field of marketing. In other word, social media does more than Facebook.
According to related researchers, social media is not restricted to social network, blogs, business networks, enterprise social network, video sharing and social gaming could all be considered as different contents of social media. Besides, social media has become one of the standards to critic whether a company is success or not. In marketing field, social media has become a compulsory part for many enterprises and business agencies’ strategy. However, it is a long way for a company assess to the area of social media. There might be many unpredicted difficulties and issues need to overcome. As an example, as the developing of technology, it is very simple to broadcast useful information to almost every corner of the world. Therefore, delaying reply users confusions or requirements may cause the customer dissatisfaction. This will lead to many customer decide to purchase other substitute productions and then resulting the decrease profit of a company would be gained. Based on the analyses, a successful combined social media and business company needs to be both of careful and adopt suitable, then evolving potential customers. By this way, an enterprise could be able to distinguish that whether the current strategies is correct and when is the most property time to response consumers and suppliers. It does very helpful in terms of related interactions of a company.
It is worth to point out that on the corporate level, social media is not only important to decision objectives but also necessary of measuring success or not by the way of using relevant metrics. Those metrics are not limited by the number of visits, page views, members/fans, impressions, incoming links and the average time of visitors preferring to spend on websites. Besides, there is no doubt that not every single platform of social media is suitable or relevant for business. As an example, photo sharing, and social gaming might be limited to business as their specific characters. What’s more, some consumers prefer to use internet to browse some websites which focus on purchase such as Alibaba and Amazon. Although many costumers might not like some of the companies which are combined with those online purchase, but the influence of the website itself are more than those companies. As an example, though consumers may not be very sacrificed with those companies, assume the situation that their first-choice company are out of stock occurs, they might choose the company even they do not like. This is because they have been accustomed to use the website which they prefer to.
Generally speaking, just depending on by registering a simply account or an official website to complete social media for a company, is not enough. What they need to do is updating useful information regularly and trying to reactive customer in order to reach a higher communication with consumers. According to related studies, the better communication a company does, the better a company doing well in social media comparing other competitors.
Overall, it can be told that Intel is posting the highest number of messages and uploading most videos, but receives the lowest number of views, ‘likes’, comments and shares, while Samsung Mobile’s and Disney’s posts seem to be more popular among their fans and followers.
Sources:
Aichner, T, & Jacob, F 2015, ‘Measuring the degree of corporate social media use’, International Journal Of Market Research, 57, 2, pp. 257-275, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 May 2015.
Katona, Z, & Sarvary, M 2014, ‘Maersk Line: B2B SOCIAL MEDIA–“IT’S COMMUNICATION, NOT MARKETING”‘, California Management Review, 56, 3, pp. 142-156, Health Business Elite, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 May 2015.
Marketing Management Blog T1 2015 
Great article. Certainly now these days social media has been used frequently by large corporate. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, Blog have been used a lot for many companies to market their products, services and brands through their their social networks. According to Nichole Kelly, there are 4 ways to measure social media;
1) measuring social media exposure – track growth rate as a percentage of the aggregate totals to avoid the duplication of the users;
2) measuring engagement
3) measuring influence
4) the lead generation funnel
Ref.
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/4-ways-measure-social-media-and-its-impact-on-your-brand/
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Thank you for your comment! I suppose that these four ways are very value for both theory and practical! In my view, I might be more interested in the last one!
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Due to the rapid development of today’s network technology, social media tools have become diverse.
Therefore, for the enterprise, if the social media as a marketing tool, it should be with the continuous development of technology and to make adjustments on the channels and methods.
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Gorgeous view, it is so widely when social media has been talking about. It does difficult for a enterprise to do it at the top.
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Like many communications channels, I think that many companies (both large and small) enter the social media ‘jungle’ without a clear objective in mind. Therefore, they find themselves bereft of strategy and often get caught out by savvy consumers when their social media activities are not aligned with their brand personality or values. It seems hardly a week goes by when one company or another is exposed by a social media ‘disaster’ that could have been avoided by more disciplined alignment with their offline marketing strategies.
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It does a long way~~~also promoted some related industry and some issues coming out~
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To survive the fast moving corporate business world, one must truly utilise the tools availble. Social media provides such a tool that allows businesses to not only reach customer on wide base, but also gauge customer satisfaction and get a better understanding of their market
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Thanks for comment. Truth does the vital!
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you know, the best aspect that i love social media is its unique interactivity. This made it very easy for people to share their content. For example, every customer in social media network can be a spokesperson for the brand. Moreover, the interaction about your brand among customers can be quite credible.
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Agree! Credible is vital!
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Great article! I totally agree with the post above. But because social media is its unique interactivity companies have to be quite careful with their content. For that social media guidelines could be sensible. Further monitoring tools such as the four from the first post are important for measuring social media exposure.
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Exactly,it does a long way for the top~
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Nice article,
As my understanding The goals of social media marketing can’t be just to gain likes, fans, and retweets. it is more towards the contents distribution that companies post on there. Because, this could be very sensitive for both users (reader) and company itself in term of feedback from social media users (comments, likes). Social media that used for marketing is really more than an online popularity trend, and the more business owners understand that, the better they can use social media as useful tool for their companies. The benefits of social media marketing directly can be seen as real these days.
1.Increase brand awarenes,
2. improve brand loyalty,
3.Higher Brand authority,
4.Increase sales,
5, Decrease marketing costs, etc.
To conclude, social media, when done right, can lead to such a great breakthrough of business. its all about social media utilization quality and maximizing the potential of social media.
Cheers !
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I’m sooo happy that you thinke it is interesting!!I agree your view of that we should use social media in a right way!
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This blog helps to provide a model with which to measure the degree of corporate social media use or, in other words, the extent to which companies are exploiting the potentialities of single or multiple social media platforms. This is, however, explicitly different from using metrics to assess the success of social media activities, as it is purely measuring how intensively a pre-defined group of social media is utilized, taking into account the frequency of social media activity by the brand as well as the related user reactions. The degree of corporate social media use helps companies and market researchers analyze single brands or companies and compare them with other brands, competitors or industry averages. The degree of corporate social media use is a useful indicator, which should be combined with social media metrics in order to draw better conclusions about where to increase or intensify social media activities.
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I’m very glad that you support this blog. Social media does helpful for a company measuring market research. It also list more clearly the next strategy for a company or a promotion. It should be regarded as an useful tool.
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Nice Blog!
When it comes to social media, it really comes down what you are trying to achieve as a business or an individual. The potential of social media power used to enhance the business is high if it is used in right way to boost the business. People like to do with business with someone they like or trust and social media can help to let people know about you and build trust.
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Glad you like it! I agree with you that he potential of social media power used to enhance the business is high if it is used in right way to boost the business. Social media does helpful to enhance consumer and brand!
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Social media have two face which collects the people information by getting directly and behind that, database are the powerful resource for any marketer to have an resource of location, attitude, nature and trends of people. This kinds of portal is not safe to share our personal reflections. Though company is keen in attaining the database of customers and evaluating the individual mind. Data Analytics are collected or tracked by the company and they are sometimes selling the privacy details to third party vendor. Social media is something which gives fun to customers and getting back more valuable data from the customers.
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Every coins has two sides. We need to make it that it uses by a correctly way~
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Great blog, thanks. We will need to know the client base before joining a social network to make sales. Ensure the customers are not spending their time elsewhere. I agree Facebook it a good social media, but for those brands without a decent amount of budget to be put in, might hardly get much visibility.
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A great blog reflecting the real situation and I can totally understand the difficulties. I am working in a small company and we are now starting to communicate with customers on Facebook. It sounds very easy but it’s actually hard to reach the target customers at the beginning. For example we need to boost the post so that more people can see it (this incurs an extra cost), and more effort is needed, like replying the comments as soon as we can, and fulfilling our promises to the customers.
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Thank you for your understanding. I had some experience for working in a international trade company. Besides, this is my bachelor education background. Similarly with you, I did some communication with our clients via social media tools. Actually it does hard because there are always many unpredicted factors. Many delay might be caused at the same time.Anyway, it does a tendency!
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I agree with dandries07!! As we said social media – when done worng – can be very dangerous. A negative image through a shitstorm is just one of several disadvantages. But when done right there are many advantaged which can be achieved through social media. I think another advantage is that companies can recognise and react faster on new trend!
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I found a couple of interesting stats from a media research page:
As of September 2014:
71% of online adults use Facebook
23% of online adults use Twitter
26% use Instagram
28% use Pinterest
28% use LinkedIn
Look at these numbers, thats crazy – in a positive way 😉
Resource: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/
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Great article, thanks for this.
As a lawyer, I have sat through many presentations by lawyers on the ‘risks of social media’. But when I put a marketing hat on, I feel that a more useful presentation might be ‘the risks of NOT participating in social media’
Our clients, competitors, employees, potential employees etc are all on social media. It’s an absolutely essential part of nearly every kind of business – including law!
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I could not agree more!!!!Every measures and processes should be related to law. In particularly, as the development of the technology, risks of NOT participating in social media becoming more and more necessary. There are many issues and advantages need us to do.
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There are many benefits and disadvantages of using social media. A social networking site can be a good way to make connections with people with similar interests and goals. They can be a way to connect with or “meet” people that a student may not have had the opportunity to before-including other students, staff, faculty and even alumni. Just as social media provides another avenue for making friends, it also makes it possible to renew old ones. Thus, meeting people and staying connected with classmates and friends is a major benefit of social networking sites.
The disadvantage of social media are Identity theft is a significant risk of social networking. Personal details like one’s full name, names of family members, phone number, birthday, address, and place of employment can all be used by identity thieves. “Passport-style” profile photos also make it easier for identity thieves to replicate your online presence.
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Gorgeous Views!Thanks for comment. Just like you said, there are many risks of social networking. I suppose many units member have the same experience which is account has been stolen. Many personals could be able to disclosure by this way.
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There is also an annoyance factor of consumers. The longer the advertisement, the annoyance factor is more. Thus,online advertisements should be short term. These advertisements have one more benefit over television advertisements that one doesn’t needs to be active. One ca watch them according to their availability and comfortable.
There is a book of Integrated Marketing Communication by Parry on Deakin library. Its got good research material on online advertising.
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I agree. The longer period is, the higer risk it does. Ads could be able to do by many ways and tools not only television.
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Social media has certainly emerged as a tool for doing business for organizations world over. It is well accepted and realized that individuals across the world are more glued to their networks vis-à-vis the traditional forms of communication. It is also imminent to mention that if an organization wants to promote its product, doing it via one channel may not be a feasible thing ,thus the idea of integrated communication mix and successful organization treat social media as an integral part of the IMC. The fundamental is to utilize the power of this vehicle in the right tone. As companies have a clear vision of using traditional media so should be the case with the social media or it may turn out to be a disaster for the company. If the organizations are not clear or do not have an expert on the panel to guide, they can take the help of web consulting firms to harness the power of social media. It is a fact that is well accepted social media is the key to reach the target customer of today so one must use it appropriately for desired results.
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Execellent commment! There are many different parts and contents when we talk about IMC. Besides, social media does a key to achieve widely target and using correctly.
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To me its about understanding why you want to use social media. I think many companies have thought Facebook in particularly as something they need to be part of because everybody else is doing it without understanding what they want our of being their and what is involved in maintaining a social media presence.
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I tend to agree with sharpym above – the use of social media for marketing really depends on your target market and whether social media is the relevant to them means of obtaining information about products they desire. Perhaps Intel aren’t getting many “likes” as a result of their target market not being particularly active on using social media for this purpose? I would doubt that any medical company marketing medical aids for the elderly population would get much in the way of results from a social media marketing strategy. As with all forms of promoting a product, social media needs to be part of a marketing strategy that has social media as part of the integrated marketing communications.
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I find it interesting how easy it is to tell which companies have jumped into social media because they’ve been advised they need to, without properly understanding it! Both big and small businesses seem to suffer from this. For example, it’s not advised to start deleting comments on your Facebook page just because they’re critical of your business practices: http://www.cmswire.com/cms/customer-experience/the-smuckers-facebook-fail-how-to-protect-your-brand-027083.php#null
And if you’re going to start a Twitter hashtag for your campaign, think very carefully about how it might be hijacked and used against you: http://mashable.com/2013/10/19/hijacked-hashtags/
Adept use of social media clearly requires a very precise understanding of customer perception – if you misjudge how your customers perceive you, the backlash can be swift and provide viral marketing of the very unwanted kind.
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Social Media today is a one of if not the most important online communication channel for engaging consumers (both B2B/B2C) although the so called “jungle” can be a little daunting at first, with the amount of information you’re able to distribute to vast audiences with a click of a button it definitely has massive perks. I’ve worked across traditional comms channels for a while and in the past the most frustrating aspect of my job was trying to explain spend without having any real metrics to back it up. The advent of measurable content and big data has definitely made my life much much easier. In any case with clear objectives in mind, content distribution parameters and social media policies in place most organisations will find Social Media helpful. It’s just a matter of how much they’re willing to invest in it that poses the biggest question.
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Very good topic, If social media is used wisely, it could become an effective business tool. Social media platform could generate revenue by building sort of community, ads, or costumer service area. If your brand could made an impression among costumers, they will be able to easily recommend to their friends by sending link or posting on their account. In addition, you can simply do research by logging on to see what your competitors are doing in this space or finding what your costumers say about your brand which is very important so create your next move.
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Because of the fast advancement of today’s system innovation, social networking devices have get to be differing.
In this manner, for the venture, if the social networking as a showcasing device, it ought to be with the constant advancement of innovation and to make changes on the channels and routines.
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Good topic. In my opinion, when company wants to measure their degree of corporate social media use, they have to create their goal in detail. After they know which core value would be archive, multiple media approach could be design to help them get on this. Metrics would be developed to suit these goals. Now, we easily measure conversion rate from visitor to identify the level of awareness
http://www.forbes.com/sites/christinemoorman/2015/01/18/measuring-the-impact-of-social-media-on-your-business/
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Working in a Local Government context it has been interesting to see how this sector has sought to incorporate social media tools such as Facebook. This sector is traditionally very risk adverse, and social media is viewed as carrying many risks – not least of which is the provision of a public platform that can be used ‘against’ the or
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… apols – I’ll continue… used ‘against’ the organisation. ie. it is empowering to individuals who are dissenting if they find that there are many others with the same view. Thus, a ground-swell can develop which can wield great influence in a political environment and also do considerable ‘brand damage’.
However, many Local Governments have still proceeded, recognising that the platform is out there and will be used by the community in this way irrespective of whether Local Governments provide it directly. Ultimately, the choice is whether or not Local Government chooses to give itself a voice in this domain, or remains unable to engage and respond to the many other voices.
Thus the risk of not harnessing these platforms ultimately outweigh the risks that are associated with using them.
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Interesting view! I agree with you that ‘the risk of not harnessing these platforms ultimately outweigh the risks that are associated with using them.’ There are many factors cause these and still a long way to make all the useful resources using better.
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Hi,
Great article! I totally agree with the post above.
Some of the advantages of using social media include:
Reach out to new audiences who may be more open to engagement on social channels
Stand out from the competition by doing something different from everyone else in the industry
Grow influence and authority across a range of social channels
Benefit from the growing impact of social search by sharing campaign content socially
Tap into your own – and external – communities across multiple social networks
Generate targeted website traffic from new sources
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I agree with you for those advantages! Social media does promote the external communication between a company, an enterprise,or a business agency and consumers. Besides, specially in the area network, it generates a new ‘traffic’ or ‘transport’ way for the internet.
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Proper use of social media has many advantages. I’m doing a small cross-border trade.In the beginning I used bolg to send ads and attracted many customers. When the customer groups become large, I kept on send advertising of various products on bolg, in order to retain existing customers and increase customer confidence.
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Valuable experience!
Before I came here, I did customs declare. There are many ways to attract new customers. Blog is one of the best choice, we would be able to post ads for the blog and then trying our best to achieve our goals which has been designed.
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