Social media has come to be a part of daily life, but it goes beyond checking our Twitter mentions while we lay in bed every morning and skimming Instagram while being stuck in traffic. In Regina Luttrell's "Social Media: How to Engage, Share, and Connect" she compares social media to being a teenager in terms of how long it's been around, compared to other forms of media. Despite this, social medias impact hits hard. You can now look at any social media platform and see brands actively engaging their audiences, in both positive and negative situations.
Some reply to consumers on a main page that encapsulates their entire brand and some have entire pages set up solely for customer service help.
So how do you determine which social media platforms are right for your brand?
Keep in mind, one social media does not fit all. If your audience is mainly composed of 25+ mothers with full-time careers and children at home, don't lean so hard on Snapchat and Twitter. Instead, go for Facebook and Instagram, which are two of the highest ranking platforms for engagement with brands. Instagram stands at a hefty 10 times higher than Facebook, but it's 84 times higher than Twitter. And over a third of Instagram users have previously used their phones to buy products online, which makes them 70% more likely than non-users to purchase over their phone.
If you're ever unsure of what platform's user base consists of, take a look at Brandwatch. They help provide insight into the user bases of social media platforms- they basically do all the hard work so you don't have to.
Let me know in the comments what platforms you think are the most under (or over) rated for brands! And if you aren't in charge of a business' social media, let me know what you think of brands on social media. Does it make them seem like they're trying too hard or do you think it's nice to see them reach a more "human" level?
I definitely think several brands of products are overly used on social media. Some brands only focus on the product and not their consumers. For example, Domino’s twitter only shows pictures of pizza and does not include the public within their tweets. To publicize your brand on a social media outlet you should include the general public and your product. If you don’t do this then you could lose followers in the long run and lose customers and your business could suffer.
ReplyDeleteLots of products do a very good job with involving the consumers and have great connections with them. For instance, Denny’s does a great job with entertaining and giving information to its customers through social media. Often times businesses tweet out special offers, which brings in customers to their businesses. Often times, different brands will include stories within their social media outlets which are great ways to stay connected with brands.
I don’t think brands are trying too hard. All brands share what they want and run how they want. I do think that some brands have a mind of their own and get off hand. They think too much and are to the point where they are selfish and independent and don’t include the community around them.
I believe that social media is a very powerful tool for advertising and marketing. However, I often disagree with how it is presented. For example, sponsored ads on Instagram drive me CRAZY!!!!!!! They say these sponsored ads show up according to what users' interests appear to be, based off of their likes and followers. Instagram, what makes you think I am interested in this Tropicana mango orange juice or the newest Nikes?!?! All I do is like pictures of puppies!!! IT MAKES NO SENSE!!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I do appreciate brand promotion on platforms such as Pinterest. I can stand by that. Pinterest is all about what you, as a user, are interested in. They always hit the nail on the head. But it's weird, I never pictured Pinterest as being a social media site used for brand promotion. I always use it to find good recipes or workouts, not to find things to buy. I feel like this is effective, more so than promotion on Instagram because promotions are not as obvious and in you face. If I had a brand to promote, I would definitely utilize Pinterest.
Another platform that I feel is best for promotion is Twitter. As CJ mentioned, Denny's always has me cracking up. Taco Bell also uses humor to connect with their audience. These are the kind of advertisements I enjoy. I don't want to see ten photos in a row of the Quesarito on my timeline. I want to see active, comedic engagement, from the company, with its consumers.
Really well put together post! Though I don't believe that I need to mention that. From the looks of it, you are more versed in blogging than most are. The subject you have based this post around is actually more fresh than usual to me. I just finished an assignment relating to the sort of "origin story" of how social media and corporations met and became more intertwined. In 2009, Domino's pizza had a PR nightmare when two employees defamed their product by posting a video on Youtube. In short, the CEO of Domino's quickly realized that using a up and coming social media outlet as opposed to, say, their company home page to get the word out. You mention a quote from the text that mentions social media being a teenager in terms of how long its been around. In terms of how long its made a significant impact on businesses, however, we can think of it as being in a toddler in that regard! And it's only going to grow.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main reasons I was both excited and afraid to take this class was my lack of knowledge on social media (i THINK i posted on twitter correctly...I'm pretty sure). The topic you touched on in this post is one of the reasons I'm excited, because through all the muddle of personal opinions and arguments over ego that social media is filled with, there is a lot of potential for growing business publicity.