Our generation is tech savvy and with the slightest of our needs we prefer visiting ‘The Internet’ which serves as a one stop shop for everything under the sun. Finding a restaurant close by or ordering a pair of sunglasses to planning a trip or finding businesses we resort to our new best friend- The Social Media.
When Dunkin Donuts opened their first branch in Bangalore, they wanted to make sure their marketing gets them the best possible publicity for their intended grand opening. All they had to do was get more and more people like their Facebook page. A contest held by them offering free donuts for a whole year ensured that they garnered enough attention.
Result: The opening day saw a whopping turnout of over 4000 people, leaving all the other donut outlets green-eyed. This was a simple example demonstrating the power of Social Media.
A company may try and oppose Social Media as much as it can, but the loss would be that of the company. Any business which wants to thrive will need a lot of marketing. And Social Media can reduce the marketing costs with just posts or tweets which reach a wider audience.
With websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Pinterest a huge opportunity is presented to businesses to grab the attention of people and customers while simultaneously building a brand image.
It also presents the businesses with opportunities to form allies by connecting with other entrepreneurs and business owners. The world is shrinking and the major credit goes to the internet and the new age method of socializing.
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Another example of the marketing strategy can be provided with how Nike has expanded through Twitter, Facebookand its own specific social network Nike+. Introduction of several products and services under the brand Nike+ is being done through these social media channels. They have been constantly increasing their brand loyalty by providing services to customers and encouraging them to buy more products. Their fan following has crossed 22 million on Facebook. Nike has a very active customer service feeds on Twitter too, operating in order to resolve product questions and technical needs.
Similarly, Luxury automobile company Mercedes- Benz used their unique way of promotion by user interaction. Their campaign of ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ put the power in the hands of the viewer by allowing them to control the outcome of Mercedes ads. It not only garnered enough attention, but it also added an element of excitement. A high degree of target audience participation is also extremely crucial.
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Marketing is all about reaching to your audiences. Social Media not only helps you advertise your brand it will have a twofold impact to your brand reaching to a wider audience than predicted via word of mouth. This will not only boost your search ranks, it will allow you to have an online brand personality, build connections, better customer service, and stay ahead of the competitors.
Just like everything else there are good sides as well as bad sides. Any negative publicity can also get viral running a company’s image which will then get difficult to salvage. A right social strategy can propel a business to great heights.
Shraddha Singh
Ashish Bhatnagar
