The Rise of Social Media Marketing

The Rise of Social Media Marketing

by Yaprak Onur

Since I will be the first one to talk about social media I like to start with a definition. Social media has more than a thousand different definitions but all of them high lights the same couple of points. First, social media is an instrument of communication which allows and creates social interaction. Second, social media uses a highly accessible communication technology meaning the internet. And third, social media not only enables people to share different formats of information but also it allows people to see other people’s reactions to that information.

When social media concept first created; it was only used by youth to stay in touch with each other. Facebook created the biggest change when it allowed everyone to join; after Facebook more and more people joined to social networks. (I pinned the current user infographics for you, if interested click http://pinterest.com/pin/144396731773879508/) Then social Media was no longer restricted by region, demographic or age, it involved everyone.  And after that it did not took long for marketers to see the potential of social media. With more and more companies starting to use social media, new platforms started to emerge and the social media became a force to be reckoned with for both consumers and the marketers.  Check out the infographic at http://pinterest.com/pin/144396731773879574/ for a brief history of social media.

Marketers saw the potential of social media but they were limited, at first the companies jointed to social networks just like other users did, they didn’t have special abilities or pages they do have now but still they fund social media to be a perfect solution to engage with their customers and promote their brand. Facebook saw the new trend within the marketers to use social media as part of their integrated marketing plan and in November 2007 Facebook introduced Facebook ads as well as brand and business pages. (More about history of Facebook advertising http://pinterest.com/pin/144396731773880687/)

These new brand and business pages were different than regular user’s they allowed insights and targeted ads which means that brands and business got the ability to measure their social media success. Following that many other social media platforms started to differentiate their corporate accounts from regular user accounts, also many other facilitator programs and web pages started to launch for the easier use and analysis of the data for the social media platforms.

At that point many marketers realize that they can use social media in many ways such as; Public relations, customer service, loyalty-building, collaboration, networking, thought-leadership and last but not least customer acquisition. Now not only 93% of social media users believe a company should have a presence in social media but also 85% of social media users believe that a company should go further than just having a presence on social sites and should also interact with its customers. Because social media democratize communications, it allows dialogues and consumers want to interact with their favorite companies or brands.

That was the missing part of the traditional marketing, so the social media become the solution for a fast, interactive and engaging way to communicate for companies and brands. (For comparison of traditional media and social media please see http://pinterest.com/pin/144396731773879561/)

And now many consumers started to make their purchasing decisions in influence of social media; (Further information http://pinterest.com/pin/144396731773879556/) the social media become a road map for them therefore increasing number of companies joining to the social media networks and running different campaigns in social media.