Among some of the most popular sites
like Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress, and Pinterest, businesses have created the
most valuable advertising for their brand yet - word-of-mouth advertising. Its ease of use, application to measure
effectiveness, and ability to reach niche target markets are why they have
become a successful and affordable source of advertising for many businesses.
Facebook has pioneered the domino
like effect of social media with their use of likes and shares. When a user “likes” something, it’s like
saying they are validating the brand, product, or service. This then is shared and liked by their
friends, then their friends, and consequently creates a waterfall of liking and
sharing across the web. Facebook has
incorporated promotions to generate more followers. For instance, a restaurant can post a coupon
for a free meal available for individuals that either like or share their page
or post. This increases the brands
over-all follower base and target reach to consumers of all ages. Since Facebook has become more of a
communication hub for friends, family, and acquaintances, the reach for who
sees likes and shares is insurmountable.
Similar, Twitter is also a hub for
liking, sharing, and re-tweeting of content.
Its purpose is much of the same as Facebook in the fact that it allows
for liking and sharing of other people’s content. It’s a bit different in the fact that you are
only allowed to share 140 characters or less, however, has the same effect as Facebook in the fact that it allows consumers to like and share content that
they approve of. I personally use
twitter because I find the “trending” topics to be interesting. It’s fun to be able to find and talk to
people from all over the world about live topics and events. Last Sunday, while watching the American
Music Awards, I was on Twitter following the tweets of celebrities and others
related to the event. For a business,
the ability to become a “trending” topic can create a global word of mouth
regarding your brand, which no other form of advertisement has the ability to
do in such a quick amount of time. For
example, Radovan had a Rapid-Response Twitter Campaign in 2011. On the brink of a historic snowstorm, social
media was buzzing with news and updates about the weather. The campaign engaged a virtual snowball fight
that had more than 1,000 consumers changing their profile picture to a
Rayovac-branded widget and hurling #snowballs at friends and family on global
proportions. Not only was the brand able
to engage, it was shared, liked, and re-tweeted across the globe over a 48 hour
period.
Sites like Wordpress have given
businesses an affordable way to create websites for their companies. Small businesses are now able to create
content curation sites and links in relation to their product or services,
further creating validity in their market.
Wordpress has enabled businesses to compete with larger corporations in
being able to compete online as well as offline.
Pinterest is an online cork or pin
board where users can create boards for subjects that they like. This is kind of like content curation in pin
board style. It’s a way for businesses
to create interest in a product or service by creating intriguing online images
that are pinned and re-pinned by millions of users. What’s so great about this is the “pin”
widget that can be added to a user’s task bar.
From there businesses can easily “pin” items for their website, blog, etc. Just like Twitter, and Facebook, the act of
“pinning” is creating a word-of-mouth advertisement by sharing ideas from user
to user.
One of the best ways to manage a
brand’s social media sites is to invest in a social media management platform
like HootSuite. HootSuite is affordable
software that allows users to sync content across all their social media sites
by the use of calendars and scheduling.
Software like HootSuite is going to give businesses the best strategy in
managing their content timing.
References
Joe Plummer, S. R. (2007). The Online Advertising
Playbook. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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