Is social media really important?

So we’re in this class called emerging media, where much of our study revolves around social media.  Is this really a lifestyle change in society worth learning, understanding, and adding to our own daily routines?  Or is this a come-and-go technology that will be replaced with something bigger and better, only to leave all the marketing efforts and businesses wondering, “why did we put so much time and money into that?”

My opinion is YES, it is definitely worth getting involved in and understanding its power and value in both social aspects and marketing.  Yes it’s a norm for the younger generations (with over 90% of them belonging to a social network,) but it is fast becoming popular with people over the age of 50 too.

From a marketing standpoint, if you aren’t involved in social networks, you are soon to be left behind.  You not only need to learn about it and understand it, you need to be actively involved. 

Is this “emerging media” class necessary?  Definitely!  In fact it could almost be a degree in itself.  For someone like me who is basically new to most features of emerging media, it’s a lot to cram into a single class.  And, I’m sure companies employ or are constantly seeking individuals with expertise and experience in how to navigate and market via social networks and other forms of emerging media.  It’s a job description of its own, not even including other forms of marketing that go into an entire campaign.

I found this great YouTube video that really nails down the importance of social media.  I’ve watched it a few times, and am amazed at some of the facts. 

In fact I think I’m going to show it to a few of my family members who are very out-of-touch with technology and think social networks are just chat rooms for predators and hackers.  There are still so many people who just don’t understand what social media is all about.

Twitter & B2C Companies

Is Twitter really a valuable means of communication for B2C companies, or is it simply another attempt to hopefully reach target audiences?

According to a research by Hubspot, a company’s lead growth dramatically increases as their number of Twitter followers increase.  This research says that, “A B2C company with one to 20 Twitter followers will generate a median of 11 leads per month.  When the number of Twitter followers increases to 21-100, this median grows about 27% to 14.  However, the most significant boost in median lead generation from B2C corporate Twitter account occurs when a company’s number of Twitter followers enters the 100 to 500 range,” (http://www.marketingcharts.com/direct/more-than-100-twitter-followers-boost-b2c-leads)

Apparently Twitter IS a valuable component to the marketing tactics of B2C companies.  Twitter is becoming such a social norm in our society that it would be crazy for companies to not take advantage of the abundance of consumers available at their fingertips. 

I was interested to take a quick look at how many followers a few different companies currently have.

Old Navy http://twitter.com/OldNavy  has 16, 302 followers

Best Buy http://twitter.com/BestBuy  has 22,552 followers

Food Network https://twitter.com/FoodNetwork has 101,316 followers

This same research by Hubspot also stated that B2C companies with a Twitter account generate approximately twice as many monthly leads than companies without a Twitter account.  That surprises me that Twitter has already had that much of an impact for companies. 

Twitter truly isn’t just a social site for family and friends.  It holds a great value for marketers and companies to reach out to their consumer base and interact with them personally.

I am very new to Twitter and currently don’t follow any companies and until taking this Emerging Media class at WVU, didn’t actually realize the value it held for marketing purposes. 

After scanning the Twitter site and learning more about it, I think that it’s not enough for companies to have a Twitter account.  In order to engage consumers they need to be tweeting on a consistent basis; and post interesting comments and information that keep consumers’ attention, and make them want to respond and even retweet the information to others.

I just wonder how many of these huge numbers of followers are actually active and influenced by company Tweets?

I am so not a Tweeter!

 

As a requirement of last week’s assignment, I have initiated my Twitter site.  But….I can’t figure that network out for the life of me.  I’m very used to Facebook and it didn’t seem as complicated to get going on.  Twitter just doesn’t offer enough direction for me. 

I found a few celebrities that interest me and added them to my list of who I’m following.  But do I really care to “follow” them?  I don’t mind catching their recent sightings, paparazzi mishaps, or tabloid scandals on the Insider, but to get a daily (or more frequent) update on what they are thinking seems very odd; I don’t really know these people.  It makes me feel like a very bad, uninterested stalker-wanna-be. 

I do admit, RevRun does have some uplifting quotes and inspirational messages, but even that becomes information overkill.  Maybe I’m just not cut-out to tweet.  Or maybe I’m just not too interested in other people’s lives to the point that I need to know what crazy things they are doing and thinking on a continual basis.   

With so much hype about Twitter, I guess I was expecting something miraculous each and every time I log on.  

My main intention of becoming a citizen of the Twitter world was to get a glimpse of the marketing potential that it holds.  To date, I having been too successful at digging into the opportunities that await companies through the tweets of consumers.  

Ok, so enough of my rant about a social network that I am apparently to inept to navigate.  I will attempt to give it another try for the sake of emerging media insight.  If anybody has any helpful tips, great people/companies worth following, or just want to tell me that I’m crazy and Twitter is a heaven sent; please feel free to comment. 

I did at least find this helpful video with instruction on how to use Twitter:

 

But I’m still looking for some information pertaining to the benefits and value of Twitter for marketing purposes, through first hand Twitter experience.

Promoted Tweets

Today Twitter is revealing their advertisement model.    Twitter users will now be seeing sponsored advertisements at the top of their search results pages, called Promoted Tweets.

How are people going to respond to this?  Most Twitter users view it as a communication link to friends and family, and a way to follow celebrities and other influentials through their daily tweets.  But is our Twitter social friendly environment about to be taken over by advertisements?  Granted an ad or two every now and then wouldn’t be much of a problem, but I’m wondering how far this will go.  My concern is, if Twitter doesn’t keep some sort of handle on the amount of advertisements, people will become annoyed and view it as unwanted clutter.  Hopefully it is a channel that can be congenially shared between social tweeters and advertisers, without stifling the image and user-friendly atmosphere of Twitter. 

I’m not sure if this will have a good impact on companies or not.  People, who already like, dislike or want to know more about a company, product, or brand already have the opportunity to follow them on their Twitter site.  Will additional advertisements be viewed as too invasive, or too pushy?

If done correctly and carefully these ads have potential to create a lot of buzz for companies and attract more followers.  From a marketer’s standpoint, it’s a chance to specifically reach people within their target market.  As a consumer (average Twitter user) I wouldn’t mind getting a few advertisements every now and then from companies that I am interested in, or about products that relate to my needs.  But, I do get annoyed with advertisements that continually show up on things like my email for products that have absolutely no connection with me or my lifestyle.  It gives me a poor perception about that product and company.  That’s why I say if these Promoted Tweets are done correctly and carefully it could be very successful.

I suppose we’ll have to wait and see how it all unfolds.

Blog Commenting

Since I’m pretty new to blogging, and I’m learning about it from a marketing view, I have started to wonder how to effectively comment on blogs from a company standpoint.  I suppose if you are simply blogging as an alternative to journaling, and writing or commenting about whatever comes to mind or whatever is going on in your life, the comments aren’t so critical or necessarily important.  But, when the blog is a marketing tactic or a method to interact with consumers, it is important to know what to say and maybe more importantly what not to say.  A comment can have a huge affect on both the consumer and your brand/company.  You have to keep in mind that no matter what you say; you are representing the brand.

I found an article entitled, Importance of Effective Blog Commenting for Social Media Marketing Strategy. This article was pretty informative for one who is still learning the basics, like myself.  It states, “From a search engine optimization point of view, there are a number of positive effects of blog comments referring to driving qualified traffic to your site.  Blog comments are an effective online marketing technique because they tend to bring more qualified and motivated traffic,” (http://www.onlineglobalbiz.com/importance-of-effective-blog-commenting-for-social-media-marketing-strategy/)

This article also notes that, “Commenting on blogs demonstrates to readers that you’re active, passionate about a particular topic, and that you want to add value to the topic that’s being discussed.”  I think this definitely holds true, especially for B2C marketing.  Blogging is a great way to create relationships with consumers and build on a positive image of your company.  Feedback from consumers is very valuable to the company, but feedback/comments from the company directly to consumers is also valuable in nurturing a connection with your target audience.  As a consumer, I would find it exciting to receive a comment from a company after posting my opinion or question.  It makes you feel important, valued, and it does give you a sense of connection with that particular brand.  At the very least you know that someone IS listening and concerned enough to respond.

Blogging is, in my opinion, a critical part of customer service.  Maybe not a necessity for all companies, but if used, should be treated as a form of customer service.  Whether the blogs or comments are informal or specifically focused on a certain topic; it is still the voice of a company with the potential to support or damage the reputation of a brand.  Companies can’t sit back and just listen anymore, they have to get involved.  Blogging is a growing method of generating quality buzz for your company and more and more consumers are getting involved with the brands they like, don’t like, and want to know more about.  As stated in another article, “Done well, your company blog will create more awareness, customers, press, publicity and goodwill than anything else you can do,” (http://www.instigatorblog.com/how-to-create-the-perfect-company-blog/2008/01/04/).

Will Augmented Reality Applications Soon Become Mainstream?

Doing a little research into the Best Buy Company unveiled a new technology that I was completely unaware of; Augmented Reality.  For those who are, like me, not sure what that is I offer this brief explanation.  “This new technology called augmented reality blurs the line between what’s real and what’s computer-generated by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell.”

Right now there are some applications available for the iPhone and other phones, but it hasn’t really become mainstream yet.  The opportunities and capabilities of this new technology are still being harnessed and discovered.  I think in time it is going to become the norm.

Best Buy has used augmented reality 3D-technology as an insert advertisement for its Twitter followers.  “To experience the technology consumers visit www.bestbuyin3d.com , where they are instructed to hold the insert up to their Web cam.  Once the page appears on the screen, a Toshiba computer pops out at them, which they can rotate to view different product angels,” (http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/digital/e3i9a9104a5cd264656a8f114f985d0948d )

It provides a feeling of actually having an object in front of you.

This new technology gives marketers the opportunity to bring products to life without having to go to a store.  Many people like to see or have some sort of experience with a product before they make a purchase.  Augmented reality provides these experiences and can make browsing the web for a new home entertainment system so much more interactive, informative, helpful, and convenient.

Will more companies and major brands begin to use this application for marketing and promotional tactics?  I can see places like Disney World (if they already aren’t doing this) creating real time maps of the park for vacationers to be able to breeze through the attractions without the hassle of flip-flopping a map around to figure out where they are and where they want to go.

For more information about Augmented Reality check out this article “How Augmented Reality Works” at http://www.howstuffworks.com/augmented-reality.htm

It’s a very remarkable and interesting topic to learn about, especially if you are in the marketing field.

Eventually it will come with a lot of privacy issues.  It’s hard to imagine, but I’m sure the day will come when you can point your phone at a person and immediately receive information from their Facebook, Twitter, or other profiles.  (You’ll never meet another stranger.)

Too Young to Tweet?

Kids these days are extremely advanced when it comes to the use of technology.  They’ve grown up with computers and the internet.  They don’t know a world without instant connection to people, news and information at their fingertips.  But how young is too young when it comes to social network sites?

According to an story from CNN’s Doug Gross, “In two surveys reported this year by Pew Internet Research – of 700 and 935 teens, respectively – 38 percent of respondents ages 12 to 14 said they had an online profile of some sort.  Sixty-one percent of those in the study, ages 12 to 17, said they use social-networking sites to send messages to friends, and 42 percent said they do so every day.” 

(Story found at: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/02/kids.social.networks/ )

Are there so many adolescent users because it’s a forum where they have the “freedom” to say they are of-age and not get caught?  Is it providing them a risky or rebellious feeling, or a feeling of independence?    There are some social networking sites just for kids, such as KidSwirl, but other sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace really are unable to enforce requirements of age for users.  The popular age requirement for these sites is 13, but who’s checking?  Besides, who is to say that a 14 year old is that much more mature over a 13 year old, and able to handle the responsibility that comes with having a profile on a social network?

Do young kids really understand the risks of providing personal information on a public forum; and also the possible hurtful effects of posting comments, feelings, and blatant harmful messages?  Then there are also the dangers of online predators that focus on naive kids and their tendency to want acceptance and friends.

Some even go as far as to say, “that electronic media, especially social networking sites, are replacing children’s deep cognitive skills with short-term sensory ones thereby trivializing their notion of real friendship and community.”  This is a quote from Oxford Professor Baroness Susan Greenfield.

(The entire article can be read at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/6324960/Is-social-networking-bad-for-our-children.html )

As social networking becomes more and more mainstream, it’s getting harder and harder to deny young kids and teens the ability to participate in them.  It’s how they communicate to each other.  I personally am just not sure that a 12 year old or even a 16 year old has the maturity and understanding of privacy to interact on a forum for adults, especially adults they don’t really know.

Yet, from a marketer’s perspective, it’s a great way to be able to directly and ethically communicate with a target market (if they are the age they claim to be.)

On the following video, President Obama even offers advice to kids about facebook:

Maybe the best thing is for kids to educate other kids about social media.  Check out a homemade video by Tara: