Hello everyone, welcome to my last blog post for the semester. Today I’m going to explore the beneficial and ineffective influences of social media marketing.
We have all been nurtured to believe that the future of marketing is predominantly sepulchred in digital forms through social media. Many companies are creating some form of social media to interact with their customers, but they are doing so blind and without goals. By having no clear vision and only posting to include their presence is not enough and that’s where we will see most companies fail and waste their resources $$! Social media marketing can be a very effective tool IF DONE CORRECTLY.
After watching a lecture by Mark Ritson, whom suggests social media marketing is ineffective and traditional marketing is still the better advertising option, a new personal perspective on ‘new media marketing’ surfaced. I understand where this elder, traditional man is coming from…BUT I believe his arguments to be biased.
Mark explains how the company Nabisco utilised Twitter during a ‘black out’ during the 2013 Superbowl. When the blackout occurred the company’s brand ‘Oreo’ released the below advertising image on their social media page.
Mark states that this creative strategy only reached 0.02% of their target audience, making it an ineffective advertisement. Mark then compares the statistics to Budweiser who had a 60 second commercial, in which they received 50 million views, grasping a larger percentage of their intended target market. Now this is where I believe the bias becomes evident. Yes these statistics are true BUT Mark failed to incorporate the statistics in which millions of new views occurred. This advertisement generated immense world wild coverage. Numerous TV channel’s, newspapers and magazines were all making a fuss over this advertisement, which in turn resulted with immense audience views, reaching millions and millions of consumers.
To further reinforce the effectiveness of planed out social media strategies I’m going to introduce you to a company called ‘Halo Top Creamery’. Halo Top has increased their Instagram following by 160% in the past 10 months – from 400,000 to over 1 million followers. By creating campaigns and strategies in which consumers post online hashtags of the company’s name or slogan’s, they have been able to dramatically increase their online presence and generate monstrous word of mouth promotion! #GENIUS
Overall I believe the effectiveness of social media is still yet to be discovered with there being immense untapped potential. The sooner companies start to invent and comprehend ways to include the consumer in fun and social ways the sooner we will all fall victims.
Let me know your thoughts below, which side do you stand on? – Y.M
THE POWER OF THE INTERNET 
Hey Yasmine!Great read.
I couldn’t agree with you anymore in terms of digital marketing being mis-used by various companies who create useless content with no realfocus. A re-shift of focus on intergrating a brand message should be the main aim(many companies tend to overlook).Essentially,in doing so this can assist in determining who the target audience is and the most used channels for increased reach.Regardless however through new or old forms of marketing efforts, the intergration of both traditional and digital marketing should be used.
Over the semester I’ve been set in believing that digital marketing was and is the ONLY way for companies to increase brand awareness and sales, but I was wronge. I don’t blame why the majority of students in class and out believe this. I think that digital marketing should only be used it applicable for a business and shouldn’t be adopted since ‘every-other-company’ is doing so.
Loved reading your blog post!
LikeLike
Hey Lindita, thank you for your input!
Yes you’re exactly right, it is all dependent on the target audience. A mining company is not going to have a social media presence it just does not make sense, some companies need to understand they do not need a social connection to get brand awareness. Sometimes the traditional platforms are the best! 🙂
LikeLike
Really great blog post Yasmine! I really do agree with you, social media can be a very very effective tool for marketing but it does need to be done right. I don’t think we should or can ignore traditional media because not everyone is on social media (as much as we think) so together with other forms I think it is very effective.
LikeLike
Hey Vicki, thank you for your input!
Yes you’re exactly right we shouldn’t ignore traditional media as it has been the most effective advertising platform for years. Digital marketing should be a bonus not a focus 🙂
LikeLike
Hi Yasmine great points there! It is honestly very important to get the activities right in order to be effective. I too have watched the lecture by Mark Ritson and found his points to be thought provoking but didn’t agree with them entirely as gain you are correct in saying that there is a lot of potential with social media marketing. The Halo Top example was a great one!
LikeLike
Hi Ilma, thank you for your input! Yes I agree his points were definitely thought provoking!
LikeLike
I think as technology is changing ever so rapidly and as it continues to become more and more popular, I believe most marketing strategies will come down to social. Social media is the biggest current trend and as most marketers would know, to create engagement and success they need to be keeping up with the most current trends, so I think social media marketing will soon dominate traditional marketing approaches. Great read!
LikeLike
Hi Jasmin, hopefully companies find better ways to integrate marketing campaigns through social media! I agree with your points with social media being the biggest trend, I wonder how much it will grow in the next 5 years!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agree with your points. I think social media is still important for us and brand, but the advertising needs to be more attractive and focus on target market 。
LikeLike
Exactly, just because some companies succeed in social media marketing doesn’t mean it will work for everyone!
LikeLike
HI Yasmine,
Another really great post! I agree with the points you’ve discussed throughout this post. Social Media Marketing is becoming more and more effective for brands if used in the right way. It’s great for creating brand awareness and connecting with users in a more relaxed way and allows the brand’s personality to be shown. However, it’s not the only way to achieve this. I think’s it important that traditional media isn’t forgotten about as it can still be effective for brands today.
LikeLike
Hi Elysse, yes great point. If companies can integrate traditional marketing with digital marketing I believe they will be much more successful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This topic has been a crazy one for many, but I do however agree with Mark Ritson on a degree but not all the way. I think digital marketing is an effective marketing platform as it has helped many companies get the recognition they have today! However, traditional media has always been the best platform for advertising as it can reach a bigger segment than what social can do, since only 66% of Australians use social media at all! It also does better in engraving our minds with brand awareness and recognition more than when we look at social media marketing actually! Great post Yasmine!
LikeLike
Hey Shelley, thank you for your view! We should definitely be looking at social media marketing as a bonus and not a priority.
LikeLike
Yasmin that was exactly what I was thinking watching Marks video and i’m glad you saw that too! Lots of statements and statistics were made without the bigger picture. I do however understand the main idea behind his video, which is that for many many businesses social media is not working and that we only hear about the big success stories. This is where I think the importance and education of marketing is essential for every business who is adapting digital marketing. Without a great strategy in place and tactics the chances of a business succeeding are slim!
LikeLike
Great post Yasmine! Im with ya when you say that social media marketing can be a great tool for companies .. if used correctly! Crazy how many companies get it so wrong. But the ones who get it right just seem to have a deeper connection with their consumers. I think social media marketing will prove to the much more powerful tool than traditional platforms though.
LikeLike
Hi Charlie, yes I agree with you. Companies will soon be able to better integrate their campaigns into social media more effectively and when that happens our wallets will be shrinking!
LikeLike
Hey Yasmine,
Love the Oreo example, hilarious bit of situational marketing that really paid off in the end. It’s with genius ad campaigns like these that really work wonders for brands! Great job
LikeLike
Hey Lachlan, thanks for commenting! Yes I agree these genius ads pay off big time and increase brand awareness immensely!
LikeLike