6. *
Customer Intimacy
Business/Customer
Collaboration
Repeat Purchases
• Rapport with Customers
• Positive word-of-mouth
• Customers willingly offer ideas and info on competitors
• Creation buzz marketing
• Creation of relationships for long-term value
• Sustainable Competitive Advantage
11. *
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
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Hinweis der Redaktion
Our journey starts primarily in the late 1960s and into the early 70s. As we journey through the graph social media became for the “masses” in the mid 1990s.
If we observe the picture we see a man standing in front of what looks to be a wall attempting to write out what seems to be his thoughts. A sort of brainstorming routine seems to be taking place. And, for all those who have ever brainstormed, we know that its often best to write out all of the ideas that first come to mind and then attempt to make sense of all of it. The best way to define social media is to use concepts and objects that one is most likely already familiar with. Therefore, Social Media started as the convergence of the soft-spoken and the unyielding opinionated that found every reason to dialogue with one another through web applications. This starting point prolifically bursted into a tool in which all people and entities could engage one another in ways that could produce un-forseeable relationships. It became a hyperbolic marriage that even united in-laws in ways unexpected.The question we must now ask ourselves as business-minded professionals is this: What does this mean for us?
The IT sector is ripe with “disruptive technologies” and encompasses many firms that are constantly adding revolutionary products/services. With such an active vibrant product life cycles in the sector the industry players have to adapt in order to successfully compete. India is the location for many of the top IT firms as the availability of literate, educated human capital and government regulations have made India suitable for the major players in the IT Sector. Thus, many global IT firms have positioned themselves within India as their home market. Yet, the health of the IT sector in India is quite indicative of the general health of the global IT Sector and it has implications for Social Media as well. “Keeping pace with disruptive technologies and new delivery platforms, the industry has diversified its service offerings to analytics, mobility, cloud, social media and emerging verticals such as healthcare and medical devices."India is the only country to offer such a wide range of offerings spanning IT services, BPM (business process management), engineering, R&D, internet and mobility and software products. The internet and mobile platforms are enabling the development of low-cost products not only for enterprises, but also consumers and citizens," Mittal asserted.The industry is also investing in technology and talent to explore opportunities like smart computing, anything-as-a service and the small and medium businesses.” (Busines Today, 2013, p. xx-xx)As Social Media becomes more prevalent this presents ample opportunity for IT firms to provide software-related and maintenance services to Social Media businesses that wish to compete vigorously within their own industry. IT firms, like any other firms, will also want to use Social Media for their own marketing uses.
There is an abundance of benefits to social media but three is a simple and easy number to remember. Increasing Brand Awareness, better Public Relations and Customer Service are key goals to pursue in any Social Media Marketing Strategy. “Many companies jumping on the social media marketing bandwagon are doing so with the goal of building brand awareness. From local businesses to multi-national brands, social media marketing can provide new ways for the brand to get closer to its current customers. It can also help reach new consumers otherwise unaware of or disengaged from their business. The roundtable focused on how businesses go about developing brand awareness with social media marketing.” (Donnelly, 2013, p. xx-xx)
GoodCustomer Equity is a coveted and sought after asset of serious firms. What underlies this concept is the pursuit to build relationships with customers. Firms must not overlook the ability of crafty and clever Social Media efforts that may be integral to establishing a considerable size of customer equity.
A simple layout of social media engagement can be explained in six steps. Keep in mind there is a learning curve involved with how to use and engage customers through social media. This is all the more reason to start the process as soon as possible so that markets and PR personnel may receive a feel as to how the targeted segments respond to different efforts.
“With social media, the focus for most companies is on the customer: building relationships, fielding support requests, or identifying sales prospects. But there is a major element to the social world that could pose a problem to businesses if left unattended. That’s competitive intelligence.A savvy company can do just a little research into your profiles and put together a thorough idea of who you follow, what your online voice is, and even what your broader social strategy may be.” (Power, 2013, p. xx-xx) It is now very easy for competing firms to instantley discover the promotion mix of rivals as well as their various brand ambassadors. The Jobvite Annual Recruiting Survey collects data regarding social media hiring statistics. The report does not specifically identify what firm took what percentage of their rival’s employee talent but does offer some very interesting figures. “This year’s data underscores that social recruiting is an essential HR practice used by 94% of surveyed recruiters across industries, up from 78% in 2008, the first year the survey was conducted. In an indication of the increasingly competitive hiring environment, only 1.5% of respondents predict that hiring will become less competitive in the coming year.The report affirms the ROI social recruiting, with 60% of recruiters estimating the value of their social media hires as greater than $20,000 per year, and 20% estimating the value as greater than $90,000 per year. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter continue to be the most used channels by recruiters, with an increase in adoption of emerging, specialized and localized social networks including GitHub, Yammer, Stackoverflow, Pinterest and Instagram.” (Jobvite, 2013, p. xx-xx)
Social Media, in the context of advertising and promotion mix, is cheaper and more potent than using the traditional forms of media. According to the graph the 2nd lowest CPM media channel is Social Media.
In reflection, the IT sector will be heavily influenced by Social Media like virtually every other business. IT firms will have to provide exemplary customer service to their clients often time by viewing tweets on twitter or visiting various blogs in attempts to see what exactly their client community is saying about the firm. IT firms will have to compete tirelessly to capture customer share of mind using Social Media to inform potential clients about their business, achievements (awards and recognitions), and offered product/services. As more businesses and people in general become more active on Social Media it becomes imperative to see that the marketplace is also becoming and/or is virtual.
