8. REFERENCES
Armstrong, D. (2013, May 16). How Dell Mobilized a Disciplined Army of Social Media Ambassadors. ITSMA Marketing Strategist. Retrieved from
http://www.itsma.com/ezine/dells-social-media-strategy-2/
Barker, M. S., Barker D. I., Bormann, N. F. & Neher, K. E. (2012). Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach. Mason, OH: Cengage.
Borders, B. (2009, June 2). A Brief History Of Social Media [Web log post]. Retrieved from
http://copybrighter.com/history-of-social-media
Chapman, C. (2009, October 7). The History and Evolution of Social Media [Web log post]. Retrieved from
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/10/the-history-and-evolution-of-social-media/
Davidson, S. (2013, May 23). Where Do Marketers Get Customers? [Data] [Web log post]. Retrieved from
http://blog.hubspot.com/where-do-marketers-get-customers
Funk, T. (2012). Advanced Social Media Marketing: How to Lead, Launch, and Manage a Successful Social Media Program. New York, NY: Apress.
Schultz, R. J., Schwepker, C. H., & Good, D. J. (2012). AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS SELLING: SALESPERSON
CHARACTERISTICS, ACTIVITIES AND PERFORMANCE. Marketing Management Journal, 22(2), 76-89.
Social Networking Reaches Nearly One in Four Around the World. (2013, June 18). eMarketer Daily. Retrieved from
http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Social-Networking-Reaches-Nearly-One-Four-Around-World/1009976
Hinweis der Redaktion
Hello everyone! My name is Tyler Meininger and I’m here today to speak about social media marketing. In this presentation I will explain what this marketing strategy entails, how it came to be, why it works, and how it can help Northwestern Technologies.
To begin, we need to understand what social media marketing, (sometimes abbreviated to SMM), is. While the definition varies and undoubtedly will continue to change with time, it can be described as the use of social media networks to positively influence and engage customers toward a website, company, or brand (Barker, Barker, Bormann, Neher, 2012, p. 3).One of the greatest aspects of social media marketing is that it is an alternative to traditional, static marketing techniques. Unlike billboards, commercials, and magazine ads, social media marketing fosters online conversation. This allows customers to promote a brand, interact with the company directly, and expand the brand’s exposure based on individual experiences.Social media marketing isn’t going anywhere. With the sheer number of social networks currently available and the number of businesses taking advantage of these platforms, investing time and research to this marketing strategy will provide returns for an indefinite future.
Before we continue on to how SMM will help Northwestern Technologies, let’s explore where social media began.BBSs, or “Bulletin Board Systems,” were among the first social media platforms introduced in the late 1970s. These systems allowed users to interact with one another via “posts” and were only accessible to one user at a time (Chapman, 2009). Online services were next on the scene, beginning in 1979, which were companies that allowed greater numbers of users access to the Internet. One of these services, CompuServe, was the first to introduce a chat system through which users could directly type and respond to one another in real time. Some other online services you may have heard of included Prodigy and AOL (Borders, 2009).Once the World Wide Web became available to the public in 1991, forums began cropping up as a means for topical discussion (Borders, 2009). These more intuitive interfaces began to replace BBSs, as they required less technical knowledge to use (Chapman, 2009).The first social network site was called SixDegrees and allowed individuals to make profiles and interact with friends starting in 1997. Some of the more well-known social networks followed after the year 2000, like Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook (Borders, 2009).
Needless to say, social media is far more advanced and accessible today than it was in the early stages. That being said, why does modern social media marketing work?There are hundreds of social networks through which companies can extend their marketing strategies. Don’t let that intimidate you, however. The large number of networks available speaks to the ease with which they are accessed as well as the niche markets they contain. In fact, it has been reported that social networking reaches nearly 1 in 4 individuals on a global scale (“Social Networking,” 2013).Second, companies can easily benefit from what Tom Funk refers to as the “network effect.” In his book on advanced social media marketing, Tom describes a scenario in which an initial social following of 80,000 can instantly expand to 23 million people by means of sharing functions available in most of today’s social platforms (Funk, 2012).Considering that scenario, imagine someone sharing a positive experience they had with your company or with a customer service representative on a network like Facebook, which currently houses over 700 million users (Barker et al., 2012, p. 6). That translates to invaluable potential customer conversion and increased brand reputation.
Another reason that SMM is effective is the potential for better customer service and support. It has been reported that “83% of people who complained about a given company on Twitter ‘liked or loved’ a response by the company” (Funk, 2012). This shows the power of social media when a company uses it to reach out to customers as individuals to rectify problems or answer questions.Considering any company may be faced with diffusing negative publicity regardless of how actively they participate in social media, the opportunity for more profound and individual customer interaction is substantially important. When the well-known computer company Dell began receiving a large amount of negative media in response to a blog post by Jeff Jarvis in 2005, they quickly utilized their SMM connections to create a solution. “Dell found that simply joining the conversations caused negative commentary to drop by 30%, even if Dell staffers and bloggers had agreed to disagree” (Armstrong, 2013).
Now that I’ve explained what SMM entails and the benefits it can bring to a company, the question seems obvious: is SMM relevant to Northwestern Technologies? The answer, of course, is yes!In addition to the statistics and facts we’ve already looked at, there are equally important facets of SMM that are specific to the business-to-business sales model. In a study of social media conducted in 2012, it was determined that SMM is important for business-to-business selling because “these buyers face higher risk in higher value sales … as a result, social media holds enormous potential for companies to become more connected to clients and … increase revenue, reduce costs and improve efficiencies” (Schultz, Schwepker, Good, 2012, p. 76).It is also well documented in an article that recounts the 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Research Report, as apparent in this graph, that over 50% of business-to-business companies acquired customers from at least one social network. The same report found that nearly 50% of software technology businesses acquired customers from the popular social networks LinkedIn, Twitter, and/or a company blog (Davidson, 2013).
Thank you for taking the time to learn about social media marketing and what it could bring to Northwestern Technologies. I hope you feel confident that this marketing strategy is critical to your success and can bring the effectiveness of your marketing campaign to the next level!
Armstrong, D. (2013, May 16).How Dell Mobilized a Disciplined Army of Social Media Ambassadors. ITSMA Marketing Strategist. Retrieved fromhttp://www.itsma.com/ezine/dells-social-media-strategy-2/Barker, M. S., Barker D. I., Bormann, N. F. & Neher, K. E. (2012). Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach. Mason, OH: Cengage.Borders, B. (2009, June 2). A Brief History Of Social Media [Web log post].Retrieved fromhttp://copybrighter.com/history-of-social-mediaChapman, C. (2009, October 7). The History and Evolution of Social Media [Web log post].Retrieved fromhttp://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/10/the-history-and-evolution-of-social-media/Davidson, S. (2013, May 23). Where Do Marketers Get Customers? [Data] [Web log post]. Retrieved fromhttp://blog.hubspot.com/where-do-marketers-get-customersFunk, T. (2012). Advanced Social Media Marketing: How to Lead, Launch, and Manage a Successful Social Media Program. New York, NY: Apress.Schultz, R. J., Schwepker, C. H., & Good, D. J. (2012). AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS SELLING: SALESPERSON CHARACTERISTICS, ACTIVITIES AND PERFORMANCE. Marketing Management Journal, 22(2), 76-89.Social Networking Reaches Nearly One in Four Around the World. (2013, June 18). eMarketer Daily. Retrieved fromhttp://www.emarketer.com/Article/Social-Networking-Reaches-Nearly-One-Four-Around-World/1009976
