The Impacts of Social Media on Marketing Today

Social media has reinvented the wheel of marketing; changing the way organizations present themselves to the public. In today’s day and age, public opinion and perception of a company can make or break a business. Where once, the consumer’s voice was small and unheard, now, even a layman can make his/her presence felt through social media. Consumers can now voice their complaints and problems related to a company’s products or services on a platform accessible to millions of users.

This drastic shift in power from organizations to consumers has not gone unnoticed by global conglomerates. To keep up with the changing times’ companies are now investing in marketing strategies that take advantage of the reach and impact of social media. Social media allows organizations to analyze consumer demand, likes, dislikes etc. This, in turn, allows them to make better marketing strategies and improve their products or services to appeal more to their target audience. Social media has completely changed the marketing game for companies big and small.

Some of the major advantages and benefits of social media are:

1. Better search results: Due to a diverse online presence, companies can now get a better ranking through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). All an organization or a company has to do is ensure that their brand is being spoken off on social media channels by launching some competition or survey.
2. Better product innovation and insights: Since businesses have direct contact with their consumers through social media, they can gain a better understanding of their customer’s likes, dislikes, problems with the product and suggestions to improve it. It also helps brands understand what its image is and improve it.
3. Cost efficient means of marketing: Where once businesses and organizations had to have a fixed marketing budget to ensure that they could generate leads, social media has opened the doors to a completely free and global means of advertising. Brands can now promote themselves on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc. completely FREE of cost!
4. Improve brand awareness: Social media helps you keep your brand alive in through constant interaction with consumers. Interacting with a number of people and sharing creative ideas and images on walls helps create brand awareness and attract more followers.

Social media can indeed help make or break a business. However, there are a few do’s and don’ts that organizations should follow to ensure best results. Knowing your business goals and clearly articulating new concepts and ideas goes a long way in helping you establish your brand in the minds of the consumers. You should also have a pre-existing notion of what you want to achieve from your social media campaigns. With the advent of technology, the manner in which brands market themselves has also changed. Social media is just one of the many tools that allow brands to reach a global audience and get real-time inputs and insights on their products or services. Through the proper use of all these tools available, brands now have the resources to launch themselves into the global market.