Marketing Identify One of the Key Roles

Marketing

Identify one of the key roles of social media from a marketing management perspective? Identify two (2) ways in which social media is different from more traditional marketing tactics?

One of the most important roles that social media has from a marketing perspective is customer engagement. The examples given of how marketers are using games on Facebook to further their brand, reinforce engagement through rewards, and create more interaction with the brand illustrate this trend. There is also the aspect of engaging in a game with friends, and getting them to sign up on Facebook to play the games as well. Celebrities use this gamificaiton aspect of social media to keep their fans engaged as well.

The two ways this social media approach is different than traditional media is the interactivity and personalization aspects of it. The highly interactive nature of social media makes gamification possible. Interactivity of social media also makes gamification easier to produce and update in real-time over the Internet. Social media, being digital, is easier to personalize for a given customers' interests and needs as well. Traditional media can't accomplish this level of personalization.

Consider the following statement ? Social media is rapidly going to become more important than traditional media in promoting the products and services of companies. Do you agree with this statement? Support your answer by using relevant business concepts.

Social media is growing at an exponential rate and is overtaking traditional media in promoting products and services faster than many marketing managers and directors realize. The use of traditional media at United Airlines, who often uses television and print to show customers enjoying their flights contrasts with the Untied Breaks Guitars video, now world famous, of how United failed to respond to a customer whose expensive guitar was broken while traveling. United went into a strictly scripted conversation on social media and lost thousands of customers and credibility by not paying attention to the customer conversation. A second example is how Southwest Airlines has used social media extremely well and has created an entire social media command center to monitor what customers are saying online. Social media at Southwest is now more powerful than the traditional advertising approaches the company uses because it connects with customers in real-time, making their brand a personal experience.

Measuring the promotional effectiveness of a social media program or strategy isn't typically based strictly on ROI. What are the key determinants for a successful social media promotional campaign? Do you feel these measures are relevant from a marketing perspective? Explain.