Marketing 2.0: How Marketers are Ticking You Off

Marketers are increasingly using your Facebook, Twitter, and social networking sites to advertise to you, the consumer, who will hopefully glance at their product or offering and create business for their company. Although advertising on Youtube, LinkedIn and other sites can lead to hits, according to the TechJournal, “A recent study on social media conducted by Relevation Research found that 52 percent of US online consumers, 16 years+ have liked, followed or subscribed to a company/brand via social networking. But close to a third of these later turn around and dump the companies/brands with which they initially forged a relationship” (http://www.techjournalsouth.com/2012/03/advertising-on-social-media-can-backfire-lose-customers/). Thus, as much as the idea of advertising on a social network may appeal to a firm, a business needs to appreciate its customers in a deeper way.

            One of these ways is by creating value-adding content that users can apply to their own lives or use while shopping for other products and offerings. Interesting facts, pictures, and content keep users engaged rather than pushing a product in front of users so that they are forced to look at and examine a product. Social networking has a large reach of audience members, so examining content so that it appeals to every part of a market is sometimes difficult to do. Rather than forcing content on users who will eventually abandon a firm’s advertising on social networking, businesses need to create content that is appealing to various market segments, establishes a community, and establishes credibility with users (http://akhilesh89.hubpages.com/hub/Online-advertising-on-social-networking-sites-is-essential). Without this strategy, companies will continue to fail in their advertising efforts towards consumers, and advertising  on social networking will go the way of banner ads, with users ignoring content entirely in favor of other forms of advertising.

            What are your thoughts about advertising on social networking? Could it be labeled as intrusive or unnecessary? Is it effective to you personally as a student or consumer? What are some potential flaws with this kind of advertising?

Social Networking and Marketing

Social Networking effects on Marketing and Products

Social Networking  is important to marketers because it is not only a one stop shop for sharing and communicating on similar interests, but also a place where consumers share opinions about different products and offerings.  Marketers and researchers collect information and data mine it to transform into leads on new products and improvements.  Therefore trends lead to marketing actions.   Social networking also increases brand loyalty.  For example, on Facebook, users can “like” different products, thus displaying their interest in various brands which gets other SN users talking about similar items.  From social networks, ad firms and researchers can develop plans to discover the needs and wants of consumers that are constantly providing feedback on new products and services.

(Kerin, Roger A., Steven William. Hartley, and William Rudelius. "8." Marketing. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2009. 209-10. Print.)

Now that we know SN’s contribution to marketing, the question of products arises.   To make the comparisons, lets look at the smartphone product line.  Are companies designing smartphones around social network compatibility more than texting and other basic phone features?  It seems that iPhones and Androids are advertising more and more for the social networks and media that are accessible on their products.  You could say that the SN compatibility feature has become a necessity to potential phone buyers.  With this, many carriers have designed their products around SN features, making it easier to drag and upload pictures to Facebook, Flickr, Google+, etc.  Looking back on a few years ago when phones were centered on texting features, such as sliding keyboards, QWERTY, and swipe text; it is safe to say that the new trend for phones is centered around screen display for YouTube videos, Face Time Chat, or group chats on Google+.  Also larger data packages are available for how much information is being processed and stored in a smart phone.   It is clear to see that consumer wants and needs are shaping the innovation for the smartphone product line.

The Harvard Business Review addressed an interesting concept of companies keeping up:

 On the positive side, new communication technologies and channels have made it easier to get on the map quickly and to create buzz and word-of-mouth. The problem is that start-ups are now subjected to new and not necessarily desirable pressures, which are exclusively related to communication channels. In short, it is the "fear of being left out" syndrome.

This statement shows that technologies,  including social media and networking, have indeed impacted the market and product lines of industries everwhere. (Hagiu, Andrei. "Social Networks Will Change Product Innovation." Web log post. Harvard Business Review. HBR Blog Networ, 18 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2012. <http://blogs.hbr.org/hbsfaculty/2011/03/how-social-networks-will-chang.html>.)

 What is your take on product and market innovations effected by social networks?

Social Networking and Schools

Students’ involvement with social networking is probably at an all time high nowadays, and this addiction is increasing day by day. This has made some educators furious while making others more comfortable with technology. However, the general perception of social networking involvement with education just does not seem to fit today's teaching model. Social networking is widely regarded as addicting, unsafe, dangerous, and posing risk to today's youth and adults. So how can the idea of schools using social networking for educational purposes fit the scene? Here's how it can and how it should:

How it should:

Schools should make use of technology in order to secure the learning environment, such as filtering, blocking certain access, using secure web space for teaching online through social networking sites. Though it is not as easy as it may seem, but it is certainly attainable and enforceable. With that said, educational institutions should have more control over the learning environment than the students and they can interact with the students in a way that is interesting yet knowledge building for students.

How it can:

Schools can guide students over the do's and dont's of online activities, especially while using social networking for online activities. Social networking, with the use of technology, can be used to deliver clear policy and procedures for online behavior as well as consequences for violations. Effective technical monitoring is vital in order to successfully achieving teaching and other educational objectives.

Let us know what you think in the comments:

Should social networking really be used for educational purposes? Do we have the right technology to monitor and ensure such objective can be accomplished?

Social Networking as an addictive technology

As we all know, social networking is a huge percentage of all activity done on the internet now. The question we're presenting is, has social networking evolved into a technology that is addictive?  So this question brought us across a study which stated, " Those who primarily used the Internet for online chat believed that the Internet is psychologically beneficial to them, but also believed that frequent Internet users are lonely and that the Internet can be addictive. It is argued that 'chat' users who are socially fearful may be using the Internet as a form of low-risk social approach and an opportunity to rehearse social behavior and communication skills, which, may help them improve interaction with offline, face-to-face, social environments " (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cpb.2006.9.69).

With that being said, along with experience in the topic being around many people others would deem addicted to social networks, we would say the answer is yes, it is an addictive technology. Now there are lines to be drawn, just because an individual checks their page often wouldn't make them addicted, maybe they have a conversation going on they wish to continue. We believe the line begins to be drawn when people can't get off the sites not just one day but everyday. When people are socializing but can’t get off their devices to socialize face-to-face, and when people can't go a single day off the social network without it causing discomfort, then addiction is starting to set in.

What are your opinions? Where is the line drawn from a social network user being addicted or just an advocate of the site?

Google + And Social Networking

Google plus (Google+) is a social networking site that is rather new in comparison to the big name social networking sites out there. In the beginning the only way someone was able to join the site was by invite only, but as of recently anyone with a Google account can access Google plus. With that aspect Google plus was very personal, only the people you wanted to talk to could talk to you because either they invited you or you invited them to join. Google plus is based around circles (groups of individuals you have categorized) consisting of anything from friends to family to co-workers to ex-girlfriends. Within each circle you can have conversations and only the people in those circles will see what is being said. For example, you have a business meeting coming up and you need to get the schedule to everyone, just start a conversation in your co-workers’ circle and communicate that out to everyone.  The convenience of getting the message out to the exact group of people you want to see it with ease can be easily done by just about any Android smartphone now.

The site also has sparks, "Sparks is like Google Reader, except it brings content to you automatically based on your interests. Each topic (tech, kitties, whatever) will get its own 'Spark' page and provide links to related articles, videos, photos, etc." (Business Insider). The biggest thing with this site right now is the number of users it has is still rather low, and for you to get the most out of it, the people you know need to be a part of it as well. Without the people to back it, social sites like Facebook will continue to reign supreme in the social networking race.

 http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-google-plus-2011-6#sparks-helps-you-find-interesting-content-based-on-interest-2#ixzz1jqo1ZTJV

The next couple of blog posts will examine a few of the popular sites, Facebook and Google+, getting into the content of these pages and just how popular they really are. The statistics may blow your mind.

When talking about social networking sites, Facebook seems to be the topic nowadays, and why wouldn't it be. Undoubtedly, Facebook is the largest social networking site mankind has ever known with over 800 million users worldwide and close to 200 million users in the US. After being launched in 2004 it took almost no time for the creation of a Harvard University student to make its mark on the world wide web, and probably the greatest mark people will remember from the age of internet and technology. Today, millions of people around the world are able to connect to families, friends, and even make new friends around the world through Facebook. With Facebook supporting over 40 languages, it is even easier to put aside cultural differences and language barriers to make new friends. Facebook, at the least, has played a major role in contributing to the globalization of today's economies and cultures, bringing people closer than ever before.

Citation: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/facebook_inc/index.html