It’s remarkable to consider the heavy impact that social media has had on society. Looking at the world of marketing alone will give anyone studying social media a small, yet comprehensive look at just how drastically social media has changed the way we do things on a daily basis. Here is a look at some of the most fundamental ways that social media has changed the face of marketing.
Engagement
Social media, unlike any other form of marketing, puts a business in a direct line of communication with its customers (and potential customers). This means that businesses need to be more prepared now than ever before to answer to customer concerns and get feedback from customers. It also gives businesses the opportunity to interact one-on-one with customers, thus fostering stronger business-customer relationships. Businesses can even use social media as a platform for soliciting advice and crowdsourcing product and campaign ideas.
More customer focus
With these increased levels of engagement come higher levels of expectation on the side of the consumer. As social media grants anyone and everyone the power to be heard, customers increasingly expect instant responses to their questions and quick reaction to their feedback.
Content creation
An entire book could be written on how social media has changed the way that marketers create content for their marketing campaigns. One of the most fundamental ways is shareability. Marketers seek to create content for their social media campaigns that audiences will not only like and appreciate but also share with their friends and family. The goal is to create textual and visual content that the audience will pick up and carry out to the masses—by means of sharing on social media. You could almost call social media marketing “grassroots marketing” in this way.
In addition, marketers are required to customize every marketing piece to the particular platform it is suited for. Images posted on Facebook, for example, should be an entirely different size and orientation than those posted on Pinterest. Facebook is a great place to share videos and links to articles, while Twitter and Instagram are more for short spurts of information. And a blog is its own beast altogether. And—what is true for all forms of social media—people tend to have shorter attention spans while surfing the web, meaning that marketers have to create content that grabs and holds attention.
De-centralized marketing
Some businesses are using the power of social media to de-centralize their marketing, giving staff members the ability to create and manage their own social media accounts. Not only does this make the business more personal and relatable, but it also tends to result in a lot more content.