Is Social Media Really A Revolution?

5 years ago Google dismissed the starting of Facebook as a fad that would eventually pass; however, unlike its competitors, such as Bebo and Myspace, Facebook has thrived and gone from strength to strength, with Twitter quickly following it, as well. However, this is far from starting a revolution at this point, or is it? Many people are sceptical on whether social media does work – or even – which is the best way to use it.

But the social platform goes a lot further than just Facebook and Twitter, you have Google+, YouTube and Pinterest being the latest social platform to get the public fuelling their online addiction. Pinterest is a social bookmarking site where users collect and share pictures of their favourite hobbies, interests and events and at the moment is the faster growing social site.

YouTube is also the second most used search engine on the internet, even though in essence it’s just a massive online video library. So what kind of things will the public be searching for on YouTube, you may ask. Well, everything and anything, there is nearly an answer for everything on there. I use YouTube for recipes when cooking, walkthroughs when I’m stuck on video games and, as of yesterday, YouTube taught me how to tie a tie. Research also shows that a consumer is more likely to trust another consumer’s recommendation over advertising. So this is where blogging and consumer reviews have started to play a big part in major brands sales revenue.

You must have seen the Google adverts that have been on recently; mainly, the advert about the Cambridge Bag Company. If you haven’t here it is.

In essence is showing how brands are now beginning to use social media as a major marketing tool. As the lady in the advert only uses her original idea, she is able to transform her dreams into reality. Just with the help of some useful social platforms.

So is every brand using social media to connect with its customers? Research suggests that 95% B2C brands are using different social platforms as a marketing tool but perhaps they are not all using them effectively. The 3 biggest social sites in the UK, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin suggesting that social media is effective in B2B markets as well. But for the moment I will stick to B2C markets and come back to B2B in a later blog.

Coca-Cola is the most popular online brand on Facebook with over 41 million likes, and for the first time in history the iconic Christmas Coca-Cola advert was released on Facebook and Youtube before being televised, suggesting Coca-Cola know where they will reach a larger audience. However, other brands are taking this step further; fashion labels H&M and ASOS now allow people to buy clothes via their Facebook page, which allows them to reach a further audience once you’ve purchased an item. An automatic feed will come up on your wall notifying all your friends what have you purchased so they can discuss it.

Network marketing is another trend which has been largely used as well, with companies such as Arbonne benefitting solely on self-employed people’s word of mouth. Basically how it works is a consumer will buy stock from their agent at a discounted rate and then tell their friends about it and hopefully sell them some of their stock, and this cycle is then repeated and repeated, reaching a larger and larger audience each time, with word of mouth creating a snowball effect. This also shows the increase in consumers not trusting advertising and trusting a friend’s word about it. So networking goes hand in hand with social media as consumers will be contacting other consumers not just face to face but online as well, whether it will be on Facebook or Skype, the word gets out there.

So still thinking there is no revolution, social media is the most effective way to connect with your customer, but it can also make or break you, as well. For example, many businesses that provide a service find keeping their customers updated about offers and progress of their business is a good way to stay in touch as well as receive feedback on how they can improve a customer’s experience. However, social media can have a major negative impact on your business, as well. For example, when a customer had a bad experience in your store with customer service or when they purchased a product they don’t feel is up to their standards, this is going to be broadcasted over lots of different social platforms and you could end up with a disaster, with customers boycotting your store or your product.

Don’t think that what happens in reality cannot impact your business; different social campaigns have also ended in disaster. The most recent example would be Starbucks #spreadthecheer campaign which ran on Twitter. The aim of the campaign was to get Starbucks Twitter peeps to suggest how they would spread the festive cheer this Christmas. They were so positive this campaign was going to be a huge success, they even hired a giant screen and put it the natural history museum so the public could see people’s different views. Sadly Starbucks recent tax evasion scandal diminished any festive cheer they were to achieve as many people used this as a chance to tweet their frustration and anger towards the recent saga.

So don’t let these horror stories put you off, you have to respect social media and the consumer as well, and not take anything for granted. Social media is a great marketing tool to have, but only if you know how to effectively use it and connect with your customer. 74% marketers believe that just putting in 6 hours a week on social platforms has seen a huge increase in traffic on their sites. So many businesses may see the social horror stories and think that it is a huge risk but there have been many successful social, with Domino’s Pizza and Mazda UK effectively using different platforms to increase sales. SOCIAL MEDIA is a revolution and you don’t want to be left behind.

What do you think?

Alex Carson

Alex is part of the marketing team at Social Media Frontiers; he also runs his own blog where you can see this article and others at Alex talks Social Media.

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