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Brittany Williams
Professor Xu
BUSA 345-4
2 December 2016
Functions of Social Media
The Executive Director of Groundwork Opportunities, Bart Skorupa once said, Were
quite small, yet were able to have a really big impact because of these technologies (Nelson).
Today businesses are finding that keeping up with developing technologies are the difference
between seeing success and facing failure. Utilizing these helpful information systems have
created ways for companies to get things done more efficiently and effectively. The latest in the
developments of technology is the way society communicates. As paper becomes more obsolete
the newest generation of adults is ushering an entire new culture of social media. Companies are
finding it a necessity to evolve with this new culture in order to effectively reach the new
generation of consumers. Understanding social media creates effective avenues for marketing
programs as well as public relations programs.
Valacich and Schneider noted in their book Information Systems Today, For
organizations, social media have opened up a vast array of opportunities for presenting
themselves to their (potential) customers; at the same time, these applications have opened up
literally thousands of channels for customers to voice their opinions about an organization
(181). Since social media is such a large opportunity for companies to be effectively reaching
the targeted consumers and influencing them to make purchase decisions, marketing departments
have taken point in running social media platforms. Influencing the public opinion to view the
company in a positive light is the public relations departments responsibility. Social media has

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become one of the most used tools in marketing and public relations. If a company does not have
a social media presence at all it will usually lack in their ability to reach entire generations of
consumers. It is so important for managers to understand all that social media has to offer
corporation. Social media platforms are ever changing in popularity, although each of them are
similar in that they seek to connect people. These are the ways in which companies/organizations
can take social media tools and use them to their advantage.
First, blogging and microblogging are extremely useful ways to communicate to the
general public. Blogging can make a large corporation seem small and focused on their
customers. According to Clow and Baak in their book, Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and
Marketing Communications, blogs humanize large corporations in the minds of the public
(239). Blogs can be used by the Public Relations Department to interact with their customers and
encourage and enhance dialogue among publics about their company. Public relations
professional can use this as a platform to depose any negative rumors, as well as showcase the
ways in which the company is being socially responsible (Seitel 207).
Instant messaging has changed the way customers talk to corporations. More often now
there is an option to send a direct message to a company on their social media page. Replying to
these messages with a personal touch will ensure repeat customers as well as douse any fires of a
dissatisfied customer. Giving time to each individual customer message will make an extremely
positive impression on the customers that are being served (Seitel 211)
Another social media tool that can be used to market the company is the social book
marking. Websites such as Pinterest allows companies to gain exposure. It also allows them the
opportunity to keep up with trends. If a corporations pair social book marking with media

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sharing they can redirect the buzz toward themselves. By sharing eye catching videos and
pictures consumers will be more likely to stop and look at the content (Seitel 216).
Tagging, which is manually adding metadata to content, is another useful tool of social
media ( Valacich and Schneider 185). This metadata was popularized by hashtags and is now
being used quite frequently throughout the world. With all the information social media sites are
gathering from their users, companies are able to pin point their target market and spend time
and energy trying to attract this same people group. Corporations can use tagging in order to
draw more views as well as interactions with their social media pages.
When I interned at a marketing firm in downtown Honolulu, we had integrated the use of
social media in every single marketing pitch we created. It was evident to me that social media
was key to the success of marketing up and coming companies. The firm I was with even took
care of the companies public relations. They assigned a designated a worker to reply to every
negative and positive comment that was getting a lot of likes or attention. They also replied to
direct messages. The workers had to take courses in the usage of social media in marketing in
order to be well versed in the art of conducting marketing and public relations on social media. I
found that social media brought incredible amounts of consumer awareness. This could also be
visually seen because of social media pages offering data analytics. This outlined how many
people viewed, interacted, clicked through, and liked the media that we were posting. The three
key things I noticed that were present when we would manage a social media page were; We
posted a variety of media content using every tool listed above, we were prompt in our replies
and postings, and we were consistent. Social media gives companies an open door into consumer
s lives. Proper use can allow corporations to reach numbers of consumers that were once
unreachable within a seconds.

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Works Cited
Clow, Kenneth E., and Donald Baack. Integrated Advertising, Promotion & Marketing
Communications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. Print.
Nelson, Amanda. "10 Inspirational Quotes About Social Media Success from Nonprofits - Salesforce
Marketing Cloud Blog." Salesforce Marketing Cloud Blog. N.p., 20 Jan. 2014. Web. 02 Dec.
2016.
Seitel, Fraser P. The Practice of Public Relations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print.
Valacich, Joseph S., Christoph Schneider, and Leonard M. Jessup. Information Systems Today:
Managing in the Digital World. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.

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