Introduction The "groundswell", which is the term now being used for online social technologies, such as blogs, social networking sites like MySpace, and user-generated sites like YouTube and numerous other online communities now common on the Web, is making a dramatic impact on the way many organizations are conducting their marketing strategies. These online social networking sites have enabled the power to shift from the companies to the customer, this shift in power is being termed "customercentric". Companies can no longer rely on their perceptions of what customers want or the way they want the customer to perceive their organization, or products and services. The customers are now banning with one another through the many social networking sites now available online, and are often announcing their bad experiences with a product or service they received from a particular company. This is causing many organizations to scramble and forcing them to come up with new ways to handle these problems before things get out of hand. Many managers are uncomfortable with this new change and have a great deal of fear about the loss of control they are experiencing, while other managers and companies have embraced the "groundswell" and are implementing new and innovative ways to take advantage of online social networking as a way to endorse and market their products and services at a very low cost, while gaining high exposure. They are also forming strategic framework for developing and implementing the appropriate social applications for their organizations' needs. The social applications some companies are implementing to reach a variety of business objectives within different departments include: 1. Research and Developm... ... middle of paper ... ...undswell consumer applications are very effective and are becoming a must have for companies to grow to maximum potential. The social applications generate more accurate research insights, extend the reach of marketing, boost sales efforts and lower support costs. The potential benefits of customer relationships that social applications can provide are too persuasive for companies to deny. Although the groundswell can have its share of risks, engaging with the groundswell is the best way to promote a "customercentric" philosophy within a company. It creates a more direct, two-way contact relationship between a company and the consumers. It also provides managers with direct evidence of how customers think and feel. With the balance of power shifting from company to customer, it is becoming contagious for companies to engage in groundswell consumer applications.
Senior leadership can have a clear and accurate assessment into their internal customer-facing organizations and activities (Jacewicz & June-Suh, 2015). The Senior leadership strategy of REI can use the CRM as a tool to remain close to the consumers, especially by offering a social networking component to their CRM implementation. The social networking allows the company (REI) to become part of the conversation and track future trends and desires of the consumers. Today’s CRM applications are evolving into social customer relationship management systems (SCRM). The SCRM concept is a great fit for REI, with the REI mission to provide customers with best outdoor gear, the SCRM can be used by the business for creating a collaborative customer experience (Jacewicz & June-Suh,
Throughout history, social movements have continuously formed because of a person who had the courage to stand up against the injustice they witnessed in every day live. When I was a child, I remember feeling as if it takes a superhero-like person to start a social movement. However, I have found that through the use of social media today, any person with a passion for making a change can spark a social movement. Social movements are a powerful way to help people believe that their voice matters and they should stand up for what they believe in. Before the advancement of technology, it took a lot longer for social movements to become prominent in society’s media outlets because of the difficulties of not having enough time in one’s life to
The proliferation of social media helps customers become more empowered and engaged in their brand interactions, while also providing them with new tools in their search, evaluation, choice and purchases of marketing offerings” (Vinerean, 2017). Therefore, it is essential that the former Genaflek employees enhance their skill set to include social media marketing tactics. They have been using more traditional marketing methods such as paper and television ads, focus groups, and press releases. RPZ will invest in an ongoing continuing education program. The program will allow employees to gain and retain the skills to become competitive in today’s market using social media concepts. RPZ will also hire a social media professional, as a consultant, who would be able to start the educational process and the continuing education program. Employees will participate in online courses to sharpen and stay on top of interpersonal, marketing and online skills. Frank Kasimov, of BusinessLenderMatch.com, says, “You can build on the traditional way of marketing and greatly increase your customer base and your company’s bottom line.” The former Genaflek employees would also have a vital role in training. They will introduce the former RPZ Social Media Analytics and new employees to systems and approaches used in traditional
If we think about the Nineties, business enterprises used newspaper, television and radio as mediums for publicizing. We have come a long way since then; now companies can ask their consumers to ‘Like’ their pages and ask them to ‘Share’ the page among their friends and relatives. Today social media is the highlight of everyone's lives and we can all thank Mark Zuckerberg for setting up a network of 1.2 billion of prospective friends, Facebook.
Many organizations have had to change the way they operate because social media has become such a powerhouse that has to be implemented in their marketing and communication strategies.
The concept of social innovation has metamorphosed the way companies do business. No longer do companies only consider the short-term shareholder value, but now firms consider the social and physical environments in which they operate. It, therefore, goes without saying that this is only achievable through proper accountability. The advent of social media has given the power back to the consumers, and this has brought about change necessitating the companies to also value their customers—if not more—as they do their
This meaning that if a company can post something attractive, then this post will be shared from a person, to their friends, to friends of friends and so on. This creates a new environment for companies to work in. While certain mediums of communication are dying such as print and radio, social media is just beginning, a veritable ‘wild west’ if you will. The biggest difference between these old and new methods of communication is this; social media is effective at reaching multiple audiences. With radio and print, there is a specific audience, most teens don’t read newspapers and listen to their own music.
Social media is an imperative public relations tool for companies to utilize in their business practices. Social media cannot be regulated so anyone can say what they please about the company, whether it is good, bad or ugly. Social media is developing rapidly and there are new platforms
Customer relationship management systems are part of enterprise applications. These systems are used to help manage relationships with customers, Information is provided to coordinate all of the business processes that deal with customers in sales, marketing, and service to optimize revenue, customer satisfaction, and customer retention (Laudon & Laudon, 2012).In today’s world, customer management relationship systems have given companies a large list of ways to interact with customers. Even though those ways are applied occasionally, companies still find even newer ways to provide customers an enjoyable experience for their products and services. Today, the customer relationship management industry is mainly focused on components, such as crowdsourcing, customers using mobile apps of companies and interaction from the social media teams of companies. Needless to say, Starbucks, coffeehouse chain, have pioneered in this system. Starbucks started out as a café in Seattle, Washington in USA at1971. One day, in 1981, a man named Howard Schultz entered in the café for the first time and fell into homelike environment of the café. He adored the place so much that, in 1987, he and a group investors acquired the café. From there on out, as of June 28, 2015, they have built more than 24000 stores in 70 countries
With social media’s rise in popularity, consumers were given another platform, a viral one, to discuss companies and their products/services. While the main focus of public relations has always been to promote communication and goodwill, the practice also promotes publicity for their clients. With the growth from traditional tools to more sophisticated tactics like video news releases, webcasts, blogs, and social networking, public relations has been able to transform its effectiveness in just a few short years. Any company that does not include the use of social media, is missing the opportunity to obtain valuable information about their brand while also losing a chance to spread its message on a platform that reaches
Since the introduction of internet in the 1990’s, its importance worldwide has always grown tremendously. From the first email send to the domination of Facebook and other social media websites, it has changed the way people communicate. The use of social media is increasingly becoming the preferred way people share their daily activities, ideas and knowledge and that is why it’s the most talked about and used platform. Many companies are encouraging their employees to use various social media platforms and engage online for office productivity, posting opinions and presenting their thoughts. Corporations realize that Social Media tools such as blogs, forums, podcasts and social networking websites makes internal communications faster, more convenient and effective. Social media is a low-cost, high-impact tool that can also complement and reinforce your existing communications efforts. It gives a new dimension to internal communications in many ways: building relationship with employees, leads to diverse thinking and innovation, and reduce costs and Increase Productivity. Social media has impacted positively in the business world, but its downside has impacted teens in high school, with issues such as cyber bullying, and people using Facebook and twitter to get over their boredom and research proving that the more they use social networking websites the more envious they feel.
“The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.” Bill Gates. The Internet is vast and is just getting bigger. It has its own community that is open to the public. The Internet is becoming a platform all on its own. It is a stepping-stone in a direction that is unknown. The Internet has become so vast that there are now different versions of it. The different versions of the web are Web 1.0, Web 2.0, the main focus of this paper, and Web 3.0. Web 1.0 is all about sharing information. It is very bland and just gets the point across of what was needed. This how the Internet had started. Web 2.0 is sharing information with interaction. To me this means social media in some fashion. The website that was accessed has a way of interacting with the users whether it be through comments or giveaways on the web. Web 3.0 is the server interacting with the individual on a particular website. Amazon is the best example of Web 3.0 because it gives recommendations based on items that have been searched. “Among American adults 87% use the web, 68% connect...
Social media is pertinent in use of communication throughout today’s organizations. There are many social media platforms that allow organizations to convey communication to potential consumers, stakeholders and the public. “It is essential for leaders to integrate these technologies and seek the best way to use social media and networks to the advantage of the business” (Billington, 2012, p.1). Business owners find that keeping up with current technology trends is essential in having a competitive advantage in the market place and having a strict set of standards and strategy is important in quickly adapting to social media trends.
Social marketing is the systematic application of marketing, along with other concepts and techniques, to achieve specific behavioral goals for a social good.1 Social marketing is the design, implementation, and control of programs calculated to affect the acceptability of social ideas and involving considerations of product planning, pricing, communication, distribution, and marketing research. Basically, a social marketing campaign or programme contains a consumer orientation, an exchange and a long-term planning outlook. Consumer orientation is probably the key element of all forms of marketing. Different from the sales orientation, the marketing concept seeks to change the organisation’s aim to fit one or more particular groups of customers who have almost the same needs. At this point, it is useful to distinguish between customers and consumers. Customers are the people who buy the product and consumers are those who consume it. Moreover, customers could be called consumers as well. A parent buying toys for a child is a typical example that the parent is not only a customer, but also a consumer. Exchange is a fundamental and universal aspect of human behaviour. The basic concept of marketing is an exchange of resource or values b...
The first advantage of using social media in business is increasing brand awareness. Social media can help business to build their brand awareness by increasing interactions with a business brand. Brand awareness means the total percent of a target people who know the company exists and what the company offers of products or services. When the brand awareness is increased, the possibility of buying is increased. Thus, efforts should be made to make the brand a part of the consciousness of customers. For example, Coca- Cola is one of the best companies that enjoy unusual...