Without a doubt, the importance of social media in the world is growing significantly. In fact, Social Media Today reported that 1 out of every 6 minutes online is spent on a social networking site, and users of Facebook, LinedIn, Twitter, and Tumblr have grown at increasing rates. Additionally, Jeff Bullas highlighted that if Twitter were a country, it would be the twelfth largest in the world, three million new blogs surface on the Internet every month, and five million images are uploaded on Instagram everyday.
Such massive amounts of consumers spending time on social media sites has changed the way marketers are building their brand reputations and communicating with customers. My question is, are these social media sites helping to improve the way companies market themselves, or are they just an nuisance that make a marketer’s job more difficult?
After reading an interesting article on Neilson Newswire, it became clear to me that social media plays a key role in the consumer decision process. Many consumers use various websites to discover, learn and share information about products or services through product reviews. Customer ratings and reviews has actually proven to be an amazing help to companies, as 61% of consumers share their experiences solely to give recognition for a job well done. Only 25% of consumers partake in writing reviews to punish companies.
Overall, I believe that social media is actually helping marketers build their brands because of the number of positive messages spread about by consumers. Additionally, many companies find negative reviews extremely valuable, as it highlights aspects of their product that need improvement. Also, businesses can have their own Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and other sites in order to spread messages with consumers and gain a larger follower or fan base.
Article: How Social Media Impacts Brand Marketing
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