social media strategy

Social media has changed the way companies advertise and interact with their customers. Social media has also enabled firms and individuals with a low marketing budget to reach out to more potential target than before as advertising on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, etc) is considerably cheaper than traditional advertising (TV , radio and newspaper ad’s). This is because the number of users on social media has soared from 0.97 billion in 2010 to 2.96 billion in 2020 world wide (https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/). This means that with the right strategy a firm will be able to reach potential customers world wide.

Platforms like Instagram, Facebook , YouTube allows for consumers to interact with the firms through comments and direct messages and also purchasing of products. This meant that while consumers are researching for information about certain products they are able to purchase it on the spot. For example when an opinion leader (blogger, youtuber , instagram models) uploads a positive review of a certain product, their fan base will generally agree with them hence also having a positive attitude towards the reviewed product. This can be ultilised by firms to increase awareness and change attitude towards their brand, driving up sales and profits at the same time.

Another method firms can make use of social media platforms to increase awareness is by introducing viral campaigns. For example asking consumers that bought their product to do a review or “like and share” a certain post to stand a chance to win a prize. This way, firms can reach out to even more consumers as such post can be seen by potential consumers that are not aware or “following” the firm on social media platforms. However, this strategy can backfire if the product is not up to user’s expectation.