SOCIAL-MEDIA-MARKETING

SocialMediaMarketingPage1of10SOCIALMEDIAMARKETING:ADVANTAGESANDDISADVANTAGESRubatheeNadaraja1CenterofSouthernNewHampshireUniversity(SNHU)OfHelpCollegeofArtsandTechnology,KualaLumpur,MalaysiaEmail:[e-mail]2CenterofSouthernNewHampshireUniversity(SNHU)OfHelpCollegeofArtsandTechnology,KualaLumpur,MalaysiaEmail:[e-mail]age2of10AbstractInrecentyears,socialmediahasbecomeubiquitousandmostimportantforsocialnetworking,contentsharingandonlineaccessing.Duetoitsreliability,consistencyandinstantaneousfeatures,socialmediaopensawideplaceforbusinessessuchasonlinemarketing.Marketingwhichoccursviasocialmediaisknownassocialmediamarketing.Socialmediamarketinghasmadepossibleforcompaniestoreachtargetedconsumerseasily,effectivelyandinstantly.Besidesthat,socialmediamarketingalsofacesseveralchallengesinthefield.Thisarticlearguesonsocialmediamarketing‟sadvantagesanddisadvantagesinpresentera.Keywords:socialmedia,socialmediamarketing,advantages,disadvantages1.IntroductionTheabsenceofInternet-basedsocialmediahasmadeitpossibleforonepersontocommunicatewithhundredsoreventhousandsofpeoplearoundtheworld.Socialmediahasexplodedasacategoryofonlinediscussionwherepeoplecreatecontent,shareit,bookmarkitandnetworkatvastrate.Alltypesofsocialmediaprovideanopportunitytopresentoneselfandone‟sproductstodynamiccommunitiesandindividualsthatmaybeinterested(Roberts&Kraynak2008).Socialmediaincludesavarietyofapplicationsthat,usingtechnicalterms,allowconsumersto„„post,‟‟„„tag,‟‟„„digg,‟‟„„blog,‟‟andetc.Thiscontentcreatedbysocialmediaisatypeofnewlygeneratedresourceforonlineinformationthatiscreated,spread,andusedbyconsumersdesiringtoeducateeachotheraboutproducts,brands,services,andproblems(Xiang&Gretzel2010).ExamplesincludeFacebook,MySpace,Digg,Twitter,LinkedInandGoogle+.Duetoitseasewayofuse,speedandreach,socialmediabecamethetrendsetterintopicsthatrangefromenvironment,politics,andtechnologytoentertainmentindustry.Socialmediaareessentiallyself-promotinginthatusersspread.Theviralqualityofsocialmediamakesitanappealingtoolforbusinessestomarketproductsandservices(Xiang&Gretzel2010).Socialmediaisnowadevelopingphenomenoninmarketing.Marketersarebeginningtounderstandtheuseofsocialmediaasacomponentintheirmarketingstrategiesandcampaignstoreachouttocustomers.Promotions,marketingintelligence,sentimentresearch,publicrelations,marketingcommunications,andproductandcustomermanagementaresub-disciplinesofmarketingthatmayusesocialmedia(Tanuri,2010).Eachsocialmediaplatform(suchasblogs,onlinediscussionforums,andonlinecommunities)hasaneffectonmarketingperformance(e.g.,sales),soitisvitaltounderstandtheirrelativeimportanceandtheirinter-relatedness(Stephen&Galak2009).Furthermore,usersofsocialmedianowarehighlymotivatedwebconsumers.AsexposedbyNielsen‟s(2011),StateoftheMedia:SocialMediareportsthat70%ofsocialmediausersareengagedinonlineshopping(Nielsen,2011).Consumerseasilygetwhattheywantjustbysittinginfrontofcomputerscreenandaccessingonlinewebsites.Thoughsocialmediamarketinghashugebenefitsonconsumersandmarketers,atthesametimeithasnegativeimpactsonbothofthem.Duetoitseasewayofgettingaccesstoinformation,lackofmonitoringandcontrol,undoubtedlyitfavorsmanyrisksandcybercrimes.Inthecomingchapterswewillbediscussingaboutadvantagesanddisadvantagesofsocialmediamarketinginfurtherdetail.2.SocialMediaMarketingandItsfeaturesSocialmediamarketingisanewtrendandrapidlygrowingwayinwhichbusinessesarereachingouttotargetedcustomerseasily.Socialmediamarketingcanbesimplydefinedastheuseofsocialmediachannelstopromoteacompanyanditsproducts.ThiskindofmarketingcanbethoughtofasasubsetofonlinemarketingactivitiesthatcompletetraditionalWeb-basedpromotionstrategies,suchase-mailnewslettersandonlineadvertisingcampaigns(Barefoot&Szabo2010).Byencouraginguserstospreadmessagestopersonalcontacts,socialmediamarketinghasinjectedanewtermofexponentialdisseminationandtrusttomass-communicationandmassmarketing(Hafele,2011).Bythisnewapproachofoutreachandmarketing,newtoolsarebeingdevelopedandincreasedinturnforbusinesses.Socialmediamarketersarenowgoingbetterandmoreeffectiveinsightthroughtheintroductionofanalyticapplicationsbyofficialsocialnetworksiteplatforms(Hafele,2011).Therearenumerousdifferentsocialmediasites,andtheytakemanydifferentformsandcontaindifferentfeatures.Undoubtedly,themostcommonsocialnetworkingsitethatfirstcomestoourmindisFacebook.FacebookwasfirstlaunchedinFebruary2004,ownedandoperatedbyFacebook,Inc.AsofMay2012;Facebookhasover900millionactiveusers.Usersmustregisterbeforeusingthesite;theymaycreateapersonalprofile,addotherusersasfriends,andexchangemessages,includingautomaticnotificationswhentheyupdatetheirprofile(Facebook,2012).Inaddition,usersmayjoincommon-interestusergroups;categorizetheirfriendsintolistssuchasPeopleFromWorkorCloseFriends.Facebook‟smainmissionistogivepeoplethepowertoshareandmaketheworldmoreopenandconnected(Facebook,2012).OthersocialnetworksitessuchasTwitter,Googleplus,andLinkedInmaydifferinsomeways,butessentiallytheyworkusingthesameprinciples.S