SOCIAL MEDIA CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
It is a fact that social media is continually growing at a fast pace, and companies across the world are racing to adapt to this new digital era. The purpose of this report is to evaluate companies across the world and how they are utilizing social media. So, “How are companies using social media to strengthen customer relationships?”
The scope of this report will focus on the rise of social media and how companies are working to figure out how to use this new tool as a competitive advantage. The main purpose of social media within modern day companies is to try and strengthen customer relationships, and ultimately improve the overall business. In the past the delivery of information was once business-to-business or business-to-consumer, but that is no longer the case. With social medias rapid expansion companies are now using technology to regularly deliver information to the consumer (MELNIC, E. L. (2016).
The information in this report was based on secondary research sources. Reference materials in this report were gathered from Lamar University’s online library. All source data was from 2013 to current. The source materials from the report are listed at the end of report on the reference page.
There are three major factors included in this report, and these factors are previewed below. The first factor is how social media helps to increase the company’s brand awareness. This factor includes a discussion of brand loyalty, and also how a developed brand image contributes to this factor. The second factor discussed is the use of social media to keep customers informed. This factor will cover topics such as increased customer satisfaction, and how customer service is more easily attainable. The final factor discussed in this report is how social media helps to increase customer interaction with the company. Constant dialogue between company and consumer, and consumer feedback are among some of the things discussed under this factor.
Social media helps to increase the company’s brand awareness. Brand awareness includes improved brand loyalty and a developed brand image.
Improved brand loyalty is easily accomplished through social media. Social media is an excellent tool for increasing brand loyalty because of the multiple creative ways it provides to engage customers. Social media allows the company to always be available to the customer, which can improve brand loyalty. Some creative ways to interact with your customer could be to tell a story of a real life customer experience with your product. It is also crucial that the company is seen as an expert in its field. A fishing company for example could publish online fishing videos, or even pictures of big fish to social media. This would confirm to the consumer that the company is experienced in that field. (York, A., AY. 2017, February 14).
Increased customer retention is accomplished by directly reaching out to your audience instead of waiting for them to come to you. Being proactive instead of reactive is essential. For example, if a company sells rain boots, the company can search the hash tag “rain boots” on twitter. This will directly navigate the company to potential consumers who are talking about rain boots. Now that the company has found a target audience already discussing their offered product they are able to join into the conversation. By simply replying to the potential consumers tweets with some of the deals you offer on rain boots, you are able to engage the customer and tremendously increase customer retention. (York, A., AY. (2017, February 14).
On different social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter customers want to feel special. For an example, if a consumer tweeted that they are craving a hamburger, and the social media director for Whataburger favorites their tweet it makes the customer feel connected to Whataburger. This will increase the likelihood that the customer goes to Whataburger instead of another restaurant in the future. If you receive a negative post about your product, customers appreciate the time you take to respond to their tweet to try and solve the problem. This will increase the chances of them becoming a repeat customer because they feel as if they have a voice. Being aware of the customer’s thoughts is a good way to improve brand loyalty and to stay ahead of social media marketing. (York, A., AY. 2017, February 14).
Social media can play a big factor in evolving the company’s brand image. It is important to have a positive brand image in order to have a successful company. Companies should stay active on social media every day. To save time, companies should pinpoint which social media networks are worth the time to visit several times daily. Facebook is one of the best networks for promoting your brand. Facebook consists of mostly adults, who typically comprise the largest part of your customer base. Twitter and Instagram are two other websites that are not far behind Facebook in developing and promoting brand image. These networks consist of younger adults and teenagers. Instagram can be a very good tool to develop brand image for a retail company because the network consists of eye-catching images. (Agius, A. 2015, April 23). Table 1 below shows how marketers use social media.