It's A Social-Media Frenzy

Social-Media Frenzy

By David McCann – CFO Magazine

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/14550777/1/c_14551704

This article talks about company’s use of social-media, such as facebook, twitter, and YouTube as a way of marketing to today’s society.  In the article he quotes “A 2010 study by communications firm Burson-Marsteller found that 65% of the largest global companies had Twitter accounts, 54% had Facebook fan pages, and 50% had YouTube video channels. And research firm Gartner predicts that by 2014, social media will have surpassed e-mail as the primary communication vehicle for a fifth of business users.”

Being a college student with accounts in most of these social media outlets I have to agree with what McCann was trying to convey. I have ‘liked’ many businesses, both local and national, to follow the trends as well as learn about sales and promotions. I have more than once purchased an item because of an ad on facebook.

YouTube is also a big place to market. In my MGT 301 class we watched advertising clips through YouTube. Although I do not use Twitter, I know many people who do. My friend once told me she had horrible customer service at a Starbucks and instead of filling out a comment card she tweeted her experience. Later that day she got a tweet back offering an apology and a free shot of espresso in her next coffee. Companies seem to be using Twitter to gain insight to their customer’s preferences and inform their fans on what is to come.

With TiVo and online T.V. viewing, do you think marketing is going to become more social-media driven?

In response to Cory Secore. . .

Cory brought up the fact that companies spend far too much money getting celebrities to advertise their product instead of creating a product that will sell itself. He questions, “Is this method of using celebrities really selling the product?”

I don’t think that celebrities really make an impact on sales. When I see a commercial with Peyton Manning in it, for example, I try to avoid what’s trying to be sold to me because I hate the Colts. I think choosing a celebrity could be detrimental to the company’s image, like when Tiger Wood received all that bad publicity over his affairs. I like Cory’s idea about giving away free samples to create customer loyalty and wish companies would take this approach more often.

That question led me to thinking about celebrity clothes lines and fragrances. In today’s market more celebrities are coming out with their own product and in my mind the prices are extremely steep. For instance, Vera Wang’s new fragrance is $70 for a tiny bottle.

Have you ever purchased from a celebrities clothing because just because you liked the celebrity?