CHAPTER 10 : E-COMMERCE (DIGITAL MARKETS , DIGITAL GOODS)

Case Study : CULTIVATING CUSTOMERS THE SOCIAL WAY

Question 1: Assess the people, organization, and technology issues for using social media engage with customer.

When we talk about people issues we should remember that each and every person will not be having an internet connection and social media account. And the way of use also matters because some people do not know how to use the social media too.

Organizations use social media for their advertisements and promotions. We think it is the best way of marketing because as technology increases people uses more social media networks also it allows people to access their websites or webpages through it but we can notice that lot of organizations have their social media accounts.

Question 2: What are the advantages and disadvantages of using social media for advertising, brand building, market research and customer service?

We think there are tremendous advantages of using social media for advertising because lot of companies requires promotions and advertisements to increase their brand value in customers and in the market. It also the best way to reach out to the customers to get their feedback and develop new products within their organization and also the companies can conduct various research strategies and get back their product value in the market.

Advantages:

·         Building Brand Awareness

One of the most obvious reasons for using Social Media Marketing is to build brand awareness and it certainly does if used correctly.

·         Reach a large Audience

Using social media to market out business online will without a doubt help us reach a larger audience. In a way, the more people we reach the better brand awareness we have but with social media, there is lot of noise. We need to make sure we use a tool like Hoot suite, so we can eliminate all of the noise and focus on reaching the people who want to engage with us.

·         Cost Effective

Social Media Marketing does not cost you a penny, unless you want it to. You can market on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Pinterest and any social network for free. If we want to run competitions for use a few select third party tools, we may end up having small fee but on the whole, Social Media Marketing is very cost effective.

Disadvantages:

·         Understanding on how it works

We need to understand how social media works, when and how to use it and which channels to focus on depending on our end goal of using social media in order to get its full effects.

·         Commits illegal crime

Social media may open possibility for hackers to commit illegal crime such as fraud, spam and virus attacks. People falling prey to online scam may also increase, resulting in data or identity theft.

·         Negative effects on workers’ productivity

Results in lost productivity and employees may use social media to attack the company’s reputation. Instead of working in their time of work, they can waste such valuable time using social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook and many more. This may results in negative comments from employees use these sites to view objectionable, illicit or offensive material.

Question 3 : Give some examples of management decisions that were facilitated by using social media to interact with customers.

 ·  Vista-print poses marketing advice for small business. Vista-print is able to demonstrate that using Twitter and Facebook has directly increase profits.

·  Pradeep Kumar analysis social media data requires multiple tools and the flexibility to experiment with those tools to see what works and what doesn't.

·  Best Western International hotel provide a place for people to share their experiences about hotels, flights, restaurants and rentals. Visitors also can “Like” specific hotel page on the site.

Question 4: Should all companies use Facebook and Twitter for customer service and advertising? Why or why not? What kinds of companies are best suited to use these platforms?

Nowadays, people are not call up a company and complain or tell their feedback. Now, there are more likely to head to tell the world how a product is. That’s why social media platform like Facebook and Twitter is important for customer service. Example of company which use Twitter for customer service:

Ø JetBlue Excels in Responsiveness. Airline delays are one of the most common causes of customer frustration. JetBlue ensures they are responsive to their customers because they understand it’s important for continued customer’s loyalty. They engage with happy customers but they also responds to and help frustrated customers as quickly as possible.

JetBlue is to be extremely responsive to customers mentioning their brand. Whether they send public a reply or a private DM to answer a question, they are quickly to interact. They reached out to their frustrated customer within the hour. Social media platform help companies to response quickly to customer. Many companies dedicated full-time employees to the task of responding to customers on social media. Social media help to satisfy customer needs. Moreover, social media help find all this things:

ü  Social listening

Listen for conversations about your company, competitors or other topics of interest.

ü  Social conversation

Finding and responding to online conversations – engaging with others in social media.

ü  Social marketing

Launching and running campaigns and promotions in social media.

ü  Social analytics

Measuring and analyzing results of social media efforts across various platforms.

ü  Social influencer

Identifying and engaging with influencers that are relevant to your company or industry.

Social media platform is a cheaper than traditional marketing and advertising methods. Promote a product using social networking sites by determining where their customers and potential customers are, and getting their product visible on those sites:

Ø  Facebook page

Companies’ product can have its own page. Where people can like and comment on it, leave reviews and even link to your website, so they can buy it. Companies can offer incentives such as coupons and discounts. Invite people to share company page with their friends, so company community can grow.

Ø  Twitter account

Companies can set up account on Twitter for their product and promote it by attracting followers. Companies have to come up with brief messages that describe and promote their product. Follow people, brand and companies that might be interested in their product. The more people a company follow, the more followers that company have a chance of attracting. In our opinion, all company is best suited to use social media platform. At the same time, the company should figure out what they want to accomplish via social media.