Social Media Marketing

         Facebook’s dominance is the social media world has grown to include not only the initial  college students, but also demographics everywhere from adults to high school students to business professionals. Aside from the wide array of user ages, it’s important to note that Facebook has expanded it user database to include people from around the world. This means that no matter who your target market is, you have a good chance to connect and learn about some key customer insights through this social media.

        The first benefit for companies using Facebook is to gain insights on customers and use these to shape their marketing plan. The most basic way to get information is by simply looking at wall posts and finding the most popular ones. Group members may be interested in a certain product, promotion, or event and this means your marketing team is doing well, but on the other hand if there isn’t one comment on an upcoming event or new product launch, you may need to take a look at the reasons behind this. Companies should also pay special attention to any opinions (or even suggestions) on their products that are posted. This is an easy, direct way to get input and can lead to further insights. Another good tool Facebook offers are polls. A company can put these up daily and get insights on not only their actual products but also on customer behaviors and views. Companies can also look at the interests, activities and views that customers have by looking at individual user pages. This data can be organized and sorted into a relevant way and can offer some interesting data on customers.

        Another benefit companies receive from using Facebook is the ability to create a unique customer experience. Facebook groups are a great way to promote products and can get some great buzz going among users. Clothing companies can introduce new lines, clubs can promote upcoming events, and restaurants can post new menu specials. Having a Facebook group also allows a company to offer their members exclusive offers, special access to products, and contests. By providing customers with benefits for being a group member, you can keep them active and gain more information from them.  Facebook groups also give companies a huge opportunity to create a personal connection with customers. By interacting with users and responding to posts the company can create a voice and have more emotional qualities, which can build the relationship between the company and its customers.

         For my marketing research search test I choose the Dallas Cowboys as my topic. As I was entering different search terms into Google’s Insight for Search some interesting data for the Cowboys caught my eye. The first thing was that there were regular spikes in interest over time for the Dallas Cowboys. Yes, this is common sense (of course there is going to be more interest during football season,) but the timing of interest levels for other topics may not be so obvious. This is good information for marketers who can target more consumers through the Internet when interest levels are higher. The second thing I noticed was the fact that Iraq had a very high search volume index along with the U.S. (from having a lot of U.S. soldiers there). This map can help marketers of global brands see where in the world they have the most public interest and maybe target those countries who have a lower search index and also see why they do have less searches in a particular region.