To Most People Facebook And Twitter Are Ways To Keep In Touc

To Most People Facebook And Twitter Are Ways To Keep In Touch With Fr

To most people, Facebook and Twitter are ways to keep in touch with friends and to let them know what they are doing. For companies of all shapes and sizes, however, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media have become powerful tools for engaging customers, amplifying product messages, discovering trends and influencers, building brand awareness, and taking action on customer requests and recommendations. Half of all Twitter users recommend products in their tweets. It has been said that social media are the world's largest focus group, with consumers telling you what they want every single day. About 1.3 billion people use Facebook, and more than 30 million businesses have active Brand Pages to develop "fans" of the brand by enabling users to interact with the brand through blogs, comment pages, contests, and offerings on the brand page.

The Like button gives users a chance to share with their social network their feelings about content and other objects they are viewing and Web sites they are visiting. With Like buttons on millions of Web sites, Facebook can track user behavior on other sites and then sell this information to marketers. Facebook also sells display ads to firms that show up in the right column of users' Homepages, and most other pages in the Facebook interface such as Photos and Apps. New Haven Connecticut's Karaoke Heroes bar was started in 2012 and half of its new customers come through Facebook. Karaoke Heroes is the only karaoke bar in the state of Connecticut, and the only superhero-themed karaoke bar in North America.

Its customers include college students from the New Haven area, as well as hardcore karaoke and superhero fans, middle-aged couples out for a date night, and Korean and Chinese families that come in to do karaoke in the bar's private rooms. Owner Andrew Lebwohl and his wife design Facebook ads to appeal to people most interested in karaoke and superheroes and are able to experiment with different Facebook ads for different audiences without spending a great deal of money. For example, ads can target Connecticut residents who are interested in superheroes, mothers of young children interested in hosting parties during the weekend, or people who speak Cantonese, or Mandarin or Spanish, to let them know about the bar's music in those languages.

When Karaoke Heroes runs special events, it can advertise the bar as an event space. Twitter has developed many new offerings to interested advertisers, like "Promoted Tweets" and "Promoted Trends". These features give advertisers the ability to have their tweets displayed more prominently when Twitter users search for certain keywords. In addition to monitoring people's chatter on Twitter, Facebook and other social media, some companies are using sentiment analysis (see Chapter 6) to probe more deeply into their likes and dislikes. For example, during the 2014 Golden Globe Awards, thousands of women watching the ceremony tweeted detailed comments about Hayden Panettiere and Kelly Osborne's slicked-back hairdos.

Almost instantaneously, the Twitter feeds of these women received instructions from L’Oréal Paris showing them how to capture various red-carpet looks at home, along with promotions and special deals for L’Oréal products. L’Oréal had worked with Poptip, a real-time market research company to analyze what conversations about hairstyling connected to Golden Globe hashtags and other key phrases were appearing on Twitter. When the Golden Globe red-carpet events began, Poptip's software looked for similar chatter and analyzed which conversations were genuine discussions from the appropriate demographic. Poptip determined that the target audience was captivated by slicked-back hairdos, and L’Oréal sponsored tweets to land in those Twitter conversations.

Best Western International, the world's largest hotel chain, worked with Medallia, Inc., a Palo Alto, California-based provider of customer experience management software to create a tool that allows hotels to manage and respond to social feedback and to perform sentiment analysis. For example, a hotel's Internet speed might elicit the most comments, but the software can show that this has a limited impact on guest likelihood to recommend that hotel compared to the cleanliness of guest rooms. These findings help Best Western focus its resources on areas that have the greatest impact on recommendations. Best Western has both a mobile and desktop Web site with social tools. Both sites pull in ratings from TripAdvisor to let users see what others are saying about a hotel.

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Social media has revolutionized the way organizations engage with customers, changing the traditional models of marketing, customer service, and market research. The management of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter involves navigating complex organizational and technological issues, including data management, content strategy, privacy concerns, and resource allocation. Companies must develop dedicated teams that understand social media dynamics, create policies for online engagement, and ensure that their interactions align with overall brand goals. Technologically, firms need robust analytics tools to monitor conversations, sentiment, and engagement metrics, allowing them to respond promptly and appropriately to customer feedback and to leverage insights for strategic decision-making (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).

The advantages of using social media include increased brand visibility, real-time customer engagement, detailed market insights, and improved customer satisfaction through direct communication. Social platforms facilitate targeted advertising, allowing brands to reach specific demographics effectively. For instance, Karaoke Heroes successfully uses targeted Facebook ads to attract niche audiences interested in karaoke and superheroes, maximizing marketing efficiency with minimal expenditure (Tuten & Solomon, 2017). Additionally, social media provides a cost-effective way to gather consumer feedback, monitor brand reputation, and address customer concerns quickly, as seen with Best Western's use of sentiment analysis software to prioritize improvements based on guest feedback (Medallia, 2019).

However, there are notable disadvantages. The risk of negative publicity, misinformation, and public backlash can escalate rapidly via these platforms if not managed carefully. Furthermore, the quality of insights gained through sentiment analysis can be inconsistent, especially given challenges like sarcasm detection and colloquial language misinterpretation. The resources required to develop and sustain a social media presence—such as skilled personnel, technology investments, and strategic planning—can be prohibitive for smaller organizations. Moreover, some companies struggle with measuring the return on investment (ROI) for social media activities, leading to skepticism about their effectiveness (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).

Management decisions that have been influenced by social media interactions exemplify its strategic importance. For example, L’Oréal's targeted promotional campaigns during the Golden Globe Awards were directly shaped by real-time social media conversations, enabling the brand to capitalize on trending topics and demographic interests (Poptip, 2014). Similarly, companies like TomTom utilize social media feedback to identify product connectivity issues and involve customers directly in R&D processes, resulting in products better aligned with user needs. These interactions foster a more customer-centric approach and agile decision-making, which enhances overall brand competitiveness and innovation (Kumar et al., 2016).

Not all companies, however, should rely heavily on Facebook and Twitter for customer service and marketing. Companies with highly specialized products, niche markets, or limited target audiences may find these platforms less effective or unnecessary. For example, B2B enterprises, highly regulated industries, or organizations with minimal digital customer interaction may benefit more from direct email communication, professional networks, or traditional channels. Conversely, consumer-focused brands, retail businesses, and services targeting younger or digitally active demographics are well-suited to leveraging social media platforms (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). The decision to adopt social media strategies should be based on an organization’s target audience, resources, and strategic objectives, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

References

• Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59-68.
• Medallia. (2019). Customer experience management solutions for the hospitality industry. Retrieved from https://www.medallia.com
• Kumar, P., Kumar, V., & Venkatesan, R. (2016). Managing social media analytics for personalized marketing. Journal of Business Research, 69(9), 3856-3863.
• Lemon, K. N., & Verhoef, P. C. (2016). Understanding Customer Experience Throughout the Customer Journey. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), 69-96.
• Mangold, W. G., & Faulds, D. J. (2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business Horizons, 52(4), 357-365.
• Tuten, T. L., & Solomon, M. R. (2017). Social media marketing. Sage Publications.
• Poptip. (2014). Analyzing social media conversations during the Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved from https://www.poptip.com
• Kaplan, A., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59-68.
• Medallia. (2019). Customer experience management solutions for the hospitality industry. Retrieved from https://www.medallia.com
• Kumar, P., Kumar, V., & Venkatesan, R. (2016). Managing social media analytics for personalized marketing. Journal of Business Research, 69(9), 3856-3863.