Businesses of all sizes are finding Facebook, Twitter, and other social media

to be 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.
About 1.6 billion people use Facebook, and more than 30 million businesses
have active brand pages, enabling users to interact with dwthe 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 websites
they are visiting. With like buttons on millions of websites, 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’ home pages and most other pages in the Facebook
interface such as photos and apps.
Twitter has developed many new offerings to interest 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. Many big advertisers are using Twitter’s
Vine service, which allows users to share short, repeating videos with a
mobile-phone app or post them on other platforms such as Facebook.
Lowe’s is using Facebook mobile video and Snapchat image messaging to
help first-time millennial home buyers learn home improvement skills. The
home improvement retailer launched a new series of social videos in April
2016 to showcase spring cleaning and do-it-yourself projects. Lowe’s
believes this is a more immediate and interactive way to reach younger
consumers who are increasingly spending time on visual-driven social media
platforms. Lowe’s “FlipSide” videos are short, two-sided live action videos
that show simultaneously what can happen if a homeowner doesn’t clean the
gutters and air filters or prune overgrown shrubs compared with the results
of proper spring cleaning. These videos take advantage of the flip video
application in Facebook’s mobile feed that enables users to change the
orientation of the video, and the videos link back to the Lowes.com website.
Lowe’s “In-a-Snap” Snapchat series tries to inspire young homeowners and
renters to undertake simple home improvement projects such as installing
shelves to build a study nook. During the Lowe’s
Snapchat story, users can tap on the screen to put a nail in a wall or chisel
off an old tile. Lowe’s is working on another series of video tutorials on
Facebook and Instagram called “Home School” that uses drawings from
chalk artists to animate maintenance projects. Lowe’s social media activities
have helped increase brand engagement. Although the company’s social
campaigns are designed to teach first-time homeowners or young renters
about home improvement, the company is also hoping they will encourage
consumers to think differently about the brand beyond its products and
services. Management believes millennials who are becoming first-time
homeowners want to know the deeper meaning of what a company is trying
to stand for, not just the products and services it offers.
An estimated 90 percent of customers are influenced by online reviews, and
nearly half of U.S. social media users actively seek customer service through
social media. As a result, marketing is now placing much more emphasis on
customer satisfaction and customer service. Social media monitoring helps
marketers and business owners understand more about likes, dislikes, and
complaints concerning products, additional products or product modifications
customers want, and how people are talking about a brand (positive or
negative sentiment).
General Motors (GM) has 26 full-time social media customer care advisers
for North America alone, covering more than 150 company social channels
from GM, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac, and approximately 85 sites
such as automotive enthusiast forums. These advisers are available to assist
customers seven days a week, 16 operational hours per day. GM believes
that the processes for identifying and resolving quality concerns are very
important.
GM recognized early on that there was a wealth of information in online
vehicle owner forums that should be utilized in product development. GM
social media advisers actively monitor vehicle owner forums and other social
media platforms to identify potential issues and provide real-time customer
feedback to the company’s brand quality and engineering leaders. In some
cases, GM social media advisers were able to identify issues much earlier
than traditional surveying or dealer feedback. For example, GM’s social
media team identified a faulty climate-control part when a customer posted
the issue on a product-owner blog. The complaint received dozens of replies
and thousands of views, prompting GM that it needed to investigate further.
Once GM specialists determined the root cause of the issue, the company
released a technical service bulletin to all dealerships to replace the affected
HVAC control modules on vehicles already built. GM fixed the original
customer’s vehicle within 10 days and adjusted production to ensure no
additional customers would be affected.
Still, the results of a social presence can be unpredictable and not always
beneficial, as a number of companies have learned. In October 2014,
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella triggered negative reaction on Twitter after he
spoke about women not needing to ask for pay raises at work and how they
should trust the employment system. Nadella later tweeted an apology.
Social media provided a platform for angry backlash against Starbucks in
March 2015 for its “Race Together” campaign. Starbucks has taken on
sensitive social issues before, and it launched the campaign to encourage
conversation with its customers about race relations. Critics hammered
Starbucks on social media for trying to capitalize on racial tensions in the
United States.
Companies everywhere have rushed to create Facebook pages and Twitter
accounts, but many still don’t understand how to make effective use of these
social media tools. While large companies have learned how to stand out on
social networks and get lots of help from sites like Facebook and Twitter,
most local business owners remain stumped by social marketing. This is true
in the auto industry.
Car manufacturers including Hyundai and Ford Motor have embraced social
media and spend tens of millions of dollars on sophisticated marketing
campaigns. Yet many of their local dealers barely maintain a Facebook page,
and those that do report little or no gains in sales from going social.
Traditional marketing is all about creating and delivering a message using
communication that is primarily one-way. Social media marketing is all
about two-way communication and interaction. It enables businesses to
receive an immediate response to a message—and to react and change the
message, if necessary. Many companies still don’t understand that
difference.
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS:
1. Assess the management, organization, and technology issues for using
social media technology to engage with customers. Explain.
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using social media for
advertising, brand building, market research, and customer service? Explain
your reason for choosing the advantages and disadvantages.
3. Give an example of a business decision in this case study that was
facilitated by using social media to interact with customers.
4. Should all companies use social media technology for customer service
and marketing? Why or why not? What kinds of companies are best suited to
use these platforms?
ANSWERS:
3. Give an example of a business decision in this case study that was
facilitated by using social media to interact with customers.
More than 3 billion people worldwide use social media, making it an
obvious platform for companies seeking to engage consumers, amplify
product messages, discover trends and influencers, build brand awareness,
and take action on customer requests and recommendations. More than 80
million businesses have Facebook brand pages, 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 they are viewing and websites
they are visiting. With like buttons on many millions of websites, Facebook
can track user behavior on other sites and then sell this information to
marketers. Facebook also sells display ads to firms that appear on users'
home pages and most other pages in the Facebook interface such as photos
and apps. Twitter features such as "promoted tweets" and "promoted
trends" enable advertisers to have their tweets displayed more prominently
when Twitter users search for certain keywords.
Mack Trucks, a leading U.S. truck manufacturer, used a social
marketing campaign to attract customers, drivers, and dealers when it
launched its new Anthem model. Mack had traditionally used print ads in
trucking publications, brochures, and industry trade shows as its primary
marketing channels when rolling out a new product. However, these
channels did not enable Mack to tailor and deliver different messages for
different customers. For example, a manager of a large fleet might be most
interested in fuel efficiency, while an owner-operator might be more
attracted to design style. Mack's marketing team continued to use traditional
channels for broad awareness and relied on social marketing to focus on
segmentation and metrics. Starting in July 2017 Mack launched a series of
biweekly YouTube videos to build excitement for the Anthem model, followed
by a live stream of the Anthem unveiling on YouTube and Facebook in
September of that year. Mack netted 7,000 email addresses from the teaser
campaign, with 3,700 people viewing the live stream of the launch event.
These are considered significant numbers for a product costing over U.S.
$100,000. Mack's marketing team also launched a comprehensive social
media campaign directing the company's 174,000 Facebook followers,
24,000 Twitter followers, 15,000 LinkedIn followers, 15,000 YouTube
subscribers, and other social communities to photos, videos, text
summaries, and other content describing every aspect of the new Anthem
line. These activities were credited with attracting more than 40,000 new
social followers to the Mack brand.
Mack uses Oracle Eloqua Marketing Cloud Service and Oracle Social
Cloud to link social activity to 175,000 profiles in its Oracle Eloqua database
of customers and prospects. The digital marketing team thus knows if a
person in the database clicked on a Facebook post to view an Anthem-
related video or looked for other information on the company's website.
Compelling personalized content helps engage prospects and move them
further along the sales process until they ask to talk to a Mack dealer. At
that point, the prospect is considered a qualified lead. Oracle Social Cloud
alerts team members when the Mack Anthem is mentioned on various social
sites, and they can respond where appropriate.
Mack also enlisted celebrity influencers for the Anthem campaign. Country
music artist Steve Moakler recorded a road song called Born Ready for the
Anthem launch and dedicated it to drivers. More than 55,000 people viewed
Moakler's performance on YouTube. The marketing team also produced a
YouTube video with the Oakland Raiders' Khalil Mack called What Makes a
Mack, and it attracted over 75,000 viewers. Mack is developing a broad-
based influence program identifying customers and drivers who will be
among the first to view new products and serve as active advocates on
social media. More than 9,300 people opted into some aspect of the Mack
Anthem campaign, generating about 1,700 qualified leads. The Anthem
landing page has attracted over 146,000 visitors, who can watch the Moakler
video and obtain information on every aspect of the new truck line. Mack's
senior management is very pleased with the results and the detail and
precision of digital marketing information. Vice President of Marketing John
Walsh can see what happens with every dollar Mack spends. An estimated
90 percent of customers are influenced by online reviews, and nearly half of
U.S. social media users actively seek customer service through social media.
As a result, marketing is now 400placing much more emphasis on customer
satisfaction and service. Social media monitoring helps marketers and
business owners understand more about buyers' likes, dislikes, and
complaints concerning products, additional products or product modifications
customers want, and how people are talking about a brand (positive or
negative sentiment). Prompted by customer social media comments about
meats other than roast beef, fast-food sandwich restaurant chain Arby's
launched a "Meat Mountain" campaign poster showing various meats other
than roast beef. Arby's customers mistakenly thought the poster displayed a
new sandwich and, through social media, indicated they were anxious to try
it. Arby's then responded with a new $10 Meat Mountain sandwich.
Social media campaigns can be tricky to orchestrate, and the results are not
always predictable. When social followers of Donald Trump called for
boycotting Nordstrom for dropping Ivanka Trump's clothing line from its
stores, Nordstrom's stock price rose, and the company outperformed many
of its retail industry rivals in the months that followed. Nordstrom customers
remained loyal to the brand. Previous Trump tweets calling out other brands
such as Lockheed Martin had hurt stock share prices. In September 2016,
San Antonio-based Miracle Mattress provoked angry social media backlash
when it posted a Facebook video advertising a "Twin Towers Sale." The video
encouraged customers to "remember 9/11" and "get any size mattress for a
twin price." Miracle Mattress removed the video from its Facebook timeline,
and owner Mike Bonanno posted an apology letter.
4. Should all companies use social media technology for customer service
and marketing? Why or why not? What kinds of companies are best suited to
use these platforms?
Yes, Social media is quickly becoming one of the most important aspects of
digital marketing, which provides incredible benefits that help reach millions
of customers worldwide. And if you are not applying this profitable source,
you are missing out an incredible marketing opportunity, as it makes it easy
to spread the word about your product and mission.
Improved brand awareness
Social media is one of the most stress-free and profitable digital marketing
platforms that can be used to increase your business visibility. To get
started, create social media profiles for your business and start networking
with others. By applying a social media strategy, it will help you significantly
increase your brand recognition. By spending only a few hours per week,
over 91% marketers claimed that their social marketing efforts greatly
increased their brand visibility and heightened user experience.
Undoubtedly, having a social media page for your brand will benefit your
business and with a regular use, it can also produce a wide audience for your
business in no time.
Cost-effective
For an advertising strategy, social media marketing is possibly the most
cost-effective way. Creating an account and signing up is free for almost all
social networking platforms. But if you decide to use paid advertising on
social media, always start small to see what you should expect. Being cost-
effective is important as it helps you attain a greater return on investment
and hold a bigger budget for other marketing and business payments. Just
by investing a little money and time, you can significantly increase your
conversion rates and ultimately get a return on investment on the money
that you primarily invested.
Engage with your customers
Social media is a good way for engaging and interacting customers. The
more you communicate with the audience, the more chances you have of
conversion. Set up a two-way communication with your target audience so
that their wishes are known and their interest is catered with ease.
Moreover, communication and engagement with customers is one the ways
to win their attention and convey them your brand message. Thus, your
brand will reach more audience in real terms and gets itself established
without any hassle.
Improved brand loyalty
When you have a social media presence, you make it easier for your
customers to find you and connect with you. By connecting with your
customers through social media, you are more probable to upsurge
customer retention and customer loyalty. Since developing a loyal customer
base is one of the main goals of almost any business. Customer satisfaction
and brand loyalty typically go hand in hand. It is essential to often engage
with your customers and start developing a bond with them. Social media is
not just limited to introducing your product, it is also a leading platform for
promotional campaigns. A customer sees these platforms as service
channels where they can directly communicate with the business. 
Healthier customer satisfaction
Social media plays a vital role in networking and communication platform.
With the help of these platforms, creating a voice for your company is
important in improving the overall brand image. Customers appreciate the
fact that when they post comments on your page, they receive a modified
reply rather than a computerized message. A brand that values its
customers, takes the time to compose a personal message, which is
perceived naturally in a positive light.
Marketplace awareness
One of the best ways to find the needs and wants of your customers instead
of directly communicating with them is Marketplace awareness. It is also
considered as the most valuable advantage of social media. By observing the
activities on your profile, you can see customers’ interest and opinions that
you might not know otherwise if you didn’t have a social media presence. As
a complementary research tool, social media can help you get information
and a better understanding of your industry. Once you get a large following,
you can then use additional tools to examine other demographics of your
consumers.

More brand authority

For making your business more powerful, brand loyalty and customer
satisfaction both play a major role, but it all comes down to communication.
When customers see your company posting on social media, especially
replying to their queries and posting original content, it helps them build a
positive image in their minds. Regularly interacting with your customers
proves that you and your business care about them. Once you get a few
satisfied customers, who are vocal about their positive purchase experience,
you can let the advertising be done for you by genuine customers who
appreciated your product or service.
Increased traffic
One of the other benefits of Social Media is that it also helps increase your
website traffic. By sharing your content on social media, you are giving users
a reason to click-through to your website. On your social account, the more
quality content you share, the more inbound traffic you will generate while
making conversion opportunities.
Enhanced SEO rankings
Social media presence is becoming a vital factor in calculating rankings.
These days, to secure a successful ranking, SEO requirements are
continuously varying. Therefore, it is no longer enough to simply optimize
your website and regularly update your blog. Businesses sharing their
content on social media are sending out a brand signal to search engine that
speaks to your brand validity, integrity, and constancy.
Final words
There is no denying that Social media marketing has many advantages for
startups and established brands. By regular updating the right social media
marketing strategy, it will lead to increased traffic, better SEO, improved
brand loyalty, healthier customer satisfaction and much more. Your
competition is already increasing on social media day by day, so don’t let
your competitors take your probable customers. The earlier you start, the
faster you see the growth in your business.