This document discusses the importance of social media for marketing and promotion. It notes that social media allows companies to directly communicate with customers to understand their wants and needs. The document outlines several social media platforms that are useful for companies, such as blogs, content communities, and social networking sites. It argues that managers need to understand social media in order to effectively incorporate it into integrated marketing communication strategies. Social media is a powerful promotional tool if used correctly to target specific markets.

1. AllenWaiters
MBA 636
Term Paper
The role of social mediaisplayingamore critical role fornot onlymarketersbutalsocompanies
whoare tryingto reach outto as many customerstheycan. International firmsalsoneedtobe savvy
withSocial mediasince manyfirmsdependonittopromote theircompanyandtheirproduct. Social
mediaisthe keyto reachingoutto potential customersandfindoutwhattheyspecificallywant. Inthe
past,marketerswouldwaste time andvaluable resourcestryingtopromote theirproductwithlittle
success.
Promotingproductshas become essential,whilethe oldwaysof promotingproductssuchas
coupons,advertisinginthe local newspaper,andradioadvertisementare effective inreaching
customers. Many firmsare not utilizingthe powerof the internettocommunicate withcustomersand
promotingtheirproducts. Today’ssocietyismore andmore adaptable andfirmshave to adaptwith
rapidchangesin technologiesandtrends.
Promotioncanbe difficultforcompanies especiallywhenpromotingtoforeigncountries. Many
companieshave fall inthe trapof notknowingtheirpopulationwell enoughthattheirpromotionstend
to fail. Marketershave forgottentheirtargetsegmentorare cluelesstothe countriestheyare
promotingtheirproductsto. Theyalsotendto forgetor are ignorantof the customsandculturesof the
foreigncountries. Many marketershadto go the countryor have knowledge of the countrytheyare
promotingtheirproducts.
The worldhas change so much that marketerscanresearchthe regionor segmentthattheyare
promotingto. Eventhoughunderdevelopedcountriesmanynotbe advance like the UnitedStatesor
otherwesternEuropeancountries,manyof the peopleuse mediaoutlets anditisa good source of data

2. that marketerscanuse,share,and utilize forpromotion. Manysocial mediaoutletsprovidedfree
advertisingandpaidadvertisingwhichisinexpensivecomparedto traditional advertisingand
promotion. Manypeople use differentoutletand alsopromote acompany’sproductor a company
itself eitherintheirFacebookfeedsorTwitterfeeds. Social Mediaisapowerful tool thatcompanies
needtostart usingto promote theirproducts.
Many global conglomeratessuchasCoca-Cola,Pepsi,McDonald’s,andApple have use the
advertising. Othercompanieslike Amazonuse customersurveystopromote aproductthat a customer
rate highlywhichalsoisaway of advertisingproducts. The key isthatthe firmmusthave a unified
message when promotingtheirproductinforeigncountries.
Social Mediahas introducedawide arrayof possibilitiestoreachexistingcustomers andnew
potential customers. Marketershave the assumptionthatSocial Mediaisjustforthe younger
generation. While itistrue thata younggenerationlike the millennialgenerationuse Social Media
frequently,othergenerationslikeBabyBoomersandGenerationXuse Social Mediaoftenaswell. “The
growthis notlimitedtoteenagers,either;membersof GenerationX,now 35- 44 yearsold,increasingly
populate the ranksof joiners,spectators,andcritics(Kaplan&Haenlein,2010).
There are manychallengestousingSocial Mediaeffectivelybuttheyalsopresentgreat
opportunitiesforbusinessif Social Mediaisusedcorrectly. AneffectiveIntegratedMarketing
Communicationstrategycanrevolve aroundSocial Mediaasastrategy,however,amangerwouldneed
to understandSocial Mediainorderto use iteffectively.
“Historically,companieswereable tocontrol informationavailable aboutthemthrough
strategicallyplacedpressannouncementsandgoodpublicrelationsmanagers. Today,however,firms
have beenincreasinglyrelegatedtothe sidelinesasmere observers,havingneitherthe knowledge nor

3. the chance-orsometimes,eventhe right-toalterpubliclypostedcommentsprovidedbytheir
customers”(Kaplan&Haenlien,2010).
Companiesare accustomedtocontrollinginformationthattheywouldrelease tothe publicbut
withthe informationatthe fingertipsof the consumers, companieshave tofinddifferentwaysto
advertise theirproducts.
Businessesalsohave the misconceptionthatSocial MediaisjustFacebook,Twitter,andother
websitespeoplewouldpostabouttheir blogs. Social Mediaincludesblogs,contentcommunities,social
networkingsites,virtual game worlds,andvirtual social worldsaccordingtoKaplanandHaenlien(2010).
Each of these mediumscanimpactcorporate firmsinreachingcustomers.
“…Collaborative projectsare trendingtowardbecomingthe mainsource of informationfor
manyconsumers”(Kaplan&Haenlien,2010). Consumersare gettingtheirsource of informationfrom
sitessuchas Wikipediatomake decisionsonproducts.Companiesare beginningtouse wikistoupdate
projectsandinformationthatcan be accessednotonlyby employeesbutalsoanyone whowouldwant
to access thisinformation.
Blogshave nowbecome a popularsource of informationforconsumers. Consumerswillnow
readblogson certainproductswhethertheybe goodor bad. Firmsare realizingthe powerof blogsas
manydisgruntledconsumerswillwrite ablogabouta bad experience withaproductfroma company.
Potential consumerswillreadthese blogsandif theyare negative,itwillhurtthe productbrandand the
companysellingit.
Companiessuchas General Motors,Honda, andKraft have start to write theirownblogson
theirwebsitesabouttheirproductstoreach consumers. Thisisa proactive wayto spreadinformation
to consumers.

4. Contentcommunitiesare social communities inwhichusersshare contentandinformationwith
otherusers. In orderfor companiestobe successful withsocial mediatheymustprovide accessto
everyone,be active withsocialmedia,grabthe consumersattention,be honest,andbe unique.
Firmsalsoneedto choose the social mediacarefully,pickanapplicationormake one,have media
activitiesthatare alignedwitheachother,andhave planthatcan be integratedwillall sourcesof media.
Social mediaisalsoperfecthybridof promotionmix. The internethasprogresssofarthat it isa
tool usedto forcompaniestodirectlytalktoconsumersand forconsumerstotalk to companiesto
expresswhattheywantina product,and whatthe companycan do to improve the product.
Mangers,especiallymediamanagersneedtounderstandconsumers’desireswhileatthe same
time be consistentwiththeircompany’smissionstatementandcompany’sgoals. Alsomanagerswill
needtoincorporate social mediawithanintegratedmarketingcommunicationplanthatwouldbenefit
theircompany. To do thismanagerswill needtoimplementaparadigmthatwouldallow informationto
be exchangedfreelywithconsumersamongstthemselvesandwiththe company.
Managers will needtobe savvy andneedtouse toolssuch as wordof mouth,blogs,and
contentcommunitiestobe usedasa platformtoby consumers butmanagerswill needtodisseminate
the informationbythe consumers. Doingthiswillenablemanagerstocommunicate more effectively
withtheirtargetmarkets.
There are variousstrategiesthatwill needtobe usedbymanagersto developaneffective
integratedmarketingcommunicationplanwhatwill reachconsumersandmeetthe expectationsof the
companythat theyworkfor. Accordingto Kietzman,Hermkens,McCarthy, andSilvestre,Companieswill
needtoanalyze the sevenbuildingblockstounderstandingsocial mediawhichare identity,
conversations,sharing,presence,relationships,reputation,andgroups(2011).

5. Social Mediahas become anecessityforcompanies. Managerswill needtounderstandsocial
mediaandits contentstofullycreate anintegratedmarketingcommunicationplan. Theywillalsoneed
to interpretinformationbyconsumersthroughsocial mediatolauncha successful planandtotarget
marketsmore effectively. Social mediacanalsobe powerful promotionaltool if usedcorrectly. Asa
managerI will use the informationonsocial mediatohelpcreate aneffectivemarketingstrategyand
plan. Social mediahasmade it much easierforeffective marketingmanagerstotargetspecificmarkets
and notwaste time on marketsthatdo not correspondtotheirneeds.

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