Brand managers need to view social media as a tool for the forging of long lasting, profitable customer relationships and for the development of building strong brands. The emphasis of using social media for these tasks must not be regarded as online advertising. The aim of mere advertising online through PPC, banner ads etc., is to create awareness, recall and knowledge of the brand and its offerings. Social media on the other hand, is about the retention of attention for relationships to occur via consistent and regular engagement and interaction with branded content. It is not a matter of the sheer volume of those who saw the content, moreover it is how the content has created a potential for future interaction with the brand through this medium. So in terms of social media marketing and its aim, it really can be said that there should be more of an inclination towards quality as opposed to quantity when it comes to the numbers of users seeing the content.
Shopping has firmly positioned itself within the digital realm in 2013, highlighted by the 26 million UK residents performing online shopping of some sort. With consumers seemingly turning their proverbial shopping baskets away from the high street in recent years, brands have had to adapt quickly to this dynamic. The buzz term ‘innovate’ has been the go-to-word for brand managers, marketers and consultants alike, so much so that in my eyes it is beginning to lose meaning, fading into obscurity like our summer tans. But anyway, in which aspect of the current digital phenomenon can this ‘innovation’ take place? I urge managers to focus their innovation to U.N.C.O.V.E.R the potential of ‘Smart Content’. An example of Smart Content from Kiosked
'Check-ins' a form of consumer brand-related activities on Facebook In a world dominated by social media applications and a consumer group who are no longer inhibited or afraid to ‘share’ about their recent purchases and even their personal interests, i t is vital for brand managers to understand and recognise the importance of consumer User-Generated Content (UGC) and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Consumers are now “ active communicators and creators of content” , transcending the traditional role of passive recipients of marketing activity (Page & Pitt, 2011, i). Users can share adverts to other users In this article we explore the recent phenomenon of consumer brand-related activities on Facebook, with reference to my recent academic findings (Sparkes, 2013).
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