Megan Niager
Social Media Marketing is a collaborative continuum where businesses take advantage of social media to brand themselves and sell products, said University of Georgia professor, Karen Russell.
Russell is an Associate professor, teaching advertising and public relations classes at UGA. She implements the use of social media tools in her classes by requiring that all students create a Twitter account.
Russell doesn’t think companies use social media solely to promote themselves but instead views it as real people who work for companies, becoming a part of the community.
On the future of social media marketing, Russell said, “Everything is blending and changing. It’s not settled.” She believes that the marketing industry is assuming a different role. Businesses themselves are offering content through social media outlets; not just placing ads. “[Social Media Marketing] is here. It’s happening,” she said.
At the very least, companies need to be monitoring social media to see what the public is saying about their company, said Russell. Social media has done nothing but grow and we must adjust to it, she said.
Twitter is very different than traditional online marketing, said Russell. “But it works.” Businesses who utilize social media can connect with the customer on a personal level. If the customer has a concern, there’s an actual person they can tweet their question to, rather than strictly consulting the Web site, said Russell.
“Not everyone knows how to make a Web site,” said Michelle Kim. Kim is a third year advertising student from Lawrenceville, Ga. and the webmaster for UGA’s Habitat for Humanity chapter, in charge of maintaining and updating the club’s social networking pages.
People already know how to use Facebook. By using Facebook and Twitter, it’s easier for Kim to communicate and keep in touch with members of Habitat, especially with the increased use of mobile media.
Kim mentioned the ineffectiveness of only using a listserv for an on-campus organization due to the amount of spam that students are receiving. Kim finds her social networking to be useful and effective. She once received an e-mail from a Habitat member saying, ‘Thanks for keeping me updated.’
“Social media marketing is really important,” Kim said. “How else am I supposed to get in touch with 200 people?” Those who stay updated with Habitat for Humanity through social media are the main ones who are involved with the organization, said Kim.
While Kim said she prefers Facebook to Twitter, she utilizes both for Habitat (as well as a blog) to keep members up to date and informed.
“We’ve seen more success on Facebook rather than Twitter,” said Creative Consultants Cine representative, Amanda Herrington. Through the Public Relations Student Society chapter at UGA, Herrington worked with a team to generate social media feedback for events that were held at Cine throughout the year.
Herrington witnessed first-hand the direct result of social media through the use of Flickr, which promotes itself as a “photo-sharing” outlet. After posting pictures of how the event space at Cine could be utilized, Herrington and the team were contacted by Cartoon Network to book the space for an event. “That was huge,” said Herrington.
Our goal was to get new people to Cine and we were able to see that happen through the use of Facebook and Twitter, Herrington said. We held a wine tasting that sold out and people were able to use Facebook as a way to find tickets to the event, she said. “We were able to have an internal conversation with a new crowd of people,” Herrington said.
Patrick Diebolt, a fourth year psychology major is an avid Twitter and Facebook user. Diebolt defines social media marketing as being companies and businesses using social networks to advertise themselves or a product.
Diebolt has had a personal Twitter account for one year. He recently deleted his account but quickly reactivated it because “I felt out of the loop with my friends,” he said.
Facebook fan pages are another method of social media marketing. Diebolt has created several fan pages to draw attention to a person or product and create publicity, he said. “Fan pages are good because they appear on mini-feeds and reach more people who wouldn’t otherwise be aware.”
Edited by: Ali Rosenberger
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Megan tends to be a confident writer (sometimes), but uses most of her notes to form her story. She is a fast writer, and need an editor to find nitpicky mistakes. She spends ample time on her lead, but does not need it to be perfect before moving onto her story.
ReplyDeleteThe story needed mostly rewording and rephrasing. Some points were unclear, and direction overall needs to be more focused in one direction. New sources will include a marketing professor and athens businesses.