TV is becoming oh so social!!

When looking at the future of where social media marketing is going you can never ignore the aspect of social TV. Social television is all of the technologies surrounding television that promote communication and the social interaction relating to program content. For many shows this is their presence on Twitter with hashtags and accounts made for the show. The hashtags make it so the show’s producers can interact with the viewers of the show. These hashtags also help create a community for the viewers to in an essence watch the show together and have conversations about what they think others. This influx of people using Twitter to talk about shows has also helped the networks know what shows people want to watch. There is also opportunity for show’s marketing team to have the actors interact with those watching by tweeting out live during the shows reacting with the viewers. This would make those watching feel more connected to the show and also give them more of a following. I know that there are shows over the summer that I would watch with my roommates and we would all be looking at the tweets and laughing over what was being said.

               Another way that shows can maximize the effect of social television is by selling either clothing items that were worn on set or based about the show, or they can make promotional items that the fans can buy and have in their possession. One way that I can imagine this happening with the growing popularity of Smart TVs is that as an outfit is shown in a show people would be able to see where to buy that very outfit using the remote to choose it while watching. This would increase the interaction in between the viewers and the show that they are watching. I feel like the fashion industry could partner with both the network as well as a brand of TVs. This partnership would be beneficial to not only the producers but also to the brand of TV and the store selling the outfit. This would open so many more doors for social marketing because if it would take off so many other products would most likely start partnering as well. This almost would fix the issue of commercials not being as effective in today’s market.

               Social TV has become such a big game changer in the eyes of people making TV ratings. They have started to factor in the social media interaction into what shows are being watched instead of just paying attention to how many TVs are turned to a certain channel. This helps capture the amount of people that may be watching on one television set or that are watching online later. This gives a better grasp on what the market really wants to see instead of the older method. Twitter is currently getting more prepared for the projected increase of social television by using hashtags. The biggest part they are getting ready in is in Europe. This is from their acquisition of Blu Fin Technologies, and also the partnership with Nielson.

Why should you give free content??

Free content can do many things for a company, yet so many companies do not take advantage of it. One of the big things it can do for the company giving the free content is that it will build trust. If consumers get free content or products and they like it then they will start to tell others. Once told about the product more consumers are likely to get it because it is free. This will spread a brand's recognition quickly and possibly to consumers that may have not heard of it otherwise. One example I have of this personally is that I was told about a new band this past week and I went and downloaded their album because it was free, and now since I have been listening to it I am more likely to buy their next album. Another way that giving things for free will build the trust is because it helps build more impressions. This makes the consumers feel more at ease about a brand because so many others are talking about it. 

            Another way that free can help a brand is it will build interest. Back to my example of the free music, since the album was free my friend was more likely to tell me to go get it instead of just listening to it because it would not cost anything to me. This shows the point of when it is free more people will talk about your brand. This can also be used to educate the potential consumers about the brand or product. Since the content is free they are more likely to give it a try and they will learn about what is being written even if they may not have otherwise read about it.

            In marketing we learn about the “tipping point” in trying to start a new product. This is the percentage of the market that must buy the product before it will for sure make major market success. This tipping point is usually right after the early majority has bought the product because by that point enough people are talking about it or heard about it that there is a large amount of interest in the product. Also a lot of time these early buyers whether they are innovators, early adapters, or early majority will get a discount on the product. This brings up the point of why not make the product free for a little to make sure it gets past the tipping point and then charge either towards the end or for the next product so that enough people will be interested.

             Lastly when offering a free product it will get people to try the brand and hopefully come back to buy more from the company. So many times I hear my friends or the people around me talking about how many free things they have gotten either at conferences or fairs, and even though they might have had no original interest in the product they will still get it. After they have received it they will either use it themselves or give the product to a friend whom they know is interested in it. This makes it so that the brands even though they might not have originally reach their target they did by the end and could end up getting a sale from the free item.

Viral Videos!!

In our society we are wanting to be entertained and to have an instant connection to the entertainment. We are wanting to have entertainment not only from major companies but also from people that are like us through websites like Youtube and Vimeo. These sites help people publish videos from anywhere in the world to be accessible to anyone who get on the sites and make the impact they have be more wide spread. Some videos will have so many views or shares that they can become viral. New viral videos happen seemingly overnight, but the may have been posted months before becoming viral. They usually grow in popularity rapidly because they are reposted or shown by what is called an influencer. Influencers tend to be celebrities who will either tweet about the video or show it on their TV show. No matter how the videos become viral they become entertainment for us and will only grow in popularity. They show up all over almost every social media and are seen by almost every segment of our population. These videos will cause a chain reaction of parodies, as they also become apart of conversations between friends and acquaintances all over the country. They shape the culture within a short time span and they leave a lasting impression.

Companies lately have wanted to try and use viral videos to reach more potential consumers. Some companies think that they can make their video become viral one their own and often miss that they can only do so much before just hoping it catches on. I think that for companies they need to realize that they can only come up with the idea on what to make the video and from there the consumers have to decide to watch it and make it become viral. Also when making a video companies need to make sure that it is not blah to the consumers and make sure that it is relevant to what is going on in the culture. If the video is not seen as something relevant to the time then it will be put aside by the viewers as outdated and boring. After making the video there are beginning steps of what a company can do to try and get their video to go viral. The company can use the video on their social media, in commercials, and many other channels. Also if they can have a celebrity endorse the video and start posting it then the viewing audience will grow larger and they may share the posts. The company has to know that there is only so much that they can do until they just have to see if the video will become viral. Sometimes though even if the video does not become viral it may have reach the target market, and the companies main objective would have been accomplished. Sometimes a company can get so consumed in trying to reach everyone they will forget the target audience and completely miss the main objective of why they had spent the money to make the video.

social media marketing myths

When looking at marketing through social media there are several assumptions and myths that are taken as reality by many companies. These range from having to be constantly on social media to thinking that it is just a fad. Businesses are still learning the ins and outs of the different types of social media, as well as trying to keep up with the growing number of sites. When a business learns to correctly use the social media to target the correct market and to really grab the potential consumer’s attention that business learns how crucial it can be to have accounts.

One myth that I came across is that consumer do not really read the posts on social media. An article published on Marketing Land mentions that “reach on Facebook is determined by a number of factors, one of which is fan engagement with your content” (Olenski, 2014). This brings up the point that a customer can read a post without it counting towards the engagement on Facebook, but to gain more actually engagement from a post add something to make them click on the post. Companies could add anything from a link to a video or photo which will cause the readers to click and view or read the information. Also when companies gain followers or ‘likes’ they need to keep in mind that usually the person wants to see what they are posting to gain knowledge either about their product or the brand. Also one thing about companies thinking that consumers are not reading or engaging with what is being posted is that they may not be using more social media than just Facebook. Also many consumers follow profiles because they are interested in what is being posted, which creates a great market for the companies.

Another myth that plays off of that is the belief that companies need to be on every social media. When thinking about the reach of a post it is important to remember that there are more sites than just Facebook but yet at the same time a company should know where its market is. One post about myths of social media brings up that although potential consumer will be across multiple networks “the key to good marketing strategy is to know your target audience and focus your efforts” on the social media they will be on (Quin, 2014). A company does not want to be spending all of their time, money, and effort on one platform when the customers are not even there. Companies need to remember when choosing social media that just like they would not post a billboard outside of where the target market is that they should not spend time posting on a social media where the market is.

When using social media companies have seen that there is a lot of room for learning on how to use it more efficiently. A blog done by Flight Media reminds marketers that when using social media one needs to stay targeted, be consistent yet not aggressive, and to engage with the customers (Jaredic, 2014).  If a brand or company can learn to do all of this and do it properly, than they will see the ROI from all of their work. 

Jaredic, M. (2014, June 23). 4 Essentials for Rocking Social Media. Retrieved from Flight Media Blog: http://blog.flightmedia.co/4-essentials-for-rocking-social-media/

Olenski, S. (2014, May 12). 5 Myths About Social Media Marketing. Retrieved from Marketing Land: http://marketingland.com/5-myths-social-media-marketing-76429

Quin, R. (2014, July 3). 10 Social Media Myths That Need To Be Busted. Retrieved from SocialBro: http://www.socialbro.com/blog/10-social-media-myths-that-need-to-be-busted