Prepared by the researcher : Dr. Marian Tadrous –PHD in Strategic media, Liberty University, USA
Democratic Arab Center
Journal of Afro-Asian Studies : Sixteenth Issue – February 2023
A Periodical International Journal published by the “Democratic Arab Center” Germany – Berlin.
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Abstract
With the emergence of social media platforms, companies can market their brand using analysis and follow-up tools, which monitor and track social networking sites, provide information and comprehensive data about customers, and enable organizations to track competitors easily. Understanding social media applications helps determine the appropriate analytics tool for each platform which measures the data that matters to the brand.
The marketer must also analyze the impact of his strategy on social media sites and track its performance. Creating information reports helps understand the audience, discover more about followers who interact on the platform, and learn about their geographical locations, languages spoken, and demographics. Gaining comprehensive visibility with rich social media analytics helps make intelligent decisions based on social media metrics. The data collected will determine the success of digital marketing; it is the map that guides the marketer and is used to improve the experience and find new opportunities.
Introduction
Social media platforms have become the mainstay of the new media, as they allow individuals to communicate with each other. With the continued growth of these platforms, their importance has emerged to play innovative and renewed roles. So, the researchers were interested in studying its audience’s characteristics; to benefit from it in marketing and promoting products and services. According to Krizanova et al. (2019), the primary goal of studying social media is gleaning insights, which are a deep understanding of a person or thing, the more insights are discovered, the more information to make a sound business decision ([1]), So, the researchers seek to collect data about the behavior of social media followers. The key to success in marketing research is related to the correct understanding of customers and how to employ the available social media capabilities. The strategic use of digital data has become a feature of the modern era to further organizational goals. Hence, this paper aimes to study social media applications, guidelines and analyzes.
Theoretical Framework
The concept of digital marketing
Digital marketing is the method of electronic communications with customers and consumers using technological developments and social media. Digital marketing requires a new understanding of customer behavior by creating innovative practices and channels that may depend or not depend on the internet such as -SMMS and MMS which display ads ([2])
Social Media Application
Social media platforms have an active and participating role in various areas of daily life such as sports, entertainment, crises, journalism, and international campaigns.
Social Media Applications in Sports
Freberg (2019) found an integrated relationship between sport and social media through the role of platforms in telling innovative stories that professionals can implement in their campaigns. The social media audience often considers sports players as influencers in their lives and good role models, so the platforms use them to promote brands, influence the community and attract the public’s attention ([3]). Therefore, many athletes succeeded in providing compelling content on their platforms to raise awareness of a particular issue and increase the number of followers; they also use their media to collect money and help others. Social media platforms have contributed to spreading sports culture and measuring the popularity of athletes locally and globally through audience opinion and interaction.
Social Media Applications in Entertainment
Freberg (2019) also found that the entertainment industry has witnessed a transformation in how events, celebrities, and brands are promoted and how these individuals participate in entire social networking sites. Celebrities also use platforms to interact with the audience and to see how social media affects their work by amplifying their brands. Entertainment professionals still rely on social media to attach celebrities to their brands ([4]). So, the marketer must use the strategy of integrating the brand with the content to attract the audience. The more celebrities can gather loyal fans for their brand, the more successful the marketing plans will influence the audience ([5]).These people also help support entertainment business efforts by communicating with followers on social media, so marketing efforts should aim to evaluate celebrities and know what they share and its impact on the brand. Thus, social media plays an essential role in achieving interaction with the public and provide opportunities to market the brand through entertainment professionals.
Social Media Application in Communicating During Crises
According to Freberg (2019), organizations may experience some adverse events that affect their reputation and image and cause financial and moral harm. Social media has become a way to seek help and even reach government authorities to save lives, especially in natural disasters ([6]). These platforms have also succeeded in facing the crises the organization may face in front of its competitors.
Therefore, when using social media platforms, marketers must consider developing a crisis management plan that includes: Providing a rapid response to the crisis; assigning a working team to monitor and listen to take immediate action to save the organization from any threats. Marketers also can share content that helps to gain the public’s trust again and maintain their loyalty to the organization ([7] ). Social media is influential in crisis management if used to correct rumors and misinformation to keep the organization’s reputation and face challenges.
Social Media Applications in Journalism
Social media also has become essential to reporters’ work, news sites, and journalists who turn to them to write their stories. Some people consider it a source for daily news.
So, newspapers were concerned with determining the practices journalists should follow when reporting news and interacting with readers. Social media has allowed journalists to get up-to-date news and follow urgent events in the community. Everyone uses platforms to publish and share community events, which may provide good information for journalists to follow on significant issues in public opinion.
Crises and events often erupt on social media platforms through the dissemination of visuals, which journalists use as an inspiration to get news stories that stir public opinion ([8]). In addition to using live videos to lend credibility to their stories, some newspapers seek to use events published by the social media audience to obtain an exclusive offer to attract more audiences ([9]). Journalists are also encouraged to interact with readers through social media platforms and get feedback on what is published daily. Social media platforms have become the first station for obtaining news, whether through the public sharing of daily events from real stories in video or through the publication of newspapers and news channels of events on their social media platforms.
Social Media Applications in International Campaigns
Finally, Freberg (2019) found that social media platforms are essential in international campaigns because they are global platforms. Many brands worldwide have used social media applications to raise awareness about them. Social media has also been used internationally to spread awareness of issues and raise common topics on the international scene ([10]).With influencers’ support, brands have been able to share stories and messages on social media to spur creativity and allow audiences to create and share content, giving social media a global edge. So when thinking about international campaigns, professionals must know about other social media channels heavily used in other countries to understand which platforms the audience follows. Knowing the similarities and differences between these platforms and their characteristics contributes to creating compelling brand content ([11]) .In general, social media provides opportunities, challenges, and information for the international community, so it is necessary to adopt social media practices to fit a country’s political, social, and cultural systems.
The resources which the profite organizations need to extract actionable insights from social media data
Wieneke and Lehrer (2016( defined customer insights as a company’s understanding of customer need and how they have changed over time; to generate customer insights from social media data, companies must be effective in collecting, analyzing, and linking this data to existing customer records. The authors also referred to the dynamic capabilities of the organization which means the company’s ability to analyze and transform social media data into actionable insights for customers which stakeholders can benefit by presenting a comprehensive understanding of customer behavior ([12]).This process works through three sources:
Physical resources refer to information and communication technology. They are represented by the applications and database systems that support the company in collecting and analyzing social media data with organized internal data and communicating insights throughout the organization. Data analysis tools enable the production of visualizations such as social
network maps or social media campaign performance indicators. These reports help understand and interpret the available information and create actionable customer insights ([13]).
Human resources analytical skills refer to employees’ knowledge of analytical methods and the ability to deal with data analysis tools by training them on selecting and interpreting information. The employees should understand the company’s business context and related business problems. Using available customer data provides actionable customer insights and enables the company to make decisions ([14]).
Organizational resources are represented in the governance of customer insights. Organizational structures allow collaboration between departments and deliver the right insights to the right place at the right time. It sets internal rules based on laws and ethical standards for using customer data responsibly. Companies need customers’ permission to use platform data. A customer-oriented culture refers to a company’s values and beliefs and how they affect customer insights. Organizational resources in customer service also focus on employees’ mindset in considering customers’ needs, which means looking at customers’ added value ([15]).
But how can data from significant online ecosystems such as Google and Facebook be used to measure customer demand, trends, market competitiveness, and direct competition?
Korzeniowski (2021( has provided several analytical tools that help marketers understand quantitative and qualitative social media analysis. Google data can measure the number of visitors to the site, where they visit, individual page visits, and the time they spend on the site. Google analytics present collects data on how users find the site. The code can be tracked on every website to leverage, segment, and link the data. Thus interpreting the data becomes more accessible and meaningful, so every action on the web is tracked, pages and files, and even demographics and interests can be logged ([16]).
Google marketing has many benefits, but the biggest one is the ability to target people accurately because search and display ads are displayed digitally; when the users click, where they click from, and what happens can be measured. This data allows to change the marketing plan and improve the return on investment. Therefore, the Google display network is essential for remarketing and increasing brand awareness, measuring consumer demand, and identifying trends. Any company needs a competitive advantage to distinguish it from others ([17]). Owning a competitive advantage requires a lot of strategic planning, extensive research, sufficient experience in investment operations in the market, and of course, a perfect knowledge of competitors. There is also a need to analyze competitors’ strengths and weaknesses and search for every possible way to make these analyses can be exploited for the company’s benefit ([18]).
As for Facebook, Fink et al. (2020( indicated that it is the second-largest social network, 68% of adults in the United States have an account on Facebook. Brands on Facebook often focus on gaining likes to improve the reach of their content, marketing campaigns are launched to motivate social media users to become fans, and success on Facebook is all about paying for ads. Most people interact with a company’s Facebook page to view the content, so Facebook has to be linked to the company’s website. Facebook helps target a narrow and more specific audience by identifying their age, gender, and language, as well as their interests, demographics, and behaviors ([19]).
Thus, data about the Facebook audience can be used to face competition in the market by understanding customer behavior, identifying the characteristics of the demographic base that deals with the company, and understanding the target audience’s characteristics. Analyzing the nature of customers is essential in enhancing competitive capabilities to make customers prefer dealing with the company compared to others ([20]). Going deeper into this type of analysis contributes to testing the company’s distinctive strengths, understanding customers more personally, and what are their hobbies? What are the things that interest them? Which aspects of the business or product would catch their attention and appeal to them? Customer demographics can also be explored, and their interactions with Facebook posts or feedback can be monitored to assess audience opinions of a service or product.
Li et al. (2015) indicated that the marketing strategy provides a roadmap for social platforms. It helps align the many people and organizations involved in marketing products and services. First: Strategy helps analyze all information about the market, competition, and customers; this information is crucial because it becomes the supporting guide for the strategies that can be followed. Second, the plan acts as a tool to help align the organization. Finally, the written plan outlines a coherent and coordinated set of marketing programs with timelines and budgets .([21] )
According to Gross (2022), the strategic plan capable of achieving direct competition includes several steps ([22]). First, market analysis or situation analysis to explore critical issues about market conditions, potential customers, and competition. Second, describe the strategy and develop an approach to segmenting the market, targeting specific customers. Third, the tactical department, which includes product or service programs, promotional and marketing communications programs, and channel design. Finally, the financial section describes the budget and financial resources needed to implement the marketing plan.
Therefore understanding the different marketing forms, it is necessary to know the market conditions and the competitive situation and determine the strategy of the target audience. Also, analyzing customer behavior on social media contributes to identifying weaknesses, new threats, or perhaps trends that pose a challenge. Marketing is related to competition, risk, and customer creation. Therefore, a well-thought-out plan that relies on social media analytics helps to retain customers
References
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- Freberg, K. (2019). Social media strategic communication: Creative strategies and research-
based applications. Sage Publication.
- Gross, A. (2022). Best practices: Dust off your marketing plan. Journal of Pension Benefits, Vol.29(2), 51-54. https://go.openathens.net
- He , S., Rui , H., & Whinston, A. ( 2018). Social media strategies in product-harm crises. Information Systems Research, Vol. 29(2), 362-380. https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu
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- Korzeniowski, P. (2021). The keys to identifying underserved markets: Data analytics, mapping software, social media tools, and personas help marketers identify new customer groups. CRM Magazine, Vol. 25(5), 28-31. https://link.gale.com
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[1] Krizanova, A., Lăzăroiu, G., Gajanova, L., Kliestikova, J., Nadanyiova, M., & Moravcikova, D. (2019). The effectiveness of marketing communication and importance of its evaluation in an online environment. Sustainability, Vol. 11(24), 1-20
[2] Ponde, S., & Jain, A. (2019). Digital marketing: Concepts and aspects. International Journal of Advanced Research, Vol. 7(2), 260-266.
[3] Freberg, K. (2019). Social media strategic communication: Creative strategies and research-based applications. Sage Publication.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Rothschild, P. C. (2019). How Marketing Professionals Use and Staff Social Media in Entertainment and Event Venues. MEIEA Journal, 19(1), 99-114.
[6] Freberg, K. (2019), Op.cit.
[7] He , S., Rui , H., & Whinston, A. ( 2018). Social Media Strategies in Product-Harm Crises. Information Systems Research, Vol. 29(2), 362-380
[8] Freberg, K. (2019), Op.cit.
[9] Veglis, A., Saridou, T., Panagiotidis, K., Karypidou, C., & Kotenidis, E. (2022). Applications of big data in media organizations. Social Sciences, Vol.11(9), 1-14.
[10] Freberg, K. (2019), Op.cit.
[11] Jayaram, D., Manrai, A., Manrai, L. (2015). Effective use of marketing technology in Eastern Europe: Web analytics, social media, customer analytics, digital campaigns and mobile applications, Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, Vol. 20, Issue 39,118-132.
[12] Wieneke, A., & Lehrer, C. (2016). Generating and exploiting customer insights from social media data. Electronic Markets, 26(3), 245-268.
[13] Ramanathan, U., Williams, N., Zhang, M., Sa-nguanjin, P., & Borges, L. (2022). A new perspective of e-trust in the era of social media: Insights from customer satisfaction data. Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 69(4), pp. 1417-1431
[14] Ramanathan, et al. (2022), Op.cit.
[15]. Wieneke, A., & Lehrer, C. (2016), Op.cit.
[16] Korzeniowski, P. (2021). The keys to identifying underserved markets: Data analytics, mapping software, social media tools, and personas help marketers identify new customer groups. CRM Magazine, Vol. 25(5), 28-31.
[17] Korzeniowski, P. (2021), Op.cit.
[18] Liu, R., An, E., & Zhou, W. (2021). The effect of online search volume on financial performance: Marketing insight from Google trends data of the top five US technology firms, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Vol.29(4), 423-434
[19] Fink, M. , Koller , M., Gartner, J., Floh, A., Harms, R. (2020). Effective entrepreneurial marketing on Facebook – A longitudinal study, Journal of Business Research,Vol.113,149-157
[20] Atkinson, A., Meadows, B., Emslie, C., Lyons, A., & Sumnall, H.(2022).‘Pretty in Pink’ and ‘Girl Power’: An analysis of the targeting and representation of women in alcohol brand marketing on Facebook and Instagram. International Journal of Drug Policy,Vol.101, 1-12.
[21] Li, F., Larimo, J., & Leonidou, L. C. (2021). Social media marketing strategy: definition, conceptualization, taxonomy, validation, and future agenda. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 49(1), 51-70.
[22] Gross, A. (2022). Best practices: Dust off your marketing plan. Journal of Pension Benefits, 29(2), 51-54.
