Social media marketing for competitive

advantage
The increasing number of consumers using social media has made businesses to use
social media as a marketing tool in an attempt to capture new audiences and
strengthen their ties with the existing customers. The social media sites include
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram and the high level of social
media users is not a surprise to most business owners because of the exponential
growth in the popular social media outlets.The increasing number of consumers
using social media has made businesses to use social media as a marketing tool in an
attempt to capture new audiences and strengthen their ties with the existing
customers. The social media sites include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and
Instagram and the high level of social media users is not a surprise to most business
owners because of the exponential growth in the popular social media outlets.

Attracting Talent

Recruiting talented staff is a primary concern for businesses operating in competitive

markets. In spite of high unemployment, companies report a shortage of skilled
workers that could reach 95 million by 2020, according to "Business Insider." Social
media increase chances of finding talented employees in industry by offering access
to approximately 1.5 billion users who are Internet-literate, well-networked and
often have established expert status. We save money by posting vacancies on social
media, which is cheaper than traditional advertising. In addition, the targeting
options offered by platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook enable to reach
jobseekers with specific experience and interests.

Brand Monitoring

Monitoring and measuring brand via social media enables to track what customers
are saying online about company and products. It offers a competitive advantage by
providing information on comparisons customers draw between and competitors,
which helps to make decisions about pricing and customer preferences. By using
tracking programs such as social plug-ins from Google Analytics, Klout or RowFeeder,
can identify the demographic profiles of followers, customize products and market
them accordingly.

Expert Reputation

Blogging is one of the most successful social media activities, one which few
businesses can afford to ignore. Creating a business blog and posting non-marketing
information regularly provides value to customers and helps to build reputation as
an expert in field. This gives a clear differentiation advantage by setting apart from
competitors. Using social media profiles to share blog posts and encourage followers
to share them further brings them to the attention of users who might not visit blog
or website otherwise.
Engaging Customers

Word of mouth has always been one of the most effective methods of increasing
sales. Business growth leads to cost efficiencies, which can support a cost leadership
advantage, while business efficiencies support a differentiation advantage. In
addition, social media give the opportunity to engage with customers in a public
forum, create conversations and resolve problems. For example, UK–based telecom
firm BT created a team to respond to complaints coming in via Twitter and found
that customers preferred the option of posting their problem instead of phoning in
and holding on for the call center.

Marketing and Advertising

Using social media to complement traditional or online marketing and advertising is

an accepted way to save costs, reach a targeted audience and generate sales leads.
Pay-per-click advertising, or PPC, charges the advertiser only when a user clicks on
the advertisement. This makes it more effective and less costly than traditional
advertising. In addition, social media offers the potential for an advertisement or
blog post to spread virally from user to user, which happens when users share posts
with their own networks.

The bottom line is that today’s use of social media is not really anything new. It’s
been well-accepted management wisdom for thousands of years that a prospective
customer who’s grown to know and trust is more likely to purchase a product from
than someone who has not developed this level of relationship. This is why
marketers have always talked about word-of-mouth communication (now known as
buzz) as being so much more powerful than communication received through mass
media channels. Small businesses have always been forced to rely more on this type
of communication than on highly expensive mass media. This almost innate
familiarity with the necessity of focusing on building relationships in order to
establish their trust positions to quickly adapt the evolving landscape presented by
today’s fast-paced developments in the field of social media. Other factors such as
the level of motivation and organizational flexibility that are inherent in most small
businesses would seem to auger well for their success in the use of social media.
Perhaps some of the challenges (weaknesses) that small businesses live with on a
daily basis will become competitive advantages when it comes to the arena known
as social media marketing.
Medha Mishra
MBA I Section:E
Roll no.: 19202326