Essay Social Media And Advertising Essay

Social media plays a significant role in ensuring that advertising is successful. Social media is made up of websites that enable users to create and share content with other users across the internet. In today’s world almost everything that takes place revolves around social media and as a result any new product, business or service being advertised is associated with social media in some way. According to some analysts, social media is â€Å"a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content† (Kaplan, p61). With the world growing to be more technological enhanced it shows that more customers and potential customers are becoming more dependent on social media when pursuing a product or service of interest. Social media is user friendly, allows for sharing of content with a wide audience and makes it possible for relationships to develop among o ther brands. Social media is important in ensuring advertising is successful because it provides a user friendly platform that is compatible with its intended user’s ability to use it easily and successfully. Previously, mainly younger persons were the ones who used social media; however, recently older persons are being more engaged in social media because it is much easier to operate and understand now. Many persons believe that social networks are only for younger people, yet we find that everyday older people are using social media not just to keep up with family and friends but to actually communicate with organizations of interest and to engage with their customers. From an older person’s perspective, â€Å"social media allows them to have their own say and provides them with a warm welcoming feeling that they belong† (Ongeri, 1). This would therefore lead to an increase in the success received from advertising via social media because customers prefer easily accessible and user-friendly platforms; where all the required information is at hand when using the internet in search of a new product or service. Social media also plays a significant role in advertising because it allows the product or service being advertised to be shared with almost anyone who uses the internet, by sharing pages, photos and videos. Facebook is one of the most popular social networks with approximately 1.15 billion users, and this is  just one of many social networks available. Therefore, this information provides a better understanding of the scale of persons who have access to material shared via social media and helps to showcase why almost every organization enforces the use of social media when advertising a product or service. It is also beneficial because every time content is shared with others it introduces the business to a new prospective each time. This basically means that users are enabled to access the material that other users and businesses have posted online, which generates feedback that may cause users to develop different thoughts and opinions towards the business or brand. Since social media is collaborative and pretty much viral it allows the brand to build up authenticity and loyalty among customers and potential customers. This basically means that every different social network used brings a unique perspective to brands, allowing them to communicate with consumers while reinforcing the brand image. By using Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to name a few; each platform is responsible for providing the consumer with a different outlook and better perspective as to how they view the product or service being offered. This would increase the product’s reputation and sales due to the impact that social media has on advertising. Thirdly, social media plays a significant role in advertising because it allows for relationships with other brands across other social media platforms to be developed. Just as social media have transformed the way in which individuals communicate with each other, it has also transformed the way in which businesses communicate and interact with each other. Relationships are developed through good business trades and links across social networks, some businesses may prefer to deal directly with a specific supplier because of the previous experience they have received from them which they would not want to jeopardize. This link goes both ways with producers and suppliers and can lead to special deals and incentives being offered to each other based on the good business relationships that have developed. This can also filter down to the consumers and allow brands to offer incentives to their customers which would strengthen existing relationships and build new ones at the same time .It would prove to be beneficial for the product being advertised because potential customers always look for new exciting deals being offered. Overall advertising via social media is a positive for any business or firm  promoting a product or service, simply because they are more advantages than disadvantages of using social media when advertising. Social media is used to discover, interact and share new ideas across the internet; therefore once implemented these aspects all play vital roles in showing that social media plays a significant role in advertising.