The Impacts Of Social Media On Brand Marketing Marketing Essay

The Impacts Of Social Media On Brand Marketing Marketing Essay Introduction: This research will be conducted using Husqvarna as an exploratory case study. Husqvarna is the leading companies in the outdoor power product market and as the premium quality brand. They want to stand for professionalism throughout the company. Husqvarna is currently located in over 50 countries all over the world. During the last couple of years social media has grown rapidly and companies worldwide have started to use social media more frequently as a part of their marketing tool, no matter what market they represent. Even though if there is still a need for traditional marketing Husqvarna are shifting more and more from traditional marketing towards social media marketing, but all these parts are a part of their marketing mix. Husqvarna knows that their customers are out there on the net and for approximately one year ago they decided to start using social media marketing. Today they are primarily using Face book, Twitter and YouTube as their social media channels, which are a pa rt of their social media marketing. Background: Social Media is a new subject, but its background start from AOL Instant Messenger to Friendster to Google+ social media has perhaps changed more in ten years. Trend of online marketing, and specifically email marketing, is leap to happen. Internet marketing is becoming so common and included into the social media experience that its essentially becoming its own form of social media. Social media plays an important role in sharing information about products and brands. Actually I can say 60 percent of consumer researches are based on social media and learned about the specific brand or retailers through social networking sites. Problem Discussion: Social media marketing has emerged as the new way of doing marketing where the customers are no longer passive consumers as they were in the previous marketing forms, but rather here they are active participants; this is mainly due to the interaction possibilities that exist on Internet (Miller Lammas, 2010). The resources firms are investing on social media are incrementally increasing and firms are slowly shifting from a traditional way of doing marketing towards a more interactive way (Thackeray, al., 2008). When it comes to social media firms should focus more on creating long term relations with their customers and be active online, rather than on delivering messages and marketing different content (GrÙ nroos, 2007). Swedowsky (2009) mentions that if the firms manage to create strong brand awareness among their customers they will improve the likelihood of them do positive word-of-mouth promotion for the firm among their friends and family. This was the way before the st art of social media and the way has developed further (Swedowsky, 2009). GrÙ nroos (2007) mentions that Word-of-mouth promotion is the objective of social media marketing and the result of a successfully maintained relationship between the firm and their customers. Positive word-of-mouth results in improved brand awareness among current and potential customers, with an increased likelihood of them purchasing the firms products (GrÙ nroos, 2007). Carlsson (2010) mentions that the main obstacle for firms is that they cannot control word-of-mouth marketing, but rather it is the customers that have the control. Hence it is important that firms are successful in their interactions with their customers in order to keep the negative opinions to a minimum (Carlsson, 2010). If firms are successful in their social media marketing they will gain a competitive advantage over their market competitors, but firms have to be cautious due to they do not have a monopoly on the marketing tools, instead it is being shared with the customers whom has the majority of the control and can choose on their own accord where and how to reach out to the firm (Qualman, 2010). Carlsson (2010) mentions that there is a difference between what the firms tell their customers and what other people Are saying about the firm, therefore people usually tend to trust what is recommended by their friends and not the marketers. Swedowsky (2009) mentions that no matter how and why the firms tend to approach the customers to buy their products the purchasing decision has always been distinctive, mainly due to it is a social endeavor. Therefore is it necessary that retailers get involved and pay attention because people tend before making a purchase to consult somebody that they have trust in, mainly family members and friends (Swedowsky, 2009). Thus, if a firm has been successful in their interactions with their customers it can result in stronger brand awareness which has an impact on the customers willingness to purchase the firms products (GrÙ nroos, 2007). The stronger the customers brand awareness is, the more dominant will the firms brand be Because the customer will not look for other alternatives on the market, thus improving The customers loyalty to the firm (Kotler Ar mstrong, 2004). In order for a firm to gain long-term benefits from using social media they should use social media and relationship marketing concurrently due to here the customer is seen as a co-creator, compared to the old and traditional view where the customer is only a target to sell to (Miller Lamas 2010). When firms use social media they should have proper branding and customer service strategies that are needed for their overall social marketing strategy where participating in online conversation about the brand are vital for the firms success online (Williams, 2009). Hence, if firms want to be successful in their marketing activities they should listen to their customers, share information with them and build relationships in order to gain mutual trust so that they can influence their customers behavior (Miller Lamas 2010). Thus, social media facilitates the processes of interaction, relationship and value (Harridge-March Quinton, 2009). Research Objective: Objective of this research is to provide how companies can use social media as a marketing tool and branding tool in a consumer market. The result of this research will give a clear picture how companies can utilize social media in its marketing, what opportunities and challenges lies there, and tactics, tools and measurements, this study aims at offering a guideline for Companies planning marketing activities through social media. Research work will address the following main research questions: How does Social Media affect on consumers purchasing decision? What objectives, strategies and tactics can Companies use in marketing and branding through social media? What key performance indicators can Companies use in measuring the impact of marketing and branding activities through social media? How can Companies utilize social media as a marketing and branding tool in consumer marketing? Investigating the literature: I chose to do an analysis on the literature that has been conducted in the chosen field of interest. This due to I wanted to complement the previous research about how firms can use social media marketing in order to increase the brand awareness among their customers and thus have theories that can help me fulfill the purpose with our research. Besides social media marketing and brand awareness I decided to write about relationship marketing that is interrelated with social media marketing. Word-of-mouth is another phenomenon that is brought up in our theoretical investigation due to word of-mouth is the outcome of a successful managed relationship. Having a relationship based approach in firms social media activities is important because without a relationship approach the likelihood of the customer doing word-of-mouth marketing is less, compared to having a relationship based approach (GrÙ nroos, 2007). Thus I see how relationship marketing is important when firms do social media marketing and for the future outcome of the relationship which affects the word-of-mouth promotion. Another phenomenon I will bring up shortly that is relevant within this field is viral marketing that is closely interrelated to social media marketing and word-of-mouth promotion. I wanted to find out how firms should use social media marketing as a marketing tool in their daily operations and that is why we found these different areas that I mentioned above to be vital for my theoretical findings. We think that if a firm is successful to combine all these parts in their social media marketing they will be able to increase the brand awareness among their customers. I will mention these different concepts more in the theoretical parts, but this was a short introduction why I chose to bring them up in my theoretical findings. Brand awareness: Aaker (1991) mention that when customers recognize a brand in a specific product category and the brand is characterized by the customers attitudes that they are familiar with it is called brand awareness. Aaker (1991) further explains that brand awareness has three different levels: Brand recognition, brand recall and top-of-mind. Brand awareness is unique due to it something that the firm creates and promotes in form of marketing messages, but it is the customers brand recognition that is the objective of the firms marketing activities. Without brand recognition it would be difficult for the firm to create awareness and good perception of their brand among its customers. Brand awareness gets its full use when the firms brand is being shown in different social communities in order to be able to attract a large number customers to the firm (Aaker, 1991). According to Aaker (1996) the purpose of brand awareness is to create and improve the presence of the brand in the customers memory . The stronger presence the brand has in the customers memory the stronger brand awareness will the customer have and the firm can through different marketing activities like for instance repetitive advertising and active advertisement reach the mind of the customers (Aaker, 1996). Relationship marketing In 1994 GrÙ nroos defined the purpose of relationship marketing as: Identify and establish, maintain and enhance and, when necessary, terminate relationships with customers at a profit so that the objectives of all parties involved are met; and this is done by mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises (GrÙ nroos, 1994, p. 275). HÙ†¡kansson and Snehota (1995) discussed that a relationships creates something priceless that neither the firm nor the customer can buy nor develop alone and the result of the creation cannot be easily copied. HÙ†¡kansson and Johansson (2001) further described that a relationship is built on collecting and sharing knowledge between the two parties involved that cooperate with each other by making the most in order employ the knowledge they share between them and in that way make a satisfying exchange that both parties are content with. The more the two parties involved have a mutual relationship and share their information to each other, the more valuable does the information get, leading to companies working harder to fulfill the other partys needs (Palmatier 2006). The firm should have a long-term relationship approach towards the customer , thinking long-term in order to create a dialogue with the customer that both parties will benefit from and not only look for a share of the customers wallet, but also a share of his heart and mind (GrÙ nroos, 2007, p. 321). Lifetime value of a customer relationship In 2006 Ford, Gadde, HÙ†¡kansson and Snehota explained that a relationship has value for both the firm and the customer in two different ways; a current and a potential value. The current value is obtained when the firm and customer have interacted for a while and learned about each other, which facilitates the future interaction between them. The information that is shared through interaction will lead to a more effective implementation of the problem that is discussed. The interaction can lead to creating and adapting new solutions which can improve the relationship so that future problems will be reduced and future, potential value will evolve (Ford, et al., 2006). Word-of-mouth Kirby and Marsden (2006) explain that through the years traditional marketing has become less effective and it has become more difficult for firms to reach the customers, therefore the concept of word-of-mouth has been an important role in attracting attention to the firm and its products and services in a natural way. Kirby and Marsden (2006) further mention that word-of-mouth is a non-commercial concept that has a commercial purpose, where the impact of consumers themselves spreading the information is higher and more reliable than if the firms would intentionally do it because here it is the customer themselves that recommend a company to someone else.Word-of-mouth is the collective name for the marketing that is designed in a noncommercial way to make the customers to start spreading information about the firm (Kirby Marsden, 2006). Social media marketing Drury (2007) describes social media as an online resource that people use to share different types of contents, for instance photos, videos, text, images, opinion, gossip, humor and ideas by using resources in form of blogs, social networks, wikis and others. As a user, social media marketing is based to give the opportunity to connect with friends and through linking sites, share their experiences. One may believe that it is just about giving and receiving a message, but that is not the case due to interactions within social media is about receiving and exchanging perceptions and ideas (Drury, 2007). Drury (2007) further explains that traditional marketing via television and newspapers is about delivering a message to the audience, whereas social media marketing is about building a conversation and relationship with the audience. Traditional marketing is a passive way of marketing compared to the fast and interactive social media marketing (Xiao, 2008). Social media marketing is a t wo-way process that engages an audience and a brand, and marketing has developed from one dimensional to a two-way process (Eely Tilley, 2009). Summary of the theoretical framework In the society usage of technology is high and firms offer their customers similar products to similar prices, thus having a relationship approach is crucial when firms do their social media marketing due to it offers something unique that no firm can buy; a relationship (HÙ†¡kansson Snehota, 1995). Having strong brand awareness among a firms customers will improve the relationship and improve the possibility of customer becoming brand advocates and doing free marketing for the firm in form of word-of mouth promotion (GrÙ nroos, 2007). Here the current customers can reach new customers that perhaps could not be reached by the firm or where the customers would ignore the firms initiatives due to they do not like to be forced into something and therefore prefer the word-of-mouth marketing which is a more unintentional and natural way of doing marketing (Kirby Marsden, 2006). By having current customers promoting the firms products and services they do not only attract new customer, but they also improve the firms relationship with current customers (Swedowsky, 2009) Improved brand awareness among the firms customers will result in a better relationship between the customers and the firm, thus improving the loyalty of the customer and also increasing the likelihood that the customer will continue purchasing the firms products and services (Anderson, et al., 2009). Having customers doing free word-of-mouth promotion for the firm is not only an objective with successful marketing, it is the outcome of a successful relationship and therefore relationship marketing and social media marketing are interrelated (GrÙ nroos, 2007). When we did the analysis of the literature we saw that social media and relationship marketing were interrelated due to both have interactions as an initial and essential part of their strategy to create or improve the relationship with the other party (GrÙ nroos, 2007). GrÙ nroos (2007) further mentions th at other aspects they have in common are that both have an increased customer loyalty and word-of-mouth as objectives. Hence we wanted to investigate more on this specific portion and see how it is related to brand awareness among a firms customers. A firm must cherish their customers brand awareness and continuously improve in order to be successful in their marketing (Anderson, et al., 2009). This improvement can be done by using different types of marketing activities, for instance use social media marketing and relationship marketing in conjunction to improve the customers brand awareness by having continuous interactions with their customers (GrÙ nroos, 2007). As the interaction becomes more regular it will become a dialogue where the firm is listening to the customers thoughts and feedback. If the customer is satisfied with the dialogue and the relationship it will result in the customer doing free word-of-mouth marketing to his friends and family (GrÙ nroos, 200 7). This can result in reduced marketing costs for the firm and in an increased possibility of the firm attaining new customers and thus generating higher revenues and improving the firms profitability (Ford, et al., 2006). With this in mind we saw that word-of-mouth is a powerful tool, but with a huge drawback from a firm point of view due to it cannot be controlled by them (Mangold Faulds, 2009). On the other hand a bad relationship where the customer is not satisfied with the interaction with the firm and the actions that the firm has made can result in the customer doing bad word-of-mouth promotion for the firm among his friends and family (Carlsson, 2010). Thus we see how important it is to cherish the relationship with the customer by using different marketing tools in order to strengthen the customers brand awareness, especially since the outcome of the relationship is either stronger or worse brand awareness, respectively good or bad word-of-mouth promotion from the customer (Gunawardena, et al., 2009) This shows how careful firms have to be in their marketing activities and take the relationship perspective due to having a satisfied customer will improve the likelihood of the customer doing good word-of-mouth promotion for the firm, and likewise having a dissatisfied customer will more likely do bad word-of-mouth against the firm (Carlsson, 2010). We have summarized th e theory in the figure below (figure 2.7), which we have illustrated on our own. Here we have tried to show the interrelation between the theories. Figure 2.7 show that if a firm wants to create strong brand awareness among their customers they have to use different marketing tools which we have mentioned throughout our theoretical part. There are marketing tools that the firm can control in form of social media, relationship and viral marketing that is initiated by the firm, and if the firm uses their marketing tools in the right way it will result in a stronger brand awareness among their customers (Aaker, 1991). This in turn will improve the likelihood of the customer promoting the firm and its products and services to new and current customers free of charge in form of word-of-mouth (GrÙ nroos, 2007). Word-of mouth promotion is the outcome of a successful relationship and strong brand awareness (Gunawardena, et al., 2009).