Running head: Introductory Paper: Using Social Media to Gain Target Customers 1

Introductory Paper: Using Social Media to Gain Target Customers

Erik Smithe

Dr. Petty

Northeastern State University

MKT 4333 CRN 31556

February 4, 2019
Running head: Introductory Paper: Using Social Media to Gain Target Customers 2

Abstract

This is an essay aimed at explaining the ways in which social media has influenced the

way that marketing teams and organizations, whether they be profit-based, non-profit, or

government based, target their audiences and convert them into consumers. The body of this

paper will discuss various strategies, such as using brand loyalty, discussion boards, and brand

awareness, and how digital marketers take advantage of these tools to create large followings in

order to create even more supporters. The objective of this paper is to inform the reader of tactics

used in order to capitalize on the influence social media has over the public.
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Social media has exploded in the recent decade as we have seen numerous new platforms

take off. In a 2018 survey conducted by Pew Research Center, they state that 78% of people in

the US from ages 18-24 use the social media site Snapchat, while 71% of those users visit it

multiple times per day (Smith, Aaron). Similarly, 71% of the same demographic use Instagram

and 45% utilize Twitter. The study goes on to show that, while it is not classified as a traditional

social media platform, YouTube holds similar properties that make it crucial to marketing teams.

This is due to its high viewer traffic consisting of 94% of US citizens 18-24 and 75% of the

entire US adult population. A digital marketer’s ability to take advantage of these trends and

capitalize on the potential consumers that resonate from them are always adapting to the

countless variables that drive their target markets to participate in these platforms. An example

of these changes is the Facebook crisis that took place in early 2018 where the CEO of the social

site, Mark Zuckerberg, met with congress due to the breach of roughly 87 million users’ personal

information (Shepardson). This led to millions of people protesting the social media site for an

unspecified amount of time and resulted in corporations, as well as private individuals, losing out

on potential consumers to view their advertisements and posts. This is one example of the tactful

construct that the field of digital marketing consists of. An article by Lyle Marketing, a social

media marketing company, lays out an excellent guide on the relevance of social media’s role in

targeting potential consumers for all types of businesses or organizations. The article discusses

various elements that digital marketers use to effectively target their audiences, present their

product or offer, and increase sales over time.

In collaboration with the first paragraph, Smith states that the reason successful

companies are lucrative in today’s market is their investment into social media campaigns

because this is where their consumers spend their time. They describe how 97% of marketers
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take advantage of social media to reach their target audiences, and how one-third of social media

users check their accounts over five times a day. In fact, adults ages 18-34 that participate in

social media are 95% likely to follow minimum of one brand that they are fond of. It is

suggested that this is caused by the individual’s cost-benefit-analysis, where they find their time

spent on these sites and following their brands, whether it be for special deals, entertainment, or

information, more valuable than the alternatives. One theory proposed is that social media sites

allow organizations to take on a more personable image to customers and, similar to conversing

with a friend or loved one on the site, individuals are able to communicate with their favorite

brands through these sites on a closer level. This increase in customer interaction has shown to

provide more authentic connections and audience responsiveness towards the brand they are

interacting with (Smith, Karen).

The next major factor social media has in influencing potential consumers is the concept

of brand recognition/awareness. This attribute is commonly most associated with the initial

contact the customer has with a brand or product. If a consumer had never heard of Dawn Dish

Soap and saw a commercial where environmentalists were using their product to clean oil off

baby ducks because of an oil spill, this would be considered positive brand awareness. An

example of negative brand awareness would be an individual never hearing of BP Oil and having

their first experience be seeing their oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Social media can increase the

scope of a small business to that of a large corporation, given enough time and resources. Being

able to post captivating content that is pleasing to the viewer will add value to your brand and

cause it to become familiar to those who see it (Smith, Karen). When a company launches a

social media marketing campaign, they begin interacting with their audience as stated in the

previous paragraph. This contributes to positive brand awareness and can be taken a step further.
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Hypothetically, if the company doing this campaign decided to host a contest where if you post a

picture of yourself with their product and “@ing” them in the post to win a prize, then you are

increasing the number of individuals you are marketing to from your original scope to that scope

plus every one who follows the individuals participating in your contest (LaMarco). This is a

very common practice among schools, such as Northeastern State University where they will

give away an Apple Watch, a brand which already has large credibility, in order to increase their

own visibility.

Another positive aspect of using social media to impact your target audience is the

increase in “inbound traffic” to the company’s home site (Smith, Karen). This process is the

ideal reason for increasing one’s social media presence. Paired with the company’s SEO (Search

Engine Optimization), this strategy can increase visitors to their site as well as convert them into

customers. It is crucial that those running the social media accounts for these company’s are

posting “quality content” that adds value to those they are wanting to engage with. Having links

on their social media accounts will give those who found their content meaningful another route

after visiting their account on the social site. The more positive content that is posted, the more

opportunities they have to convert leads into consumers. This, of course, is relative to which

platform the organizations are using.

Knowing your target audience and their habits is always the first step in launching any

campaign. Every social media site has their core audiences as well. Facebook, being the largest

site with over 1 billion users, has the greatest potential for reaching older generations through

either videos, pictures, writing, or a combination of the three. Sites like Instagram and Snapchat

are focused solely around short videos and pictures in order to convey a message (Smith, Aaron).

This is more popular among younger generations, 30 and under, because of their shortened
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attention span compared to older generations, and their need for immediate knowledge (Gaille).

Platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook pander towards older, more professional demographics

where platforms like Instagram and Snapchat are utilized by younger, up and coming

generations; not to say that there is no overlap. It is very important for an organization to know

who their audience is and what sites they are attracted to before launching any marketing

campaigns.

SEO’s are one of the most valuable criteria a company utilizes since the rise of the

Internet as more and more corporations are funneling larger portions of their budgets into

developing their online presence. Increasing a company’s SEO ranking is what allows them to be

seen first on search engines when certain keywords are searched. While the variables that go into

what constitutes the score of these rankings change frequently, the more relevant and frequent an

organizations social media is, the greater chance they will have a higher SEO score. Even if a

consumer searches a company by name, that company’s social media accounts will be some of

the top search results shown. This will allow the consumer to view the content of the company

on these sites to decide if they enjoy and relate to what the company does and stands for. If the

consumer sees that the last post of the organization was three years ago about nothing that is

relevant to what he is interested in, then he is likely to have a negative brand awareness of the

company, even if he had initially been interested in the company (Smith, Karen). If specific

individuals decide that they like/dislike an organization, brand, or product, it could mean large

boosts in potential/lost prospective customers, respectfully.

In an article written by Social Media Week, they describe these specific individuals as

“social influencers”. These are people, or other organizations, that have significant followings on

various social media sites (Barker). Many corporations tend to recruit these influencers to
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promote their products in a positive light so that their many followers are exposed to their brand

daily. The article sums up the tactic by claiming their ability to “contribute to the ‘bandwagon’

effect.” The article goes on to list a survey indicating that approximately 45% of people surveyed

showed that reviews, comments, and feedback from others through social media influenced their

shopping decisions. Again, this tactic of using these influencers all begins with identifying your

target market. Company’s will do extensive research to see who is following these people in

order to recruit the right influencers to get them the most effective reach for their money.

Brand loyalty is another benefit of taking advantage of the influence social media has on

consumers. Within the Lyle article, they discuss the longevity of large companies to create big,

expensive customer loyalty programs, leaving smaller businesses without these commodities to

rely on more affordable means. This is where social media comes in at the overall lowest cost of

any form of advertisement.

With social media being the most cost-effective strategy, when compared with traditional routes,

it is no surprise that 97% of businesses have devoted some portion of their budgets into their

online presence (Smith, Karen). The article quotes a report by HubSpot stating that, “84% of

marketers were able to generate increased traffic with as little as six hours of effort spent on

social media per week.” Being the least expensive and most effective form of marketing, relative

to time spent on the advertisement, is what seems to be the deciding factor for businesses to

invest into this platform. Applying these benefits towards building brand loyalty is a recipe for

success. Referencing paragraph two, being able to communicate effectively with your fan base

through insightful tips, helpful feedback, or light-hearted humor proves to be one of the most

valuable efforts a company can make. This can be shown through Wendy’s notoriously witty

Twitter account. Wendy’s has created a personality for itself that has set itself apart from its

competition. This uniqueness has made them one of the most watched and anticipated twitter

accounts within the United States and boasts over 3 million followers, barely falling short of the

Mac daddy of fast food, McDonald’s.

Word-of-mouth appears to be the most powerful form of marketing there is, and that is

exactly what social media is. Apart from being free, it generates the most trustworthy leads

possible (Smith, Karen). If an individual was undecided about where to go to dinner when on

vacation in a new area, they are much more likely to trust their friend’s opinion, who is from the

area and who they share common interests with, than if they were to randomly choose. This same

logic can be applied to posting an opinion for a product on a social media site for your followers

to view, of which you probably have commonality with. Most people see that if someone they

know and trust enjoy a brand, then they have a high possibility of enjoying the product or service

as well. Smith expresses that, “brands are encouraging their customers to leave reviews on their
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social media profiles, recommend their brand to friends and family on social, or provide

testimonials.” Research also shows that it is not just friends or close family-members that give

credibility to products through reviews, but people are just as likely to trust an online review

from a stranger as they were to trust their friend. This is shown by, “72% of consumers trust

online reviews as much as personal recommendations from real people”, “68% of consumers go

to social networking sites to read product reviews”, and “90% of consumers say that positive

online reviews influence their buying decisions” (Smith, Karen). Therefore, it is crucial for

organizations to encourage their consumers to actively post positive reviews and experiences

with their products and services.

One of the final points Smith makes through Lyle Marketing is the ability for industries

to optimize their social media experience by actively listening to their consumers through

discussion threads/boards and addressing their concerns to build a better brand. Being active and

posting content regularly is one thing, but it is an entirely different arena when it comes to the

public relations side of the coin. A company’s ability to listen and respond to their consumers

comments, whether they be negative or positive, can greatly impact the dynamic the company

shares with their audience. The company that can acknowledge a customers issue and correct the

situation publicly makes great strides towards their professionalism, credibility, and overall

image to the public. It also helps the company grow internally, being able to receive free

feedback on the areas of the company or specific product that falls short of public

opinion/standards. The company that can efficiently use this free information will be able to

correct the problems that caused the issue more cost-effectively and potentially gain new

consumers in the process. Customer satisfaction is the most important aspect of any business,

next to making money. Consumers will contribute their opinions on a company through their
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“dollar-votes” and this will either make a company a success or failure. Individuals who can

visually see that the company is publicly working with their unsatisfied customers to correct their

problems are more likely to have trust for these companies. Also, the initial individual’s problem

may have been the same as someone else’s and could result in the company correcting multiple

problems with one conversation. Reversely, organizations also can see what products or services

they provide are getting the most positive feedback, allowing them to see what is working in

their favor within their target market.

References

Barker, Shane. “How Social Media Is Influencing Purchase Decisions.” Social Media Week, 26

May 2017, socialmediaweek.org/blog/2017/05/social-media-influencing-purchase-

decisions/.

“Essentials of Marketing, Fourth Edition.” Player.mheducation.com, 2017,

player.mheducation.com/#/epub/sn_2244#epubcfi(%2F6%2F8!%2F4%2F32%5Bdata-

uuid-058d30f4aad64706ad98b41137636d29%5D).

Gaille, Brandon. “17 Average Attention Span Statistics and Trends.” BrandonGaille.com, 23

May 2017, brandongaille.com/average-attention-span-statistics-and-trends/.

LaMarco, Nicole. “The Importance of Brand Awareness.” Small Business - Chron.com,

Chron.com, 27 June 2018, smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-brand-awareness-

45853.html.

Shepardson, David. “Zuckerberg to Meet with U.S. Lawmakers Today: Sources.” Reuters,

Thomson Reuters, 9 Apr. 2018, www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-privacy-

congress/zuckerberg-to-meet-with-u-s-lawmakers-today-sources-idUSKBN1HG00H.
Running head: Introductory Paper: Using Social Media to Gain Target Customers 12

Smith, Aaron, and Monica Anderson. “Social Media Use 2018: Demographics and Statistics.”

Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center: Internet, Science

& Tech, 19 Sept. 2018, www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/.

Smith, Karen. “15 Reasons Why Marketing Through Social Media Should Be Prioritized.”

Digital Marketing Blog, LYFE Marketing, 13 Sept. 2018,

www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/marketing-through-social-media/.