Social media is upcoming in the world of digital marketing and advertising. It has the advantages of low costs and a fast delivery to the consumers (Trusov, Bucklin & Powels, 2009). The use of social media as a marketing tool brings up that these kind of marketing is not marketer-controlled, but more consumer-controlled. So it cannot be compared with traditional marketing tools. With social media a company can make consumers involved, make them aware and encourage them to use word-of-mouth referrals (Hoffman & Fodor, 2010).
The effectiveness of the use of social media is hard to measure in money, it can more be measured in consumer behavior. The motivations of consumers to use social media and their engagement with certain brands or companies are the factors that have to be measured by the marketers. But when the social media campaign is launched, the marketers should not sit back and relax, but listen carefully to their consumers and do something with it (Hoffman & Fodor, 2010). Social media is a great tool to involve consumers in your company (Weinberg & Pehlivan, 2009).
The examples I used to illustrate the use of social media as digital marketing and advertising are two television shows, namely Project Runway and The Voice.
Project Runway is a show where upcoming fashion designers can show their skills and abilities. To promote the start of their 10th season they launched the social media campaign ‘Make It Work’. Within this campaign several media platforms were used, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Piictu and Viddy. With this social media strategy they wanted to keep the ‘old’ fans involved, this was more important than attract new fans.
The campaign was very consumer-controlled and they emphasize the engagement of the fans with the television show. But what was missing in the campaign was that the marketers, or the organization, did not respond to the comments and ideas of the consumers. The social media campaign did not help to make Project Runway a success, because it had 25% less viewers than the season before.
The second example is the television show The Voice. I think everyone knows this show but I shall explain it quickly. It is a talent show, but not like any other show, because there are blind auditions. It started in the Netherlands, but it is now also a big success in other countries.
During the show there is a social media room, where a social media correspondent is actively keeping the viewers up to date about what is happening on the social media. Also big screens hang up during the show where the tweets are posted from the viewers. The viewers can communicate with the contestants and with the coaches, so it’s very interactive.
Both television shows make great use of social media platforms, but in a total different way. They both involve their audience and make watching the show more of an experience. But there are also some differences.
Project Runway uses a lot of social media platforms were the consumers are asked to be active, but the marketers do not respond to these comments. This is the opposite with the strategy of The Voice, where the comments of the fans are shown in the television show itself. Also makes The Voice use of just one social media platform, namely Twitter.
For me it’s clear that The Voice has a much better social media strategy than Project Runway, they can learn something from The Voice.
Literature
Hoffman, D. L., & Fodor, M. 2010. Can you measure the ROI of your social media marketing? MIT Sloan Management Review 52(1) 41-49.
Trusov, M., Bucklin, R. E., & Pauwels, K. (2009). Effects of word-of-mouth versus traditional marketing: Findings from an Internet social networking site,” Journal of Marketing (73) 90-102.
Weinberg, B. D., & Pehlivan, E. 2011. Social spending: Managing the social media mix. Business Horizons 54(3) 275–282
