From the course: OMCA™ Certification for Digital Marketers Test Prep

Defining social media marketing

From the course: OMCA™ Certification for Digital Marketers Test Prep

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Defining social media marketing

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- A large part of the OMCA test is the definitions and concepts of social media, and how companies use social media to reach customers. Social media has changed marketing. It's empowered the customer in the digital marketing conversation that was usually one-sided. Customers now have direct public access to communicate to and about companies. They can post reviews, complaints, and feedback, and reach thousands of their peers instantly. So all conversation is now in the public sphere. Companies have little to no control over what is said about them, and they have to react accordingly. But social media also provides companies with unique insights into their customers. It allows them to research customers more closely and target their marketing with precision. This trade-off of social media is hard to define, but it comes down to the basic principle of customer or social participation in marketing. With likes, reviews, promotions, and blogs, consumers are part of the marketing conversation. So where does a company start using social media? For starters, many companies simply use social media as a listening tool. This is called monitoring. Listening to what the customer says for internal management. This mainly involves reading reviews and posts that mention the company or product, but not engaging. The next step is using social as a feedback channel, by responding to questions, concerns, bad reviews, or attempting to solve customer problems. After feedback comes active participation in public conversation with customers. Companies actively seek to increase followers and engagement with those followers. They ask for feedback, create contests, and invite conversation. Finally, the high point of social media engagement is when the customer is an advocate for the company. Companies identify consumer influencers and use them to extend the brand. Through testimonials, sponsorships, or influence, they use the voice of the customer to promote the brand. Third-party customer endorsements tend to carry more weight than traditional brand marketing. While social media takes on many forms and can be used in many ways, it is ultimately a two-way conversation between a company and customers, and a way to reach thousands of new customers.

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