How the Growth of Social Media has Changed the Face of Marketing Forever

Social Media's Direct Impact on Today's Marketers 

As social media continues to expand its role in society, it is evident that this movement has consequently left a monumental impact upon the strategies of today's marketers. To put it simply, because there is such a large concentration of humans that are now constantly logging onto social media sites, these platforms have opened up brand new avenues for companies to market their products. Moreover, along with these new platforms have come many new strategies, technological advances, and further innovations that have helped marketers to expand their limits. One obvious example of a site that marketers have been known to target is Facebook, considering that it is home to over 1.06 billion users per month, however there are countless other sites that marketers can use to their advantage in order to reach more potential customers.

In fact, as Marketing Professor and Yale School of Management graduate, Anastaysia Pocheptsova, conveys, "any kind of social platform that is (...) more connected towards consumer use or product use, such as Pinterest for example, (...) will be much more beneficial for marketers than [sites such as] Facebook".  The reasoning behind this statement is based upon the fact that Pinterest revolves around "different pictures of products that [customers] are thinking of using or are currently using", while Facebook has more of a "broad appeal", in that its main purpose is for users to connect with their friends. Thus, as opposed to Facebook, whose users may not be receptive to constant marketing tactics, these new social media networks such as Pinterest have begun to effectively connect marketers and consumers who are equally enthusiastic about sharing new products. Ultimately, the stronger that this connection is, the greater opportunity that marketers have at providing an effective campaign.

How have Marketers' Strategies Specifically Changed? 

Not too long ago, before the emergence of social media, marketing firms' main resources consisted of billboards, newspaper ads, television or radio ads, and online display ads. Understandably, this is where the vast majority of a company's marketing budget would go, as these platforms were the most effective at the time. Yet as social media continues to provide such innovative new opportunities for marketers, the industry has seen a great shift in regards to how its costs are being distributed. Specifically, this industry-wide change is exemplified by a recent report from Business Insider, which states that "nearly two-thirds of marketers plan to increase their social media spending this year, including 31 percent who plan to increase their social media budget by more than 10 percent." Additionally, this report shows that "another 39 percent [of advertisers] say they are moving some of their offline marketing budget to social media advertising and 10 percent are taking money away from other offline channels." Granted, while these numbers undoubtedly justify a shift amongst today's marketing efforts, many expect this to to simply be the beginning of a much larger movement, as social media marketing has just begun to sweep the nation.

What is in store for the Future of Social Media Marketing? 

Essentially, as more and more people continue to log onto social media sites, one can expect more marketing campaigns and advertisements to follow them. Ultimately, this trend has been seen all throughout history, as marketers have always attempted to follow the crowd so that they could reach the greatest possible audience. For example, in the early 1900's the USA saw an incredible rise in printed billboards, because it was during this era that vast majority of the nation began to drive automobiles. Likewise, in the early 1940's, the nation witnessed its first ever television advertisement, because marketers responded to the widespread growth of the TV. Thus, with that being said, it is evident that today's society is shifting towards an era of social media, and it is purely a matter of time until this medium dominates the focus of most marketing firms. This claim is further supported by a recent article by Forbes, which states that "social media spending as a percentage of the marketing budget will more than double over the next five years." As a point of reference, "responses from 468 top marketers in February indicate that companies are spending 8.4 percent of their budgets on social media", however "in the next five years, that number is expected to exceed 21.5 percent." To put it into an even greater perspective, one must consider that in 2009, companies were spending only 3.5 percent of their budgets on social media marketing. Thus, in comparison to today's budgeted amount, the increase from 3.5 to 8.4 percent alone represents a 140 percent increase in the last 3 years, and according to Forbes, "no other part of the marketing budget has grown so much in such a short period of time".

How has Social Media Marketing Proved to be Effective? 

While social media marketing tactics have undoubtedly helped countless companies, there are several campaigns that stand out in particular. Specifically, one notable company that has benefited from a social media-based marketing campaign is Old Spice, as their body wash sales saw an increase of over 107% in one month after incorporating a “hilarious” social media campaign that was spread primarily across Youtube. However, despite this original source of distribution, Old Spice wisely incorporated a tactic known as cross-media marketing, so that they could reach audiences across other social media pages aside from Youtube. As a result of this campaign, Old Spice’s Facebook interaction reportedly increased over 800%, and at one point they gained over 80,000 Twitter followers in 2 days. According to Postano, another company that saw great success through social media marketing was Cadbury, as they orchestrated a perfectly timed campaign right before Easter in order to boost holiday chocolate sales. Though seemingly crazy, Cadbury was able to achieve their mission of improved fan interactivity by creatively "engineering a giant chocolate hand giving the infamous Facebook 'thumbs up' as a thank you to their fans". Moreover, while this 3 ton chocolate hand was being built, Cadbury used social media to broadcast a live stream of the process, so that users could interact as they watched the giant structure being built. The enormous hand ultimately took 48 hours to build, yet the result "was a whopping 250,000 people actively involved in the campaign with a bonus of 40,000 new fans gained." 

An image of the enormous chocolate hand that Cadbury built as a way to boost fans through social media 

As each of these respective campaigns show, today's new social media outlets provide marketers the freedom to take their creativity to new heights in order to catch the eyes of prospective customers. Furthermore, one can directly see how these types of marketing campaigns have influenced users through the usage of "person on the street" interviews. Within this particular example, the interviewee clearly recognizes the growth of social media marketing, and while he cannot recall a specific campaign that has influenced him off the top of his head, it is evident that he has been exposed to these types of social media marketing tactics through a variety of platforms.

Thus, with the ability to stream live broadcasts, utilize cross-media marketing, create viral videos, and integrate social media with TV shows, today's marketers have more innovative technology at their disposal than ever before. While there was once a strong emphasis on billboards, radio ads, and newspaper ads, that era has come to an end, as companies are planning on drastically boosting their spending on social media marketing in the near future. With this abundance of information, one can ultimately conclude that social media represents the future of marketing; and the future is now.