A recent research paper examined the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool. The authors compared four different strategies for engaging consumers: transformational, informational, and interactional. Transformational marketing involves creating an overall positive brand experience for customers, while informational and interactional marketing involve ongoing interactions with consumers. In Kusumasondjaja’s research, interactive posts from brands were more effective than informational ones. Smaller businesses tended to use social media because of its perceived usefulness and economic value.
However, when we think of social media as a marketing tool, we think of it more broadly. We think of social media as digital places, rather than specific technologies and platforms. Social media, historically, has been about information sharing and word-of-mouth. That means that brands must work harder to get noticed, boost their organic reach, and create new social platforms. But how do we know that social media is effective?
While many platforms have contributed to the evolution of the social media landscape, the real story is about the people. As consumers engage in social media and engage with brands through their digital selves, we also experience the consequences of our actions in real life. Until more research is done to determine what the effect of social media on real life behaviors, we can only speculate. It may be time for marketers to develop new tools and measures to measure the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool.
This research suggests that social media is an effective marketing tool. However, despite what many marketers say, there is no proven link between social media likes and actual behavior. This is the main issue in today’s social media research. Researchers have noted that social media can make brands appear more credible and successful. While the research is still a bit preliminary, it provides some interesting insights into how brands use social media to reach their target consumers.
