Internet currency

Citation

(2009), "Internet currency", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 26 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.2009.07726gag.002

Internet currency

Article Type: Internet currency From: Journal of Consumer Marketing, Volume 26, Issue 7

Edited by Danielle Giles and Dennis A. PittaUniversity of Baltimore

Social media, relationship building and the voice of the customer

Not too long ago marketers practiced the art of networking to build contacts. The hope was that those contacts might aid in building a client base or serve as resources to aid in marketing. Most networking took place physically at events and resulted in face-to-face meetings and exchanges of business cards. One factor that has changed is the increasing influence of the “millenials.” Many sources have described them as never having lived without computers or cell phones and harboring no fear of technology. Naturally, they would embrace a technological development that is second nature to them, connecting via a network. Those networks take the shape of websites that can be accessed by anyone with an Internet connection using a computer or telephone device. Because they foster social interactions at a distance, they are termed, social media.

Today, social media has transformed networking and offers the potential to narrow its focus and yield information that is specific enough to be useful. Networking sites include communities such as: Facebook, which focuses on friends; YouTube, which offers videos usable for viral campaigns, and LinkedIn, the professional connection site. They provide a variety of communication modes.

Twitter, one of the premier social media offers marketers some valuable potential not only in networking but also in gauging the concerns and desires of a variety of target audiences.

Twitter.comwww.twitter.com

First of all, one should grasp some nomenclature. Twitter is all about followers who follow, the “followed.” In principle, anyone or any company can be followed. Followers are those who are interested in some aspect of a topic. They can search using a simple search term and find references on Twitter.com that meet their criteria. “Searchability” is extremely high and saves time, important to the millenials and others.

Before proceeding further, one concern should be raised about using social media for marketing: the technology. The technology is complex and seductive. It is easy: it is easy to “follow” an individual or link; it is easy to search for an interesting term; it is easy to broadcast an appealing link to others. In fact, the technology is so engaging that it mimics the level of involvement that young teenage boys have with video games. Ease of use and interest are not necessarily problems. However, if they absorb managerial attention at the expense of sound marketing strategy, they need to be managed. In fact, crafting a sound strategy will rest on one of several social networking strengths: outbound communications, relationship building, and listening to the voice of the customer.

Outbound public relations applications

Two of the primary objectives of public relations are to build awareness of a product or company, and to enhance understanding of their benefits. Often, the public relations strategy can be complex. For example, building awareness for the University of Baltimore’s Merrick School of Business (UB) is a multilayered strategy that straddles several components of the marketing communication mix. In particular, the lines between traditional public relations activities and interactive marketing have become blurred. Specifically, Twitter has been found to be effective in connecting with three important groups: industry professionals, decision makers, and influencers. These audience members are in a position to persuade prospective students to consider UB’s academic programs or participating in our outreach efforts.

In fact, the school is building awareness for three undergraduate programs: Accounting, Entrepreneurship, and Real Estate and Economic Development. UB began following CPAs, small businesses, and real estate professionals. The objective was not to just reach students. Two non-student targets were also important. UB chose them for their power to effect students in their decision process. They might not be enrolling in our programs but might be hiring our graduates and therefore important to a student’s careers. Alternatively, they might be in a position to influence a prospective applicant to consider the university as a top choice. In turn these professionals learn more about what we have to offer and circulate or “re-tweet” our messages to their followers raising awareness for the school.

The “retweet” begins to infiltrate the Twitter network in the form of word-of-mouth and enlightens “followers” to the breadth and depth of our academic programs and faculty intellectual contributions, which in turn increases awareness and elevates our standing in the business community. Thus Twitter can generate a cascade of communication that reaches numerous individuals and audiences. Thus, UB can gain considerable communication “reach” with a measure of message credibility.

Relationship building

Companies from Buy.com, the online retailer, to Siemens Software have embraced social media as a means to connect with customers. Buy.com uses Twitter for “Tweet and Seek” questions and answers that serve as an ancillary to customer service. In addition, there is a measure of online community relationships that are often helpful in making members feel comfortable, a help in forming bonds.

Relationships forged on social media sites have risks and rewards. Risks include inappropriate content, disparaging remarks, negative impact on image or message dilution. Rewards can range from freedom to publicize, advertise, promote or sell a product or service at low financial cost to alliances that cross promote products or services to message penetration and new market exposure.

For example, UB recently began following a CPA that presented during a workshop at an event titled “Maryland Biz Expo.” UB staff knew that he was actively utilizing social media and that he was well-respected by accountants, CPAs and CFOs. In just a few hours, he began to follow our tweets and shared our messages with his followers. We were able to infiltrate our target audience in a non-threatening environment and disseminate our messages to people who might not have had any connect to us in the past.

The voice of the customer

Marketers have sought to understand what customers actually want and need for years. While they have improved research techniques continuously, it is still difficult to identify consumers’ true desires since they often do not know them themselves. Moreover, they are often uninformed about want satisfying possibilities in the marketplace. The ideal solution might involve frank in depth discussions with consumers that probe their use of products and services and the reasons why they make their choices. In an ideal universe, researchers might be able to hold those conversations and they might actually get answers free of the demand characteristics that affect talking to strangers. Alas, we do not live in an ideal world.

Twitter may provide a measure of that ideal communication and it is linked to the network. Consumers using Twitter use it to follow topics, persons or organizations of interest. Their self-selection is a powerful segmentation tool. More important, they erect few defenses against communication. They are part of an online community and feel free to discuss and question with a degree of frankness. Marketers can use that openness to gain deep understanding of consumer motives, needs, and frustrations that is otherwise difficult to get.

In fact, it is possible to probe for specific information. Astute marketers may use multiple employees to Tweet and in effect play off each other, drawing others into a conversation. The results may yield marketing research information that is otherwise unobtainable.

Just like popular search engines, Twitter and many of its platform applications (i.e. TweetDeck) allow marketers to search and follow trending topics. One topic UB monitors closely is the choice of business schools. People using Twitter often send out messages looking for advice on selecting a business school. We reply to the messages and provide insight to why our programs stand out in the marketplace. We divert internet searches of other programs temporary and drive the prospect to our website so they can discover more about our programs and options. We are able to tailor messages to prospects easily and gain exposure to new markets without any extraordinary efforts.

Implications for marketers

Marketers who use Twitter know that it is not a mass media vehicle. It is a fragmentary approach to the market in the sense that it can convey information to focused groups and reveals information about individuals. It requires a significant amount of employee time to monitor and a level of sophistication to use. However, it affords a degree of control and accessibility to consumers that is remarkable.

One element that marketers need to consider in public relations, creating a buzz about a product or service, can be achieved using the outbound communications possibilities of Twitter. Examples noted above show Twitter’s potential. Social networks can be an effective adjunct to traditional advertising and publicity. It may be inexpensive in terms of media cost. However, it is not free. One caveat is that it may take a significant investment in human resources. Managers will be needed to design communication strategy and employees are important to implement the strategy. However, if marketers do the right things, the organization can gain significant access to its audiences with a high degree of credibility.

Similarly, relationship building may require dedicated customer service personnel to monitor consumer sentiments and provide satisfying responses to their issues. Training such personnel may not be easy but it is vital. Once again, if marketers design and implement their relationship building strategies well, they can form bonds with customers who would otherwise not be acceptable. Moreover, Twitter can leverage the effects far beyond them to their followers.

Overall, social networking has become a tool that can enhance marketing effectiveness. Like any tool, it needs to be understood and applied appropriately to be of use.

In our next issue, we will investigate other informative sites and invite readers to submit their favorite internet sites for our consideration.

Reader requests

Please forward all requests to review innovative internet sites to: Dr Dennis A. Pitta, University of Baltimore, 1420 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-5779, USA. Alternatively, please send e-mail to: dpitta@ubalt.edu for prompt attention.