Big Corporations Do Not Need #SocialMedia. True or False?
Just last week I had the opportunity to sit down with a number of university students to talk about branding strategies in general. We explored the current campaigns, both successful and those that are not, whether it is through social media or conventional media – it was an interesting discussion and here are their 4 perceptions on social media:
Perception #1: Big Companies Do Not Need Social Media
Interestingly all of them think that social media isn’t necessary for big companies, simply because they are already well known. However, they do see social media as a necessity for small businesses to establish a wider presence among the consumer market and the reason they say so is because they see that…
Perception #2: Social Media is All About Promotion
The students felt that social media is their world – for them to connect, stay in touch and have fun. Brands come on simply to advertise and to promote their products.
Perception #3: It’s Not Necessary to Have Social Media if You’ve Good Customer Service
Upon bringing up social media tools as a customer service platform, they thought it can indeed be a great addition but follows to indicate that there is no need for it if your business already have good customer service through phone calls or e-mails.
Perception #4: Viral Videos Can Be ‘IT’ But May Not Convert
They love viral videos and they will share them without a doubt. Will they buy the product? Not necessarily. This goes the same for any other social media promotional campaigns e.g. contests, apps and etc.
Having Seen the Perceptions Above, Could Marketers Be Wrong?
Being a believer of social media myself, I was shocked to hear their thoughts but at the same time, they made perfect sense simply because there has to be a reason why the perception towards social media is as such.
Are brands / businesses doing it wrong on social media?
What could be the cause of such perception towards social media?
What do you think?
very interesting perceptions, but big companies do need continue to develop their social media presence as the traditional marketing methods are changing.
If big companies simply focus on brand awareness and public relations the benefits to them will be huge. they have the ability now to build a dialogue with their customers and potential customers, which was never available before.
Hi Jane, thank you for your valuable insights! You’ve brought out a great point by saying that businesses can benefit from dialogues that was never possible before. I think many businesses are still complacent simply because they’ve been relying on conventional marketing methods and it has been working (all these years) for them. It may take sometime before they fully realize that social media is beyond a hype and can benefit their business.
Any thoughts on how can they ‘wake up’ from their world?
social media is a great marketing platform with the growth of social networking sites, more users means there are more audience which are convertible to paying customers. it can also be a platform for awareness campaign.
even conventional marketing is so yesterday, there are still some who can only rely on that method since they have no knowledge, expertise or budget for that. there are many apps or marketing company to aid these people/business but not many are seeing them as necessary. how can they see that if they dont even know what social network is? although there are 600 million registered facebook users, out there still million others particularly people who sleeps in their office and business owners, not having an account, and need time to learn about social media. some of them dont even have their own company website yet.
the revolution of social media is too fast that many have left behind
Those are awesome thoughts you have! Very well said – it is true that there are many other there that have no knowledge, expertise and budget. Or rather, they refuse to obtain the knowledge (for various reasons) and do not know how to allocate budget for it. This reminds me of a client, too. They’re eager to take on social media as they see the potential but went into hiding the moment they found out that it wasn’t free. Sad.
The revolution / evolution of social media literally flies by everyday. I still remember the Friendster, Hi-5! and mySpace days and today they are nowhere to be seen, overruled by Facebook and the rest. Will there be a next giant? Nobody knows for sure but you’re right – it’s time for businesses to keep up with social media before they become obsolete.
Thanks, Evan for the awesome share!
There are few things that we can’t believe the perception.
1) They are students, there is a big gap in between students and working adult
2) How many are they? A number of students can’t represent the whole industry. This is very important when asking the right questions to the RIGHT PEOPLE. That’s why research and survey method is very important.
I want to correct:
1) Big companies need social media because people expect their on social networking sites to influence them. Study statistics from Twitter, more than 30% of twitter active users are talking, recommending even purchasing products and services on Twitter
2) Social media is about promotion because those companies use social media in the wrong way.
3) Good customers service includes social media, again go study Twitter, how many big companies already doing customer service thru Twitter
4) Video marketing is one of the best tool to convert traffic to buyers, it depends on how to produce the videos
This article doesn’t have strong statistic, survey method, numbers of students and most important the target group is too narrow, it doesn’t mean anything at all.
Hi Kent, first and foremost I apologize for not making it clear in the article that this is by no means a form of research. It was merely a chat=up session with a group of about 20 Malaysian degree students which in my opinion belong to the “ideal age group” that most companies here target; especially when it comes to social media- which sparked off the discussion with them.
Having that said, I also apologize for creating the impression that I generalized the industry – I meant to only highlight what the students thought about social media and big organizations here in Malaysia. Of course, that does not mean that they are right but I thought it would be good to share what I got out of that discussion since it may apply to some others as well, and to also get some feedback out of it in which yours is spot on!
I totally agree upon your 4 points on a global level. However unfortunately in Malaysia, Twitter is not very widely received in companies YET and that’s perhaps where the students got the perception that it isn’t particularly useful. Facebook is still #1 over here and I must admit we aren’t any good with video marketing either though there are some exceptions here and there.
Again, I must say that this is just the perception from the students. They definitely do not represent the population but it still means something if they don’t get “it” and that’s what this article is all about :)
You have clearly pointed out great points that I’m sure many will also agree to what you’ve said like myself. Sorry once again and thanks, Kent for your valuable insight! Appreciate it :)