I would like you to consider the contemporary business organization and the role that social media plays.
We see these icons on almost every single website. Dr. Herman has written about how Facebook sets the dynamic of communication and sociality into motion. There are many small actors who have relied on social media to expand their craft. Examples can be those tattoo artists whom I mentioned. They post their work and communicate with clients via social media outside of the shop they work at. When they travel, they can make this known and they will most likely have clients in the location they are headed too. Another example can be those fancy little bakeries which are popping up everywhere that have like $10 cupcakes (we have one in Uptown).
Social media allows for these small actors to showcase their art in ways which would not be possible in the past. Corporations are also aboard the social media train. I was not totally surprised when I saw Walmart had a Pintrest.
Do you think not having an active social media presence hinders a corporations or small business way forward?
I believe that it depends. In most cases, I would say yes – especially in the case of small, local businesses. However in the case of large corporations, such as Walmart like you mentioned, then no. I don’t believe that Walmart’s success hinders on whether or not they have an Instagram or Twitter account. I believe that customers will choose to shop at Walmart for other reasons than their social media activity. For other local businesses and artists, I believe that using social media is imperative. Social media provides small businesses, especially artists the opportunity to showcase their work and advertise their products. For example, many local photography businesses use Facebook and Instagram to display their work and advertise themselves. Using social media gives these artists a network, which helps them to attract customers. For example, if you saw your friend “tagged” in a photo on Facebook, you would click it and see that a local photography company took the photo, which would entice you to further look into the business. Without social media, you may never even know if the business’ existence.
ReplyDeleteI think that in some ways, it could limit the business from not reaching their full potential or not covering their market as effectively as they could be. However, especially in the case of smaller businesses I think that the allocation of capital needs to be very well thought out. While investment in social media can sometimes blindly seem like the right thing to do, its actually extremely difficult to calculate any true ROI. Sure, you will build a following base and you might get some traction. But what does this actually mean for a business? If anything, I think it offers a sense of legitimacy rather than any monetary value. Social media is like "rented land", you have to play by the terms and conditions of the provider and they are subject to change at anytime. Businesses need to think about housing their marketing strategies on platforms that they own and have their own control over THEN consider secondary platforms such as twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Businesses need to think twice about spreading their marketing efforts too thin!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely have to agree with Jenna and Nikki with regards to cases of small, local businesses. I think that Instagram and Facebook pages act as portfolios for makeup artists for example, or like you mentioned in class, tattoo artists. Everyday on Instagam, I see beauticians and makeup artists using their Instagram accounts to present their work and to promote themselves. It may require time and effort, but the pros certainly outweigh the cons, in that it is an inexpensive way to promote and attract interest and potential customers to a business. I also believe that it’s quite important to have a social media presence is today’s world, as it shows that you are able to adapt and keep up with changing times. Having a social media presence arguably allows others to promote you as well. For example, if you go get a tattoo done, you can upload a picture of it and tag the artist – or if you go try one of those really expensive cupcakes, you have to take a picture of it right? In which case you can tag the cupcake store in your post as well!
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