Social Media and Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Social Media and Marketing - Essay Example 54; Zhivov, Scheepers & Stockdale, 2011, p. 1). Academic inquiries into the power of social media in communication has indicated a growing preference of social media as replacement of traditional forms of communication such as mobile telephone communication, the use of e-mails, letter writing, and some forms of internet-based communication. It might be necessary to appraise the power of social media in terms of the kind of synergies that have been brought into the discourse of marketing. The advantages range from the time factor, cost of operation, to convenience and other aspects of communication (Zarrella, 2009, p. 164; Zhivov, Scheepers & Stockdale, 2011). However, some experts have established that the effectiveness of social media is highly dependent on various factors such as timing and the target groups. Studies conducted on the use of social media have shown that there are demographic variations in the manner in which the virtual communities use the internet resource. Matters of age, race, gender, religion, personality, and others determine the demographic variables. These demographic variables determine the trends of usage, the kind of interests in the usage, and the levels of connections. Equally, the levels of education, social status, and geographical reasons have also been shown to affect the manner in which social media is used by different people. Exploiting the opportunities availed by social media for the purposes of communication and marketing requi re a balance of the various factors that relate to its usage. Some businesses have been able to harness the power of social media for effective marketing while others have faced various challenges in the process. According to some marketing experts, the type of business determines the appropriateness of the marketing strategy. However, studies have shown that both the service sector and the products sector have adopted social media marketing to enhance their reach to the client base. Social Media and Marketing Strategies Businesses across the world are increasingly turning to social media as an efficient and cost-effective marketing strategy (Tuten & Solomon, 2012, p. 91). Different businesses have developed varying strategies of using social media for the purposes of marketing. According to some communication experts, the type of reach of social media to vast audiences is determined by the way in which companies package the marketing message. The choice of language and use of graph ic illustrations have been shown as some of the ways that affect the effectiveness of social media marketing. The kind of language used in marketing determines the kind of audience that will be attracted by the advertisement (Tuten & Solomon, 2012). Social media has created a community that is defined by a special kind of language. The language varies from the standard forms in the sense that it defines the standard forms and structures of language. There is a casual sense in the language that enables some ease of communication among those who subscribe to it. The effectiveness of communication is highly dependent on the ability of the company to adopt this language and use it appropriately to achieve its marketing objectives. Marketing and advertisement often targets the conscious and subconscious minds of the target