Question

What do current trends say regarding social media? Would you say it has positively affected customer relationship management? Explain using the book, slides, personal examples, etc.

Answer 1

Part A & B of question solved together)

Mentioned below are the current trends regarding Social Media along with my opinion that it has seriously improved customer relationship management for the brands across the globe.

Communication has become fast and effective. Any gaps or improvement can happen instantly. For social media users, it has also become a personal and business strategy making it important to review the messages going out.

Social media is helping to increase the brand awareness, understanding and communication of the product value. Using various social media platforms we can reach out to customers & prospects beyond geographies making it a visible brand and thus help us to build an increased network of consumers.

• It also helps businesses to find the right target audience and personalisation of messages creating repeat customers.
• Social media has become a tool to constantly interact with the outside world & through faster feedback & suggestion it continuously helps to improve personal or business message.
• It is helping to create new markets and customers/ meet new people / be aware of new technologies in a much faster way.
• Example: If a business is limiting itself to an already developed inner circle of customers it will take time to grow whereas by adopting social media it helps in creating a new channel to attract more stakeholders for the business.
• Not only in business development & growth but social media is also playing a great role in customer satisfaction and faster grievance for internet users.
• Social media has helped increase firm brand awareness, understanding and communication of the product value.
• A business needs to ensure a faster feedback mechanism along with customer care. Hence by using social media through web presence, it can help to develop the business further. This two-way and all-channel communication with business will be the key to build faith and trust in the brand of the business.
• Traditional communication will help the business reach a certain level of acquiring customers but with the adoption of web presence strategies and tools like social media platforms, website and application it can create new markets and customers.
• Increased web presence and using various internal tools can help to strategise and plan goals better internally. Meetings can happen over virtual platforms and employees can increase productivity with effective communication.

Example:

Here is how platforms like Twitter have improved the way we exchange information:

• Twitter is one the largest platform on the internet helping to connect for free and has an easy access system. The platform helps to promote thoughts, ideas and opinions in a powerful and concise manner.
• Twitter as a platform also helps to form new contacts, follow the relevant personalities and meet people outside the inner circle of friends and relatives.
• It helps to challenge thoughts and provide the mindset of other individuals.
• The potential for voicing your opinion is massive and helps to connect easily with celebrities and personalities.
• Twitter being a unique platform has a limited text size of 140 characters making the message powerful and crisp.
• Twitter is fast and efficient. It helps to generate response much faster and get instant feedback and response from each other.
• Companies response to feedback & complaints on twitter in a much effective manner leading to better brand credibility.

Example: Wayfair an online retailer known for affordable furniture and goods for the home. Most of the target audience of Wayfair is seen active on Instagram & Twitter and due to which it is able to grow its business immensely.

Another example would include Wholesome Culture a fashion business messaging its product to be sustainable and cruelty-free. The engagement through various social media channels using the right hashtags has helped to capture a massive audience through online channels.

Wholesome culture example will validate all my arguments to build a social media approach to our business. The company example is great to understand how social media like Twitter contributes easiness to global messaging and is much cheaper than traditional approaches. This will persuade the team to see through a successful case study.

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