Social Networks: What Use to Promote a Brand?
Today, social networks are an integral part of our lives, both personal and professional, and participate strongly in our development.
A company has many ways to promote its values to a wide audience. Social networks are among those that convey information quickly and effectively. Indeed, most companies in all fields of activity have their account on social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.
Social Networks
Before
Even before the Internet emerged and introduced the notion of online social media, there were already social networks that relayed information as well. Yes, before this 2.0 phenomenon, companies were developing their notoriety and expanding their customer portfolio thanks in particular to “word of mouth”. The information was therefore relayed physically and not virtually, and in an equally relevant manner.
After
Today, the term social networks refers to all Internet sites allowing to constitute a network of friends or professional acquaintances and providing their members with tools and interfaces for interaction, presentation and communication. The most popular social media are Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Viadeo, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. YouTube can also be considered as a social media, thanks to the interaction tools between its members. The audience success of the main social networks has made them often indispensable marketing and advertising tools.
What’s the point?
Social networks have multiple functions. For an individual, they will allow him to “widen” his circle of friends. For a professional, they have a completely different role. Thanks to them, companies will develop their notoriety and be seen by a larger number of people. Once this visibility is extended, companies reach a larger number of prospects and thus create what is called a community, or more commonly a fan group.
Develop the company’s notoriety
The presence of companies and brands on social networks is increasingly globalized. These ICTs are a real communication vehicle and differ from other media in their lower cost and ease of targeting. Indeed, each company now has a page on a professional social media, which allows it to expose its values to countless people and thus develop its notoriety. Companies have direct contact with their customers.
Customer portfolio expansion and retention
Most companies have their own Facebook page or Twitter account where they can inform customers about new products or special events. The information will be relayed very quickly, but especially to the right people. Through these pages, companies gather the opinions of their customers and establish a direct link with them, which creates a feeling of belonging to a group. The client feels listened to and accompanied and can then recommend the company in question to his circle of friends. A company present on social media will find it easier to build customer loyalty, in particular thanks to the links it will establish with them via posts and interactions on the page.
Facilitating recruitment
Indeed, today social networks can resemble an employment platform. More and more companies use them to advertise their jobs. Since this platform reaches a large number of people, ads posted by companies will have a very strong opportunity to be seen. In addition, the social network is based on the community principle. It is therefore possible to introduce yourself to the person you are interested in through a member of your network who knows them. Another means: job-search and internship support groups exist, which provide a direct link between suppliers and applicants via a “closed” platform. Sometimes companies do not want to post their ads directly on their page, and use closed groups.
Obviously, social media is an essential asset for companies that want to communicate around their values quickly and effectively. These ICTs have changed the way we use the web, they have given it a more collective aspect, bringing people together around a common subject. The Internet user is no longer a reader, but becomes an author. Nevertheless, the use of social networks comes up against certain limits, notably addiction. Indeed, some people can no longer do without social networks by using them all day long. These limits are essentially limited to personal use of the networks.