woensdag 29 februari 2012

Social media: the new hybrid element of the promotion mix

W. Glynn Mangold & David J. Faulds, Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix, 2009, Volume 52, Pages 357-365.
In "Social media: the new hybrid element of the promotion mix", authors Mangold and Faulds argue that social media is a hybrid element of the promotion mix because it gives companies the ability to communicate directly with the customers and customers can use social media to communicate with each other . They can use social media to immediately share their thoughts about a certain company or can use it as a source of information. It is seen by consumers as a more trustworthy source of information than the traditional elements of the promotion mix.  That’s why, Mangold and Faulds believe, marketing managers should incorporate social media into their Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) strategies and promotional efforts.
Furthermore, companies cannot directly control consumer-to-consumer messages. They however do have the ability to influence the conversations. They can use tools to engage customers, such as: blogs to provide feedback, setting up a contest, by making use of online voting, etc. They can also provide exclusive content. For example they can allow online participants to listen to new songs before they are released to the general public. Besides that, the authors think products and services should be designed with talking-points in mind, to stimulate word-of-mouth and social-media-based conversations. It’s important to design products/services that are fun, easy to use and which engage the emotion of costumer. Companies can use social media as a way to track their image and even to influence it.
Mangold’s and Faulds’ vision is clear: companies should incorporate social media into their marketing strategies.
Mark Cazander

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