SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY FOR ONLINE SERVICE BRANDS by AM16YP

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Article Title: Adam J. Mills and Kirk Plannger (2015). "Social Media Strategy for Online Service Brands". The Service Industries Journal, 35:10, 521-536


Find article online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02642069.2015.1043277?needAccess=true


doi: 10.1080/02642069.2015.1043277

Contents

[edit] Context

With the internet expanding daily and shifting how users communicate with each other, service brands are adapting to the challenges of communicating directly to the consumer through various platforms on the internet. Although marketing for services has been stable for decades before today, adapting to these changes is key to survival as a brand. Within that survival, reaching a larger number of people is key. Social media platforms users have proved a demand for this change by following and interacting with brand pages and having a steady increase with time of more interactions and more user traction.

[edit] Overview

The article by Mills and Plangger (2015) discusses the expansion of dialogue that is created through social media growth; brands can directly communicate with consumers and consumers can interact with other consumers. This is considered to be a step towards building customer relationships. Comparisons between different industries like insurance or banking are outlined with their main focal points of considerations through their expansion to social media platforms. With this building brand awareness and dealing with consumers, it is very important to know who should be targeted, on which platform to find them, how to interact with consumers and maintain that relationship. We are reminded of how important this is for any growing business because unlike other forms of traditional media, social media platforms is considered a virtual hub where there is direct communication and relationship with the consumer that both the producer and consumer are equally as important for successful growth. The types of social media platforms are broken down by definition and what sort of content is most suitable to have within them. But most importantly, establishing trust between the consumer and the brand is discussed throughout the article as something crucial after researchers found that 17% of social media users felt "more connected to brands they have seen on social media than those they have not". More importantly, brands have found social media just as effective when reaching new consumers; the article outlines the percentage increase within the financial services industry in different continents.

[edit] Strengths and Weaknesses

The article starts with explaining why brands starting to exist on social media platforms is important by outlining the effects of consumer behavior influenced by social media. The first strength I noticed in the article was how important and urgent this was for certain industries. Different industries were broken down and how positively social media can impact them was added onto that explanation. The article also identifies the different types of social media and what sort of content should be added to utilize those platforms their maximum capacity. This is important for readers to know to be aware that different industries require different types of interactions. The article goes into great detail of explaining how to maintain and enhance brand and consumer relationships through a flow chart breaking down the step by step process.

The weaknesses worth noting with this article is that social media grows by the day. The information that is made available for us through this article might not benefit us as much as it could have right when it was published. Also, some of the social media platforms that are highlighted do not have as strong of an impact as they are told to have through the reading. Platforms like blogs cannot have more impact than a social media platforms like Instagram which is only mentioned once. The article also does not take into consideration the utilization of all social media platforms regardless which brand service is being provided. Brand services should be making efforts to reach their consumers; accessibility and reach was highlighted in the article but limiting social media platforms to establish brand awareness on contradicts their initial argument of picking certain platforms. Finally, the findings and results that are being drawn in the article do not go into greater details and lack depth.

[edit] Assessment

In conclusion, social media platforms are explained to be a vital expansion for any service brand to have a direct and successful relationship between consumer and producer. Different brands require different approaches that target different consumers; but the common thing that should established with all of them is trust and accessibility. How a brand service should approach selecting an appropriate channel and strategic process are key steps to fostering and enhancing relationships on social media. These are considered powerful channels that have exceeded traditional forms of media when it comes to being unique and accessible for all parties interested/invested in the brand.


--Am16yp 15:12, 8 February 2019 (EST)

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