Social media is online interactive digital-mediated technologies that facilitate the generation or sharing/reception/ exchange of information, opinions, career goals, and various types of interaction via virtual online communities and networks. Social Media (SM) architecture has evolved and today it encompasses a wide range of technologies and applications. It includes SM tools, such as social networking websites, microblogging platforms, apps, and professional business networking software. These tools can be used to build, manage, and interact with other users on a common platform.
Examples of popular social media platforms include Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Digg, Flickr, and YouTube. Major SM platforms are also being used for search engine optimization (SEO), mobile content marketing, targeted marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), and content publishing. SM allows users to share user-generated content with others in a collaborative manner.
There are four primary types of social media. Popular social media may include photo sharing, video sharing, blogging, and microblogging. The goal of each platform is to connect people through multimedia communications. In addition, they enable users to interact with others through creating and building relationships through conversations, reviews, and feedback. While most social media may be considered to fall under a broad category, each platform can be classified by the type of interaction it allows for and the degree to which it can be tailored to a specific user, topic, or interest.
In terms of focus, these four platforms tend to fall into three categories: professional marketers who are launching promotional or classified ads, owners who want to attract new customers, and entrepreneurs who want to make use of these platforms to advertise their products or services. Professional marketers typically use social media to increase awareness of their brand through shared content and popular posts. Facebook and Twitter are popular avenues for marketers to advertise their products. Meanwhile, Facebook and MySpace are popular platforms for attracting new customers.
However, many individuals and businesses find these platforms appealing for more than advertising purposes. In fact, social media has the potential to greatly impact sales and revenue. For example, the number of people who have access to a blog can have a direct impact on how many people see ads on that blog. Similarly, the amount of attention someone is willing to pay to a post can have a profound impact on whether or not the person is likely to click on an ad or purchase a product. Social advertising can be an effective medium of advertising because it can be tailored to fit a target audience, as it is much easier for a user to influence his or her friends to purchase products or join an organization than it would be if those users were searching for that type of item.
Social media also allows users to search for and discover new groups that are likely to share an interest in the advertised product or service. Thus, it serves as a great way to find customers who are searching for the same thing as the user. Additionally, a large amount of media shares can have a dramatic impact on visibility and sales. A large number of users will see a popular post and spread the news to their network of friends, who in turn will share the information with their network of friends and so on. This method of spreading the word can have a powerful effect on the bottom line.
