I am one of those people who can live without television. I don't remember a time when I used to spend hours on t.v. because for as long as I can remember, I'm okay without a t.v. In fact, there is no t.v. in our room because everything I need there is my laptop or my smart phone for it. And it helped a lot that I switched my phone to a "phablet", a phone that doubles as a tablet because of it's size. It has actually become my e-reader now too aside from obvious reading, phone, and note-taking capabilities. Turns out that I'm not the only person who thinks so. More and more people, especially the younger generation, are slowly steering away from the t.v. because of the availability of tablets, smartphones, personal computers, and laptop computers. A lot of internet users have also gone mobile with their social networking and other Internet needs, which is why if an average person spends almost seven hours a day on the Internet, who has time to switch on the t.v. and stay glued to it? Even if people do watch t.v. they are still surfing on their tablets, smartphones, or computer. Who isn't guilty of that? I, for one, has admittedly short attention span when it comes to watching t.v., which is why I am always simultaneously surfing the Internet while watching. Most times I just give it up altogether and just stay online either Tweeting, posting/browsing Facebook news feeds, and reading stuff on the web.
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What effect does this have on marketing?
According to survey data conducted by Harris Interactive and Belkin, a majority of the older generation (ages fifty-five and above) prefer getting information from their t.v. over computers and handheld devices. However, for the younger generation (18-24 age group) t.v. and laptops are competing for their attention. Thirty percent of respondents chose t.v. as main source of information while twenty-eight preferred laptops. Seventeen percent of these youngsters prefer smartphones as primary source of information.
What do these figures imply? This means that the age of television is declining because the availability and convenience of the Internet. In fact, the latest models of t.v. are also trying to keep up with the trend by incorporating the use of Internet through t.v. With more viable options today rather than just relying on t.v. alone, people are choosing the most convenient way to access information online because it is faster, more up-to-date, and interactive. From a marketing perspective, businesses today are choosing to invest on social media marketing rather than the more traditional channel such as print and t.v. ads that could cost so much more than investing online. This is why experts and P.R. professionals strongly urge business to go online and be quick to adapt to the fast changing world of communication and marketing. However, businesses must not be complacent on this study alone because if they focus on one target market they might miss the fact that the target market these days have different desires and customers are more choosy because they know they have a lot of options to choose from.
Furthermore, consumers have more power to choose what they want to see or hear more than ever because they have more choices now and more control over what they want to accept as new information. This survey also indicates that the way consumers interact with media is quickly changing and businesses have to learn to adapt to this change. They need to think of better strategies in order to get their message to the target market and not be blocked off.
How can business adapt to the changing landscape of marketing?
1. Invest in social media. It is as simple as that. However, unlike the traditional way of marketing pre-social media marketing period, they need to learn to humanize their brand name instead of blatantly marketing their products and services with sales pitches with the social media network contacts. This will only drive them away from gaining trust from prospects because people on social networks engage with people they trust and nobody likes feeling violated with sales pitches especially if that person is a stranger.
Social media marketing has to be done slowly and by humanizing the brand name, this means you need to add personal touch to your company first. Stop tweeting or posting status messages like a robot because nobody likes that and instead of gaining friends or followers, they will block you and shut you out even before setting foot on their doorsteps.
2. Listen to what people are talking about. Rather than straightforwardly mentioning a brand name, don't turn people off by outwardly selling a brand. Listen to what people are saying first and know what your target market wants, what they need, and how they want products and services to treat them. Establishing rapport is essential in social media marketing because a business has to gain trust first within a social network before even selling the product to them. By gaining their trust, they might even be the ones to ask questions first.
3. Humanize your brand. By putting a face to your brand, for example, speaking like a normal person would rather than preparing a corporate formal sales pitch, you gain the trust of prospects on social media networks by sending out the message that you are a person too.
4. Engage in social media network(s) activities. Aside from listening, be involved and create content-- photos, blog posts, articles, and videos that are entertaining, share-worthy, knowledgeable, and something worth sharing. People are looking for more interactive experiences online that entertains as well as educates and businesses can create such content to engage prospects and current customers to their brand.
5. Adapt, adapt, and adapt. The fundamental shift in communication in the world of marketing is ever-changing and a businesses needs to learn to adapt if it wants to tap into the endless possibilities of social media marketing. Their approach must be fresh, engaging, and user-friendly. Their content and the information they share must be easily accessed through different channels.
Even the big brands of today are enjoying the benefits of investing in social media marketing. A lot of companies are already online and these smart brands know that engaging in the social networking culture can have great rewards if only one knows how to utilize it.
(Sources:
http://www.ragan.com/SocialMedia/Articles/46231.aspx#
http://mashable.com/2012/11/28/social-media-time/)
How can business adapt to the changing landscape of marketing?
1. Invest in social media. It is as simple as that. However, unlike the traditional way of marketing pre-social media marketing period, they need to learn to humanize their brand name instead of blatantly marketing their products and services with sales pitches with the social media network contacts. This will only drive them away from gaining trust from prospects because people on social networks engage with people they trust and nobody likes feeling violated with sales pitches especially if that person is a stranger.
Social media marketing has to be done slowly and by humanizing the brand name, this means you need to add personal touch to your company first. Stop tweeting or posting status messages like a robot because nobody likes that and instead of gaining friends or followers, they will block you and shut you out even before setting foot on their doorsteps.
2. Listen to what people are talking about. Rather than straightforwardly mentioning a brand name, don't turn people off by outwardly selling a brand. Listen to what people are saying first and know what your target market wants, what they need, and how they want products and services to treat them. Establishing rapport is essential in social media marketing because a business has to gain trust first within a social network before even selling the product to them. By gaining their trust, they might even be the ones to ask questions first.
3. Humanize your brand. By putting a face to your brand, for example, speaking like a normal person would rather than preparing a corporate formal sales pitch, you gain the trust of prospects on social media networks by sending out the message that you are a person too.
4. Engage in social media network(s) activities. Aside from listening, be involved and create content-- photos, blog posts, articles, and videos that are entertaining, share-worthy, knowledgeable, and something worth sharing. People are looking for more interactive experiences online that entertains as well as educates and businesses can create such content to engage prospects and current customers to their brand.
5. Adapt, adapt, and adapt. The fundamental shift in communication in the world of marketing is ever-changing and a businesses needs to learn to adapt if it wants to tap into the endless possibilities of social media marketing. Their approach must be fresh, engaging, and user-friendly. Their content and the information they share must be easily accessed through different channels.
Even the big brands of today are enjoying the benefits of investing in social media marketing. A lot of companies are already online and these smart brands know that engaging in the social networking culture can have great rewards if only one knows how to utilize it.
(Sources:
http://www.ragan.com/SocialMedia/Articles/46231.aspx#
http://mashable.com/2012/11/28/social-media-time/)
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