Role of Social Media in Marketing

Question: Write about theRole of Social Media in Marketing. Answer: Introduction Social media is playing crucial role now a days as a tool that influences the social interaction in low cost. According to many reports, many brands prefer social networking sites to promote their product as people are spending more time in their social networking sites (Tuten Solomon, 2014). The following article emphasises the role of social media in marketing. Many renowned brands like Coca- Cola, Unilever has openly admitted that they are using social media as their promotional tool and they are shifting their budget from ad campaigns in printing media to digital media ("Library and Information Resources Network, Inc.", 2017). It is evident that social media pages are playing the role brands website. Social media is providing the opportunity to the brands to communicate with their consumers directly. Not only profit organization, non profit organizations like girleffect are also using social media to spread awareness about various social issues and conveying their messages to the society ("Library and Information Resources Network, Inc.", 2017). Social media is not only for the big brands like Vodafone or BMW. It has offered a wide range of opportunities to the small business organizations as well. It is often evident in facebook pages that many people who run cottage industries are advertising their brands there. All brands are launching new products every now and then, if they want everyone to discuss particularly about their product all the time, social media is the most efficient weapon to promote it. According to some article, accessing facebook in recent time is essential for any brand (Labrecque, 2014). It can thus be stated, social media has shown a new path in advertisement. Although social media has become an integral part of promotion, it is not enough for branding. Business organizations need to use other promotional tools for advertisement, such as print media, vehicle advertisement. Reference: Labrecque, L. I. (2014). Fostering consumerbrand relationships in social media environments: The role of parasocial interaction.Journal of Interactive Marketing,28(2), 134-148. Library and Information Resources Network, Inc.. (2017). Lirn.net. Tuten, T. L., Solomon, M. R. (2014).Social media marketing. Sage.