Social Media and Marketing

Social media has revolutionized marketing. It has allowed customers to have a more interactive relationship with their favorite brands. Customer interactions with companies on social media are starting to become more useful for marketers than the traditional form of advertisements. In 2012, 59% of marketers planned to increase their spending on social media marketing.

Social media has changed the way that customers and companies interact with each other. It allows customers to reach out to the brands that they care about and develop a stronger relationship with them. People can like companies on Facebook, or follow them on Instagram and twitter. People feel like they have a much closer connection to the brand; and as a result people generally develop a higher brand loyalty. Social media also presents an opportunity for companies to monitor their popularity, and gives them new ways to market their products.

Companies have begun to take advantage of their followers on social media. It’s a great way for them to promote their company’s values, and position their company however they want. Many companies use social media to strengthen the image that that they’ve created for their company to go along with their products.

I was particularly interested in how companies were using Instagram to market themselves to customers. I only follow one company on Instagram- Patagonia. I never go out of my way to follow companies on social media. Patagonia is the only a company that I’ve ever followed on social media. I’ve never “liked” a company on Facebook before. However, Patagonia made their Instagram page very appealing to me. I already like the Patagonia brand, and I have purchased their products in the past, however I never would have considered myself a “loyal consumer,” until recently. After exploring their Instagram page, I realized that I really enjoyed looking at the images that they posted, and the stories that they post with each image. I don’t feel as though I’m being advertised to when I look at their posts on Instagram, and yet this is exactly what they were doing to me and their 353,000 other followers. I think that that demonstrates a very successful marketing campaign.

Falling victim to the successful marketing strategies of Patagonia prompted me to explore various other companies to see what they were doing on Instagram to get people to follow them.   Starbucks was very active on Instagram- they have 2.1 million followers. They post a lot of images of coffee. Every picture looks very artistic. It fits very well with their brand. Their Instagram allows their loyal customers to feel even closer to the company. Looking at the images makes you want to have the experience that they’re showing. They make the images look cozy, and trendy, and desirable.

Companies aren’t necessarily using Instagram pictures to market their products in the traditional way that we’re used to. They’re marketing an experience, and the lifestyle that comes along with it. Patagonia and Starbucks really stood out to me because as I was scrolling through their images, there was nothing on the pages that appeared to be “traditional” advertising. It was really clever. Patagonia wants to demonstrate the fun outdoor lifestyle that you can have with them. And after looking through Starbuck’s page, I found myself wanting to go to Starbucks to buy a cup of coffee. Which of course, is exactly what they want.