Answer to Question #228725 in Management for Anonymous

Question

By 2009, social media services, such as Facebook and Twitter, had become a popular marketing tool for small businesses. In fact, almost 25 percent of firms with fewer than 100 employees were using social media for marketing purposes. This was more than double the percentage of the prior year. Many of these firms cite the ease of use and low cost of these social media as the main reason for using them for reaching out to and communicating with potential and existing customers. How can the ability to communicate with customers via social media enhance channel management? Discuss.

Answer 1

Answer

To enhance channel management, firms use social media to facilitate the channels. They communicate to consumers about sales, new arrivals, exclusive promotions. Consumers then talk about your brand, products, advertising campaign, and help information promptly spread out on the social network. Consumers after that can link with their favorite retailers to remain informed or to purchase the products/services. Also, some firms can use social media to support their online website to become the mainstream marketing channels, especially in the news industry.

Social media again helps manufacturers hastily learn about customer’s products and services requirements which is valuable for product planning, pricing, and developing the marketing strategy. Besides that, manufacturers can also indirectly learn that information via the conversation between wholesalers/retailers and customers by listening to social buzz. Moreover, with the gained information, firms can analyze and understand the target market’s demands, their favorite channel choices, their feedbacks/complaints with the process of purchasing or using products/services so that firms can effectively adjust the distribution strategy in the way that products/services can efficiently reach the potential customers.