THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL MEDIA AND BRAND

LOYALTY

CONTENTS:

Serial No. Chapters Page

Introduction

1. The importance of brand identity and engagement within social media

2.  How social media is the place to show your brand identity

3. How social media is the place to show your brand loyalty

4. How using social media for your brand/business can help you give your customers what they want to see/have from you

5. How connecting with your customers within social media can even allow your company/brand to be ahead of "real-time"

Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

Social media are changing the way of business for the customers. They provide us with a vast field to tap the market. The company can promote its product and services with simple ways of posting and tweeting. The strategy is very important in social media.

We are taking the help of social media as they are quick, highly influential, simple, free, feedback from customers, and their loyalty to the brands. With the right feedback the customers can be helped. It is highly influential as a survey revealed that in 2010, 110 billion millions hours were spent using social media sites. This can be 22% of all time spent online.

The social media are great platforms for customer feedback. The customer can share their views of the product. The social media can be used free of cost. This is an easy way of reducing costs.

After watching the company in social media, the users of Facebook, Twitter endorse the product to somebody.

The companies like Skittles, Coca Cola and Red Bull have their Facebook Fan Pages. The companies like JetBlue Airways, The New York Times and Whole Foods have their Twitter pages. Dell has corporate blogs where videos are posted and the customers can discuss their problems. The Playstation’s blog is very interesting and the company encourages visitors to rate the products and invite the feedback from the customers.

CHAPTER 1

THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND IDENTITY AND ENGAGEMENT WITHIN SOCIAL MEDIA

The brand name is something more than a name. It has got an identity of its own. It is seen as a business entity. To make a brand popular, we need to invest both time and money. It will be rewarding in the future.

We must have clear idea about our target. We should be able to identify our target consumers. We must be aware of the uniqueness of our product. We should have good knowledge of the positive aspects of our product compared to the others in the competitive market. The price and quality of the product comes under question.

We need to think of the ways to reach the target clients. A cheap way of creating the identity is chalked out. The plan of promotion of the brand is formed. We need to approach the right people with the right product from time to time.

We need to use the visual and audio as a means of marketing the brand. We should create a lasting impression with our brand. It is easy to achieve and we can reach the maximum target level with the development of brand identity.

Our consumers can be reached through email marketing, social media advertising network as well as mobile advertisement. In this way the world will be at your fingertips.

We can achieve our goals by creating a brand identity. We target our consumers in various ways to become well known in the competitive market.

The marketing of social media has become sophisticated. We must be properly engaged with the online services properly. J.D. Power and Associates have found social marketing in two forms. They are marketing and servicing.

The Marketing engagement tells us to make customers loyal and make them aware of the brand’s presence.

The Servicing engagement on the other hand shows us how to solve the customers’ problems. The brands must provide time for customer care. They should answer the queries of their clients. This process of the solving the client’s problems will help gain trust and reputation in the competitive market.

The Marketing engagement depends on the age group of the customers. The social engagement medium like Facebook are used by 39% of the people between the age group of 30 to 49 and 38% above 50 years old. But 23% of the customers use social engagement and their age range is 23 percent.

The Servicing engagement is used by 43% of the consumers. Their age limit is 18 to 29 years. But from 30 years and above, 39% are engaged with the servicing engagement function of the social media. The upper limit of this is 49 years.

From the survey of JD Power and Associates, it has been found that 87% of the consumers use online social engagement. They are very much influenced by social media and their purchasing decision depends on it. The companies who respond in social media with their consumers get more clients. This helps to increase the loyalty to the brands. The conversion rates of buying a product goes up.

The social media helps in the engagement of the online audience. They are actively involved in the following ways:

1. An increase in the number of “liked” in Facebook shows the brand value has increased. In September, the Facebook users liked 47% which increased to 59% in Spring 2011. The oldest users have started accepting the brand.

2. There has been an astonishing 106% increase from 16% to 33% in the year 2010 to 2012 among Americans.

3. The B2B companies are gaining clients through Facebook and their percentage is 41%.

4. It has been found that the company’s community has been joined by 78.6% of the consumers.

5. The brand loyalty has increased as 66% members of the online community in the social media shared their views in the community.

6. Push marketing ruins the network and 43% of Facebook users “unlike” a brand.

CHAPTER 2

How social media is the place to show your brand identity

In social media, marketing is a very important aspect. This marketing is done by pull and push method. The brand loyalty is shown by the followers and now it the responsibility of the marketer being approachable to the community.

1. Answering the complaints of the customers in social media:

In social media, the buyers expect their complaints should be answered. In a survey done at United States, it has been found 38 to 60% buyers expect their complaints should be answered. The consumer finds it easy to share his ideas and opinions on social media. He finds it difficult to contact the company.

One must utilize the social media to build the reputation of the brand. Social media can help build an image of the brand. It can help the consumers submit their queries and grievances.

B2B marketing is used by Gartner. This is a technology research company. The twitter is used fully for answering the logistics questions of the company. The social media is used to start the conversations on the product.

2. Rewards offered to the fans for social engagement:

The loyalty to the brand increases when yours fans regularly communicate with you. They organize Facebook contest and show the winner on their cover photo. This is done by Cisco Systems on Facebook. They also try to keep in touch with their clients and respond to their queries. The company creates a friendly environment on social media by offering rewards like fan recognition, special offers and exclusive content etc.

3. Winning the trust

The loyalty and trust are very important to win the hearts of the clients. In social media, if you answer their queries, keep communicating, solving the present problems and receive the service of the client. The fan interaction can be encouraged by offering them rewards. The brand is creating exclusive content.

You will be able to create a positive impression among the clients. There is a relationship between trust and brand loyalty. The consumer becomes interested to buy. They spread positive reviews of the product through word of mouth and also online.

We need to listen to our followers and pay respect to the endorsement of the client. This is an everlasting cycle and enriches the brand loyalty. The advantage of social media is the ongoing conversation. It is not at all a one-time recommendation. Always the company must respond to the public and this will enhance the level of trust.

BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social networking websites provide us the largest amount of contacts. They give us the greatest attention from the users of the social media. You are going to meet many interesting personalities. Many people will be able to watch your profile.

Many people are using Facebook and Twitter. The users have a lot of energy, young, and passionate.

Facebook has witnessed an amazing progress. With 500 million users and still growing, it is a wonderful place to create a brand value. Those living in the industrialized world always update their daily life stories in Facebook and always try to be connected with their online friends. So in this way, they are increasing the brand value. You can share your photos and your interests. You can keep in touch with your followers by sharing your mobile number and e-mail.

Twitter is a great platform for promotion of a company. Many big companies and personalities use Twitter and update their status. The advantage of Twitter over Facebook is all the facts are open to everybody. Only if somebody choses to hide from those other than the followers, they can do so. But in a social media, we should not hide something. The news and views can be shared easily and the brand gets noticed by its followers. One can communicate with their favorite personalities or companies having account in Twitter and it is regarded as the biggest online community.

Digg and Reddit are a great tool of social media. A blog can become popular with the help of Digg and Reddit. The internet addiction is rising day by day. Digg and Reddit is taking full advantage of this. It is highly recommended to open account in both Digg and Reddit as they provide great opportunity for creating a brand identity.

Digg allows the readers to vote a content. The activity is called digging or burying. 3.8 million readers visits Digg per month. It has been observed some web pages show a large number of visits while others do not. This is referred to as the “Digg effect.” We find the stories posted in various sites for networking simultaneously.

Reedit is a great place for social news and a wonderful website for entertainment. In Reedit you can build your brand identity by posting an article with photo and the other readers will vote that post up or down. The readers are engaged in the bulletin board system. The communication can be established with the users by

different companies by posting comments on the content. In Reddit, the users can post links whereas in Digg, one can post only their writings and picture.

The brand identity can be established in Reddit can be established by using various categories like funny, pics, announcements, blog, AskReddit, worldnews, politics, science, music, atheism, WTF, AdviceAnimals. Digg is an online networking site while Reddit has meetups at different parks and public places around the world. It has been found that 72% users are male in the age group 25-34 years old.

The Reddit users raised funds for charitable organizations like World Vision, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Islamic Relief, DonorsChoose, Direct Relief International. In this way, with the help of social media, one can raise funds for social cause. It is a great opportunity for social media.

StumbleUpon is a wonderful networking site. The URLs can be tagged. The blog articles, images, videos etc. can be tagged. You need to choose topics of your interest and the website will show the pages that connect with your interest. There are a handful of frequent users. The users can post their articles. As you browse across different posts, you will be found by new community members. They will definitely subscribe to your profile. So a company or an individual can increase his fan base or popularity in StumbleUpon in this wonderful system.

As your subscribers increase in StumbleUpon, you can share large number of articles. The marketing power of popular brands in StumbleUpon increase as they get a large number of subscribers who stumble upon their posts! It is always recommended to use the same avatar or photo for all the profiles in the virtual world. This will help you build a brand identity.

Blogging can be a great way of engagement with social media. The process of converting your idea into words can be really wonderful. WordPress and Blogger are great platforms and they can help us a lot in building our brand value. Tumblr is a wonderful tool to start with. It will help you repost the articles already posted. Photos and animation can be a fantastic way of communication in Tumblr. You can create your own followers in this way.

Creating Interesting Posts

We should create our profiles in social media by determining the demand of the people. The information you are seeking in other’s profiles. We must also know how to express ourselves with unknown individuals. You need to be present in the social media daily to create your own brand value. First creating accounts in social network and then active participation in these networks to promote your activities. You need to communicate with the friends of Facebook and keep in touch with your followers in Twitter.

The most important thing in social media engagement is that you must be remembered. If you want to be remembered by others, you need to have a good photos, simple surnames, proper profile data. You need to be constantly in touch with the friends.

CHAPTER 3

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE PLACE TO SHOW YOUR BRAND LOYALTY

Brand loyalty can be built with the help of social media. Getting dedicated clients is the target of every company. Every company wants their followers who admire their product and services, share positive feedbacks and review others. The goals can be achieved by the social media.

BE A GOOD LISTENER

You must be a good listener. Your presence in the social media will help your opinions to be heard across the globe. With the help of social media, the followers can get two benefits:

1. The people can access your brand at any time.

2. The organization will be keeping watch over the comments in their pages in Social media. When your customer posts a comment in Facebook or Twitter, they are expecting a response from you. So a reply should always be given.

COMMUNICATION SKILL

The social media is like an electric wire connecting the electrical apparatus with the electric supply. It bridges the gap between the brand and the consumers. So you are keeping people engaged 24x7x365. There is a lot of importance how consumers are reviewing your product and service in the social media. The posts must be of high quality. Before the brand posts their updates in social media, they must have a thorough knowledge of their target audience, observe their behavior, and must have good knowledge of something that turns them mad. In this way, the social engagement will be used as a tool for building brand loyalty.

RESPONDING CLIENTS IN SOCIAL MEDIA

The company must provide a quick solution to a negative feedback. Their response must be appreciated. We need to pay respect to our clients as it is

the client who can refer to further clients for our dutiful service. You can respond to the positive comments as well. You can show yourself as a very humble, down-to-earth person in social media and gain popularity.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP THROUGH REWARDS

We must bring our clients under spotlight for faithfully following the post. Your customers will enjoy this highlight in the online community. In social media, Mindjet uses social media to create User Spotlights. You make your fans become faithfully followers of your brand by highlighting them.

We can use the methods mentioned above to create brand loyalty for the product and service through social media.

Chapter 4

HOW USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR BUSINESS CAN HELP YOU GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY WANT TO SEE FROM YOU

Social media is a great tool for business advertisement. It is not only a way of spreading the activities of business but a great medium to advertise.

There are many ways to use social media for business purpose and they are a follows:

1. Keeping watch: We need to keep track of the posts in social media. This is a great way of keeping watch over the posts. We are using social web and now are using it to get news and information.

2. Campaigning: You must publish the news through the social media. We must lay a strong effort in building the network..

3. Getting Connected: Sometimes we miss this simple method of social media. It is a place where the development happens. You must pay attention to the customers.

4. Collaborative work: Networking is the most suitable if the business is looking for other clients for collaboration.

5. Customer care: Twitter is used to provide online service. Take the example of CoffeGroundz.. This company uses Twitter.

6. Market Research: You have created a network of clients who like your products and services. But big companies want to survey the market. This survey can be easily done through social media. This reduces the cost of survey from door to door. With the click of a mouse, the survey gets completed within a few minutes.

7. Search in Real Time: This can help us getting actively involved through social media. The social media results are shown in the search result pages of Google search engine.

8. Contests and blog posts by followers: We have often observed reputed companies creating contests. In these online contests, the users can submit videos. The video of the winner will be shown as a television advertisement. This will create an enthusiasm. The user will be shown on the website of the company. The small business owners allow their consumers to share their opinions in the company blog. This method reduces the time and effort.

9. Management of Fame: The best example is Comcast. The problems of many dissatisfied customers of Comcast were posted in the Twitter. This brought a positive outcome. Many customers spread the name of Comcast after being satisfied.

10. Place for New ideas: There is a lot to learn from the posts of the customers in the company’s page in social media. There is a storehouse of endless ideas in social media. The ideas of the customers must be taken positively. We need to take the advice of the industry experts.

11. Increasing the number of visitors in blogs: If we can connect our blogs to the social media, we will see the traffic has increased easily. The e-commerce business witness increased sales. A study revealed that the quality of traffic in social media sites is better compared to other media.

So we find social media can be used for business purpose. The networking sites like Facebook, Twitter can be used to create business contacts and help your business grow with the help of pictures, videos, charts, etc. The online survey in social media is another great way to catch the attention of the online users.

Social media can help us find good customers and they can be found in the following ways:

1. Social media can be accessed free of cost. You must have patience. To use the social media effectively, we need to create posts regularly and always support the promotions. We need to share the blog links in Twitter and in this way, we are establishing a connection with our clients. Facebook is a great platform for sharing your favorite video links and comments. Your encouragement can make the visitors to create a community. The campaign in Facebook must be engaging, entertaining and at the right time.

2. Giving importance to followers by enlisting them. Useful information must be delivered. This will encourage visitors to visit your blogs. The customers like to get something free of cost. Your posts must provoke the clients to think. Their attention should be drawn towards your products and services.

3. Finding target customers is the key to success. We need to know the behavior and the ways they use the social media. We must know where they group together. We need to know which social media tools are used by the target audience of a particular business.

Small business owners get the maximum benefit by enrolling in social media. We must have clear idea of our limitations and plan to overcome them. Our strategy must be very good to get the right audience for our product and service.

Now, we must retain our customers through brand loyalty using social media. New companies are regularly springing up like shooting stars. We need to keep the customers loyal to the brand. They respond to their pages in social media.

After a survey of 7000 consumers by the Corporate Executive Board, the factors that help the consumers stick to one company has been discovered. The purchase must have a motive and repeatedly buying the product, recommendation of the product. The factors that make the customer loyal to the company are the price, the conception of the brand by the customers. Simple decision making is very important. The simplicity is very important and it is highly expected from the marketers.

Research techniques- Now consider there are two brands. Brand A wants any consumer to chose their camera. It can be a common digital camera and this will indicate them to move to the company website. The technical information and photographs of the camera

are shown. The shelves categorize the camera in terms of attributes. These qualities can be megapixel and memory of a camera. AQR code is provided which takes the mobile version of the website. In this way, the customer is allowed to go into the details of the product.

The brand B is engaged with studying the intention of the customer and the process of searching. This company goes into the reason of buying a camera. It points the customers towards a website where he can shop. Now before coming to this site, there is a review website of third-party where the camera is graded and helps the customer decide the value of the product. The reviews of the users are given priority here. Brand B uses the tactics of showing technical features in a nontechnical way. This brand B lays more emphasis on the simple user’s interest of the number of high resolution photos a memory card can hold.

So we conclude brand A cannot help a customer take a decision. It can provide the qualities of the camera. Brand B helps in easy decision making. A lot of information where we can trust the marketer is found in brand B. The purchasing decision can be taken easily in case of brand B rather than brand A. So we need to gain the trust of the customer.

Taking simple decisions- We need to know the decision simplicity index to make the consumer engaged with the brand. We need to measure how can we understand the information of the brand easily. The information provided by the marketer must be trustworthy. We need to know how we can estimate they are telling nothing but the truth. If the purchase-decision is easy, then decision simplicity score is high.

Now the marketers must deal with the customers confidently with good communication skill. We can take some practical lessons from the top brands. We need to help in getting the right product. We need to build the trust. We need to estimate the options available in the market.

Social media can be a real time communication. We must know how it changes. The real time other than social media are phone, face-to-face and chat.

The advantage of real time communication is to communicate in real time. This can be indexed for search. You understand which stories needs to be shared. It is a wonderful way of serving the customers.

The disadvantage of real time communication is that it should be done in real time not after 2 to 3 days. You need to be very careful in real time communication. Sometimes what the marketer is thinking as the best and sharing it may not draw the attention of the public as the best. The effect of communication may be negative if the marketer is depressed.

For the appropriate real time communication, you need to have a good website that will respond to the questions of the customers. We need to have an email marketing program. We need to use our own program and can also get in touch with the alumni of the organization. We need to distribute brochure or flyer. With the help of these, you can get response from people.

We need to prepare ourselves by the best possible means. You can create a list of the probable questions and your answers. We need to create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). We need to know our audience very well. We must have good knowledge whether they are using Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin.

We need to create a plan by means of tools like Strategic Communication Plans, Communication Spreadsheets and Creative Briefs. These plans are superb and help us think our future plan and it can help you keeping track of our time. We need to knowledge the different between a Page and a Group.

Pages are one of the communication methods in a Social Media. The brands create pages to market its product. A huge number of Friends or fans “likes” can be observed here.

Groups are a form of engagement in a social media. This area does not make interaction with anyone. But those who are connected to the group interact among themselves. Now there are certain things to keep in mind while using social media for brand identity. One should not use profile of department or service. This violates the Terms of Service. Never create a fake profile. They will be deleted very soon.

Facebook have analytics behind the pages which tells us how many visitors came here. We need to track the time of using the social media like Facebook. We need to keep watch on the time spent in marketing.

We can create a successful group in a social media like Linkedin. There should be an active moderator. This moderator will lead a group discussions and reply the questions raised in the community in connection with the brand.

We must have a good knowledge of the audience. You will find them in Twitter. You need to keep them talking . We need to take care whether there is any profit.

We need to organize our friends and followers in social media. We need to talk about relevant topics. We should understand the target client.

The real time communication is carried out using the tools. We must see whether the audience is using them and communicating with them in real time.

CHAPTER 5

HOW CONNECTING WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS WITHIN SOCIAL MEDIA CAN EVEN ALLOW YOUR COMPANY/BRAND TO BE AHEAD OF "REAL-TIME"

The independent business owners (IBOs) are using social media as a powerful tool. With the help of this tool, the customers are kept engaged and business grow. The franchise and direct selling companies help us get that opportunity. Syncapse is used to address the issue and many independent business owners use social media.

Small businesses are observed to grow with the connections of the customers. The individual customer connections are very important to bring huge sales for the company. The business owners must use social media to communicate with their customers.

The consistency is maintained by a direct selling company. The moderation tools help IBOs understand their potential on the Facebook page. Syncapse is providing the IBOs the intelligence, training and strategy. These three aspects are very important for the social media.

The social media pages having unique features drive customers and engage them in conversations. They increase the revenue for the brand. The business value is increased by easy collaboration and efficient system of the IBOs and as a result, the business deals increase.

It has declared by the Twitter, Facebook can be used to make the important announcements. The Securities and Exchange Commission made an enquiry for a post on the month of July. The post was made in the page of Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix. He said that all types of social media can be used to talk with the investors and the investors must know where they should refer for the latest financial news.

The survey made by an organization named “Humanize” states the way company leaders use social media for their organization. The survey was done on 505 people. 64% people think that their leaders are involved in social media. This is about two-third of the total.

A few facts about leadership and social media from the survey revealed and the leadership in the social media created a competitive edge of their company. 84% of the respondents agreed of this. 46% strongly agreed to talking about their core values through social media. 84% believed the communication through social media is an important part of leadership. It has been found that only 4% think that a leader must involve himself only during crisis situation in a social media. 44% think the leaders are not showing interest in the social media. 30% show no concern and 20% remain neutral. A competitive edge is created when we find 84% involvement. We find the leadership do not get involved in social media and this percentage is 44%.

It has been found 48% can represent their organization in the social media. 40% responded how their company trains their staff to use the social media. It has been planned to make social media training compulsory for the leaders of the company. It has been found that the company should modify their management practice and teach their employees how to tap the social media effectively. The 13-questions survey of Humanize in September 2012 was done by individuals already using social media.

Social Media Customer Service is different from the ordinary customer service. The holidays is the time we enjoy. Now there are some holiday problems that must be solved. When we need a product like baby converse shoes, we generally think of going to the shopping outlet like Zappos to get one.

Now if there is a link present in the social media given by your friend, it will be helpful. But accidentally you find that the link is not directing you to the actual website. You see its showing an “internal error.” So you visit the brand page of Zappos and mail the customer care “I need help.” Now they will soon reply you back. So this type of service is expected for building a brand reputation.

Here we come to know how a company can help a client through social media. They provide you with the actual information you need to solve the problem. Then you can ask them to help you more and they will do so kindheartedly.

You can get good quality service if you visit the social media page of the company as a customer. You might be having problem with a product of that company and need a solution. It is advisable not to complain again and again. You will find a solution most of the times.

It is very important to develop a social business culture. It is the duty of the human resources to identify the talent of the individual and allow them participate in the various activities of the organization. While marketing your product in the social media, people from different professions like sales people, engineers, technical support, finance, production stuff can provide useful advice to get the right customer from social media. If we can incorporate the use of social media in the organization, then a large number of talented people can be drawn towards the company.

In the new millennium, we are living in a world of social media where the line separating the work and personal has faded out. In the 1990s, the culture of doing business was different.

When you find an employee of your company sharing the online content posted by you, he is supporting your social marketing. The person sharing your information also help promote his own brand.

When you support your employees to build their brands, you are helping them earn reputation in social media. You know sharing content and keeping them engaged in social media is a great way of increasing the brand value. They also get involved and your marketing team builds up. You can take advice from all members of your organization.

Social media training is an important aspect of the survival of a company in the competitive world. The social media policies guide us all the time. You will be able to retain talented people in your organization. You will be able to attract talented professionals through social media.