Social Media & Business

Hello Professor and Class, My name is Craig Crow.

 I am going to discuss Social media and some of the various ways business can utilize this technology, I am also going to address the affects of this technology in regards to my personal relationship with business.

Social media is a cost effective alternative to conventional marketing communication.  Social media require a minimal investment.  Marketing can amount to as  much as fifty percent of a business ‘ annual budget. Businesses spend this capital in an effort reach a target demographic and inform that group of the  products or services that they have to offer. With the advent of social media, business now have  a digital  tool that offers a four prong approach to reaching their potential customers. These tools are Blogs, Microblogs, social networks and podcasts.

The digital - environment - eliminates the constraints of time and space. Social media requires  only that the business provide the digital content that  best represents the organizatoin.  This allows the potential customer an opportunity to reseach products and services over the internet.

Of course,  for social media to be effective a business must be willing to develop and maintain their digital presence.

I have often turned to  various types of social media to enrich my understanding  of  topics and products that interest me. For example,  I use blogs to develop a  deeper understanding of a product, such as a graphic card I wish to install on a PC . I use microblogs to keep up to date on recent develpments in the superbike racing teams I follow.  I am also particullarilly interested in using podcasts to gather an indepth knowledge of places I am planning to visit on my next mountaineering adventure. Podcast presentations produced by outfitters allow me to prescreen their services and abilities proior to making any trip planning  decisions. In a sense,  the interaction that social media provides allow us to communicate more effcetivey than ever before.

I would advise all  businesses  to build a digital presences that  represents their brand, their products, and their services, this is vital in todays economy. Businesses  have the opportunity to utilize a technology that is the newest and most affordable marketing tool available. Social media provides all businesses   the ability to reach the local, regional , and  global market place.

 In conclusion, I would like to thank you,  for your time and attention. You can  reach me through my blog at http://313week5assignment.blogspot.com/,  or my twitter Feed which is Craig S. Crow @ CraigSCrow or my face book page that is craigcrow52@ facebook.com