Brand Awareness and Social Media Marketing

After reading the article “Can You Measure the ROI of You Social Media Marketing?” http://labarce.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/mit.pdf , it became apparent to me just how much companies can gain from social media marketing. When using social media sites such as twitter and facebook, and reading different blogs, I do not feel aware of the marketing going on throughout the sites. However, of course, every time a brand is mentioned, that is yet another instance of raising brand awareness.  Word of mouth has always been a positive way for a company to get their product known and ultimately social media sites do exactly the same thing, just on a much larger scale.

But how do companies make their social media marketing so effective?

Unlike traditional word of mouth, company managers can dictate who can and cannot post a review on their social media pages. This can therefore reduce bad reviews in direct relation to the product. By exercising managerial control, companies can also ensure the ‘right’ people are associated to their product. Also by ensuring the company’s social media exposure is constantly updated and evolving will keep people interested and returning to their sites.