Market Research Through Popular Social Media Networks

Social Media are interactive technological tools which allow the generation or sharing/exchange/transactional exchange of ideas, opinions, interests, and so on through virtual communities and online networks. Social Media have the potential to change how businesses are marketed and promoted. Today Social Media like Facebook, Myspace, and twitter are used by people from all walks of life for a number of reasons. These days Social Media are considered as one of the key players in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Social Media helps in generating higher consumer traffic by establishing a long-term relationship with consumers.

As per Internet Marketing Strategist (SMIS), SMIS projects that “users prefer online forums, groups, and chats where they can express their opinion, view point, and interact with different types of people”. In fact, almost every person uses social media at least once in a day, so it is one of the most effective ways of reaching out to potential customers. Social Media provide a platform where different types of businesses can reach out to their potential market. For e.g., a hotel can post its special offers, discounts, or events on its Facebook page, thereby reaching out to its potential guests. So, with Facebook you can also connect with your hotel’s clients who might be far off and make them feel at home.

Social Media also helps small and Medium size companies to leverage the power of Internet marketing by increasing the scope of audience reach. Many SMIS projects are underway to build a social media infrastructure consisting of social media applications and websites in the small and medium size industries which allows them to use social media tools and services to publish and share information, solicit feedback, post comments, solve issues, manage privacy settings, etc. By virtue of these applications and websites, SMIs can take advantage of the opportunities offered by different forms of online communities such as discussion boards, microblogging sites, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The success of each SMO campaign depends on the knowledge, skills, expertise and the will to take up challenges.

Many SMIS companies undertake market research activities for the purpose of understanding the various aspects of social media usage and their impact on the market. They conduct surveys online that gather the data on how the SMIS users use different web applications and websites. Based on the collected data, a report is prepared and shared with the client. This is an important part of conducting market research since a survey can tell you a lot about the users, their preferences, needs and preferences, and their purchasing behaviors. These findings can help companies use the available knowledge to design a strategy that will work well in the long run.

A good example of SMIS software is whatsapp. whatsapp is an open source SMS messaging application that is considered as one of the largest social media networks today. It has around sixty million users and has been in operation for more than five years now. Through its usage, companies have gained lots of information including the demographics, the daily habits, the geographic location, and the communication habits of the users. With this information, marketers can work out strategies that will be applicable for their target market. They can also use the data to study the buying behavior, usage and interaction of the users, and study which platform they are most likely to use.

Apart from market research, another way SMIS companies use to test the popular social media networks is by using the popular social media platforms as the testing grounds. One popular social network that many businesses choose to participate in is Facebook. Since it offers the users almost unlimited features, it can be used as a platform for the testing of different promotional campaigns or product launches. Companies can create Facebook applications through which they can get access to the millions of users and collect the data they need. By knowing the most popular social media networks, companies can plan out their promotion strategies and know what products or services they should promote through which social networks in the future.