Monday, January 25, 2010

Social Media Site Provides Free Advertising

In class we spoke about the many ways that social media sites such as facebook, also function as a marketer. Brand loyalty was discussed as an important factor in regards to the marketability of the interface. (The more users of FB; the greater value proposition to advertisers)

But what about when companies develop their own FB page and begin marketing on FB for free? This is the focus of the article I read on PRlog entitled, "Jet Airways is now on Social Media." Jet Airways is one of India's premiere airlines focused on reaching a larger cross section of their customers and potential future customers.

Jet Airways is not only providing up to date flight, promotional, and travel information, but also allows Jet Airways customers to "tag" pictures and speak to each other about their experience.

By joining a social medium, Jet Airways is finding a personal way to connect with its customers and gain exposure to a new customer base for free. For example, if customer x who is friends with customer y, is a member of the Jet Airways Group; customer y will be able to see their friends activity in the Jet Airways Group. This type of visibility will allow a secondary consumer market to passively gain exposure to the Jet Airways Brand.

I believe that this approach to advertising will not trump traditional campaigns put on by major corporations, but will become a very popular means for these firms to compliment their current marketing initiatives for no cost.

Additionally, this new phenomena provides another potential revenue source for FB. If FB can uncover ways of identifying profiles of companies, they can devise a way to charge these companies for their page development and exposure to the entire FB user population.

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