The massive conglomeration of people around the globe using Facebook, means that there are very few people untouched by this phenomenon. There are 1.49 billion monthly users of Facebook as of the most recent data in 2015. Social media marketing aims to harness some of this enormous presence for a particular business, product or service. The basic idea is to reach a market of interested people via these social networking mediums. Twitter is growing in reach and appeal around the world. Instagram and Pinterest are primarily image based social media platforms. Every day more and more social media apps emerge within the digital sphere.
Social media is a kind of electronic word of mouth, which aims to gain attention through traffic to a web site or social media site. This is generally achieved through content, which catches the interest of readers and search engines. Content is king in social media marketing and this content must be frequently updated. The Internet has an insatiable thirst for fresh content, whether it be frolicking kittens or celebrities up to no good. The most popular pages on Facebook are filled with politicians, pop stars, and Nutella???
Yes Nutella, a chocolate hazelnut spread, makes the Top 25 most popular Facebook pages; which must say something about the broad appeal of this sweet spread. Over 30 million likes have been logged on the Nutella Facebook page. Does popularity on social media translate into sales? This question has been asked of all advertising and marketing mediums since the very beginning of everything. A jar of Nutella is sold every 2.5 seconds and it has captured consumer interest to a massive degree. Social media in this instance allowed consumer interaction, with customers sharing recipes involving Nutella online and this has continued to build into a huge following. Their social media strategy company calls it ‘social proof’ when customers share their enthusiasm for a product on platforms like Facebook.
Marketing research shows that ingredients and food products are well suited to social media because we all know that people get genuinely excited about things that taste good and, lately, may also be good for you. Health is a big buzz word in the food market, and, even, Nutella claims to be healthy because of all those nuts. Actually, my kids love it and they don’t like nuts, so there can’t be that many nuts in the product; or they are just well hidden. Social media marketing: what is it exactly? It is gossip online and human beings love to gossip. Getting your product or service into that gossip, is what it is all about.
