The Wrap Up

We live in a consumer society where advertising dollars really do drive the world of media. But the growing understanding of social media is really liberating brands and advertisers. There are so many different ways to disseminate information to a target audience the path to perfect marketing has never been so blurred by the constant bombardment of outside noise that all individuals must wade through on a daily basis. But all marketers and companies must remember that social media was not built to secure audiences. These platforms were built to connect people to one another. Now that companies want to generate likes and followers. But going from Traditional media which is a high reach, but low engagement game to social media which is low reach but high engagement is easier said then done.

Throughout my class I have learned that the key to successful social media marketing is simply not overloading people with information and constantly trying to make people fall in love with your brand. It is better when companies create a community, a forum to talk about the brand and then engage current users and possible future customers in a conversation. Marketing now lives in two worlds...it is the world of the Audience, which is traditional marketing and the world of the individual which is social media marketing. And now companies must come up with more effective ways to approach both. And pretending that both of these marketing spheres are the same is the first step towards a tremendous downfall.

Car Shopping!!

 

During the summer I always get at least a month off of work. I posted in an earlier blog that I had remodeled and organized my bedroom. And I have decided that my next summer vacation project will be hunting down a new car. About two years ago I purchased my current car which is a 2011 Camaro. At the time I was still under the direct influence of the third installment of the Transformers saga which features a bright yellow and black striped Camaro that transforms into the character Bumble Bee. It was time for me to trade in my old SUV which had gathered over 200,000 miles trekking along the long highways of SEC football country. So the first car that was ever purchased in my name was a black 2011 Camaro, that I named Cam Cam! 

But now I am two years older, and my insatiable obsession with cars, which I inherited from my father, has me in the mood to purchase a new toy. After touring a few different dealerships and test driving cars, I have decided that my new road Dawg should be a Mercedes SUV. Which basically means I will be trading in my sporty 2-door for a vehicle suitable for hauling an entire soccer team (and I don’t even have kids!) But while I have been going through the car buying process I have spent a lot of time on the internet researching and even perusing Mercedes’ social media outlets.

The title for the Mercedes-Benz Pinterest page is short and sweet—The Best or Nothing. With almost 3,000 followers and 52 boards, Mercedes has done a very impressive job of showing off their luxury in motion motif and blending vintage car model boards with future concept cars that elicit respect for the past and build excitement for the future of the brand.

My favorite social media page for Mercedes is Twitter. They interact with their customers often and try to make the page interactive. It is fun to see brand loyal customers gushing over their vehicles and even posting short reviews of their favorite Mercedes models. My favorite Twitter initiative used Hashtags and customer twitpics to personalize the Mercedes Twitter feed. Seeing a few pictures of happy customers with their convertibles on a perfect sunny day can make even the most apathetic individual wish they could let their car's top down for a day. Although I didn’t need much convincing, I think that visiting these social media pages has made me absolutely SOLD on being the next owner of a Mercedes. I mean seriously "The Best or Nothing", Who can argue with that?!