Social networking sites lure companies to covet online marketing to usher in a bright future

The booming social media of the IT Time Magazine/Lin (Beijing) is attracting the attention of different companies in different industries.　　But they may forget that online conversations with consumers have an important impact on a company's brand equity, and that the rise of social media, both in the positive and negative ways, is changing corporate marketing strategies. July 15, 2010 is a memorable day for Mercedes-Benz's brand, smart. On that day, it has 120,000 fans on the biggest social networking site in China, which topped 500,000.　　In fact, using social media to launch marketing has become the primary choice for many enterprises. Today, social media sites are booming in China. According to a recent study by Netpop, a research institute, 92% of mainland Chinese netizens use some form of social media, only 72% in the US (about 105 million).　　Industry expert Michael Naizly said that Chinese netizens are very active in the manufacture and consumption of online content.　　Marketing on social networking sites, for companies, is a successful marketing model, or a hidden trap of the mire?　　To try the water. As more and more consumers begin to refer to other people's opinions before making a purchase decision, social media will play a more important role in the success of the product. One of the hottest areas of Internet growth is social media, an interactive, community-focused network platform. Internet users can use this platform to build contacts, talk about hobbies, and exchange information and content.　　In the United States, there are sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, but more than 400 million Chinese netizens prefer local websites, including millions of blogs, SNS sites and countless online forums. This huge consumer group quickly attracted the attention of enterprises. Mercedes-Benz's brand smart, which has been listed in China since April 2009, has topped 2000 sales in just 8 months. At present, smart in 38 countries in the world sales, China's sales have ranked 9th in the world. Coincidentally, Cofco Group's Yuet live brand in the promotion, also will be marketing activities on the net. It is understood that in a short span of several months time, the number of participants in the event reached 22.8 million, fans accounted for 580,000.　　According to a research report by the company, the popularity of live brands rose from zero to 50%, showing the power of online marketing. Mercedes-Benz (China) Automotive Sales Co., Ltd. Marketing director Maokingpo not hesitate to give this credit to the new media, "online marketing is one of our main platforms, and our important information is communicated through the Internet, and we can accurately capture our target users online," she said in a media interview. As a brand with personality and innovative spirit, new media marketing will be able to highlight the brand characteristics of smart. "Clearly, social media is not just a form of entertainment for Chinese people.They also exert an influence on consumers ' purchasing decisions. Especially when the traditional channels of communication become more and more unattractive.　　According to a report published by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), 48% of respondents said they believed more about online access to information than television. In a culture of popular word-of-mouth, consumers are using a variety of channels to understand products. Netpop found that user-generated content, including consumer reviews, forum discussions and blog content, affected 58% of respondents ' purchase decisions, compared with 19% in the United States.　　In a survey conducted in 2009, CIC, another research firm, found that more than half of China's respondents said social media channels had the biggest impact on buying decisions. Another survey showed that 90% of Chinese consumers would pay attention to online reviews even without a purchase plan.　　Many people like to follow their favorite brands in the online community and share their views with others in the internet community, while nearly half of respondents agree that reading positive online information may change or lessen their negative perceptions of a brand.　　Crises and opportunities coexist social media is actually empowering consumers; their online conversations have an important impact on a company's brand equity, both in the positive and negative ways. But if bad news happens, it can be dangerous. Naizly warns: "It is easy for Chinese netizens to form a kind of excitement on the Internet." Bad news about the company will spread quickly within a short period of time, and if it is mixed with nationalism, netizens ' comments can be very negative. "In this respect, Jonah Berg, an assistant professor at the Wharton School, agrees that social media are more difficult to control than traditional forms of media such as newspapers and television. "If consumer discussions are in the form of a bad brand, allowing consumers to shape their brand image could be dangerous," he says. Starbucks has experienced the anger of Chinese netizens. In 2007, the then CCTV news anchor, Rui, said in her blog that it was against Starbucks opening stores in the Forbidden City. "It is not globalisation but the erosion of Chinese culture," he said in a blog titled "The reason for Starbucks not to enter the Forbidden City".　　"This post was clicked 500,000 times within two days, angry netizens have expressed support for the city, and the barrage of criticism has quickly been reproduced by traditional and online news outlets, and Starbucks has been forced to withdraw from the cultural relic of the Forbidden City, but this has sparked resentment and suspicion among millions of of Chinese consumers. In fact, the most successful social media campaigns should provide consumers with real value and be well executed-a factor that is critical because fake social media campaigns are quickly exposed by picky netizens. In 2008, a home computer manufacturer played video on a video-sharing website in China about a man who followed the story of "Red Woman". The Internet marketing aims to promote the company's notebook computer, the audience rating has also been soaring. But when ChinaNetizens discovered that the whole story was fictitious, and that the brand's negative feelings were immediately pervasive on the social network. Obviously, using SNS social media to build a brand is not easy, and it is not easy to think that posting a message or sending a mass mailing on a social web site is a success in creating a brand for yourself. All actions, including consumer interaction, should be considered as a complex. Every new media brand campaign should be a network, micro-blog, video and other social networking sites, including the "Hundred Regiment War."　　Only in this way can effective use of SNS this new media for their own brand to create a perfect image. The future trend, as the founder of BA360, a marketing agency, Lande Han, is that not only small companies but more companies should build their own social media marketing strategies. "In this increasingly social society, when brands can spend less money and consumers have a two-way relationship, what is the reason for them to continue to invest in traditional media for unilateral communication?" "As more and more companies adopt Internet marketing strategies, the competition for brands to attract netizens ' attention is more intense, and they are all looking for more online propaganda." A vivid case is, and brands Dream Dragon and Happy Net cooperation "dream Dragon very courteous" activity. It is reported that the way of activities in each ice cream stick on the printed password string, through the input string, consumers in the "very courteous" game components to achieve a variety of special functions.　　It is reported that during the activity, the daily average of 6.3 million visitors. In addition to increasing brand awareness, some companies use online communities to retain existing customers. BMW, Germany's auto maker, is a vivid example. Last August, Mini car was born 50 years ago. For this purpose, BMW has deliberately held a series of brand promotion activities in happy NET, engaged in a birthday party full of fashion, and successfully recruited more than hundreds of thousands of fans. It is reported that the birthday party the effect of the day, BMW sent a mini car gift 1.5 million, received the Mini fans birthday blessing 4 million.　　And mini fans grew to 700,000. The industry believes that happy net currently has more than 80 million users in the country, active degree, high marketing value. And for some of the small number of users, less active social networking sites, its marketing effect will be greatly limited.　　This also shows that social networking sites in fact and traditional media marketing, network marketing is also common, that is, the quality of the user determines the marketing effect. Despite the great potential of social media, how can companies develop effective online strategies to approach and attract consumers? Industry experts believe that the use of social media to marketing must change the mindset of the enterprise. "The previous approach was to focus on consumer advocacy, which encouraged dialogue and encouraged consumers to provide feedback to the brand," he said. Moreover, these social media promote communication between consumers, the company can also more in-depth understanding of consumerThe response of the person to their products. These tools are very effective, but they must also be managed carefully. "So will the social media boom soon recede?" Experts say no, citing low penetration and high growth rates in China's broadband technology. In a report on the internet boom, JPMorgan said 25% per cent of China's Internet penetration shows that online social media is only beginning in China. The report also predicts that social networks will start to boom with the development of mobile technology such as 3G.