A Report on Social Media Approaches Adopted by Two Companies

This report provides a comparative analysis of the social media strategies employed by Zappos and Samsung. The introduction highlights the increasing importance of social media in business, transitioning from informal platforms to essential tools for marketing, customer engagement, and brand building. The report examines the different social media approaches, including brand marketing, community building, influencer marketing, and the 'big splash' approach, illustrating how companies leverage platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Zappos focuses on brand maintenance through platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and link acquisition, while Samsung utilizes a more integrated approach, incorporating customer relationship management, product tie-ups, and innovative digital advertising. The comparison section assesses customer relationships, branding, employee engagement, efficiency, and innovation for both companies. It shows that while Zappos emphasizes customer orientation, Samsung excels in branding and broader marketing strategies. The report discusses implications for social media marketing development and offers recommendations to leverage social media effectively.

SOCIAL MEDIA

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Social Media Approaches adopted by companies.......................................................................1
Comparison between two companies..........................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
Implications for the development of a social media marketing..................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Advancement in technology has made the communication between people faster. It has
removed the boundaries between people living miles away. With the increased popularity of
internet, use of social media has also become popular. In the initial time, social media was used
as an informal platform for sharing user generated content. But with passage of time, the domain
of social media increased. Along with promoting connectedness and participation in community
driven activities, it encouraged the opinionated discussions. Apart from socializing, it became a
platform for communication, relationship development and locality programs, e-commerce, sales
promotions and discounts and marketing research (Ryan, 2011). Popular social media sites are
Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google Plus, Tumblr, Instagram, Flickr and many others
which are in trend. Business entities are leveraging the benefits of using social media in different
forms. There are many benefits that social media accrue to business organizations such as by
enhancing company’s branding, it can provide an effective way to promote the company’s
culture and detailing of products and services offered by it. It boosts the sales and credibility of
organization through better enhanced customer relationship and employee engagement. Further,
it is a lucrative way to reach at a large number of customers.
Present report is prepared to study different approaches used by companies to utilize
social media platform for enhancing the business efficiency and productivity. For this purpose,
online shoe and clothing company, Zappos and South Korean multinational conglomerate
company, Samsung is taken into account. This report focuses on the ways that are used by the
organizations in context of social media. It further makes a comparison between mentioned two
companies by evaluating their effectiveness and areas in which they are lagging behind. Report
throws light on the inferences from study along with the recommendations made to leverage the
use of social media.
Social Media Approaches adopted by companies
Social media being the wide domain of working is utilized by the users in different ways.
Business organizations with different business goals and objectives frame strategies and policies
on the basis of their principles and approach towards market (Zarrella and Zarrella, 2010). In
context of benefiting from social media platform, there are four basic approaches that are brand
Maintenance, community building, influencer marketing and big splash.
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Brand Marketing: Use of this approach is focussed on having the presence of their brand
at large number of places and on wider area. Organizations cater to adopt different measures to
make them available where there is high traffic of people. It plays a vital role in having a large
customer base. Organizations in this approach uses platform like Facebook and Instagram by
posting the details of company, its culture, working style and other facts and information. It has
the confined objective which is limited to build a brand image in the minds of people and
creating awareness about their products (Burton and Soboleva, 2011). Selected organization,
Zappos retail shop is using this approach and making its connectivity and networking wider.
Community Building: In this style, selective approach is adopted with an aim of
attracting consumers with similar interests and choices. Organization is focussed on providing
products and services for the particular target customers who use this approach. In this,
consumers and groups share opinions and views with respect to their choices and preferences to
the organization.
Influencer marketing: This refers to the engagement of organization with the existing
and potential customers on social media. In this, they monitor the activities of their customers to
seek their needs and wants with respect to the products and services provided to them and
accordingly make offerings.
Big splash: It is an integrated approach inculcating both the components that are building
connections and spreading attention (Byun and et.al., 2013). It enables an effective use of social
media with the spike in socialization and creating the rigorous brand image. This is an effective
way to utilize the social media platform. Samsung which is counted among companies benefiting
significantly from social media by using big splash approach.
Zappos retail firm is using brand marketing in which it is leveraging the benefits of
utilizing social media networking sites that are Facebook, twitter, YouTube, link acquisition and
blogging.
Twitter: With the wide presence on twitter, Zappos has large number of followers. With
frequent small messages posted on the site, Zappos conveys the events that are occurring in their
organization. With the adoption of this approach, company is able to prove its authority. This
makes it an organization with high degree of transparency and legitimacy as customers are aware
about the working and strategic plans of it. Twitter is further utilized for updating the customers
with their future plans and strategies.
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Facebook: Facebook has the large number of users who benefits the organization to reach
at potential customers in an effective manner. Zappos has the page with daily status and frequent
need updates. It connects the firm with customers in different forms. Facebook provides the
platform to customers to discuss about their choices and preferences.
YouTube: YouTube is the second largest social site with number of options available for
the business organization (Evans, 2010). Through this platform, Zappos shares its presentations
and videos about its working and share it with their customers.
Link acquisition: It is the method through which organizations are able to attract the
agencies and consultants with their customers. Link acquisition is different to the conventional
method of marketing; enables the employees to embrace new methods and technological
advancements. With the link development and link acquisition, Zappos is able to attract large
traffic that subsequently increases the sales.
South Korean manufacturer utilizes the social media effectually with its wider presence.
With the creative and innovative team of marketers, Samsung uses different ways to reach at
customers and to create a brand image at a large scale. Promotion of products and services by
this corporate business through social networking is done differently (Fitton, 2012).
 Through Facebook and twitter, Samsung is developing customer relationship
management through encouraging opinionated discussions and community driven
activities.
 Along with the conventional methods, it is using innovative ways.
 It reaches customers through demand pull video advertising in which it posts video with
displaying content and details of the organization to the platform.
 Samsung is using the web advertising in which it is leveraging the space in websites
which is used to portray the information about company’s culture and working potential
with respect to the process of developing connectivity with the customers through digital
platforms (Levy, 2010).
 Utilizing the benefits of digitalization, it is providing the application with which
customers are able to connect with the organization in the form of seeking information as
well as for other purposes such as online purchasing, discussions and rating of products.
 It has used different approaches to connect with its customers like, through product tie
up. In this method, organization makes collaboration with other entertainment based
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companies such as video games, music and others through which their products are
promoted to the customers who are watching it (Lüsted, 2011).
Comparison between two companies
Use of social media by corporate business for different purposes is compared on some
parameters such as customer relationship, branding, employee engagement, increment in
efficiency and productivity, innovation and creativity and market research.
Customer relationship: Social media with the fundamental aim to enhance the
connectivity and networking among people residing at different corners of the world. It is well
utilized by both the selected companies that are Zappos and Samsung. Zappos with more
customer orientation strategy focuses on the socialization of company. It adopts different
measures to get in contact with their potential customers. It uses Facebook and twitter to give
details about company and its operation’s information to their customers on frequent basis.
Along with the creation of pages, application has enabled it to connect with the customers on this
platform and discuss their opinions. The employees of organization are in frequent contact with
the customers through conversations and interactions. On the other hand, Samsung has relatively
less developed customer relationship management (O'Reilly and Milstein, 2009). With its prime
focus on the use of advanced ways such as application rather than maintaining personal
conversation, it lags behind in this aspect. The South Korean company has comparatively less
interactive employees that can maintain the relational constructs with the customers around the
globe.
Branding: IT refers to the process of creating brand awareness among people with the
expansion in the reach and availability. Advancement of technology has led the use of different
ways that promote the business organization to showcase their offerings to a wide range of
people through different methods and platforms. Zappos is the retail online clothing and shoe
company whose emphasis is on selling its goods to the customers through digital platform. It
adopts the approaches such as social media to detail the information and specification of the
products and to make their customers aware about it (Partridge, 2011). Along with this, it posts
different advertisements about the latest offers and discounts given on products. Further, the
posting of all events on the platform twitter make the customers of Zappos aware about the
launching of new product by it in the market. However, Samsung stepping ahead of the Zappos
is utilizing social media effectively to promote the products and services like conventional
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methods such as use of Facebook and twitter to make the customers updated about the
happenings of company. It goes beyond this and adopts the product tie up method of marketing
(Ryan, 2011). In this approach, Samsung with its formal agreements and other tie ups in the form
of sponsorships engages itself with the customers through its products that are displayed in video
games; music, advertisements, film and other teasers make the availability of customers higher
and effective. In this respect, Samsung is ahead of Zappos with respect to the branding of
organization.
Employee engagement: Along with socialization and branding of products, corporate
organizations are utilizing these platforms for other operations as well such as enhancing
employee engagement. Zappos is lucratively benefiting with the use of Facebook and twitter has
enabled the use of social media to increase the involvement of employees in the operations and
working of firm. Zappos has included the segments in its strategic formulation that employees
are supposed to remain active on these platforms and address the existing customers along with
finding potential one (Zarrella and Zarrella, 2010). On the other hand, Samsung is not confining
itself to the use of Facebook and twitter. It is also engaging LinkedIn and corporate blogs to
appoint efficient and capable employees from the pool of people. In this method, Samsung finds
the potential employees and hirer them according to their functional strengths. Along with the
employees, Samsung also gets potential suppliers and traders for the organization to deal with
them.
Increment in efficiency and productivity: In the recent time, it is identified that without
effectual use of social media, no organization can progress as it is the essential part of user's life.
An organization increases its efficiency in different ways such as providing the products and
services as per the choices and preferences of customers and making it available for them.
Secondly, with the efficient organizational structure and employees, productivity and
profitability can be increased. In that respect, Zappos uses social media platform to seek
customer's opinion and to come up with the respective requirements. Through this, company is
able to have good customer base and can maximize its sales and profit margin (Zhuang and et.al.,
2013). In this, Zappos is gaining competitive edge in the market. Samsung on the other hand has
the focus on targeting organizational capabilities. With this approach, it emphasises on seeking
efficient employees for the organization through effective recruitments and by hiring people
available on LinkedIn and twitter and secondly, it derives the desired results sand outcomes for
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the organization through getting efficient suppliers and traders to deal about the products and
services on the social media platforms.
Innovation and creativity: In the era of high competition and volatility of market, it is
essential to bring innovative and creative products in the market. It also demands the use of
innovative methods and techniques (Zimmerman and Blythe, 2013). At present, consumers are
becoming very aware about their choices and preferences along with the offerings by different
business organizations. In that respect, companies cater to come up with new ideas on frequent
basis and reinforce their presence in the minds of customers. Zappos and Samsung both are
active members of the use of social media but by making comparison, it is inferred that Samsung
is more technologically advanced in terms of bringing innovation and creativity in its operations
in comparison to Zappos. Zappos has prepared different pages and applications to drive traffic
towards their websites as using twitter make them stick with the organization. However,
Samsung used different methods such as creating online quiz applications, games, launching an
open ID platform which has created an effective brand image.
Market research: By encouraging the community driven activities, there are more
opinionated discussions held at these platforms (Waters and et.al., 2011). With this,
organizations are able to identify the needs and want of customers in order to produce the
products and services. Through this, company is able to maximize its profits and productivity in
a significant manner. In this, organizations are able to conduct both internal and external
analysis. Internal analysis helps in identifying the availability of resources and strengths and
weaknesses in different departments with which its working is engaged. External analysis helps
in gaining a competitive edge in the areas in comparison to the rivals and competitors in the
same industry. In that reference, it seeks that Zappos is able to make its products in accordance
with the needs of customers. However, Samsung through making an application to share the
opinions is having competitive edge in the form of having more precise prediction and projection
of the success of its products through increased sales (DeMers, 2013).
CONCLUSION
Implications for the development of social media marketing
There are many inferences which can be drawn from the above study made on the social
media approaches used by selected organizations that are Zappos and Samsung. From the above
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analysis made, it can be articulated that the use of social media by corporate organization enables
them to earn higher profitability in different forms such as attracting potential customers,
increasing the sales and generate revenues, reinforcing the presence of brand in the minds of
customers, having a strong market position and attracting the capable employees to work in the
organization. More accurately, the implication of the use of social media on both the firms is
assessed on the basis of certain parameters such as approaches used by both companies, focus
laid, communication style used, marketing mix elements, return on investment and feedback
handling.
Approaches: Different to the conventional method of marketing and connecting with the
people, use of social media has different approach. In contrast, with the use of one for all, it uses
the customized way to target the customers for all the products and services for different market
segments (Caballero, 2014). Those segments are targeted with the use of different strategies and
methods such as Zappos uses differentiated marketing style and reach at customers in the wider
domain. With this, it has been inferred from the empirical results that the sales and profitability
has been increased significantly. With reference to Samsung which has a wide presence in the
global market from many decades has adopted the current trends effectively in its operational
methods and approaches used in it such as with the advancement of technology, it is effectively
leveraging its benefits (Lenhart and Madden, 2007).
Focus: Earlier the focus was laid on the confined area of marketing but with the
inception of internet and social media, it is using the platform to involve customers and users in
the process of decision making and determining the product orientation. In this way, it is stated
that with the use of social media, focus of organization has been shifted from the product and
promotion to the people and their needs along with engaging them in the processing of
organization in different ways.
Communication style: Through evolution of market with the movement through different
stages of development, it is seen that variation came in the manner in which communication is
done between people that are both the demand and supply side. Earlier, the conversation used to
occur between the producer and consumer on one to one basis but with the advancement of
social media, there has been introduction of the one to many and many to many communication
approach used by the organization (Tan and et.al., 2012).
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Marketing mix elements: The four core elements of marketing that are price; product,
place and promotion are used by the organization to showcase their offerings to their customers.
The results have been found that both the organizations are leveraging the benefits of the use of
this platform. Product is launched in accordance with the views and opinions obtained from the
users of social media.
Return on investment: It has been inferred that both the organizations are getting high
returns on investments in different forms such as increased customer base, enhanced sales and
profitability, revenue generation, appointment of efficient and capable employees in the
organization and the effectual branding. The use of social media marketing has made the selected
organization Zappos and Samsung with the high degree of brand image and customer engaged
company.
Feedback handling: Lastly, social media which is the platform to have discussions and
conversations between users belonging to different backgrounds is useful for the organization in
different ways. One of the lucrative benefits it provides to the organizations like Samsung and
Zappos is the feedback handling (Treadaway and Smith, 2012). In this measure, companies are
able to address the grievances of customers with respect to the fulfilment of their choices and
preferences.
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