The Role of Social Media and Technology in Marketing Strategy

This paper will seek to examine the advancement in technology and its contribution to the field of marketing. The movement to new ideas is becoming imperative if companies are to survive the era of wait and see no more (Ewen, 2016). The focus will major on the Dick's Sporting company success in comparison to how Sports Authority went bankrupt. What marketing strategy did Dick's Sporting Company use in comparison to Sports Authority? Additionally, a marketing plan that is sustainable for companies in line with the role of social media in marketing is a critical point for this study. Marketing plan is an essential component for the dynamic nature of business operations (Felina & Chritobal, 2008).

Dick’s sporting company was enjoying financial stability while Sport Authority faced with financial burden that proved overwhelming for the company (Ewen, 2016). Given that the two company were competing on free markets definitely Dick’s company had an added advantage since it had the liquidity and sales figure that gave the company an advantage that helped it to whether the market fluctuation storms.

Sports Authority was also slow in adapting to new marketing strategies of online advertisement in addition to showrooming. A good example is the issue of online encroachment where Sport Authority moved slowly as compared to other companies such as Amazon who were quick in capitalizing on the idea. This was also encouraged to a great extent by the mass consumer movement to shopping online. Online advertisement has been established to have many benefits that could attract and establish customer loyalty to brands (Ryan, 2017).

Sports Authority was also reluctant in joining in the new trends. The trends made other companies to diversify their products. Companies like Nike and Dick’s were willing to diversify their product hence the introduction of athleisure (Ewen, 2016).

Lack of vision especially at the corporate level is also evidence for the Sports Authority Company. The management was not innovative and therefore lack sustainable program for the advancement of the company in line with increasing competition were survival of any company was based on new invention and innovation.

The Sport Authority sales lacked a real customer shopping experience in its Showrooming (Mallory, 2016). Given the story of the Sports Authority failure in giving customers a real shopping experience brick and mortar companies should focus on the innovative ways to give the customers the real experience. Such ways may include high tech personalization and run clubs as was the case with Nike (Mallory, 2016). This could help fuse traditional shopping method with customer experiences that could help increase sales.

Sports Authority was well-established company before the many problems it experienced leading to its bankruptcy. However, it is evident enough that the company was so conservative in the past marketing strategies. In line with the changing trends of consumer shopping behavior and advancement in technology, the company overlooked the principle of marketing of creating a total online presence (Strategy Peak). This could have gone a long way in helping the company to increase sales and hence its survival in an increasingly competitive environment.

Conclusion

It is evident from the Sports Authority story of bankruptcy in comparison to Dick's Sports company story of success that companies need to be diversified. This will assist the company to survive in a fast-changing environment of increasing role of social media and technology in advertisement and marketing strategy.

References

Costello, R. (2017, March 14). 5 Benefits Of Online Advertising. Retrieved January 14, 2018, from ExactDrive: http://www.exactdrive.com/news/5-benefits-of-online-advertising

Ewen, L. (2016, March 15). How Sports Authority went bankrupt—and who could be next to fall. Retrieved January 13, 2018, from Retaildive: https://www.retaildive.com/news/how-sports-authority-went-bankruptand-who-could-be-next-to-fall/415343/

Felina, C., & Chritobal, M. (2008). Principles of Marketing. Rex Bookstore, Inc.

S, M. (2016, July 28). The retail industry is panicking over Sports Authority's bankruptcy. Retrieved January 13, 2018, from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/sports-authoritys-bankruptcy-has-caused-negative-effects-in-retail-2016-7?IR=T

Strategy Peak. (n.d.). 7 Key Marketing Principles. Retrieved January 13, 2018, from Strategy Peak: https://strategypeak.com/7-key-marketing-principles/

Essay 2

Introduction

Participation and interest in social media are at an ever-increasing rate globally. This is attributed to the fact that more and more people are connecting online via various social media platforms. Organizations are also trying to capitalize on social media platform for marketing. Social media helps offer new opportunities to engage customers, clients, targeted communities and the public in conversation and brand awareness initiatives to help develop brands and services offered by various companies (Duggan, 2013). This paper seeks to examine the importance of social media policies in marketing to an organization, the common elements in social media policy for brands and non-profit making organization and finally a stand on the social media policy of an employer concerning the employees’ account.

A social media policy is vital for an organization as it could serve as the basis of defense in mitigating risk for both the employer and the employee. This can be achieved through a well written social media policy that includes:

            Firstly, the policy is essential in providing guidelines to the employees regarding communication in the social media platforms. This is to help protect the organization image as regulations are set of what is permissible to say online and the limits of the freedom online to help protect the image of the company. It can also provide the basis for which the organization sets values and ascribed culture for the customers, employees and the public alike (Duggan, 2013).

            Expectations will also be set starting from the point of employee induction. This will ensure the company is proactive in its measure as opposed to waiting for a crisis then initiate a response later on. The company will also be able to allocate responsibility for content control and approval. This will ensure filtration of the content before it is released online on social sites. These policies are important as they will help reduce risk and legal exposure for the business hence productivity time will be saved for the company.

Social media policies for brands such as coca cola and non-profit or nongovernmental organization such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs have some common elements in their social media policy. Both social media recognize the need to promote the companies values. A good example is how coca cola outline its five core values for the online social media community (The Coca-Cola Company, 2009). The Veteran Affairs social media policy also adheres to its ascribed values over the years.

Both the Coca-cola brand and the Department of Affairs are also promoting their product respectively. The United States Department of Veteran affairs social media policy concentrated on its benefits to the members  (Rio Salado College, 2016).This is similar to how coca cola advocate for its quality.

Social media policies are made to safeguard the reputation and image of the company in its online marketing avenues. Employers and employees are supposed to be guarded by the policy on a mutual respect basis since most social media policies are crafted on the respect bases (Bloomberg Law, 2013). Checks and balances measures should also be incorporated to ensure no one person either the employer or the employees violate the terms of agreement concerning the social media policy agreement.

Conclusion

The increasing role of social media policies in marketing is increasingly becoming significant to the field of the business world. Companies need to develop a policy that will ensure smooth flow of information as well as ensuring the companies or product reputation is not dented.

References

Bloomberg Law. (2013, August 14). Social Media Policies in the Workplace: It's All About Respect. Retrieved January 13, 2018, from BNA: https://www.bna.com/social-media-policies-in-the-workplace-its-all-about-respect/

Duggan, S. (2013, January 18). Why Social Media Policy is Important for Your Business. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from Social Media Today: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/why-social-media-policy-important-your-business

Rio Salado College. (2016). Veterans Educational Benefits. Rio Salado College.

The Coca-Cola Company. (2009). Online Social Media Principal. The Coca-Cola Company.