Page 58 - MYM 2016

How Social Media Will Shape the Future of Marketing
lose importance in a world where market players are able to communicate about their product, and also sell their products directly to customers across demographic or geographic boundaries. Many e-commerce companies, including Amazon and Alibaba, have amply demonstrated this.
e idea of a “relevant” target market is becom- ing somewhat obsolete. For example, an Apple iPad is being used by everyone – from a ve-year-old in India to a 60-year-old woman in the U.S. Hence, the traditional STP tool for marketing might not be as bene cial in future as it has been in the past.
➤ a ordability is the new reality
Social media has also disrupted the paradigm of production and the cost of distribution. In
the realm of entertainment, or lmmaking to be speci c, a person today is not as dependent on a producer or a director anymore. A good storyteller is now capable of producing and directing a lm of reasonable quality in a quick span of just two to three months, enabled by the hardware and so - ware platforms of Apple’s Mac, which has made movie production and good quality digital lms highly a ordable. Similarly, in the realm of book publishing, we nd that authors today are increas- ingly choosing to self-publish. Finally, a small merchant today can scale upon its marketing and distribution and o er products and services glob- ally. As I mentioned before, Internet is both a rich medium and it has global reach.
➤ Social Media addiction
Social media addiction (SMA) refers to a state of mind where a person feels the constant urge to keep track of their social media existence. ough it is not yet recognized as such, this might very well be termed a mental disorder due to which a person feels a compulsion to constantly check for social media updates, or even “stalk” other people’s pro- les, amongst other things. Any kind of addiction is likely to be harmful to a person’s mind and body. Researchers at University of Chicago have recently concluded that SMA can be stronger than an addiction to cigarettes or even alcohol following an
experiment in which they recorded the cravings of several hundred people for several weeks (Ho man, Vohs and Baumeister, 2012).
SMA is becoming so common that it is having an impact on social demographics – families are struggling with maintaining relationships, as a lot of time is being consumed by their “social” lives. Companies are now targeting consumers with “app- only” strategies and are cashing in on the idea that since smartphones are constantly being checked by users, this can be converted into revenue. In order to ght this addiction, it is generally advised by experts that consumers should limit the number
of apps on their phones, and parents should keep a check on their children’s smart phone use. e “real estate” on the smart phone will have a premium just as we have at retail store shelves.
ere are, however, some scholars and thought leaders who disagree with the characterization given above. eir point is that despite the fact that people are not interacting face to face, social media still remains a platform that facilitates widespread human interaction, which is normal and shouldn’t be termed as an addiction of the mind. Whatever one’s view on the matter, social media is indisput- ably a very addictive medium. Addiction of the mind is very di erent from addiction or consump- tion of physical objects. We have a certain depth of knowledge as far as reducing the addiction of con- sumables such as alcohol and tobacco is concerned; however, we still need to learn how to e ectively control the addiction of “mental consumption” brought about by social media. Digital detoxi ca- tion and digital rehabilitation might very well be matters of real concern for future generations. Mar- keting practitioners must ensure that they are not criticized for generating this addiction similar to the current criticism of pharmaceutical companies for drug addiction.
➤ The growth of virtual communities
A rise of virtual communities can also be observed across the digital world. A virtual com- munity is a social network of individuals who interact through a speci c social medium on topics of mutual interest, potentially crossing
58 | MINd YOUr MarkETING OCTOBEr 2016