Social Media Marketing:

The Customer-Marketer Relationship

Lily Dondoshansky
Ms. Michelle Bagley
Ms. Melissa Kesner
Centennial High School
January 15, 2018
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Lily Dondoshansky

Ms. Bagley

Intern-Mentor I

2 January 2018

What’s the first thing you do in the morning? For many Americans, the answer is to

check their phones. You pull out your phone and spend the first couple waking minutes of your

day checking all your texts, your emails, your reminders. Then you tap on Instagram, and you

see a Starbucks post advertising their new frappucino drink which you’ll pick up on your way to

work later. You proceed to Facebook, where Netflix pops up with a promotion of their latest TV

original, and you click on YouTube and watch a makeup tutorial advocating for cruelty-free

makeup. That weekend you’ll sit down to watch that new Netflix show after heading to Sephora

to trade in your old lipstick. You might not realize it, but with the tap of a finger you entered into

the vast universe of brands and businesses, all seeking to entice you through the draw of social

media. Not one of the things you saw or scrolled through was an accident, because somewhere,

someone decided the exact fonts, colors, and visuals to use to promote their product to you and

every other consumer out there. You’ve been duped. But how? The answer to that question is

marketing, and not just any marketing, but Marketing 2.0. The term “Marketing 2.0” stems from

“Web 2.0,” a word describing the ability of users to interact with one another on social media

and exchange user generated content (UGC), that is, content such as video, graphics, or posts

created by consumers (Borges). Web 2.0 is a concept contrasted with the earlier “Web 1.0,” in

which content could be viewed, but not created or shared with other users. Marketing 2.0, as

addressed by Forbes magazine, has a new strategy in which ​“companies need to engage and
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address the needs and interests of the consumer or risk losing credibility and quickly becoming

irrelevant” (Sorensen). Modern day marketing relies on two basic trends: transparency and social

media. The consumer status has changed in the age of Web 2.0, and now it is no longer the

person at the desk in total control (Borges). The consumer knows what they want, and they know

how to find the best possible product to fit their needs. What the consumer hears from those

around them will influence their ultimate decision, so it is crucial to understand the new meaning

given to reputation and word-of-mouth in the marketing community.​ Selling remains the ultimate

goal of the marketer, but the ways in which they promote their brand have changed, becoming

more technology heavy and demanding a new degree of publicity. Companies may continue to

use old marketing strategies, but it has become increasingly clear that Marketing 2.0 is a new era

for businesses to embrace. Almost all companies today rely on some level of social media

interaction because it encourages engagement with and between their customers and promotes

loyalty to a brand which consumers must perceive as trustworthy. It’s used by nearly everyone

with access to the internet, costs significantly less than most traditional forms of marketing, and

has grown into the top resource for marketers today. ​In the modern world of marketing and

Web 2.0, social media has become critical due to the need to appeal to a large but specific

demographic, to facilitate a relationship between consumers and marketers, and to create a

sense of transparency and authenticity.

It is generally assumed that the younger generations make up most of today’s social

media user base. A glimpse of a standard high school classroom will provide the viewer with an

image of today’s American teenager– gangly, awkward, and on a cell phone. Many feel that the

likes of Instagram and Twitter are flooded with Millennials and Gen Zers, and as a result are not
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worth reaching out to if the user group the company is seeking is too old to care about social

media. As a result, these companies miss out on a huge demographic based on a conclusion that

is simply wrong. The internet and the access we have to it are rapidly evolving, and as customers

have more access to markets, so too marketers have more access to customers. What is surprising

to many people, however, is that it isn’t just the youth that contributes to this widening

demographic. From age nine to eighty-nine, everyone is impacted by the internet. A perfect

example of this is Facebook, which seems to serve all age groups evenly. Studies have shown

that different age groups tend to use social media differently, with some focusing on

opportunities for exhibitionism and narcissism, and others more interested in mere entertainment

value (Leung). Facebook, however, has features in nearly every category people reach out to

social media for, and as a result, is easily accessible and valuable for all ages. For marketers,

social media thus becomes a key factor in reaching an expansive group of people of all ages.

Social media makes it simpler to reach Millennials by far, and it is in fact effective in reaching

older generations as well. The age demographics of social media sites are not the only divisors of

its user groups. The purpose of social media is to connect with consumers, and it is these

consumers who now innovate culture (Holt). This culture, “crowdculture” as it is described in the

Harvard Review, is further divided into subcultures surrounding various modern interests. These

topics could center around cars, espresso drinks, favorite 19th century novels, or a myriad of

other things, and communities exist surrounding each of them. As a direct result of social media,

these communities are just a click away, and the key for brands is to know how to use them. The

process of advertising based on a crowdculture is more than merely following trends enforced by

them, but specifically basing one’s marketing and branding strategies off of their concerns and
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interests. Companies like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s have capitalized off the debate on

GMOs and organic produce, while LUSH and Burt’s Bees have done the same with the beauty

industry’s focus on cruelty-free, environmentally friendly makeup. Social media reveals the tone

of the demographics companies seek to capitalize on. Networks make evident the crowdculture

which dominates them, which companies are able to observe and act upon from their seat on

Twitter, Facebook, or any other powerful site.

It is a key tenet of modern business that clear communication between both buyers and

other buyers, as well as buyers and companies, is key to proper marketing. The communities

created by social media are created based on shared interests and personal connections, and

consumers tend to trust their peers more so than they do the companies they buy from. Some

researchers believe that electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is actually more effective than

interpersonal, real life conversation (Zahoor). When in the process of buying a product,

consumers instantly look for reviews rather than what the brand itself has advertised. In the age

of Web 2.0, the customer really is in control, not the marketer. Thus, it is crucial to facilitate

positive relationships between buyers and between buyers and sellers. A key way to do this is

engagement, and social media is considered the most effective way to do this. In traditional

methods of marketing, those being cold-calls, door-to-door services, etc., there is little

communication between the buyer and seller after the transaction has occurred. In the age of

Marketing 2.0, companies are held accountable to good customer service and effective

communication, a process made easier by the Internet. Content is easily transferred over social

networks and blogs through individuals who create, share, and recommend information, thus

“extending the spheres of marketing influence” while using the social media platforms which
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allow for “influential and meaningful firm-customer exchanges” (Hanna, Richard, et al.). The

opportunity to see customer satisfaction on a screen with the click of a button makes it

significantly easier for sellers to engage with their clientele and understand the progress their

product makes in the community. Social media is incredibly simple to use and costs significantly

less than traditional forms of marketing, which allows marketers to form a two-way-trust with

their customers by responding to their complaints and interacting with them on a regular basis

(Zahoor). ​ There is a need for understanding in online marketing, and in more than just personal

purchases. Particularly in B2B exchanges (companies buying goods from other companies),

many customers feel that salespeople do not understand the companies they are selling to

(Shriber). This prompts a necessity for engagement that motivates the salesperson to

communicate readily with the consumer and receive feedback at the end of the discussion. Social

sites are the main source for receiving and reviewing information about the buyer of a product,

and to ensure that the buyer returns for future purchase, it is imperative that they are utilized for

the purpose of relaying information clearly information.

Ultimately, the need for communication stems from the need for transparency and

authenticity in marketing. Marketing 2.0 is based on brands engaging with a loyal and dedicated

fanbase, people who find the company to represent something genuine. As customers have begun

to communicate with one another, certain brands have come into the limelight and gained their

trust, capitalizing on opportunities presented to them by social media. Fantastic examples of such

brands include LUSH and Patagonia. The former, with a focus on ethical, cruelty-free, vegan

products, posts videos of their handmade products first being created in an effort to showcase

their humane company process. Patagonia, similarly, has released promotional videos
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documenting their clothing being made. The purpose of such advertisement is transparency.

Marketing 2.0 is focused on the relationship between the company and consumer, and many

consumers today question the legitimacy of their goods and services. Not only that, but

consumers also have increased digital media literacy, able to quickly navigate sites and boards to

find information on a company and its past (Meadows-Klue). As a result,​ consumer expectations

have risen, and they demand more accountability for what they see advertised to be the final

product they pay for as well. Social media allows companies to give their customers a fair

promise, to convince them that what they are purchasing is in fact worth it. It is a method of

branding that focuses on painting the brand name in a positive and ethical image which will then

be associated with their products. ​Brands these days must act as triggers of a conversation,

stimulating a discussion of authenticity, equality, and genuine goodness (Meadows-Klue). The

authenticity is most easily seen in trends of online images. The spread of images over the

Internet has lead to a new culture in marketing that focuses on authenticity, subjectivity, and

narrative ability, all of which heavily tie into customer engagement (Morton). Mass culture has

been significantly changed and democratized, as production has been placed in the hands of the

individual–the user. The consumer now has the ability to control the market by creating UGC

and incorporating it in collaborative environments for workers and users. This means that images

used in marketing nowadays must reflect more than a professional hold of the camera, but also a

sense of reality. People want images to tell a story that they believe is genuine, authentic, and

trustworthy, and these often come from others with similar experiences to themselves. Social

media comes into play here in a powerful way. When corporations have the ability to replicate

the standard user experience, they are able to incite emotion over social media and promote the
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desire for an experience tied to their product. This kind of marketing is particularly relevant to

the use of Instagram, where visuals reign supreme and brands can promote their goods and

services specifically by producing images that relate to their audience. The expertise required for

marketing is no longer taking a good photo, but rather taking a photo that tells a powerful story

that sells the experience to the consumer. All marketing has taken on a similar perspective.

Images and videos over social media are made to look authentic, captured to show spontaneity

and mundane but pleasant aspects of life. Transparency is the most genuine way in which

corporations can gain the trust and loyalty of their audience, ensuring a positive relationship that

spreads to other viable customers. The more customers perceive a brand as ethical and relatable,

the more they support it in reviews and ratings. Nowadays, the authentic approach to marketing

pays off best, and the way to promote that authentic approach is most clear in social media.

Video and imagery is perceived as natural, as a genuine portrayal of a company affair.

There is a saying that the customer is always right. In the sense of modern-day marketing,

this rings only partly true. Though the customer does hold more power than ever before, the

marketer does still have a say in the public perception of their product. In order to regain a level

of control, however, it is essential that the marketer understand how to utilize Marketing 2.0

properly by using social media to their advantage across all ages and demographics. As a result

of Web 2.0, consumers are easily able to communicate with one another, exchanging information

and reviews of products through electronic word-of-mouth. Generally, they trust each other more

than they do the seller, so it is imperative to create a trustworthy public image. The relationship

between the consumer and the seller has become essential to successful marketing, as it is the

very base for any and all transactions. People who do not see a mutually beneficial relationship
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forming between themselves and the seller will simply find somebody better, which isn’t hard to

do when there is an entire network of internet friends to help find an alternative product. To

ensure that this relationship is formed, companies must base themselves in an authentic image

focused on transparency. Business today is often pitted as the big, bad corporation using

“gotcha” marketing and cruel tricks in unfair ads. Everyone has felt the dejection of seeing an

“up to” in fine print above the “70% off!” sign. Customers today do not like to be tricked, and

marketers should do well to realize it. With marketers employing authentic, fair tactics over

social media, brands can truly thrive and reach their full, technologically advanced potential.
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Works Cited

Borges, Bernie. ​Marketing 2.0: Bridging the Gap Between Seller and Buyer Through Social
Media Marketing​. Wheatmark, 2009.

Hanna, Richard, et al. “We’re All Connected: The Power of the Social Media
Ecosystem.” ​Business Horizons​, vol. 54, 2011, pp. 265–273.

Holt, Douglas. "Branding in the Age of Social Media." ​Harvard Business Review​, Mar. 2016, pp.
40+.

Leung, Louis. "Generational Differences in Content Generation in Social Media: The Roles of
the Gratifications Sought and of Narcissism." ​Computers in Human Behavior​, vol. 29,
2013, pp. 997-1006.

Meadows-Klue, Danny. “Falling in Love 2.0: Relationship marketing for the Facebook
generation.” ​Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice​, vol. 9, no. 3, 2008,
pp. 245-250.

Morton, Heather. "The New Visual Testimonial: Narrative, Authenticity, and Subjectivity in
Emerging Commercial Photographic Practice." ​Media and​ ​Communication​, vol. 5, no. 2,
2017, pp. 11-20.

Shriber, Justin. "How B2B Sellers Are Offering Personalization at Scale." ​Harvard Business
Review​, 12 June 2017. Accessed 15 Jan. 2018.

Sorensen, Sarah. “Marketing 2.0: Less Spin, More Value.” ​Forbes​, 23 Apr. 2010.

Zahoor, Syed Zeeshan, and Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi. "Social Media Marketing and Brand Equity:
A Literature Review." ​The IUP Journal of Marketing Management​, vol. 16, no. 1, 2017,
pp. 47-64.