Social Media: New Hybrid

In the article Social media: The new hybrid element of promotion mix, written by W. Glynn Mangold and David J. Faulds, they explore the development of social media and how it has changed how consumers communicate with their customers. The purpose of this article was to provide evidence that organizations should incorporate social media Integrated Marketing Communication strategy, to compare and contrast the traditional communication methods, and methods marketing manager can shape the consumer-to-consumer conversations. 

  

   Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is the guiding principle organizations follow to communicate with their target markets. It attempts to coordinate and control the various elements of the promotional mix (advertising, personal selling, public relations, publicity, direct marketing, and sales promotion) to produce a unified customer focused message. 

  

   Social media has impacted IMC because it encompasses many forums, which not only allows consumers to communicate with companies, but consumers to directly communicate with other consumers. The study found Internet has become a mass media vehicle for consumer-sponsored communications. Consumers are turning away from traditional sources such as radio and magazines. Social media is also perceived as more trustworthy because of consumer's ability to communicate directly.  

I found this article very intriguing. I because I think egaging with your consumers should be company's top priority. It is also important, because if you aren't engaging you aren't maintaining positive relationships.