Social media is becoming an increasingly important sales channel. Both directly and indirectly. Marketing via social media is therefore also increasingly important. But a little bit of a clue how good you are, you only reach a limited number of people. To increase that network, you will have to help your messages through others into the world. You can do this by making sure you receive positive feedback on your posts, you can click on the link if you want to read more about positive feedback on Instagram. 

Social media can have a significant (positive and negative) impact on the reputation of organizations and brands. Think of media such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, websites with product comparisons and user experiences, countless weblogs, forums, discussion platforms, and Top-10 and Top-100 websites. All of these media are incredibly important for the reputation of organizations. If companies do not pay attention, customers determine their online status and take over the brand management (brand management) through the power of "Word Of Mouth."

Another critical point for attention is how the use of social media, just like other media, is safeguarded in the organization. Depending on the objectives, the initiative and the responsibility for the application of social media can be invested in marketing, sales, customer service or corporate PR.

Advertising code on social media

Some complaints have been dealt with, including a complaint about Instagram posts. Several influencers showed a watch that they had received from the trademark owner. The influencers did not use hashtags and did not make it very explicit in their texts that they had received the watch for free. But by texts like 'got from' and 'Christmas came early this year,' in combination with naming the brand name and giving a personal discount code, according to the Advertising Standards Authority it was sufficiently clear that there was an advertisement.

Vloggers make (almost) daily films about the ordinary course of events in their lives. There was also a blogger who made a movie about buying a bed. She published that. Then she went back to the store to ask if she could not get some discount on that bed because she had released a nice vlog about it. The store thought this was a good agreement and talked about a second film in which a discount code was also shared. With the first movie nothing is wrong, but for the second there is an advantage offered to the vlogger (the discount). With that video, it should have been stated more clearly that there is a relevant relationship between the store and the vlogger.

It is, of course, permissible for companies to advertise and advertise yourself. Everyone understands that an enterprise will talk positively about itself. As long as there is no lie about the products or the price and availability of them. Instagram posts are already recognizable as advertisements.

It becomes more problematic when the advertisement is not done by itself, or the ad is packaged in an 'article.' We also call this 'native advertising' or 'burning content.' Whether this content is written and published by the company itself, or whether the publishing party, such as a blogger or influencer, is allowed to decide for itself what the expression will look like, remains essential for a reader to be aware that there is an advertisement.

A study shows that successful customer interaction via social media (called engagement) correlates with the better financial performance of the company. The Engagement study shows that companies with a high level of commitment generated an average of 18 percent more income in the past 12 months. While companies that have little to no interaction on social media show a percentage of 6% lower revenues in the same period. The study looked at more than ten different social media, such as blogs, social networks, Instagram, Twitter, wikis and discussion forums. The engagement activity was assessed for each channel on the level of interaction that the company enters into with its customers.

The idea is actually simple: the closer a company is to its customers, the more successful the company will be financial. Social media offer the opportunity to create this 'proximity,' to interact and to conduct a dialogue. According to the study, successful companies have a team that focuses entirely on social media. The team members evangelize the importance of social media within the organization and in this way are able to mobilize sufficient supporters.

- Social media is a central part of marketing activities and innovation processes.

- They are active in various social media.

- They have a dedicated team.

- They have a corporate culture that recognizes the importance of dialogue and participation.

Social media such as Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, blogs, wikis, and social news sites are not only popular, they also generate money. Yet the secret of social media is not easy to unravel. Old-fashioned laws do not seem to apply, so flat sales no longer work. It is the dialogue that matters because it ensures bonding with the customer. And that will ultimately lead to specific brand preference, higher loyalty and therefore also higher sales.

1. Facilitate platforms on which consumers and brand fans can talk to each other.

2. Include social communication platforms in your resource mix.

3. Give the floor to the people who have something sensible to tell about the subject and speak from passion.

4. From the consumer's need, do not think about the brand needs.

5. Keep it real and authentic.

6. Think in continuous communication, not in moments.

7. Provide the community with valuable content.