The Effects of "Pay-to-Play" on Social Media Marketing

With today's generation becoming more and more reliant on technology, the use of social media has skyrocketed. The best way for businesses to reach Internet users, therefore, is becoming the use of advertisements through social media. This, however, must be done carefully; Facebook's recent method of featuring what they assume to be relevant ads and endorsements in users' news feeds has been getting out of hand. From a personal standpoint, the advertisements featured and suggested on my news feed are more of a bother and, for the most part, unappealing to my interests. However, this could be due to the fact that I have not been actively "liking" pages in the last few years. Facebook is trying to catch my interest without knowing how best to appeal to me. News has recently been released of Twitter possibly doing something similar. Again, this method of advertising must be approached with precaution; brands want to make themselves known to customers but not in a way that seems obnoxious.
To be honest, it is not surprising that pay-to-play methods of advertising are starting to be an issue as mentioned in the article, "Pay to play: the end of free social media marketing?". If brands are using social media sites as a vehicle for advertising, it only seems fair that the sites themselves should benefit more from any resulting transactions. Personally, I do not think the pay-to-play will slow all social media marketing. However, I do think some smaller brands might not be able to keep up with the costs. Referring to the comment of Super Bowl television ads now costing astronomical amounts of money, only well-known brands with a strong consumer base will be able to both afford and profit from spending so much on advertising. The competition will instead be reduced to a few of the top brands who will then take over most of the advertising. For instance, when one thinks of car commercials, often the first thing that comes to mind is either Ford or Chevrolet. Fast food? McDonald's, Burger King, or Subway. Retail? Wal-Mart or Target. Therefore, having such a strong hold on consumers will make social media marketing easier; advertising is basically a "survival of the fittest" that only the strongest competitors will endure. Frustrating as it may be, the pay-to-play strategy will also be beneficial to the brands that can afford it. Social media is currently the best way to engage consumers, so paying to advertise to these consumers so directly will be profitable in the long run.

The following article discusses Twitter's "buy" button.Taking advertising one step further and allowing users to directly buy an item definitely has a convenience factor that could appeal to many. However, this step might be one too far, and whether or not it will take off remains uncertain.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237684

CEOs and Social Media Use

After reading the article and its given statistics on how few CEOs are making use of social media, I was shocked. As a generation that is becoming increasingly dependent on technology and Internet use, chief executives should take advantage of the services provided. Social media use is a great way to engage stakeholders and customers alike by keeping them updated and in the loop on company happenings, and even offering coupons and advertisements. Though there was evidence for CEOs becoming socially involved, they are doing so via LinkedIn and therefore in one of the most professional ways possible. That is not to say using LinkedIn is a bad thing; by slowly getting involved and up-to-date with the social media world, chief executives are making progress in branding themselves on social media. However, executives should try harder to involve themselves on more platforms for the sake of getting the name and reputation of their company out in the open. The key to having a beneficial social reputation, though, is to keep it positive.
If I was hired to run the social media of a company, I would advise the CEO to make a presence on the Internet. However, one must tread carefully when it comes to putting oneself out on the social media world. Tweets and Facebook statuses posted stay on the Web for extended periods of time, meaning saying anything that reflects negatively on the CEO or company will have repercussions for (potentially) years to come. Also, the Internet has such a diverse audience and can be reached by almost anyone, anywhere, at any time, that having at least one individual take offense to something you post is not difficult. Even if nothing you say or post is meant to be negative, there are individuals who will read it that way, whether they are actually offended or are simply looking for something to complain about. A general rule to follow when it comes to posting anything is that, if you have any doubt about posting something, don't. Below is a link for 10 tips that can be used as a guide for Internet posts; following these tips should, for the most part, keep safe the individual posting.

http://www.examiner.com/article/10-tips-to-protect-yourself-on-social-networks

Week 01 Blog Post

In my opinion, social media can definitely be considered a double-edged sword; being able to reach any person in any place at any time is both a convenience and a danger for users. Connecting with others on a global scale is a privilege that comes with a cost. By using so many different platforms, we are exposing a lot of personal information to the Internet and its users. The discussion post mentioned one such case with ISIS and its use of social media for personal gain. Easy access to the Internet means equally easy access to the information it contains, a feature of which this group is currently taking advantage.
Social media can be negative in other ways as well. Cyberbullying, identity theft, and even stalking are all issues which have to be monitored when individuals expose so much of themselves to the general public. Facebook "likes" and comments are just as often used to bring people down as they are to build people up, and Twitter posts and comments can stir up as much drama as they do public discussion. When it comes to social media, users have to be careful what they post as well as how much information they allow others to see. By keeping in mind that staying connected with others means staying respectful of them as well, social media can be used as the positive outlet it was intended to be.