What Is Social Media? What Does it do?
Social media consists of a communication system that is based through the internet. This means that you can put up a message and people will be able to see it from anywhere and everywhere (Mostly). In the decade after the email was invented, the internet and Social Media evolved into more efficent messaging websites like MySpace. This was then further evolved and blown away by FaceBook. FaceBook inspired the websites and apps we have today like Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. They have their artistic differences and niches; But they all do the same basic function. They allow you to post a message or picture and allow others to see and interact with it. There are three ways a business can use this to market themselves
Owned Media
The first type of media I will be going over is the most direct type of media. Owned media is how a company directly markets themselves. This could be through their own websites, starting and keeping up with a blog, or branching out through other apps. Any combination of these strategies is a company attempting to reach out to potential customers through their own means.
Paid Media
The second type of media is arranged and paid for. Paid media is when a company pays a third party to advertise them for more exposure. Some companies pay other forms of social media like Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube to advertise them all over their platform. Some companies pay Tv channels to run commericals during their broadcast. Other ways of paying for exposure include display ad and offering sponsorships. Companies often do this to stay relevent to customers, because being seen and remembered is very important to getting and keeping consumers.
Earned Media
The last type of media is the result of the first two. Earned media, is when a buisness is advertised by word of mouth. People telling their friends about a company and people posting on social media about your company are two examples of this. But any form of communication exchanged about your buisness not coming from anyone in your buisness would apply. This is what makes a business’s ethics and PR very important.
