Interacting with Your Customers

Now that we've learned a little about e-business and e-commerce, read about the importance of interacting with customers paying particular attention to the section about social media marketing. You'll better understand why businesses are using social media to promote their products and what their goals may be.

  • Because customers are vital to a business, successful companies practice customer-relationship management – retaining good customers by keeping information on current customers, to foster and maintain strong ongoing relationships.
  • Companies that ask customers if they can contact them are engaged in permission marketing.
  • Mass marketing is the practice of sending out messages to a vast audience of anonymous people.
  • TV advertising is a form of interruption marketing that interrupts people to get their attention (with the hope they will listen to the ad).
  • Social media marketing is the practice of including social media as part of a company's marketing program.
  • Advantages of social media marketing include the following:
    • Create brand awareness
    • Engage customers and potential customers in two-way conversations
    • Build brand loyalty
    • Offer and publicize incentives
    • Gather feedback on products and marketing initiatives
    • Have customers spread the word about products and marketing initiatives
    • Use low-cost marketing opportunities
  • A challenge of social media marketing is that it can be very time consuming to stay in touch with your customers and potential customers.