2.6 Chapter Summary
Social Media Marketing (SMM) involves using online platforms for brand communication, marketing, and relationship-building. It shifts marketing dynamics by enabling direct communication between individuals. SMM focuses on creating buzz, fostering community, and facilitating two-way communication, especially in the golf industry on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The significance of social media in digital marketing includes connecting with new audiences, building relationships, driving website traffic, distributing targeted messaging, conducting market research, sharing expertise, managing reputation, and evaluating analytics. A six-step framework involves listening, defining goals, choosing channels, creating content, engaging the community, and evaluating analytics.
In the golf industry, social media engages both younger and older generations, fostering a sense of community and contributing to the game’s growth. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok play a crucial role in attracting younger audiences, encouraging them to take up golf and fostering connections across age groups.
Review Questions
- What social media platforms are most valuable for each category of golf facility: Resort, Public, Semi-Private, and Private?
- Why is Facebook the most popular social media platform?
- Based on your answer to question 2, Do you anticipate this to change in the next ten years? If so, how?
- How can social media be utilized to combat the seasonality of golf in Canada?
- How can social media efforts be enhanced?
- Plan a social media campaign for July at your club of choice. Describe what strategies will work best for your club.
Key Terms
Active behaviours: Refer to the types of action most digital marketers seek, e.g., liking, commenting, and sharing.
Conversation: A dialogue between at least two people, possibly more.
Passive behaviours: Represent most people who see, view, and even read, watch, or listen to content but choose not to comment or share it.
Social communities: Focus on activities and relationships and include social networking sites (online hosts such as Facebook and LinkedIn), forums, wikis, and message boards, channels where you may already participate.
Social Media Marketing: Encompasses online applications, networks, blogs, wikis, and other collaborative media for communicating brand messaging, conducting marketing, public relations, and creating rapport.
Virality: Is a key goal of social media.
