New Trends in Digital Media & Social Media
The use of digital technologies via the internet such as the use of mobile devices, apps, display advertising, and other digital mediums to aid in marketing products and/or services is the definition of Digital Marketing. In the present era, there are various social marketing trends, which support organizations in attracting a large number of customers by providing comprehensive knowledge and information about the product and services online.
1. Research Question
The Research Question under consideration relates to how “new trends in social media and digital marketing in Australia have an impact on the productivity of an organization”. This is further based on the following points as well.
- How new trends in social media and digital marketing are adopted in Australia?
- What are the new trends of social media as well as digital marketing technologies used by organizations in Australia?
- What is the impact of new trends in social media and digital marketing on organizational efficiency in Australia?
The research question is to be answered by adopting methodologies and using data collection methods and qualitative as well as quantitative approaches.
This topic is selected because many companies in Australia utilize social media and digital marketing as their current business strategy for expanding and diversifying products/services. These research questions examine the subject matter with due diligence. It can be beneficial in providing ideas and guidelines to organizations in achieving their potential, sales turnover and/or profits, and help develop the appropriate policies and strategies to gain competitive advantage. Many organizations in Australia function within highly competitive environments, which can prove difficult for businesses to compete in should they not adopt new strategies and evolve with the trends and digital age.
2. Hypothesis
In order to evaluate the correlation between the researches questions, null and alternate hypotheses were established.
2.1. Null Hypothesis
There is no significant relationship between adopting “new trends in social media and digital marketing on the productivity of Australian organization”.
2.2. Alternative Hypothesis
There is a significant association between organizational efficiency and using various new features of social media as well as digital marketing to market products/services.
The proposed evaluation, which was arrived at without full evidence, will be the starting point for research investigation, in order for the aim of the study to be accomplished.
3. Literature Review
Wamba, Akter, Kang, Bhattacharya, & Upal (2016) conducted a study to understand how social media marketing is done by organizations. Based on this analysis, it was identified that social media marketing is adopted by organizations. This is done with the use of major social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter as well as Instagram. The basis of its success is that an organization is able to connect with several audiences and be able to enable the said audience to be part of its brand. With the use of such social media marketing strategies, organizations are able to further sales revenue and profits.
Another study by Shen, Kuo, Ly, & Thi, (2017) identified how digital marketing products/services can be done with the help of digital technologies such as the use of mobile apps and display advertising. In Australia, organizations are able to put into effect this approach, so that the value of the product/service can be relayed to the consumers using digital networks made available to them.
Allagui & Breslow (2016) conducted a study to understand the role and importance of social media for use in public relations. The findings of the study revealed that social media and digital marketing could help in reaching the public in order to “generate conversions, facilitate brand positioning, and maintain continued brand sustenance”. With digital marketing and the use of various types of social media platforms, an organization has been able to reach all types of income groups people, and advertising can be carried out based on their demographics as well as online behavior. Ads are targeted based on social media users’ needs/requirements, or interests. Based on your browsing history, past purchases, and social media habits, it is possible to understand what type of goods/services consumers are willing to purchase.
Guha, Harrigan, & Soutar (2018) also revealed that consumers in Australia found it more convenient to buy the product and services through mobile technologies. Furthermore, Australian organizations can also partake in text messaging communications with loyal consumers to inform them of distinctive features of their products/services.
There are various trends in social media used by organizations for promoting their products, even in industrial markets as per the study conducted by Salo (2017). It is clear that the direction taken by many organizations is because it helps in segmentation and targeting customers of the organization. In a study conducted by Weeks, Ardèvol-Abreu, & Zúñiga (2017), the objective was to understand the benefits Australian organizations get through adapting advanced technologies for doing product promotions. Through the analysis, it is found that digital marketing and social media features allow Australian organizations to target more customers and adapt to the internal and external environment according to the changes and preferences of the customers and dynamic environment.
Wamba, Edwards, & Akter (2019) conducted research to describe the technologies and new trends of social media used by corporations in Australia. From the analysis, it was found that in Australia 70% of the growth is done through investing more amounts in research and development and adopting new options and technologies for marketing the products. Koch, Gerber, & Klerk (2018) also found that Australian organizations use Chatbots, to attract customers by solving their queries instantly, and describe that 80% of the organizations use Chatbots for communicating with customers as well as businesses.
The findings of the research carried out by Jain & Yadav (2017) describe that organizations in Australia use personalized strategies to market their products. It aids in establishing the brand reputation and reduces operational costs whilst being able to earn revenue in the particular year as opposed to utilizing only conventional marketing strategies. By doing so, the organizations also carried out research and development improvements to understand the requirements of the consumers in an efficient manner.
There are various trends and digital marketing strategies followed by Australian organizations; therefore, it is important to understand the trends and frameworks adopted by them in order to gain a competitive advantage. Gilani, Salimi, Jouyandeh, Tavasoli, & Wong conducted a study to understand the impact of social media on decision-making in 2019. The primary method, which is the survey method, is used to identify the opinions and preferences of the customers. From the analysis, it is demonstrated that organizations use a live video strategy to provide demos with complete information about the product to a large number of audiences. Therefore, the researchers also describe that organizations also use major social messaging applications to gain and retain more customers. This is done with the likes of WhatsApp, WeChat as well as Facebook Messenger to communicate.
Li, Wei, Xiong, Feng, Ye, & Jiang (2017) also found that a majority of the organizations in Australia also use the strategy of social media stories. Australian organizations use Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook story features to increase brand awareness and to get the opportunity to contact young consumers. Researchers also demonstrated that through this, the organization constantly engages with its followers. Janakova (2018) also highlighted that Australian organizations also provide facilities to the consumers to make payments and pass on product information. Researchers also found that Australian organizations utilize social media for sharing posts that use taglines to motivate consumers to buy the products of the organization.
A study by Carrotte, Prichard, & Lim (2017) highlights how trends in social media and digital marketing have a positive impact on the efficiency of an organization. The findings of the study revealed that this strategy leads to increasing the growth options for the organization and provides opportunities to increase their conversion rate. This is carried out through social marketing which supports the organizations to create efficient channels of communication with consumers. Zailskaitė-Jakštė & Kuvykaitė (2016) also revealed that there is a clear relationship between digital marketing and organizational effectiveness. It is largely due to its effectiveness in solving various consumer problems and offering a better return on investment for consumer investment.
Tam & Kim (2019) carried out a study to understand social media and digital marketing on the overall objectivity of the corporation, but it did not focus on understanding the association of new features for doing marketing through social marketing and the outcomes of the organization in Australia. He, Tian, Chen, & Chong (2016) conducted a study with actionable social media analytics to understand customer experiences. This was done via information gathering, which was done through adopting secondary methods, that is, through reviewing existing articles. The findings of the study revealed that there is a direct relationship in maintaining positive customer experiences and the use of social media for analysis and strategies. Understanding the correlation will allow organizations in Australia to earn more revenue in the short run. Therefore, through these means, an organization attains the capacity and ability to operate its functions in a competitive environment. This was mostly due to dynamic environments and changes in the preferences and behavior of the customers. Furthermore, the findings of the study revealed that organizations in Australia use content marketing strategies for adopting new trends in social media. These include carrying out marketing by following a few steps. According to Rahman, Hassan, Osman, & Waheed (2019), these include content curation in which organizations define specific and useful content, which should be appropriate for the target audience. Therefore, further content is shared on social media. It was also revealed that the organization also uses monitoring strategies to evaluate and examine the results received through digital marketing and evaluated the comments of the audience.
Ruge & Denison (2017) describe that a majority of organizations use digital marketing to encourage more customers and to increase loyalty among the consumers. The results highlight that researchers use e-mail marketing, design websites, and make better relations with the customers via text messaging loyal customers. These companies also write articles and blogs to attract more customers. (Jackson & Ahuja, 2016) also highlights how Australian organizations have various advantages such as providing complete information regarding the strategies being used to reach a large number of customers and to increase the targeting and positioning. Therefore, through positioning, researchers estimated that it increases brand loyalty among the customers via product promotion and increasing product reputation in the eyes of the customers.
4. Findings
From the articles reviewed, it is evident that social media marketing strategies and approaches are adopted by organizations to promote products/services. As mentioned in Jain & Yadav (2017), many Australian organizations utilize platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Digital marketing is also a major framework, which organizations maintain by using mobile device technologies.
It is revealed in the study conducted by Wamba, Edwards, & Akter (2019) that 90% of the organizations used this to gain competitive advantage and to maintain loyalty among the customers. Therefore, in recent years, customers are encouraged and engaged through social media applications and through other segments. It was also highlighted that these actions can also improve the functions of the organization.
Many Australian organizations adopt the likes of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and WeChat to communicate with a large number of audiences and to understand the needs and demands of the target customers as highlighted in Shen, Kuo, Ly, & Thi (2017). The organization also uses story features to make customers aware of the new features of their products/services. This also supports organizations to maintain good relationships with customers.
The study by Salo (2017) revealed that there is a direct association between social media and digital marketing with organizational efficiency. It is because this influences organizations positively and allows them to maintain good rapport with consumers. In Australia, organizations also use mobile technology to ask feedback from the customers and to provide information about the new offers as stated by Ruge & Denison (2017). The organizations also provide more offers to their loyal customers and provide information through e-mail and text messaging.
The main conclusion that can be drawn is that new trends in social media and digital marketing in Australia does have a positive impact on the productivity of an organization.
5.Discussion
The above research and evaluation revealed that social media applications and text messaging is a major policy, which increases the revenue and profitability of the organization. The organizations in Australia receive various benefits and advantages through using these new features and trends of social media to promote their products/services such as attracting audiences and increases the scope of the organization for target customers. Several methodologies are used to get the adequate information and to understand the different opinions and ideas of the research studies and literature.
Through the analysis, it is found that the studies also possess some limitations that it does not focus on specific digital marketing technology. The studies also have gathered information through using secondary methods, that is, no primary method of data is used to identify the opinions of the organizations and perception of customers towards adopting “new trends in the social media and digital marketing”. Therefore, it also reveals future implications, that is, future researchers can conduct studies by focusing on particular digital marketing mediums and by adopting the primary method as well as by taking larger sample sizes so that more respondents are involved in the study.