GE and P&G’s use of social media demonstrates
that this media has two interrelated promotional
roles in the marketplace. First, social media enables
companies to talk to their customers, and second, it
enables customers to talk to one another. Social
media also enables customers to talk to companies ; however, this role is market research-related rather
than promotion-related and, therefore, is outside
the scope of this article.
The first role of social media is consistent with the
use of traditional IMC tools. That is, companies can
use social media to talk to their customers through
such platforms as blogs, as well as Facebook and
MySpace groups. These media may either be company-sponsored
or sponsored by other individuals or
organizations.