Social Media
Over the years, the prospects of business activities, the growth of the global economy,
and the growing populations have spurred the growth of various businesses worldwide. As such,
the numbers of firms competing for the limited available resources have increased exponentially.
To make them stand out, creative companies have adopted the use of modern technology to
create an edge over their competitors. One such use of technology to help the company stand out
includes the use of social media for various business purposes. This report focuses on the use of
social media by a selected company to perform social media marketing and therefore create
customer value.
Social Media
Social media refers to the computerized network driven set of technologies that assist
users in the creation and sharing of information with other users through various websites and
applications (Obar & Wildman, 2015, pp. 746 – 747) . The use of such networks has grown
immensely regarding numbers as well as usage. At the end of 2018, for example, the social
media giant, Facebook Inc., had a monthly user base of about 2.2 billion users (Statista, 2017) .
Similarly, Australia has had an increase in the numbers of social media users. Statistica reports
indicate that Australia had an estimated 17 million Facebook users by January 2018. These users
range from ages 13 to 65 and even older (Statistica, 2018) .
Also, the usage of social media has expanded from simple networking of friends,
colleagues, and family, which was the initial intended use of social networks. Today, the use has
spread to include all aspects of personal life and business. Big corporations are no longer left
behind but are now part of the social media bandwagon. The growth in numbers of social media
users, as well as the capabilities of the social media networks, has inspired businesses to take up
INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO – SPEECH 3
social media as important tools in their portfolio to enable them to access their users in a faster
and convenient way.
Social media marketing
Among the key areas that inspire businesses to join social media is the ease with which
they can access millions of their potential customers. The use of social media by companies is
largely driven by the will to engage the growing numbers of users and also market their products
to them. Social media marketing refers to the various strategies and processes adopted by various
users of social networks in a bid to gain online traffic and attention (Saravanakumar & Sugantha,
2012; Hoffman & Fodor, 2010) . Business ventures are taking up social media marketing to allow
for the use of better and cheaper alternative marketing for their products and services online.
Besides, social media marketing is used to manage the brands of the company by addressing
complaints and assessing the satisfaction of the consumers in a more comfortable and faster
manner compared to using other traditional channels.
Customer value
Customer value refers to the use of various tools available to the company to deliver the
needs and desires of the specific user (Payne & Holt, 2002; Woodruff, 1997) . The reference to
customer value is imperative to the success of any firm. In this regard, many companies have
taken up understanding the needs and want of their clientele in a bid to increase sales as well as
to foster a long-lasting relationship with the customers. Besides, the firms are investing much
more into research and development of new ideas, products, and brands as a means to understand
the customer needs better. Such an improved understanding of customer requirements enables
the companies to deliver customer value, as well as create customer value models that will help
them in their development and customer management (Anderson & Narus, 1998) .
INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO – SPEECH 4
Jetstar
To further understand the use of social media in creating customer value, I will use Jetstar
Airways to show how a firm can successfully use social media and social media marketing to
create customer value. For Jetstar Airways, the company has a wide social media presence. It is
among the few corporations that have taken up numerous social media accounts on various
websites. Jetstar Airways has social media profiles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr,
YouTube, and Instagram. This is not the case with most other companies who opt to use just a
few accounts that they can successfully manage. However, Jetstar Airways, despite having a
widespread presence, has managed to stay active and in touch with their customers on the
various social media platforms.
Jetstar Airways Social Media Marketing
Jetstar Airways has taken on social media marketing as a serious marketing approach in a
bid to lure in more customers as well as develop a long-lasting relationship with their current
customers. In this regard, Jetstar Airways commits up to 40% of their total marketing budget into
social media and other online channels (JetStar, 2011) . Given the size of the company, this is a
sizeable investment and shows the firm’s commitment to the use and value of social media
marketing to its growth and success. In this regard, and owing to the size of the company, Jetstar
Airways uses different accounts for the group level of the company, as well as other regional and
market specific profiles (Jetstar Newsroom, n.d.) . These are intended to enable personalized
service and faster reach to specific categories of clients, a feat the company has managed to
achieve success.
Jetstar Airways and customer value
INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO – SPEECH 5
According to an interview with the Chief Marketing Officer of Jetstar Airways, the
airline took a strategic step to invest and improve on their digital marketing approach (Cameron,
2017) . The approach used by the firm was learning first and capability second, where the initial
focus was on building expertise in digital marketing. The second approach was building
automation and personalization systems that would further assist in customer service and handle
the various factors that contribute towards the improvement of customer value. These include
internal factors such as a unifying vision, increase of the projects’ returns, and improvement of
the effectiveness of communications (Cameron, 2017; Snyder & Tai, 2014) .
The firms’ activities, especially the localized pages on Facebook and Twitter, are
designed to engage the customers and keep them communicating with the brand. Examples of
these pages are the main Jetstar Airways pages, Jetstar Asia, Jetstar NZ, and Jetstar Australia.
These provide relevant information and tips on company and flight-related topics, as well as
general life issues that get their followers talking and sharing the content. Such engagement
allows for the growth of the brand’s online presence and the creation of better relationships that
lead to the development of customer value.
Therefore, in conclusion, Jetstar has managed to create customer value through the
effective use of various social media platforms. From the engagement in social media, the
company can grow their online presence and educate potential customers about their products
and services. The connection between such customers and the brand grows with the satisfaction
of having their needs and wants, as well as expectations met as they had envisioned.
INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO – SPEECH 6
References
Anderson, J. C., & Narus, J. A. (1998, December). Business Marketing: Understand What
Customers Value. Harvard Business Review: Financial Management.
