Social Media

Social media is important because it is an instant way to communicate with customers and get instant feedback. Feedback can be measured by membership, clicks on a website, or mailing lists. It is important that social media is incorporated into a marketing strategy not only to increase sales, but to keep customers engaged through company trends.




Alamo Drafthouse is a local company in Austin that effectively accomplishes the use of social media by directly mailing their customers, keeping an updated blog and twitter, and updating their website so that customers can know what is going on everyday.

Alamo Drafthouse employs Direct Mail

The objective of direct mail is to create some type of interactive action from the person that receives it. This also ensures that the information is going directly to the identified person of the household. More importantly, the objective is to build a responsive database of customers. Based on the Alamo Drafthouse database, they use demographics and customer information to send a monthly-personalized brochure that includes upcoming blockbuster movies, and monthly calendar events along with special incentives.

Interactive Electronic Media.

Alamo Drafthouse website provides an excellent way for customers to browse new movie trailers or buy their tickets online. The website simulates ‘real world’ experience through advanced graphics and sound. This makes it a more pleasant experience for customers because it is convenient and entertaining to be on the website. It provides updated food and drink menus and happy hour specials. The website also has upcoming blockbuster banners at the top of the screen for customers to look out for new films that are coming up.

Twitter

The Alamo website has a list of people you can follow on twitter including the owner Tim League, the Creative Director, Henri Mazza and a news and show information twitter account called AlamoVillage. This helps the brand because customers feel like they can connect with credible sources of the Alamo Drafthouse and be amongst the key information sources. Social networking sites such as facebook, myspace and twitter, enhance the relationships between people and companies, according to Groundswell. Social networking websites establish value and brans awareness for the company.

Blogs

The Alamo launches RSS feeds to make it easier to keep up to date with everything Alamo. These feeds include “Today at the Alamo”, “Alamo Village”, “The Fantastic Fest Blog” and many more. The feeds provide information on events and shows from all the Alamos and how to buy your tickets. All of the feeds can be subscribed to via a News Reader or used as a live bookmark in Firefox. This allows customers to stay interacted with the Alamo every time they are on the internet. Customers have an opportunity to participate and provide their opinions about issues. According to Groundwell, Blogs are an important tool for companies to receive feedback so that they can act on the feedback in a timely manner to boost sales and customer loyalty.

Direct marketing and Social Media allows for a two-way communication between the customer and the company. It is a new innovative way to communicate to customers by using social networking websites, forums, blogs, and mail to keep them informed. Not only do customers feel like they are being listened to, they are developing a stronger relationship with the company through this process. Companies are able to get feedback from customers and there is no middleman to interfere with the process because they are directly in contact with these customers. These efforts provide a two-way communication between the Alamo and it’s customers. This interaction is something that other forms of marketing such as advertisement cannot provide. Customers are allowed to give their feedback and opinions on events or what movies they would like to see played at the Alamo or things that could be improved. The relationship between company and customer can grow stronger with direct marketing because it allows the customer to reply back.

Walmart knows who I am!

Walmart is a retail giant that not only provides the lowest prices to their consumers, but it also has an enormous amount of information about its customers that it uses to predict trends. The retail monster tracks what products you buy, and uses this information to price their products adequately to increase sales. For example, if Walmart noticed a trend of people buying chips and beer for a upcoming football game, they might lower their prices to gain a competitive advantage on these products. Such data is not harmful to consumers and does not violate their privacy.

The vast amount of data that Walmart captures about their customers has most certainly helped them become the leader of the retail industry. Walmart is the only retailer that extracts such detailed information about its customers that even the information is used to be a means for profit. Walmart participated in divesting their information to suppliers as well as external companies who paid Walmart for their information because they realized the value it had. Although it stopped selling its information to external companies, Walmart continues to use their vast source of information in order to leverage suppliers with their power. Suppliers will more than willingly meet any demand that Walmart may have for the fear of becoming discontinued on the shelves. The key to becoming the leader of retail is in keeping a very efficient supply chain. This power is largely derived from the amount of data and technology that Walmart has, and the needs that the company wants to meet to remain on the top. For example, Walmart required its major suppliers to include radio frequency identification tags so that Walmart could track every item that is sold in real time. Walmart ultimately uses this information to establish sales goals and speed up the turnover on their shelves, thus creating more profit.

However, this is not the only information that Walmart tracks. Walmart gets into trouble when consumers know their personal information can be viewed by the retail giant. All debit card information, mortgage and credit information, home addresses, telephone numbers, driving record information, and social security numbers are stored in Walmart's data warehouse. Even with the non-disclosure agreements the company has in place, the fact that such information about consumers is stored by them, makes me wary of their intentions in using it against me. It makes me wonder how knowing this personal information about me will help them increase sales and predict trends. What patterns can Walmart figure out by knowing my social security number? Walmart has such a diversified target market which has a wide range of income levels that this information is irrelevant to the common goal of customers in that they want low prices! This personal identifiable data is not helping the company to achieve its goals. It makes me wonder what purpose they have for extracting this information on consumers. I agree with Katherine Albrecht in the fact that "People don't know that Wal-Mart is capturing information about who they are and what they bought, but they are also capable of capturing a huge amount of outside information about them that has nothing to do with their grocery purchases," With the knowledge of this article, it makes me cautious to shop at Walmart for fear that my personal information is being viewed by the wrong people. As a victim of identity theft, I do not support Walmart storing this information in its warehouse or furthermore, divesting it to its suppliers. The social security number is only legally required to qualify for six transactions in the United States, and shopping at Walmart is not included in the list! My personal information belongs to me and I feel that by shopping at Walmart this information will inextricably be removed from me, regardless of my choice.

I would like to see Walmart use their technology to help me shop more efficiently. With all of the customer data they have of my recent purchases, it would be neat for me to walk into Walmart with all of my regular basic items already put in the shopping cart when I arrive such as milk, fruit, snacks, etc. Then, it would be in Walmart's best interest to advertise their “low price” deals as I walk around the store while I shop for miscellaneous items like a toothbrushes, accessories, baking supplies, or other items that I might make to increase impulse purchases. Not only would this cut down on my grocery shopping time, but it would show that they are making an effort to serve my needs with the information they collect about me. It would also give me the opportunity to invest time in learning about more products and purchasing more infrequent items. It would also put me more at ease about the information that Walmart has about me if they are directly using it for my benefit.