In the modern world, small businesses struggle to promote their services for various reasons. Such is the case with Huskyboost.com, a company that provides various boosting services for players in online games. Boosting in-game services showcase a perfect example of an overrepresented market segment. For instance, World of Warcraft – the main area for Huskyboost.com services – used to have 12 million active subscriptions at the peak of its popularity (Mandryk et al., 2020). Consequently, Huskyboost.com has to compete with numerous similar companies to acquire a client base.
As one of the ways to advertise themselves, Huskyboost uses social platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. There, they share information about their company and its various services. I think that this strategy is effective due to the exposure to a large audience that Facebook and Twitter possess. A Twitter post promising a chance to win 6 months of free play can immediately attract thousands of new and returning players, which is a flexible way of retaining a player base (Mandryk, 2020). Meanwhile, there are other important advantages that this strategy possesses. For example, it is remarkably cost-effective since registration on these platforms is simple, free, and has no risks (Quesenberry, 2020). In addition, it provides better customer satisfaction than traditional marketing strategies since the company can address its customers directly.
Nevertheless, social media marketing possesses several flaws and disadvantages as well. Firstly, the overall process is excessively time-consuming, as there is a need to constantly provide users with new original content (Quesenberry, 2020). Secondly, the public display of information exposes the company to its competitors (Quesenberry, 2020). Therefore, despite the extended reach and relative brand promotion, social media marketing cannot be considered genuinely efficient for Huskyboost.com in its current state.
There are several ways for companies to enhance their social media results. In the case of Huskyboost.com, which faces dire competition in an overrepresented market segment, it has to prove the company’s uniqueness. According to Shanahan et al. (2019), social media personalization can provide the company with the desired brand loyalty and perceived quality. Personalization implies company-consumer interaction, forming relationships, and generating a deeper consumer engagement (Quesenberry, 2019). Moreover, satisfied consumers are more likely to recommend the services they enjoy. Thus, personalization will eventually create a loyal consumer base that will start expanding itself, aiding the company’s marketing efforts.
References
Mandryk, R. L., Frommel, J., Armstrong, A., & Johnson, D. (2020). How passion for playing World of Warcraft predicts in-game social capital, loneliness, and wellbeing. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2165.
Quesenberry, K. A. (2020). Social media strategy: Marketing, advertising, and public relations in the consumer revolution. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Shanahan, T., Tran, T. P., & Taylor, E. C. (2019). Getting to know you: Social media personalization as a means of enhancing brand loyalty and perceived quality. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 47, 57-65.