The old days of MySpace and letting your friends know what "mood" you are in seem to be creeping back into the social sphere. Facebook has plans to revamp this emoticon use to let friends know a variety of things. If you are enjoying a half-calf-mocha-latte-hold-the-whip from Starbucks, you can add that to your status update by clicking on the drop down menu to include Starbucks in the post. This new way of engaging with brands can help promote advocacy.
The concept is simple. If a brand or company has a Page on Facebook, aka something you can "Like", then it can be selected or tagged in the status. Your status can be about the beautiful fall weather and not directly about the latte from Starbucks, but the little tag is added to let all your friends know what you have and where it comes from. This is basically free advertising for Starbucks and I think if I saw my best friend post about what she is doing while enjoying a drink from Starbucks, I would then be into getting a drink from there too. It is the suggestion that compels people to purchase certain products at certain times. The presence of this post would encourage me to buy something that I usually enjoy anyway, just sooner than if I thought about it myself.
The addition may take time to actually be used, I still don't "tag" people I'm with as often as I'm with them, but the possibility is there and growth can help brands gain business. Being present on the social media platform (if it makes sense to be on it) can always help to gain an audience. Maybe we should not tell our friends we are feeling "mischievous" on Thursday nights, but instead let them know we just grabbed a pint from Walker's pub. As Facebook users, we can choose what brands to endorse and that proves that social media marketing is in the hands of consumers.
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