Why Should Companies Invest in Social Media Marketing?

Marketing has been greatly impacted by social media and internet developments. In the past decades a massive change within the disclosure landscape and the communication between companies and their stakeholders has taken place. In order to stay competitive on the market, companies have to identify the advantages and opportunities given by social media.

Using various social media platforms, companies can benefit in different corporate areas, like marketing, public relations, human resources or customer services. Since every platform has its own goals and approaches a different target audience, the companies have to choose the most appropriate platforms and then develop a specific strategy.

This book shows the motives for companies to invest in social media and clarifies complicated concepts. Furthermore, it evaluates various social media channels and their effectiveness as well as their return on investment measurements.



Table of contents

Acknowledgements

List of Figures

List of Abbreviations

Abstract

1. Introduction

1.1 Social Media phenomenon

1.2 Problem Statement

1.3 Purpose

1.4 Structure

2. Social Media and Marketing

2.1 Social Media

2.1.1 Definition

2.1.2 Users

2.1.3 Channels

2.1.4 Communication

2.2 Social Media Marketing

2.2.1 Definition

2.2.2 Traditional versus Social

2.2.3 Marketingmix

2.2.4 Strategies, Tactics, Practice

2.2.5 Performance Measurement

2.2.6 Monitoring

3 Social Media Channels

3.1 Social Networks

3.1.1 Facebook

3.1.2 Google+

3.1.3 Snapchat

3.2 Professional Networks

3.2.1 XING

3.2.2 LinkedIn

3.3 Blogging & Micro Blogging

3.3.1 Weblogs

3.3.2 Micro Blogging Twitter

3.4 Content communities

3.4.1 YouTube – Video Sharing

3.4.2 SlideShare – Presentation Sharing

4. The Benefits and Challenges of Social Media

4.1 Brand awareness and customer acquisition

4.2 Customer Relation Management

4.3 Public Relations and Human Resources

5. Limitations and risks of Social Media Marketing

6. Conclusion & Outlook

References

Appendix