A Social Media Marketing Plan - 1472 Words

Marketing has evolved and grown tremendously throughout the years. If you have a Facebook or instagram page you have seen some sort of marketing promotion or ad that a local business is offering to draw in customers or a following. For instance Z Burger, a burger joint in the DC area offered a promotion that went viral through Facebook offering $2 burgers and $4 veggie burgers for the entire day of last Tuesday at their Columbia Heights location. I attended myself thinking it was going to be ridiculously crowded but I beat the rush and the staff created a system that provided a speedy service and less wait time to order and receive your food. That event was so popular through Facebook that they are offering a second location and if†¦show more content†¦To launch social media marketing campaigns, all businesses need to do is sign up for free with each social network they want to use. Once registered, businesses can create individual profiles for their business and start posting content, such as industry trends, company news and promotional information right away. This phenomenon has only developed within the last decade, thus social media research has largely focused on (1) defining what it is through the explanation of new terminology and concepts that makeup its foundations, and (2) exploring the impact of a company’s integration of social media on consumer behavior. This paper begins with an explanation of terminology that defines social media marketing, followed by a discussion of the four main themes found within current research studies: Virtual Brand Communities, Consumers Attitudes and Motives, User Generated Content, and Viral Advertising. Although social media marketing is a well-researched topic, it has only been studied through experimental and theoretical research; studies never precisely describe the benefits retailers gain from this marketing tactic. In reviewing the rich plethora of multi-disciplinary literature, it is has become clear that studies are focusing on describing what social media marketing is as well as examining what factors affect consumer behavior relative to social networking. Despite the initial progress made by researchers, development in this area of