The Impact of Social Media on Marketing Strategy; Insights from Retail Organizations and Consumers

The rise in the popularity of social media platforms has been the catalyst for businesses to take notice of this new marketing tool that facilitates the interaction with potential target markets. Consumers of all demographics have begun integrating social media into their everyday lives, recognizing that participating in a social media platform is an efficient use of their time. No longer is social media only for the young and techsavvy; All markets can find a platform that caters to their interests. Businesses are having a hard time when trying to figure out how to use social media in a way that delivers the results they are looking for through their efforts. There are no guidelines out there for marketers to reference when beginning to implement social media into their marketing strategy, making it difficult to learn exactly what to do, where to be, and how to engage their consumers. Social media is still evolving rapidly, new platforms are created every day and companies need to figure out which platforms to participate in that would have the largest benefit for their efforts. This study explores current integration of social media into marketing strategies of retailers as well as the assimilation of social media into the daily lives of consumers. This study also analyzes consumers’ attitudes towcirds brands and advertising on social media. Secondary research revealed that more iii businesses are beginning to implement social media marketing practices as they continue to recognize the importance and value social media can bring to their marketing strategies, also revealing that many marketers are still trying to learn the right way to use social media for their goals. Secondary research also revealed that social media has created a more empowered consumer and new lines of communication between consumers and companies and between consumers and other consumers. Primary research included both qualitative in-depth interviews and quantitative surveys, and exposed that best practices for social media use by companies differs depending on the company as well as their target market and their company-specific goals. The results of the quantitative surveys also revealed that consumers do participate in social media to learn from others to become a more educated consumer and to interact with brands and companies online, however they do not like when a company over participates on social media. Recommendations were made based on the results of the primary research to help companies understand how to utilize social media and successfully communicate with their target markets online