Expression of social media in the context of integrated marketing communications

The aim of this article is to explore empirically the expression of social media in the context of integrated marketing communications. Technological and social changes lead to the changes in society. It is noted that communication between members of society to a large extent moved into the virtual space, people are increasingly using social media. Namely social media has created a new, attractive and innovative ways of enabling people to communicate in a virtual space, to form communities, to share important and relevant information, etc. However, in order to establish a strong competitive advantage, all forms of communication and marketing messages have to be consistent with each other, i.e., business organizations need to adopt integrated marketing communications. Business organizations striving to meet the growing needs of consumers, in particular, should actively apply integrated marketing communications and adapt them in social media. Integrated marketing communications should be understood as a process by which an organization combines and integrates all available communication tools and functions in order to achieve specific goals and develop and maintain good relationships with existing and potential customers and other stakeholders. Social media provides many opportunities for organizations to communicate with target groups effectively, to promote their products, to develop and maintain a positive image of the organization and increase sales. The main aim of the research is to justify empirically the expression of social media in the context of integrated marketing communications. The object of research – the tools of integrated marketing communications used in social media. The growing importance of integrated marketing communications and the prevalence of social media presuppose that the usage of integrated marketing communications through social media channels lead to the enhanced effectiveness of communication with target customer groups