The impact of social media marketing on brand loyalty

Social media has a lot of power in today's world. Recently it has become an important marketing platform for brands. Brands are even using social media marketing to strengthen brand loyalty. Having a loyal customer base is very important nowadays because there are more and more brands, so the competition between the brands is greater than before, so it’s easier for consumers to switch to using another brand. The question remains how social media marketing really impacts brand loyalty. This thesis investigates social media marketing from brand loyalty’s point of view by evaluating how social media marketing can help in building brand loyalty. The question is answered through a literature review of the most recent and relevant literature on the topic. The findings show that social media marketing has a huge impact on brand loyalty through engagement, eWOM, brand communities and ad personalization that social media enables. Social media marketing can also have a negative impact on brand loyalty because consumers can share about their negative experiences with the company easily just by posting about it on social media. Cancel culture that can happen through social media is another challenge for brands that can decrease brand loyalty. This thesis concludes all the information of the literature review into a managerial guide for brands on how to take the most out of social media marketing to build brand loyalty. Future predictions about the directions of social media marketing and brand loyalty are included at the end of the thesis