The implications of social networking sites for marketing in irish business

Abstract

The objective o f this research was to assess the implications o f social networking sites for marketing in Irish business. This w ill then help establish how social networking sites can be effectively integrated into marketing strategy. Six focus groups were conducted with users o f social networking sites followed by a survey o f social networking site users. These two phases o f primary research investigated consumer attitudes towards the use o f social networking sites as a marketing tool and to utililse social networking sites as a marketing tool for building relationships and targeting consumers. Social networking sites are used by significant numbers for interpersonal communications. Such prolific user numbers have led to the belief that SN Ss can become a new and effective marketing tool. Yet due to the prolific number o f users o f these sites they have been deemed to be a new and effective means o f marketing to consumers. Yet despite this potential, the majority o f marketing efforts by companies on SN Ss have been unsuccessful. This research highlights that com panies have thus far been adopting a ‘push* marketing strategy, employing traditional marketing techniques. Users o f these sites view them as their own private spaces to communicate with one another and therefore different techniques focusing on a ‘puli' marketing strategy are required.This research proposes a social networking site marketing communications model which guides companies in effectively integrating SNSs into marketing strategy. This model is subject to further testing and refinement.