Abstract
This paper intends to evaluate the extent of benefits and effectiveness of Facebook for advertisement companies. Facebook has been identified as a very strong tool for marketing and promotional activities. This paper focuses on analyzing various benefits of Facebook for different businesses. The paper also evaluates the effectiveness of Facebook on various marketing activities. The paper further details out research methodology used for data collection along with primary and secondary data, that was collected to measure the effectiveness of said social media. After conducting research analysis, a detailed conclusion and recommendation for future study were provided in the paper.
Introduction
Technology has touched every aspects of life including communication. Facebook has established itself as one of influential and impactful social medium of communication. Facebook can be described as best networking instrument of the 21st century. Millions of customers are utilizing the advance features of this networking tool for their business and personal purposes. Advertisement industry is also exploring various ways to promote and advertise different brands, products, services, content and programs to the large audience. Facebook is a very innovative and creative platform that can be utilized by advertisement companies to reach to a large group of audience in a very effective manner. Various organizations are utilizing Facebook in different ways to get well connected with target audience. This paper intends to analyze the benefits Facebook is offering to advertisement companies.
Research Objective:
The major objective of the research is to evaluate the benefits of Facebook for advertisement companies. The paper will also evaluate what types of businesses are using Facebook to promote and market their products, services and contents, along with effectiveness of Facebook in conducting such promotional activities.
Literature Review
A number of research studies have conducted to evaluate benefits and effectiveness of Facebook for advertisement companies. According to M. Foster, B. West & A. Francescucci (2011) in their article ‘Exploring social media user segmentation and online brand profiles’ mentioned that advertisement companies are utilizing Facebook for marketing and promoting various brands and their products, programs and services. Authors mentioned that the advertisement on Facebook is very effective because it connects well with the audience. M. A. Stelzner (2011) in his report mentioned that 93 percent companies use Facebook to reach to maximum number of audience. The study also revealed that around 78 percent social media users are in the age group of 20 to 40 hence companies utilize this medium to promote products developed for this target market. Amy L. Parsons (2011) in study “Social media from a corporate perspective: a content analysis of official Facebook pages”, analyzed Facebook contents of 70 large global organizations. According to the author this medium is very effective because unlike traditional media it allows customers to interact with brand and huge number of other customers.
Research Methodology
Types of Research – the research study utilized both primary as well as secondary research methodology. The secondary research was used to gather existing data whereas primary research was utilized to collect new data on the subject. Under the study both primary as well as secondary data and information was collected.
Sample Size – to understand the benefits of Facebook for advertisement companies, it was essential to collect data from executives employed in those companies. Total five executives from five different companies were interviewed to gather primary data. The companies were shortlisted on the basis of availability of executives who were involved in implementing social media activities. The secondary data was gathered by using online research, libraries and magazines.
Research Toll: A detailed questionnaire comprising structured as well unstructured questions was used to collect the information from executives of advertisement companies.
Scope and Limitation: it was very difficult to get appointments from executives of advertisement companies. Five executives were agreed to give appointment after contacting several executives.
Significance of the Study: The study provided detailed information on the subject and determined various benefits of Facebook for advertisement companies.
Research Findings and Discussion
All five executives responded positively when asked about the usefulness of Facebook. They mentioned that the Facebook is very interactive medium which connects to millions of users. The responded were asked why they use Facebook as a toll for marketing activities. All executives mentioned several benefits of using Facebook as marketing tool. Hundred percent respondents mentioned about the easiness, user friendliness and low cost involved in utilizing Facebook services. Eighty percent respondents said that the medium is very fast and effective; it connects to millions of customers instantly. Facebook is very popular medium among other available social media tools. Respondents also mentioned about the data released by the Google in 2010, which says that Facebook is the giant when it comes to social media and number of visitors. Facebook holds more than 550 million accounts. Eighty percent respondents said that, the medium understand customer psychology in very well manner. The pages designed by Facebook have multiple functions which bridge the gap between customers and organizations. It helps in building a relationship with the customers. Customer can interact with companies and other customers on the same page. This medium is more interactive than any normal website of the company. On Facebook Brands can hear the voice of customers, what they want to say and express. Customer can also share their favorite products with their friends. All respondents mentioned that the medium is very fast in gaining the responses from the people. The moment company post any advertisement or content within seconds people start sending their responses.
On the question, how advertisement companies measure the effectiveness of medium; all respondents said that Advertisement companies can measure the effectiveness of their content or postings by number of positive and negative responses. With the increased use of advance technology, various people started using Smartphone which keep them connected. Respondents were also asked about the effectiveness of Facebook. Few most important factors that make this tool influential and impactful are: exposure to large population; increase in customer traffic; access to new business partners; substantial business leads; increase in sales due to Facebook; and reduction in cost and advertisement expenditure.
Executives were asked about the types of companies who significantly use Facebook for advertisement. Executives mentioned that the use of Facebook is not limited to any specific industry, brand or products. All companies utilize deals in any product, utilize it. Respondents were also asked if Facebook is effective in promoting only youth products. They mentioned that if connected people are the direct consumers of the product than influence will certainly be higher. However, the medium is effective in all types of products including baby products and old age products.
The findings of primary and secondary data are in line with the data collected by literature review which shows the accuracy and trustworthiness of data collected by various mediums. The findings of the study also verified the subject.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Findings of the study revealed that the Facebook is a very effective and impactful social medium that is used by almost all major advertisement companies. Company used this medium because of various benefits associated with it like: instant connection to millions of customers; cost-effectiveness of the medium; the medium is very interactive and communication takes place in both ways; instant chat, mail and other options provides flexibility to customer to communicate in any manner; and accessibility to other business partners. All these benefits make Facebook first choice for various advertisement companies.
Various research studies conducted in the field of social media reveled the effectiveness of Facebook. Effectiveness of the facebook can be easily measured by reviewing the responses of the customers. According to the various studies and data, elements that show the effectiveness of Facebook are: exposure; increase in customer traffic; access to new ventures; substantial business leads; increase in sales; and cost effectiveness.
The study shows that all business utilizes Facebook to promote their products, new brands, contents and other material. However, there is little or no data is available that provide detail about products which are suitable to advertise on Facebook. Companies consider Facebook effective for all products but unable to provide proper ranking. This generates a need for future research that should be focused on analyzing types of products which are suitable to advertise on Facebook in order to receive significant results.
References
Dan Zarrella & Alison Zarrella, 2011. The Facebook Marketing. Canada: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Justin R. Levy & Levy Justin, 2010. Facebook Marketing: Designing Your Next Marketing Campaign. New Delhi: Pearson Education India.
M. Foster, B. West & A. Francescucci, September 2011. Exploring social media user segmentation and online brand profiles. Journal of Brand Management, 19, pp.4-17.
Parsons, A.L., 2011. Social media from a corporate perspective: a content analysis of official Facebook pages. Academy of Marketing Studies.
Stelzner, M.A., 2011. How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses. Social Media Marketing Industry Report.
