Social Media, Social Enterprise and Event Marketing: A Comparative Study
Citation
(2015) Social Media, Social Enterprise
and Event Marketing: A Comparative Study, no. 70.
Abstract
Purpose: The aim of the study is to explore social media uses in Social Enterprise.
To support the delivery of the main aim of the dissertation there are three distinct
objectives, which are:
1. To identify from the literature review the three most heavily used social
media platforms in Social Enterprises and comparing them to the
interview question results to see if there is a connection.
2. To explore the manner in which Social Enterprise use social media and
whether they encourage comments and engagement.
3. To establish user perception of social media and what does this mean for
event marketing in Social Enterprise for the future.
Design, Methodology and Approach: This research follows a qualitative case
study approach, comparing different organisations social media use in Social
Enterprise. Furthermore, the three organisations discussed were not selected at
random; the organisations were carefully selected to help explore the issue. The
methods for gathering data to help develop the case studies for this research were
interviewing, observation and document analysis. The data gathering for the three
case studies involved questioning participants about relevant information on social
media use, which brought out themes and conflicting issues on social media.
Findings and Discussion: The themes which emerged from the research were:
• Twitter - the most popular social media platform across all organisations
interviewed;
• Different social media platforms have different benefits and need to be
checked and frequently updated on a daily basis; and
• Social media will have a future role to play with Social Enterprises and a
future role for event marketing.
Event marketing for Social Enterprises can create an experience online before,
during and after the event. Events can keep face-to-face interaction, while having
the ability to share the event experience online.
A conflicting issue from the research is that social media can be viewed as a gift but
also as a curse for businesses. Findings highlighted that it is vitally important to be
aware of the advantages and disadvantages for future social media use.
Consequently, to prevent social media being a curse for businesses and allows
protection for the organisation, policies and strategies need to be put in place. This
action could help towards preventing damage to the organisations reputation on
social media.
Research Limitations: The researcher's data collection and the development of
the case studies were only based on three organisations; therefore this small size
can not account for every Social Enterprise or every organisation with Social
Enterprise partnerships. Furthermore, although each of the questions was the same
in the interviewing process each organisation had a different interviewing technique
due to their busy work schedules:
• One face-face interview,
• One telephone interview and
• One email interview
This could arguably, affect some of the findings due to the fact that telephone
interviewing and face-to-face interviewing could be more in-depth than email
interviewing.
Implications: Social media has changed the way of communication. It is important
to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages for the future use of social media
in Social Enterprise. It will have a massive role to play in the future of Social
Enterprise, creating experiences and being involved in long-term strategies.
However, popular social media platforms are constantly changing due to the
development of technology. Therefore, it is important to be aware of technological
changes and the importance of social media analytics in the development of longterm
strategies. Social media analytics will allow the organisation to be aware of:
• The current customer/ client base and their behavioural habits
• Potential audience reach within specific geographical areas; and
• Possible growth and trends in potiental developing markets through mass
communications.
Social media, including social media analytics in long-term strategies can help plan
for the future.