Social Network in Marketing (Social Media Marketing) Opportunities and Risks

Abstract

The most well-known social software applications are weblogs, wikis, social networking sites and instant messaging. Social networking at a high level is described as the convergence of technologies that make it possible for individuals to easily communicate, share information, and form new communities online. But the big question today is not what social networking is, but rather what it means for businesses. During the fast growth of social media and software, social networks are forcing companies to increase activities in their traditional CRM systems. These popular websites could be a great approach for companies and customers to improve their communications by applying them in computers and mobile devices. Through the social networks the way, which the company uses in its marketing, is changed. Business can take benefit through applying Social network marketing in order to cooperate with companies to achieve their goals. One of the most important advantages of Internet based application is creating an interactive contact between stakeholders that enable businesses to get feedback directly from their customers. In parallel companies can gain benefits through social marketing: they can achieve a better understanding of the customer needs and then they can build effective relationships with customers. Although social marketing is a common concept in business, there is a few numbers of people aware of its effective role in marketing. Social Marketing is a known term but not all the people know what it is exactly and what are the opportunities and risks from it. Social network marketing can be very advantageous for businesses.This paper intends to find how social software can be used to improve the marketing and to survey how social software can be used effectively in enterprises. The main focus would be on opportunities and risks in companies used social network in their marketing.

Keywords: Social Network, Social Software, Marketing, Customer Relationship Management