Describes the impact of social media on marketing strategies, discussing such topics as changes in branding and customer service, integrating social media with traditional marketing, and measuring the success of social media campaigns.

This book examines issues and implications of digital and social media marketing for emerging markets. These markets necessitate substantial adaptations of developed theories and approaches employed in the Western world. The book investigates problems specific to emerging markets, while identifying new theoretical constructs and practical applications of digital marketing. It addresses topics such as electronic word of mouth (eWOM), demographic differences in digital marketing, mobile marketing, search engine advertising, among others. A radical increase in both temporal and geographical reach is empowering consumers to exert influence on brands, products, and services. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and digital media are having a significant impact on the way people communicate and fulfil their socio-economic, emotional and material needs. These technologies are also being harnessed by businesses for various purposes including distribution and selling of goods, retailing of consumer services, customer relationship management, and influencing consumer behaviour by employing digital marketing practices. This book considers this, as it examines the practice and research related to digital and social media marketing.

Research Perspectives on Social Media Influencers and their Followers argues that the brands that find the most success on social media are the ones that acknowledge the real key to social media marketing—it’s all about the followers. This collection, edited by Brandi Watkins, explores how social media has shifted power dynamics away from brands and toward the consumers themselves—the social media users who choose to like, share, and engage with brands online. This dynamic has paved the way for the rise of the social media influencer (SMI); a unique category of social media user who has a large platform and compelling content that attracts a number of loyal and devoted followers.. It’s the followers that make SMI relevant and appealing to brands as a marketing strategy. Contributors discuss emerging trends in research related to the SMI and their followers; as the influencer marketing industry continues to grow and evolve, they argue, so too should our understanding of the influencer-follower relationship that makes this marketing strategy successful. Each chapter of this collection presents a variety of research perspectives, questions, and methodologies that can be used to analyze this trend. Scholars of media studies, communication, technology studies, celebrity studies, marketing, and economics will find this book particularly useful.

Research Perspectives on Social Media Influencers and Brand Communication examines the myriad ways in which social media and the unique characteristics of the internet have changed brand communication for both brands and consumers, focusing on the social media influencer as a brand communicator. As brands have noticed the rise of social media influencers as tastemakers and leaders in public opinion, they have increasingly begun to incorporate social media influencers into their brand communication strategies. Each chapter of this book represents a unique theoretical and methodological approach to examining the emergence and growing legitimacy of the social media influencer as a brand communicator from a variety of perspectives and contexts, discussing challenges and opportunities afforded to brands by social media influencers and providing an overview of the current research on the use of these branding approaches. Scholars of media studies, communication, and marketing will find this book particularly useful.

Social media has quickly become part of the fabric of our daily lives, and as we have flocked to it, so have most companies and organisations from every sector and industry. It is now the place to attract and sustain our attention. But how is it a new marketing activity and how is it similar to previous practice and customer behaviour? Does it require new modes of thinking about human networks and communications or do the existing conceptual models still apply? This book offers a critical evaluation of the theoretical frameworks that can be used to explain and utilise social media, and applies them to fun real-life examples and case studies from a range of industries, companies and countries. These include Unilever, Snickers, American Express, Volkswagen and Amnesty International, and span campaigns run across different platforms in countries such as China, Canada, Sweden and Singapore. Readers are invited to think about the different types of social media users and explore topics such as brand loyalty, co-creation, marketing strategy, measurement, mobile platforms, privacy and ethics. As well as tracing the emergence and trends of Web 2.0 and what they mean for marketing, the author also considers the future for social media marketing. Discussion questions and further reading are provided throughout, and the book is accompanied by a companion website.

In a short time span, social media has transformed communication, as well as the way consumers buy, live and utilize products and services. Understanding the perspectives of both consumers and marketers can help organizations to design, develop and implement better social media marketing strategies. However, academic research on social media marketing has not kept pace with the practical applications and this has led to a critical void in social media literature. This new text expertly bridges that void. Contemporary Issues in Social Media provides the most cutting edge findings in social media marketing, through original chapters from a range of the world’s leading specialists in the area. Topics include: • The consumer journey in a social media world • Social media and customer relationship management (CRM) • Social media marketing goals and objectives • Social media and recruitment • Microblogging strategy And many more. The book is ideal for students of social media marketing, social media marketing professionals, researchers and academicians who are interested in knowing more about social media marketing. The book will also become a reference resource for those organizations which want to use social media marketing for their brands.

WINNER: American Book Fest Best Book Awards 2020 - Marketing and Advertising category WINNER: NYC Big Book Award 2020 - Business: Small Business and Entrepreneurship category WINNER: BookAuthority Best New Book to Read in 2020 - Social Media Marketing category FINALIST: Business Book Awards 2020 - International Business Book category Social networks are the new norm and traditional marketing is failing in today's digital, always-on culture. Businesses across the world are having to face up to how they remain relevant in the choppy waters of the digital ocean. In an era where a YouTube star gets more daily impressions than Nike, Coca-Cola and Walmart combined, traditional marketing as we know it is dead. The End of Marketing revolutionizes the way brands, agencies and marketers should approach marketing. From how Donald Trump won the American presidency using social media and why Kim Kardashian is one of the world's biggest online brands, through to the impact of bots and automation, this book will teach you about new features and emerging platforms that will engage customers and employees. Discover bold content ideas, hear from some of the world's largest brands and content creators and find out how to build smarter paid-strategies, guaranteed to help you dominate your markets. The End of Marketing explains that no matter how easy it is to reach potential customers, the key relationship between brand and consumer still needs the human touch. Learn how to put 'social' back into social media and claim brand relevancy in a world where algorithms dominate, organic reach is dwindling and consumers don't want to be sold to, they want to be engaged.