Abstract

Social media are new terrain in the marking and promotional world and it can be difficult for new companies to maneuver these landscapes. This study intends to evaluate ways in which social media, and Facebook in particular, can be use as cheap and effective marketing tools for new companies. The purpose of this study is to determine how much electronic word of mouth on Facebook can be used to increase the number of visitors to a new company's Web site. More specifically, the study seeks to determine how changing the general purpose (i.e., to inform, to persuade, to entertain, or to reward) of the Facebook message would affect the number of visits to the company's Web site. My method of research was a quantitative experimental study. I used this method, but instead of testing people, I chose to use weeklong time frames in which I tested different marketing messages on Facebook pertaining to a new company I created called Wombia. Experimenting with changing the general purpose of the Facebook message over specific periods of time allowed me to determine how different messages affected the number of visits to Wombia's external Web site. The implications of my study suggest that new companies should make intentional efforts to create messages of some kind on Facebook. Such efforts can lead to dramatic increases in new viewers and traffic to the company's external Web site. The second implication of this study is that any messages a new company uses, whether to inform, to persuade, to entertain, or to reward, should be highly dynamic or changing. Thirdly, companies marketing themselves for the first time should use a new message with the intent to reward as their initial message in a series of messages presented to an audience. Finally, new companies can use social media to market their company simply at an extremely low cost.

Advisor

Wick, Margaret

Department

Communication Studies

Disciplines

Communication Technology and New Media | Public Relations and Advertising

Keywords

social media, facebook, marketing, promotion, new media, technology, web 2.0, electronic word of mouth, to inform, to persuade, to entertain, to reward, communication, messages, youtube

Publication Date

2012

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

Download

Share

COinS
 

© Copyright 2012 Melanie Ann Sidman