How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 1

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity

Chadwick J. Formica James F.M Baker Miles P. Kerbein Queens University of Charlotte Chadwick.Formica@rexmail.queens.edu James.Baker@rexmail.queens.edu Miles.Kerbein@rexmail.queens.edu Submitted: December 7, 2011

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Abstract In the world of business, communication is a prevalent part to expanding networks, building relationships and marketing products. As social networks continue to expand and become more popular companies have used this tool to help market their products and communicate with consumers. No other form of innovation has been more effective then Twitter, blogs, Facebook, and LinkedIn. These social media forms have helped businesses to improve overall profits and increase their revenues. Not only have these social media forms helped to increase business for large corporations but smaller companies have benefited from them as well. Communication between corporations has been changed due to these social media advancements and the size of the world has been greatly minimized. This study looks to show how social media has increased profitability, publicity, and marketing for corporations. It also looks at how consumers view corporations use of social media in everyday life.

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 3 Table of Contents ABSTRACT Introduction I. LITERATURE REVIEW Social Media in the 2009 Inc. 500: New Tools and New Trends A Social Media Revolution Finders Keepers: Social Media Strategies Help Find Top Talent Social media: The new hybrid element of promotion mix The Real Value of Social CRM The Power of Social Media Key for Tellers During Financial Crisis: Calm the Customers Social CRM as a business Strategy Social Media Embraced as Companies. Turning Social Media into Profit II. Methodology Survey Objective Participants and Procedures Variables Research Questions Hypotheses Questionnaire Design III. IV. V. VI. Results Discussion Conclusion References 19 19 20 20 20 21 22 23 25 26 4 6 8 10 12 13 15 16 17 18 2 4

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Introduction Whether we know it or not every single day we are affected by some form of media. From billboards to television people are tapping into everything possible to influence the public. As the Internet becomes more and more popular organizations use of social media is becoming one of the most influential ways to target consumers and create an emotional long lasting connection with them. Although this new craze is not even ten years old corporations are using the different social medias to increase profitability, marketing, and publicity.

Literature Review

Social Media in the 2009 Inc. 500: New Tools and New Trends: In 2009 a study was conducted to look at how fast-growing corporations have used social media. The study was conducted by the Marketing Research Center at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth (Barnes & Mattson, 2009,p. 70). The study compared Fortune 500 companies (publicly traded companies) to Inc. 500 companies (privately owned companies). The study gathered their list of corporations from a listing published by Inc. Magazine that comes out with a yearly list of fastest-growing private corporations (Barnes & Mattson, 2009,p. 70). The study conducted their research over a three-year period (2007, 2008, 2009). The first study conducted by the group was released in 2007 (Barnes & Mattson, 2009,p. 70). They found that the Inc. 500 companies were leading Fortune 500 companies in the use of social media. Results showed that 8% of Fortune 500 companies were involved in blogging compared to the 19% of the Inc. 500 (Barnes & Mattson, 2009,p. 70). Results in 2008 continued on that trend with 16%

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 5 of Fortune 500 companys blogging compared to the 39% of Inc. 500 companies (Barnes & Mattson, 2009,p. 70). This trend continued in 2009 with 45% of Inc 500 companies using blogs (Barnes & Mattson, 2009,p. 70). At the time of the study the results for the Fortune 500 companies had not been released yet however it was estimated that this lower percent of blogging by the Fortune 500 companies would stay the same (Barnes & Mattson, 2009,p. 70). The biggest concept to take away from these results is that their was a significant increase in the use of blogging by both Fortune 500 companies and Inc. 500 companies. Another key fact to take away from this study is that the size of a corporation does not hinder the use of social media. In fact, this study shows that the smaller a corporation the more beneficial the use of social media is. The study used six different social media types (blogging, podcasting, online video, social networking, message boards, and wikis) (Barnes & Mattson, 2009,p. 71). Another key statistic to take away from this study is that over 75% of participants in the study said that they were very familiar using social media which was an 18% increase from the year before (Barnes & Mattson, 2009, 71). Twitter, which at the time of the study was still a relatively new form of media, still had a high rate of familiarity amongst 62% of participants (Barnes & Mattson, 2009, 71). According to Barnes and Mattson (2009) social media matters and is here to stay (p. 71). In 2009 43% of Inc. 500 companies said that social media was very important to their business and marketing strategy (Barnes & Mattson, 2009,p. 71). An even greater statistic from the study is that in 2009 91% of the Inc. 500 companies were using at least one social media tool (Barnes & Mattson, 2009,p. 71). All of the statistics from this study show that social media is widely used by corporations and that companies have invested time and money into developing and

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 6 adapting to these new social media culture. (ex.Twitter).

A Social Media Revolution: by Megan E. Hershey

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 7 With the introduction of social media into our vast collection of communication methods, we are given a new way to communicate at a whole new speed. The history of social media is one worth knowing; Hershey states (2010) the World Wide Web or Internet went public on August 6, 1991. (p. 2). Hershey (2010) also says that in the early 90s, Americans began to use the first form of social media; forums (Hershey, 2010, p. 3). However, there is an ongoing debate whether you can classify forums as a form of social media because it does not allow you to have a community of cohorts. (Hershey, 2010, p.3). With the development of social media sites, it has drastically changed the way that companies and corporations target their advertisements to potential consumers. In this journal, Hershey (2010) discusses how 2009 was marked the worst economy in over 65 years. However, with the economy struggling, Facebook managed to gain its 100-millioneth member. (Hershey, 2010, p. 5). With the economy declining in value so rapidly, social media is growing exponentially. According to economists, social media may be continue to help companies pitch relevant and effective marketing for less of a financial cost (Hershey, 2010, p. 5). A companys image can be portrayed positively or negatively through social media sites. There are many examples of individuals being unhappy with the service they received from a specific company and turning to the Internet to help spread their story. Hershey (2010) gives the example of Dave Carroll and how he managed to portray United Airlines as a second-class airline for the way that they handled his luggage (Hershey, 2010, p. 5). The airline was accused of breaking his guitar with their negligence, and Dave created a song that received over eight million views on YouTube (Hershey, 2010, p. 6). Though social media sites can have a negative effect on a specific companys image, they can also help create an incredibly positive image for that said company. Hershey suggests they

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 8 can do this (2010) by participating in two-way communication outlets with consumers and stakeholders, companies show they care, giving a rise to a strong sense of corporate social responsibility. (p. 7). It gives a sense of feeling that these organizations who are utilizing social media sites are close to you and care for you. Another positive affect that social media has on the corporate world is that with companies and consumers being connected through a commonality like social media sites, they can react more quickly to maintain good relations. (Hershey, 2010, p. 8). Overall, social media is changing the way, which we view, and surf the Internet. It is also drastically changing the way that us as humans interact. With social media playing such a large role in our daily life, it is certain that it will continue to grow not only in size, but relevance and importance. Hershey (2010), discusses how in order to succeed in the 21st century, we must be familiar with all that social media has to offer (Hershey, 2010, p. 12).

Finders Keepers: Social Media Strategies Help Find Top Talent: by Kristen Gunderson Hunt Businesses have continued increasing the use of social media in all aspects of their work. In a survey conducted by CareerBuilder of 2,500 employees 35% of them responded to using social media to help promote their business, 21% said that they use it to recruit employees, and 18% said they use it to strengthen their employment brands (Hunt, 2010,p. 37). These statistics show that the use of social media is becoming pretty widespread and that companies are tapping into all sorts of different categories. The different social media forms the article highlights are blogs, social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo!, LinkedIn, and video sites such as YouTube (Hunt, 2010,p. 37). Companies have really started to tap into these

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 9 tools for recruiting because it really allows candidates to get an in depth look at the company. It allows them to see pictures, videos, and gives them a sense of what the company is really all about. You are also able to read reviews and input that current employees and others have posted (Hunt, 2010,p. 37). The three most common sites businesses have used to start recruiting are LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter (Hunt, 2010,p. 37). With LinkedIn companies are able to search and find candidates over the website for free. All the firm has to do is set up a profile on the website and they can start searching. If a company chooses they can also pay for an account which allows them access to posting jobs, sending private messages, saving profiles, and asking for introduction to people within other organizations (Hunt, 2010,p. 38). With over 75 million users LinkedIn is a strong asset for companies (Hunt, 2010,p. 38). Another tool is Facebook which has shifted from its reputation of friends connecting to a recruiting tool for businesses. With Facebook companies really use it most to promote their employment brand, and try to draw people into working for their company (Hunt, 2010,p. 38). Facebook allows people to use blogs, photos, video, audio, polls, and surveys to engage their audience (Hunt, 2010,p. 38). Aside from all those things companies have also started posting different jobs on their pages and setting up links for prospective employees to view which include job applications, and moving into an interview (Hunt, 2010,p. 38). Twitter is another resource that businesses have tapped into to help with the recruiting process. Most companies have used Twitter to simply tweet job opening and link an address back to a site that highlights more information (Hunt, 2010,p. 39). This is an extremely cost effective way to reach out to a wide range of people that are already interested in the company. Companies are also able to identify candidates by searching under key words and are also able to send direct messages to potential employees (Hunt, 2010,p. 39). Behind all of these tools

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 10 however companies must have a strong strategy to how they want to recruit individuals. The information a company chooses to post should always reflect the culture and brand of the company. People look to see what these companies are all about (Hunt, 2010,p. 39). Companies must also be able to develop information that helps candidates learn more about the company and give them reasons as to why they should work there. It is important to provide people with information not just self-serving posts (Hunt, 2010,p. 39). Last its important to make sure and stay active on the sites, constantly be updating things, and responding to your audience. Constant interaction with your audience is what is going to keep them coming back for more and increase their interest in the company (Hunt, 2010,p. 40). Social media: The new hybrid element of promotion mix by W.G. Mangold This study was performed by The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. This article argues that social media has multiple purposes within the promotional mix of a corporation because it is used for the obvious use, which is that the company will interact with their customers using it, but the uncommon action that was happening was that consumers were talking directly to each other over these social media websites, not just the companies and discussing about products and the companies themselves This article focuses mainly on integrated marketing communications (IMC) which attempts to coordinate and control the various elements of the promotional mix-advertising, personal selling, public relations, publicity, direct marketing, and sales promotion in order to produce a unified customer focused message (Mangold, Faulds, 2009, pg. 357), but it also focuses on two other subjects. The first is that Mangold and Faulds looked at the comparison between traditional communication, which was based primarily on marketing techniques throughout the years, and new communication, which social media falls under today. The other

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 11 topic they look at is how managers can use consumer to consumer communications to benefit their company more and cater to what the consumers want and need. The fact that consumers talk more with one another over social networking sites demands that a company must advertise and market themselves honestly and consistently because if they are caught with a lie about their services or false information about a product then the entire world will know within a matter of minutes and their credibility and public image is ruined, which in turn results in loss of sales. Tools and strategies have changed over the years to reach consumers. The largest change is social media. This form of media describes a variety of new sources of on line information that are created, initiated, circulated and used by consumers intent on educating each other about products, brands, services, personalities, and issues (Blackshaw & Nazzaro, 2004, p. 2). As for the strategy side of marketing, Conventional marketing wisdom has long held that a dissatisfied customer tells ten people. But that is out of date. In the new age of social media, he or she has the tools to tell 10 million (The New Influencers, Gillin 2007 p. 4) The main problem for managers then becomes how to figure out the ways that social media can be used for positive reasons rather than negative ones in order to benefit their company (see Figure 1). Managers have the ability to see what their consumers are saying about them and can provide feedback to them. Managers must learn how to shape consumer discussions in a way that is consistent with the organizations mission statement and overall goals. This will create secure feelings among the consumers that the managers they buy from actually care about what the customer thinks. The key ways that managers can communicate with consumers effectively according to Mangold and Faulds are, providing consumers with networking platforms, using blogs and other social media tools to engage customers, using both traditional and internet based promotional tools to engage customers, provide information, be outrageous/unique, provide exclusivity, design products with

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talking points and consumers' desired self image in mind, support causes that are important to consumers, utilize the power of stories (Mangold, Faulds 2009).

The Real Value of Social CRM by Barton Goldenberg Although most companies are now using social media there are a lot of different sites that are available for them to access. With all these different uses how do the companies manage all the comments, posts, and activity? This article explains a process companies are using to gather all these comments and put them into readable profiles. All of these things help in customer relations management (CRM) (Goldenberg, 2011,p. 6). By adding data from regular forms of CRM and adding insights from the social media you are able to gain a much better understanding of your customer which improves categories such as marketing, sales, and relations (Goldenberg, 2001,p. 6). The way they do this is by pulling all social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn into one home page or home site the company creates also known as the social media community. (Goldenberg, 2011,p. 6). You then are able to analyze all data and find common trends and topics in which you would like to explore. This helps companies because this gives them the ability to own the data and have more direction over the community. You are

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 13 also able to create a better dialogue with your consumers (Goldenberg, 2011, 6). In the example the author works with a retail energy business which is lagging in growth and profitability. The biggest problem they are having is creating a relationship with customers. They decided to create their own social media page that is similar to Facebook. This page could be an implementation off of their original page as well. This allows or a more intimate relationship with the consumers (Goldenberg, 2011,p. 6). The article also talks about how powerful social media is becoming and how to turn doubters into believers. Executives of the company felt that going into social media may not be the best idea so to help change their minds they surveyed current and potential customers to find out their interest, thoughts, and whether or not they thought this was a good idea. There was an overly positive response that felt this would be good for a company (Goldenberg, 2011,p. 6). The Power of Social Media by Jonas Colliander and Micael Dahlen With the increasingly rapid growth of social media of the last few years, it has been sent under the limelight. Companies have found this new method to be incredibly beneficial in its use for marketing. The method that this article, Following the Fashionable Friend: The power of Social Media by Jonas Colliander and Micael Dahlen discusses the specific social media advancement of blogging. Colliander and Dahlen (2011) suggest, blogs have become highly fashionable among writers, readers and marketers. They now are leading destinations among Web users. (p. 313). More examples suggest that with company-blog relationships growing exponentially, so are the companies overall revenue. An example would be that of how the The New York Times reported that a mainstream blog who endorsed a popular company helped grow that companies revenue from $100,000 to $4 million (Colliander & Dahlen, 2011, p. 313).

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 14 Blogs are unique compared to other social media sites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. It is more of a word of mouth approach compared to a forum-based approach (Colliander & Dahlen, 2011, p. 313). An article published in 2009 by The Economist suggests contemporary consumers use social media to help make purchases because they rely on recommendations from friends. (Colliander & Dahlen, 2011, p. 314). It provides a more open discussion that allows individuals to advocate or discourage certain products. This article also discusses the para-social interaction (PSI) (Colliander & Dahlen, 2011, p. 314). It conducts a survey by comparing the effectiveness of marketing through blogs or online magazines. It places two identical forms of content on each form of social media, and then measured the resulting effects on attitudes and intentions toward the brand covered in the texts. (Colliander & Dahlen, 2011, p. 314). As stated earlier, blogs are compared to a form of word of mouth relationship; this allows readers to be influenced more by a bloggers opinion. Bloggers have found that running a popular and successful blog opens many windows of opportunity for endorsement from major companies. This determines that blogs are more effective when it comes to marketing through social media due to its fashionable image. However, the researches believe that it is necessary that the marketing pitch is unbiased and that it originates from the blogger himself compared to the company sponsoring the advertisement. Another key point that Colliander and Dahlen (2011) bring up is that marketers who use social media must take a different approach to marketing compared to traditional means, due to the fact that social media is more focused on friend building and relationship building (p. 319). Key for Tellers During Financial Crisis: Calm the Customers: Barnes, Ganim Nora According to a recent study by Society for New Communications Research and Nuance

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Communications As on line social media usage becomes more popular, affluent consumers are using these channels to share their personal customer service experiences and learn about others care experience. This study can have a huge impact on corporations that interact with their customers on a regular basis and can teach them a lot of things about how consumers interpret their company and also how that company is viewed by the public and how to influence the public and consumers views in a positive way. In this research over 300 consumers who are active internet users participated in a survey that focused on how corporations treat their customers and how that effects brand reputation due to the widespread use of social media. The results showed that 59 percent of respondents use social media to vent about a customer care experience. 72 percent of respondents research companies customer care on line prior to purchasing products and services at least sometimes. 84 percent of respondents consider the quality of customer care at least sometimes in their decision to do business with a company. 74 percent choose companies/brands based on others customer care experiences shared on line. 84 percent of respondents consider the quality of customer care in their decision to do business with a company at least sometimes. 81 percent believe that blogs, on line rating systems, and discussion forums can give consumers a greater voice regarding customer care, but less than 33 percent believe that businesses take customers opinions seriously. Search engines are the most valuable on line tools for this research, according to respondents (Barnes, 2008,pg. 4). The main points that a corporation should take away from this study is that they need to listen to their consumers and know what they want and need to provide better service. They also need to know how to properly respond to these needs and handle it the best way that they can. The last thing they should know is how to improve and better their company to deal with

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consumers and make them as happy as can be. This research should inform corporations of how good or how poorly they are doing in the aspect of social media use and consumer relations. With consumers increasingly using social media to share feedback on their care experiences, it has become increasingly difficult for businesses to ignore or hide from bad experiences, said Lynda Kate Smith, vice president, Care Business, Nuance Enterprise Division. As this research highlights, the consumers voice is louder and travels further than ever before. One poor customer interaction can have a very significant impact on a public impression of a brand (Barnes, 2008,pg. 4). Social CRM as a business Strategy, by Woodcock, Green and Starkey discusses the impact that social media has on customer relationship management. (Woodcock & Green & Starkey, 2011, p. 1). Social media has been transformed from a new method to meet friends and build relationships, to a cost effective method for companies to engage with potential consumers. The authors also informed us that consumers talk to each other like never before through a multitude of social channels. (Woodcock & Green & Starkey, 2011, p. 2). These social media channels include, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and many more. The tone in which companies communicate with consumers through social media is much different compared to that of television and radio. This form of communication through social media tends to take a more relaxed approach. A focal point of the authors discussion is that The locus of control in the brandconsumer relationship is shifting from brands to consumers. Brand marketing is becoming less about pushing messages out to consumers within a static relationship, and more about the brand being part of the dynamic conversation, listening, serving relevant content/ experiences to earn the trust of consumers. (Woodcock & Green & Starkey, 2011, p. 2).

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 17 Social media is a method of communication that allows consumers to interact directly with corporations at their terms. Companies have been able to use social media to obtain and observe consumer feedback in relation to certain products or services they offer. Social Media Embraced as Companies. by Marty Graham In this article featured in the San Diego Business Journal by Marty Graham suggests that social media is a relatively cheap and cost effective method and strategy for marketing. Graham (2011) suggests, Using social media is now a widely accepted as a standard part of marketing. (p. 12). Social media is even being recognized by some of the most profitable and influential companies in the world. Also, Graham (2011) discusses how Google has recently began to integrate social media buttons into its many searches (p. 12). Certain social media sites have recently been used to increase exposure for that companys services or product. YouTube in particular has been used as a place to upload commercials or content that may be deemed inappropriate for television or radio. An interesting aspect of YouTube is that you can monitor the amount of views that specific video draws after being uploaded. Graham (2011) discusses a specific example of this in the commercial for Old Spice Body Wash. After uploading their commercial and its views skyrocketing over 30 million, their sales more than doubled (p. 12). The goal for these companies that utilize YouTube is to catch the publics eye, thus creating public discussion amongst the users of the Internet and social media sites. A companys main focus should be to build relationships compared to placing emphasis on their specific campaign. The content that makes up that relationship is more valuable than the content that makes up their proposed campaign to consumers. Turning Social Media into Profit: Deb Evans and Thomas Scott.

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 18 In Turning Social Media into Profit by Deb Evans and Thomas Scott, their goal is to give instruction and direction that allows businesses to use social media in order to make a profit. Social media can be used to help increase franchise sales by emotionally engaging franchise candidates and it is a powerhouse if used at the local level in a franchise system. (Evans & Scott, 2011, P. 1). In other words, if a company that is dependant on the local economy, social media can have an overwhelming effect on community and building relationships. The authors state, social media is conversation between people that share a common interest. (Evans & Scott, 2011, P. 1). The authors believe that they key to increasing profit is to enhance engagement with consumers. It also discusses how important the specific content you post truly is. With bland or uninteresting content, you will receive little to no attention. With exciting and creative content, you can create an online environment that is conducive for marketing. Also, the synchronization of social media sites is highly recommended in order to create a clear and direct message being presented to consumers. This in turn reduces confusion. All in all, social media is a method of communication that is not disappearing anytime in the near future. It is a simple and effective way to create communities and relationships based on a common interest. Methodology Survey Objective: With our questionnaire we are looking to find how consumers are affected by corporations use of social media to increase profitability, marketing, and publicity. With this questionnaire we hope to unveil the fact that the different social media outlets used by

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 19 corporations are extremely affective tools in creating relations and marketing their message to consumers. Participants and Procedures: To measure how corporations use social media to communicate with their consumers we targeted forty-four students at Queens University of Charlotte. This group of students ranged from the ages of 18-25 years old to ensure they had experience using social media networks such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others. Students were both male and female and had a wide variety of educational studies which provides different views into how students view the message. For example, business students may look at how these companies use marketing and advertising to solicit their product in comparison to other majors that may look at this from a more of a consumer way and really look at sales, promotions, and products of these specific corporations. The questionnaire was administered during the month of October 2011 throughout the campus of Queens University of Charlotte. Variables: Predictor Variable - The exposure consumers have of social media presented by corporations. Outcome Variable - How social media actually influences consumers perceptions, beliefs, and desire to buy products from corporations. Research Questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. Have new social media advancements increased overall communication to consumers? Have social media advancements increased overall profits and revenues for corporations? Have consumers responded to the use of social media in the corporate world? Has social media changed the way in which buyers and sellers communicate on a daily basis?

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 20 5. Do large corporations have a greater advantage using social media than smaller corporations Hypotheses: We believe that corporations have used social media to increase profitability, strategic marketing, and publicity among their consumers and the general public. Social media has created a new market place for corporations to advertise themselves and build a stronger relationship with their consumers.

Questionnaire Design: This questionnaire looks to examine the influence businesses have on consumers using social media networks. This survey is voluntary and feel free to skip any question. Individuals who partake in this will remain anonymous. 1.) How often do you use social media? (In one day) A. Over 6 hours B. Over 4 hours C. 2-3 hours D. 1-2 hours E. Less than 1 2.) How often do you come in contact with corporations that use social media? A. Very Often B. Often C. Neutral D. Not Often E. Never 3.) Do you think that corporations use social media affectively? A. Strongly agree B. Agree C. Neutral D. Disagree E. Strongly Agree - How Could they improve this? 4.) Is using social media a beneficial tactic for corporations? Strongly Agree Agree

A. B.

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 21 C. D. E. Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

5.) Do you follow corporations using social media networks? (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)? A. Yes B. No

6.) How often have promotions given over social media persuaded you to buy a product? A.) Very Often B.) Often C.) Neutral D.) Not Often E.) Never 7.) How often do you redeem coupons offered through social media networks? A.) Very Often B.) Often C.) Neutral D.) Not Often E.) Never 8.) Do you perceive a companies online reputation to be the same as their offline reputation? A.) Yes B.) No 9.) Do you feel that corporations should use social media as a means of advertisement compared to offline advertisement? 10) In your opinion, what is the most effective way for corporations to market/communicate to the public? Results Our results for this study were very interesting and we found a lot of great data. We found that on average students use social media sites between 1-3 hours each day. This accounted for thirty-one out of the forty-four participants which was 70% of students. We also found that most students often come into contact with corporations over social media. Twenty-two out of the

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 22 forty-four participants which equaled out to 50% of participants felt this way. 72% of students felt that these corporations use social media affectively. Another 93% of students either strongly agreed or agreed that social media was a beneficial tactic for corporations to use. Almost 60% of participants said that they follow corporations using social media websites. Thirty-two out of the forty four participants said that promotions given over social media dont really persuade them to buy a product and 36% do not often redeem these coupons from the companies which was a majority. When asked whether or not they felt that corporations had the same reputation online as they did off line 61% said they feel it is the same. With an overwhelming 97% of participants felt that corporations should use social media as a means of advertisement.

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Discussion: When looking over our results we found a lot of rich data that fit into our hypotheses. We found that on average most students spend between 1-3 hours a day using social media. This is a pretty decent amount however we thought that students would have spent much more time on the sites. Most students came into contact with corporations which was much more than we anticipated. From the corporations point of view this is exactly what companies strive for.

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 24 Knowing this they can continue to push forward in expanding social media. Students also felt that corporations use this social media very affectively. This shows that corporations do a great job in persuading, addressing, and attracting consumers to view their site and overall company in a good light. One of the short answer questions we asked the students was what companies could do to improve using social media affectively. The most common answers written by the students were they wanted to see more incentives, give-aways, and advertisements. In general it looks like students want to see more deals and ways these social media sites can help them save money. An overwhelming amount of students (93%) felt that using social media was beneficial for corporations. This was very interesting because when looking at other peer reviewed sites we found that lots of companies and CEOs are hesitant in making the jump to social media and dont always feel it is the best thing to do. It was pretty interesting to see that most students feel that it does help the organization and that if executives saw this statistic they might be more willing to make the jump. When asked how often promotions given away online persuaded the consumers to buy a product 72% said they are not really persuaded and dont take advantage of the offer. This was contradicting to our previous results because when asked how to improve social media most students said they wanted more discounts however when given the discounts they really dont take advantage of them. This could be do in part to the kind of discounts given or the actual offer not being enticing enough. Our second short answer asked students in their opinion what was the most affective way to market for corporations and communicate to the public. An overwhelming amount of people said that social media, television, and radio were the best ways to go with social media coming in first. This shows that people are very open to some of the newer ways companies have tapped into reaching their audience.

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Conclusion In all we felt that our results really showed that consumers view social media as an extremely reputable source and really take into account everything the company puts on their social media site. Some of the limitations we encountered were the fact that we were not able to sample people of older age. Most of the students we sampled were of the millennial generation which is seen as more tech savvy. It would be interesting to see how people who had not grown up with social media felt on the uses and effectiveness. Other limitations included the fact that we were not able to talk with actual social media professionals in some of the top Fortune 500 companies and get their take on how consumers feel about their sites. Some suggestions for future researchers would be to interview multiple generations, look at how companies that havent used social media compare to companies that do, and also how large corporations using social media compare to smaller corporations using social media and their impact on consumers.

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References Barnes, N. G., & Mattson, E. (2009). Social Media in the 2009 Inc. 500: New Tools and New Trends. Journal of New Communication Research, 4(2), 70-78. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from the Ebscohost database. Barnes, N. G. (2008). Key for Tellers During Financial Crisis: Calm the Customers. Tellervision, 1376, 1-3. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from the Business Sourche Premier database. Colliander, J., & Dahlen, M. (2011). Following the Fashionable Friend: The Power of Social Media. Journal of Advertising Research, 51, 313-320. Evans, D., & Scott, T. (2011). Turning Social Media Into Profit. Engage121, 12, 46-48. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from the Ebscohost database. Goldenberg, B. (2011). The Real Value of Social CRM . Reality check , 15(11), 6-6 . Retrieved December 2, 2011, from the Ebscohost database. Graham, M. (2011, March 28). Social Media Embraced as Companies Try to Get Their Arms Around the Concept. The San Diego Business Journal , pp. 12-16 . Hunt, K. G. (2010). Social Media Stategies Help Find Top Talent. Finders Keepers, ., 36-40. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from the Ebscohost database. Hershey, M. E. (2010, March 12). A Social Media Revolution. 2-12.

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 27 Mangold, W. G., & Faulds, D. (2009). Social Media: The New Hybrid Element of the Promotion Mix. ScienceDirect, 52, 357-365. Woodcock, N., Green, A., & Starkey, M. (2011). Social CRM as a Business Strategy . The Practitioner, 18, 50-64. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from the Ebscohost database.

Appendices This questionnaire looks to examine the influence businesses have on consumers using social media networks. This survey is voluntary and feel free to skip any question. Individuals who partake in this will remain anonymous. A. B. C. D. E. 1.) How often do you use social media? (In one day) Over 6 hours Over 4 hours 2-3 hours 1-2 hours Less than 1

2.) How often do you come in contact with corporations that use social media? A. Very Often B. Often C. Neutral D. Not Often E. Never 3.) Do you think that corporations use social media affectively? A. Strongly agree B. Agree C. Neutral D. Disagree E. Strongly Agree - How Could they improve this? 4.) Is using social media a beneficial tactic for corporations? A. Strongly Agree

How Corporations Have Used Social Media to Increase Profitability, Marketing, and Publicity 28 B. C. D. E. A. B. Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 5.) Do you follow corporations using social media networks? (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)? Yes No

6.) How often have promotions given over social media persuaded you to buy a product? A.) Very Often B.) Often C.) Neutral D.) Not Often E.) Never 7.) How often do you redeem coupons offered through social media networks? A.) Very Often B.) Often C.) Neutral D.) Not Often E.) Never 8.) Do you perceive a companies online reputation to be the same as their offline reputation? A.) Yes B.) No 9.) Do you feel that corporations should use social media as a means of advertisement compared to offline advertisement? 10) In your opinion, what is the most effective way for corporations to market/communicate to the public? Charts and Graphs

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