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The Impact of Social Media on Firm Performance

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Article in Scholarly Research Exchange · January 2015

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 Scholarly Research Exchange, Vol 4 (3) (2015) 291 – 304 http;//www.srej.wc.lt

The Impact of Social Media on Firm

Performance as a New Marketing
Strategy Tool in Iran High-Tech and
Fragrance Industry
Hossein Vazifedoost1 and Milad Farzin2

1
Associate Prof, Department of Business Management, Science and Research branch, Islamic Azad University (IAU), Tehran,

Iran .

2
Ph.D. Student, Department of Business Management, Science and Research branch, Islamic Azad University (IAU), Tehran,

Iran .

Corresponding author E-mail address: milad.farzin@srbiau.ac.ir

Abstract

Social-media is not only a communication tool for amusement, but it is also an important part of marketing strategies in business
life. This paper aims at analyzing the impact of social media media on firm performance as a new marketing strategy tool at
High-Tech and Fragrance industry in Iran. This manuscript is focused on a case study including the comparison and analysis of
totally two Iranian companies‟ Facebook and Twitter accounts in terms of the number of likes and followers, richness of content,
interaction with customers and the use of language. Within this research, the qualitative method is used in order to see how these
companies engage with their customers online and use social media as a strategic tool of social network marketing (SNM).
Briefly findings of this study suggests that: the common problems of the Fragrance firms are related with using formal language
during the customers communication process and creating unattractive content lacking richness to attract their customers'
attention in their social media activities. Another noteworthy point is that from the High-Tech firms perspective, they are less
effective in using Twitter when compared to their Facebook accounts.

Keyword: social media, firm performance, marketing strategy tool, High-Tech industry, Fragrance industry

1.Introduction networking (e.g., Facebook), micro blogging (e.g.,

Twitter), photo sharing (e.g., Instagram), and video
The introduction of Web 2.0 technologies, which sharing (e.g., YouTube), has changed the way we
bring about online social media including social live our lives. Based on a study conducted by

291
 Scholarly Research Exchange, Vol 4 (3) (2015) 291 – 304 http;//www.srej.wc.lt
comScore, the worldwide average time spent on
online social networking per person in one month
(i.e. November 2012) is 5.2 hours.
Most people use social media and also indicates a
dramatic increase in the average number of hours
per week spend on the Internet from 18 hours to 32
hours. Now a days, more Iranian are shopping
online that show us viral marketing plays a critical
role in consumer marketing in the near future.
These changes in the cyber world have called for
attention from both academia and industry to
investigate emerging trends in consumer behavior
so that relevant theories can be applied to explain
this new phenomenon and that appropriate
marketing strategies can be implemented to exploit
these changes.
As suggested by Wilcox and Stephen (2013),
future consumer research should study the impact
of social networking on consumers‟ decisions to
purchase luxurious products since their study found
that online social networking usage can enhance the
users‟ self-esteem while altering their self-control,
which has subsequently led them to engage in a
more impulsive or indulgent behavior (Khan, U. &
Dhar, R., 2006), (Wilcox, K., Kramer, T., & Sen,
S., 2011).
Social networking has been found to increase
the user‟s self-esteem (Gonzales, A. L., &
Hancock, J. T., 2011). When people engage in
social networking, they can control the information
to be shared, so they tend to present positive
information about themselves among their network
of acquaintances (Gonzales, A. L., & Hancock, J.
T., 2011). Such positive information usually
solicits positive feedback, which enhances one‟s
selfesteem and eventually provides several positive
social benefits and well being (Ellison, N. B.,
Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C., 2007),
The internet gives us a wide range of opportunities
such as; having a connection with people all around
the World, creating, sharing and disseminating
contents, gaining and searching information on
unlimited number of subjects and staying up to
date. More or less, there are some indisputable
outcomes and changes due to the emergence of
292
internet but especially the widespread use of social
media. One of these crucial changes happens in
business models, as well. By the beginning of 21th
century, the use of internet and social media has
become a part of business strategies. In addition to
this, the companies started using unique qualities of
web and have shifted their market strategy to e-
commerce. Web has become one of the most
profitable tools of promoting the products and
services to attract the target audience. Some of
them got into the market as an e-retailer, some
others became content provider, transaction broker,
market creator or service provider. However, one of
the most important reasons that made them
penetrate into the market is low barriers to entry.
That‟s why many small and medium sized
enterprises (SMEs) put their products on the web or
use multiple business models including the internet.
Henceforth, the firms began adding online
infrastructure to their business model as well. In
addition to this, they changed the revenue models
because of the remarkable return on the internet
and modified and renewed the key elements of
traditional marketing. By the time of these ground
breaking developments; social media has also
become a turning point due to its realistic
opportunities from the standpoint of business such
as; cost effectiveness, time saving and engagement
with customers. The more companies, especially
SMEs started taking the advantage of social media;
the more it has become a popular marketing tool
under the title of Social Network Marketing
(SNM). However, there are some crucial and
controversial points concerning the effectiveness of
SNM. Particularly, debates take place over the
measurement of success in terms of quality and
quantity.
The main objective of this paper is to explore the
impact of social media on firm performance as a new
marketing strategy tool. Furthermore, the paper is
trying to highlight the utilities and qualitative returns
in the light of SMEs. To achieve this target, this
study aims to answer some research questions such
as;
 Whether there is a remarkable
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differentiation between high-tech and
fragrance SMEs social media activities in
terms of the number of likes and
followers, richness of content, interaction
with customers and the use of language or
not?
 How are social media customer
communication endeavor levels
distinguished between more dynamic
industry and conventional industry?
 Which industry SMEs prefer to use more
intensively which social-media medium in
order to reach their target customer
effectively?
Since our sample set consists of two companies;
it is impossible and unrealistic to make a
generalization or induction. The ultimate goal of
this research is to reveal the specific differences
between the selected firms in terms of the social
media performances.
2. Literature review
Even though long time has not passed since the
social media has been started to be used to keep
interaction with customers, it has become an
important role in the business life. In this regard,
some important seminal articles in the literature
have been studied about using the social media as a
strategic tool particularly for SMEs in this short
time period. In the literature review section, we
would like to define which factors of the SMEs
marketing activities through social media are
affecting their performance.
Media proliferation, market globalization and the
emergence of a new generation of Information and
Communication Technologies - the Internet being
the most prominent of them - are changing the
marketing rules and market dynamics by
weakening the corporate competitive position
(Porter, 2001) while presenting individuals with
many new opportunities and empowerment
(Christopher, 1989; Rha et al, 2002; Bush, 2004,
293
Urban, 2005).
2.1 What is Web 2.0 and Social Media
The terms Web 2.0 and Social Media are new terms
in the Internet and Marketing lexicon and there is no
general consensus as to their exact meaning. Tim
O‟Reilly (2005) popularized the term Web 2.0 as the
next stage in the Internet evolution by referring to it
as a wide collection of online applications sharing a
number of common characteristics: “The Web as a
platform, Harnessing of the Collective Intelligence,
Data is the Next Intel Inside, End of the Software
Release Cycle, Lightweight Programming Models,
Rich User Experiences”. The somehow fuzzy nature
of the terms describing the Web 2.0 lead to a new
definition attempt: “Web 2.0 is a set of economic,
social and technology trends that collectively form
the basis for the next generation of the Internet, a
more mature, distinctive medium characterized by
user participation, openness, and network effects”
(Musser and O‟Reilly, 2005). The ambiguity about
the exact nature of the Web 2.0, even after the second
definition (mainly due to the use of terms like
„trends‟, „participation‟ and „openness‟), did not
prevent its endorsement by Silicon Valley circles,
followed by the press, businesses and the wider
public.
A variety of definitions of the Web 2.0 can be found
in academic journals, press articles and white papers;
a Google search query of the term produces more
than 300 million pages. In the academic literature
there is also no agreement as to what the term means.
The reason for this is that Web 2.0 is by all means a
complex issue: computing technologies and
techniques, software applications and social effects
are often blended creating confusion and ambiguity.
Some definitions attempt to avoid the confusion by
oversimplifying the situation. Considering the
complex character of the Web 2.0 we could argue
that providing a clear picture of the domain requires
identifying and separating the three main dimensions
of it: the main Application Types, the Social Effects
and the Enabling Technologies.
The multidimensional character of the Web 2.0
 Scholarly Research Exchange, Vol 4 (3) (2015) 291 – 304 http;//www.srej.wc.lt
domain underlines the complexity of the issue and
the difficulty to define a phenomenon where
marketing elements, psychology and information
technologies co-exist. From the strategic and
marketing perspective the Application Types
(Different online applications based on user
contributions, the Customer Generated Content) and
the Social Effects are the important and relevant
topics, something clearly reflected in the following
definition (Constantinides and Fountain, 2008):
Web 2.0 is a collection of interactive, open source
and user-controlled Internet applications enhancing
the experiences, collaboration, knowledge and market
power of the users as participants in business and
social processes. Web 2.0 applications support the
creation of informal users‟ networks facilitating the
flow of ideas, information, knowledge and promote
innovation and creativity by allowing the efficient
generation, dissemination, sharing and editing of
content.
For most practitioners the term Social Media is
associated with the user-generated content, a view
shared by many academics also (Agichtein et al.,
2008; Mangold and Faulds, 2009; Lariscy et al.
2009). Therefore for the purposes of this paper the
term Social Media is defined as Web 2.0 applications
enabling the creation, editing and dissemination of
user-generated content.
2.2 Social Media: A Strategic Opportunity for
Marketers
Social Media made customers more sophisticated
and helped them develop new tactics in searching,
evaluating, choosing and buying goods and services
(Albors et al., 2008). Recent research reveals new
customer behavioral trends rooted in Social Media
usage. For example the demand for customized
products (Kera and Kaynak, 1997) and the
willingness of customers to get actively involved in
the process of product development are increasing
(Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Piller and
Walcher, 2006; Kim and Bae, 2008; Parise and
Guinan, 2008; Drury 2008); customers are anxious
to have their say in more stages of the business
294
process.
Such developments influence the way marketers
operate and affect marketing practices on strategic
and tactical levels presenting marketers with difficult
choices and challenges (Sharma and Sheth, 2004;
Thomas, 2007; Winer, 2009). Marketers become
open to the idea of offering products that can be
customized according to the wishes of the final
consumer; they are also often open to the idea of
creating the conditions that allow collaboration with
customers in developing and testing new products, a
process known as co-creation (Prahalad and
Ramaswamy, 2004; Piller and Walcher, 2006).
Furthermore competitive pressure and the recognition
by marketers that they have to regain some control
over the customer-controlled Social Media space has
prompted many businesses to invest in Social Media
presence (Barwise and Styler 2003) or develop plans
to launch marketing activities in this domain in the
near future. A 2009 study by Center for Media
Research found that over half of businesses surveyed
plan to engage social networks as part of their
marketing plans in 2010.
2.3 The Social Media as part of Marketing Strategy
Effectively engaging the Social Media as part of the
corporate marketing strategy requires that the
company‟s “Web 1.0” legacy is in good shape: the
corporate web site must be in position to serve as the
corporate platform meeting the expectations of the
online customer (Constantinides, 2004;
Constantinides and Geurts, 2005). This because most
of the strategic objectives of Social Media marketing
require the presence of an impeccable company web
site: functional, efficient, trustworthy,
organizationally integrated and customer-oriented.
The firm‟s online corporate presence must reflect and
communicate the corporate positioning, quality,
customer orientation and image.
Having a well-designed web site is a necessity but by
no means a guarantee of success; a second important
condition is that the marketing organization and the
company back office are in perfect shape and up to
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the job. Customer orientation reflected not only in the
online but also in the traditional marketing activities
and fulfillment activities is very important. The
marketing organization must be geared to offer high
value to customers by delivering high quality
products and services. Marketers should realize that
Social Media users can easily investigate and test the
company quality or price claims, find alternatives or
substitutes and last but not least review products or
services and report their own experiences to large
numbers of peers. No hotel marketer should attempt
today to promote his services by showing beautiful
pictures of his hotel rooms or beautiful surroundings
or make claims about the hotel services that have
nothing to do with reality. Web logs and online
forums like epinions.com, reviewcenter.com and
consumersearch.com publish thousands of customer
generated reviews about many categories of products
or services allowing customers to very easily
compare products and learn about them before they
buy.
Therefore engaging the Social Media as a marketing
tool is not an isolated process but rather the final step
295
of a consistent strategic effort to improve the product
/ service, the organization and the traditional
corporate web site.
This is illustrated in the E-Marketing Pyramid model
(Figure 1) presenting the relationship between the
Social Media marketing (Web 2.0 marketing) with
the rest of the marketing program. The Social Media
marketing is the pinnacle of an integrated marketing
effort; failing to properly address the issues arising in
lower levels of the pyramid will lead to
disappointments, waste of resources and loss of
customer goodwill (Godin, 2007). The E-Marketing
pyramid identifies four levels:
Level 1. The Product and Service
Level 2. The Marketing (and E-Marketing)
Organization
Level 3. The Web 1.0 (web presence)
Level 4. Web 2.0 (Social Media Marketing)
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Figure 1.The position of Web 2.0 within the (E-) Marketing program
2.4 Social Media as Marketing Tools
Field evidence and an increasing number of studies
provide already a good picture on the basic patterns
of engaging Social Media as part of the marketing
strategy (Chesbrough, 2006; Bernhoff and Li, 2008;
Prahalad and Krishnan, 2008; Deighton and
Konrfeld, 2009). Two main approaches seem to
emerge:
1. The Passive approach is based on utilizing
the Social Media public domain as potential
source of customer voice (Anderson, 2007;
Parise and Guinan, 2008). The marketing
objective is to provide marketers with
information about market needs, customer
experiences, competitive movements and
trends.
296
2. The Active approach is utilizing the Social
Media as tools of communication, direct
sales, customer acquisition and customer
retention (McKinsey 2007 a,b).
2.5 Measuring success of social media
performance
Social media measurement has become popular
among the companies and researchers. Day by day,
it is possible to encounter with more reasonable
solutions and tools to measure companies‟ Social
Network Marketing (SNM) success. The more
measurement systems are improved, the more
number of metrics increase and become
trustworthy. It is required for SMEs to measure
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success against original goals. However the
important point is that companies should look
beyond the retweets and likes. In other words, they
should also remember to measure beyond the
numbers.
Metrics such as the number of viewers, visitors,
friends, or followers do not automatically translate
to higher conversions, order value, or sales. It is
true that given their viral characteristics, Social
Network Marketing (SNM) may be more effective
in building brand awareness and enhancing brand
reputation than generating leads and increasing
sales. It is difficult to ascertain its contribution
compared to paid advertising and other types of
promotion. Another issue is the length of time
required for each new SNM tactic to work and the
resulting problem of measurement timing. Finally,
quantifying engagement (the main goal of SNM)
that does not necessarily parallel numbers of
friends, subscribers, tweets, and retweets is still an
unresolved issue (Pentina et al., 2012:68).
While many social marketers fixate on volume
metrics (website traffic, hit rates, click-throughs,
time spent on-line, postings etc.), however, such
metrics often need to be customized for individual
campaigns and need be considered in the pre-
launch phase, ideally incorporated in message
testing. The often unanswerable prediction is
whether online viral marketing campaigns will be
effective in the short and long terms. Viral
marketing is notoriously difficult to execute
successfully and measure adequately. The quest for
reliable metrics means that some marketers will shy
away from implementing online viral tactics that
draw only short-term attention (such as viral
videos) to tactics that actually allow for prospect
identification and capture of behavioral data. Much
of what happens in social marketing is little more
than experimental, or simply about “insights” rather
than metrics (Miller and Lammas, 2010:7). There
are 2 kinds of metrics that worth examining;
“engagement metrics” (followers, fans, comments)
and “sentiment metrics” (positive and negative
comments of the customers).
297
3. Methodology
In this research, a case-study intends to analyze
the SMEs social media efforts in the aspects of
reach (the firm‟s access and connection to
customers), richness (depth and detail of two
way information between the industry and the
customer) and affiliation (facilitating useful
interactions with customers). In other words, this
study is focused on analyzing how SMEs view
the World through the customer‟s eyes and
constantly seek ways to create more value via
social media for the customer satisfaction and
produce fewer complaints (Hitt et al., 2013:104-
105). Therefore, qualitative content analysis
(Ozdemir, 2010) is the main method for this
particular work, because the ultimate target is to
see the companies‟ strategical use of social
media, including which contents they choose,
how often they update their accounts, what style
of language they use and how effective their
communication is.
A qualitative-exploratory approach is chosen, in
order to uncover how companies utilize social
media, to gain practical insights into how they
perceive social media as a useful marketing tool
and perhaps new ideas that could be
recommended to other similar companies
(Bulearca and Bulearca, 2010:301). Qualitative
methods and in particular case studies allow to
conduct an in-depth and longitudinal observation
of phenomena and processes that are not yet
clear in literature in order to single-out variables
and relationships among them and to orient
further analysis and exploration (Bettiol et al.,
2012:11). Successful social marketing often
depends more on qualitative metrics for
desirable signs of the tone, quality and customer
benefit of the interaction. These may include:
unique visitors, interaction rates, relevant actions
taken, conversation size, conversation density,
content freshness and relevance, audience
profiles, unique user reach, and so on. Such
metrics not only measure whether people are
engaged, but how they are engaging.
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4. Findings
In this paper, we analyzed the “Facebook and
4.1. High-Tech industry analysis
Twitter” networks particularly due to their
widespread use and popularity among the
customers. Almost every firms have Facebook
and Twitter accounts but the important thing is
the firms performance of using social media as a
new marketing strategy tool. In order to have a
competitive advantage, companies should create
value for the customers. Social media may have
a supportive role during this process. The target
of this analysis is to contribute to the studies
conducted so far, regarding the social media and
SMEs; and to bring a new perspective to these
studies in terms of performance assessment.
As a part of the case study, we chose the companies
from Iran in order to make a comparison with their
social media activities. We made a list of small and
medium sized companies with similarities in both
High-Tech industry and Fragrance industry. Then we
randomly chose two of them and matched in order to
contrast and analyse. Selected industries and firms
were chosen because of their theoretical relevance
and their novel social network marketing concepts
strives, according to appropriateness of their sizes
and the business-to-consumer (B2C) industry
structure. In the sampling selection process; at first an
appropriate company was randomly decided then its
pair was found. For instance; two companies are both
medium sized, in terms of the number of the
employees they have and besides, both of them
perform in high-tech industry with retail chain stores.
All the selected companies are well-known brands by
their target customers, also both industry represented
companies have similar firm profiles and they have
same experience of period in the social media
activities. This is why these two companies were
chosen particularly. The observations and the
analysis were done between May and June 2015. We
gathered information on the chosen firm‟s social
media accounts and focused on specific details such
as; the number of likes and the followers, frequency
of the updates, richness and relativeness of the
content, interaction of the engagement and the use of
298
language.
The High-Tech company from Iran has interesting
content for the target customers in the Facebook
business page in terms of many aspects. First of all,
they post different kinds of surveys, contests and
questions in order to attract the attention of their
customers. This is actually a good example of
engaging with the customers. Secondly, they post
some surveys regarding the outfits and colors. The
firm posts not only pictures, but also videos about the
features and design with a high resolution.
Besides, they give some information and tips about
High-Tech which strengthens the message of the
content. They never forget to celebrate special days.
Another important point is that, the company shares
customer views on their Facebook business page.
This is also crucial for customer retention. This
Iranian High-Tech company is quite active about
creating content on social media. For instance, they
take part in volunteer projects and post some pictures
in order to let their customer know. This attempt can
be considered as a remarkable strategy. Since the
company updates Facebook business page every day
and post more than one content which are genuinely
rich, related and striking; interaction of the
engagement with customers is really effective. At the
same time, they reply almost every question and
comment of the customers. The answers are not
cliche vice versa they reply almost always in a
different way. Whether it is a complaint or
commendation; the company replies by repeating the
name of the customer. When we consider the way
they use language; the company is totally different
from the other compared firm in terms of wording.
First of all, their language is not formal; besides they
reply the questions as if the owner of the company
would not do. Their wording is like storytelling and
quite sincere. Also, they prefer using vivid
descriptions and this directly affects the general
frame of the content in a positive way.
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The Company‟s Twitter content resembles with the
“Facebook business page” including same surveys,
small questions, discount announcements and tips.
Tweets are always vivid and sincere. This is one of
the best ways to attract the followers especially in
high-tech industry. they often use the company name
but also the colors, styles and designs as arbitary.
This is also crucial to engage the attention of the
potential followers and promote the Twitter account.
The Company retweets customer views and replies
almost every tweet of the followers. They don‟t use a
prototype; besides thank and appreciate every each
comment of the customers and fans. The firm‟s
wording is quite casual and in a friendly style. In
addition to this, they use “smiley” in order to cherish
the conversation. There is no punctuation or spelling
mistakes.
4.2 Fragrance industry analysis
On the other hand, Iran Fragrance Company
generally posts the pictures of their products, the
pictures and the addresses of the company chain
stores. In addition to this, there are a few
questions and surveys posted by the company.
However, most of them do not attract the attention
of the customers. Besides, the firm organizes an
event called “secret customer”, but they do not
post any explanations. However they reply the
questions from the customers regarding this event.
Since the company‟s core competency is
fragrance, they upload more information about it.
They have one video about the perfume making
process. The Company shares the pictures of the
products taken by the customers under the title of
“things from you”. This is a good attempt for
Firms profile Iranian social media in
high-tech industry
Facebook business page related activities
299
engaging with the customers. However, the
company does not reply every question or
complaint posted by the followers. This causes a
serious lack of communication. For instance, one
of the customers complains about perfume and
claims that she got fake product. Although she
goes on writing and complaining; the company
does not reply and prefers to be silent. This is a
stunning example of a wrong strategy. Keeping
silent or ignoring the problems cannot be strategic
tools of SNM. On the contrary, they hasten the
process of bad reputation through WOM and there
should be more explanation about the pictures
they share. The wording is quite important in
terms of social media marketing. However since
the company posts less information about their
products or their mission and vision; they are not
keeping in touch with the customers. It is not
possible to make a sophisticated analysis about
the language they use. But as far as it is
understood, they have formal and standard style.
There is no punctuation or spelling mistakes.
On the Twitter medium the Company uses the
same content of their Facebook business page.
They make announcements about the presents and
discounts on special days. Besides, the same
tweets are iterated for months. They do not renew
the content. They reply the tweets in the same
way. They answer the questions regarding the
changes on prices and apologize. Besides, the
company retweets the follower‟s posts and
comments about the products. The main problem
is that; their wording does not include any human
touch, sincerity or uniqueness. The use of
language is quite dull and uninteresting.
Iranian social media in
fragrance industry
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The number of likes:

33.276* 4.582*

The frequency of Everyday Approximately 2 or 3

update: times in a month

Richness and Quite rich customer Not informative enough

relativeness of the oriented content
content to take
attention of target
customers:

Interaction of the Effective (as responding

engagement with all questions and Not sufficient
customers: comments) communication effort with
their customers

The use of language: Quite sincere (friendly Formal style

style)

Punctuation or There is not any There is not any

spelling mistakes: orthographic mistake orthographic mistake

Twitter account related activities

The number of the 8.663* 706*

followers:

The frequency of Everyday (approximately The most recent update

update: 3 tweets in a day) was done in January 2015

Richness and Same as the Facebook Not intend to update

relativeness of the page content contents
content:

Interaction of the Effective (as replying Can’t distinguish

engagement with

300
 Scholarly Research Exchange, Vol 4 (3) (2015) 291 – 304 http;//www.srej.wc.lt

customers: almost every tweet) intraction

The use of language: Vivid and sincere (as The use of language is
casual manner) quite dull and
uninteresting

Punctuation or There is not any There is not any

spelling mistakes: orthographic mistake orthographic mistake

*Note: these numbers were observed in 27th May 2015

Table 1. General overview of two groups selected firms social-media activities analysis

When these two industry companies were compared

owing to their social media medium endeavor, it
was observed that these two companies have totally 5.conclusion
different social media marketing strategies. The
High-Tech firm is quite active especially on
This paper aims to research the social media use
Facebook and they share various kinds of contents.
and performance of firms as a new marketing tool.
Besides, they have successful communication skills
Specifically, we analyzed two companies which are
and they know how to engage with the customers.
chosen randomly under the title of small and
As for the language, their wording is friendly but
medium sized enterprises according to their
not unconventional. Their main problem is the
operation areas in Iran. The target was to focus on
content of their Twitter account. It is obvious that,
their social media accounts during a certain period
they give more importance to Facebook business
of time regarding some aspects such as; the number
page. However, when a social media account is
of likes, the frequency of update, richness and
neglected, it means that this platform may not be
relativeness of the content, interaction of
appropriate for the company‟s marketing strategy.
engagement, the use of language and punctuation or
At that time, the needs and the short term plans
spelling mistakes. These are important points
should be reviewed. Conversely, the Fragrance firm
because especially SMEs may sustain their position
has lots of problems regarding the online
and create loyal customers through the effective use
communication. First of all, they are not as active
of stated factors in social network marketing
as the High-Tech company in social media medium.
(SNM). The study analyzed the Facebook and
Although they try to create content, they do not
Twitter accounts of randomly selected “high-tech
know how to engage with the customers and attract
retail chains” and “fragrance retail chains” SMEs
their attention through the use of images and words.
from Iran; The findings enable us to comment on
In addition to this, they rarely reply comments and
different performances and point of views of the
questions when compared to the High-Tech firm.
companies‟ social media use in terms of new
The company‟s wording is monotone and colorless
marketing strategy.
which has a negative impact on SNM. Similar with
the High-Tech company, the Fragrance company
does not use the Twitter account effectively even The research intends to show how effective and
less than their Facebook business page. active are these companies‟ social media accounts

301
 Scholarly Research Exchange, Vol 4 (3) (2015) 291 – 304 http;//www.srej.wc.lt
from the stand point of social marketing network.
According to these findings, we can summarize that
the High-Tech firms are more prone to apply the
required strategies and the factors when compared
to social media use of Fragrance firms. Dynamic
industries such as “high-tech retail chains” strive
more than conventional industries such as
“fragrance retail chains” on social media medium
and this obviously affects their amount of customer
followers. In both industries, High-Tech
companies‟ Facebook business pages meet SNM
needs and expectations whereas their Twitter
accounts can be defined as below the line in default
of the factors mentioned above. On the other hand,
Fragrance companies show the average success in
terms of their Facebook business pages; however
they are posterior due to their underdeveloped and
neglected Twitter accounts. Finally, we found that
the enterprises which are analogous according to
their size and scope; may have different approaches
to strategic use of social media and these
discrepancies become obvious when a systematical
comparison is made between them. The main
suggestion of this paper for firms, planning to use
social media mediums as a competitive marketing
tool; is that they should spend time to create rich
contents on their social media accounts to attract
their target customers‟ attention. In addition, they
should also be more sincere while
communicating with their target customers and
should prefer to communicate in a more friendly
style and to respond in a quick manner to all
communication attempts of their customers.
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