EMANUEL UNIVERSITY OF ORADEA

UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES PROGRAM:

INFORMATICS-ECONOMICS

PROMOTING A BRAND
THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

COORDINATOR: GRADUATE:
Lector Univ. Dr. Gal-Chiş Călin Bandi Paul-Cornel

ORADEA
2022

1
 CONTENT
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 3

2. LITERATURE ..................................................................................................... 4

2.1. WHAT IS A BRAND? ................................................................................................. 4

2.1.1 What is a branding process? ............................................................................ 4
2.1.2. Implementation of the branding process ........................................................ 4
2.1.3 Web 2.0 and a brand community..................................................................... 4
2.1.4 Brand equity .................................................................................................... 5
2.1.5 Building a strong brand ................................................................................... 5
2.2 DEFINING SOCIAL MEDIA ......................................................................................... 6
2.2.1 Why do companies use social networks? ........................................................ 6
2.2.2 External factors that determine brands to use social media ............................ 6
2.2.3 The expectations that brands have from social media ..................................... 6
2.2.4 Advantages and disadvantages ........................................................................ 7
2.3 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING .................................................................................... 7
2.3.1 The pillars of social media marketing ............................................................. 7
2.3.2 User-generated content .................................................................................... 9
2.3.3 Social Media Marketing Activities (SMMA) .................................................. 9
2.3.4 The 5 dimensions of SMMA ........................................................................... 9

3. CASE STUDY AND RESULTS ....................................................................... 10

3.1 RESULTS ................................................................................................................ 10

4. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 14

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................. 15

2
 1. INTRODUCTION

Over the last decade, the fast evolution of the Internet has offered consumers many new
opportunities. In addition to the use of information search and communication without limits,
nowadays it is possible to express feelings and thoughts through social networks. As defined
by (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010), social networks are "a group of Internet-based applications that
are built on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and allow the creation
and exchange of user-generated content." With an explosive growth in just four to five years
since its inception, social networks are chosen as the preferred mode of communication
worldwide. (Dong-Hun, 2010)
Keywords: social networks, Internet, communication, applications, content

3
 2. LITERATURE

2.1. What is a brand?

A brand is a name, logo, or other characteristic that distinguishes the goods or services
of a seller from the market. Brands help their owners build a relationship with the customers.
Brands also help customers with information about the quality, origin, and value of goods and
services. A well-known and respected brand can be the most valuable asset a company can
own.

2.1.1 What is a branding process?

Branding is a process used to raise awareness and expand customer loyalty. Branding
means taking advantage of every opportunity to express why people should choose one brand
over another. The desire to lead, to overcome the competition and to offer employees the best
tools to reach customers are the main reasons why companies use branding. (Frederiksen, 2020)
The purpose of branding is to create an effective way of communicating with the brand,
a way that differentiates itself from the competition. A strong brand is an important asset that
can have significant monetary value. According to (DeChernatony, et al., 2011), it is estimated
that at least 20% of the value of business in major stock markets comes from brands.

2.1.2. Implementation of the branding process

Each type of brand seems to include several main elements such as colors, characters,
slogan and a logo. But a brand can also be known through music, sounds, even smell. In real
life, it's a little more complicated than that. For an organization, branding is associated with
marketing, design, internal and external communication and human resources.
Creating a strong brand brings great benefits to the organization because communication
for marketing purposes will be much more effective. A strong brand has the ability to increase
customer loyalty, can go through changes in the market much more easily and is able to have
higher margins in terms of services and products sold.

2.1.3 Web 2.0 and a brand community

Web 2.0 provides companies with new opportunities to enter and stay in touch with
markets, learn about the needs and opinions of their customers, and interact with them in a
direct and personal way (Constantinides & Fountain, 2008). Marketers have recognized these
opportunities and are increasingly involving social networks in their marketing strategy

4
(McKinsey, 2007). There are five main categories of Web 2.0: blogs, social networks, forums,
content aggregators, and communities.
A brand community is a group of people with a common interest in a particular brand,
creating a subculture around the brand with its own values, myths, hierarchy, rituals and
vocabulary (Cova & Pace, 2006).

2.1.4 Brand equity

Brand equity can be negative or positive (Investopedia, 2003). Virtually all products have
names or symbols that identify them, but if they do not have a positive brand capital attached,
they are not really brands. To gain brand equity, brands need to communicate things like values,
emotions, lifestyle, status; something more than a product name and functionality (Mohsin,
2009). The consumer perceptions of brands create brand equity. When perceptions are positive,
the brand is valuable.

Figure 1. Brand Equity

2.1.5 Building a strong brand

From a customer-based brand equity perspective, building a strong brand can be thought
of in terms of a sequential series of steps, in which each step is conditioned by the successful
completion of the previous step. All steps involve achieving certain goals with customers - both
existing and potential customers. The first step is to ensure brand identification with customers
and an association of the brand in the customer's mind with a particular product class or need.
The second step is to firmly establish the meaning of the brand in the minds of customers, by
strategically linking a multitude of tangible and intangible brand associations with certain
properties. The third step is to get the right customer responses to this brand identification and

5
significance. The fourth and final step is to convert the brand response to create an intense and
active loyalty relationship between customers and the brand.

2.2 Defining social media

Social networks are understood as different forms of online communication used by
people to create networks and communities where they share information, ideas, messages and
other types of content, such as videos.
Social networks have advanced from simply providing a platform to people who want to
stay in touch with their family and friends. It is now a place where consumers can learn more
about their favorite companies and the products they sell. Marketers use these sites as another
way to reach consumers and provide a new way to shop.

2.2.1 Why do companies use social networks?

Social networks can help strengthen or change the brand image, but in order to benefit
from the power of social networks, brands need to constantly manage and be active on them.
Brands can reach potential customers by participating in social media activities, such as
discussions that help brands be associated with relevant topics and brands who have a similar
audience (Pozin, 2014).

2.2.2 External factors that determine brands to use social media

2010 was declared by eight companies as the year when they first appeared on at least
one social media platform. The managers of these companies explained the factors that led
them to the decision to get involved in social media. The most common factors mentioned are:
The growth and popularity of social networks. All the managers who were interviewed
consider social networks as the fastest “trend” on the internet, which is continuously gaining
popularity among people.
The viral nature of social networks. Marketers certainly want everyone to talk about
their brand online. They know that social media is the best place to spread the brand name.

2.2.3 The expectations that brands have from social media

The objectives pursued and the expected results of the brand pages on social networks
can be grouped into categories:

6
 Creating, consolidating and improving customer relationships: communicating with
customers through social networks develops personal relationships between the company and
users.
Easily interact with customers and listen to their needs: Interactions on social
networks are the easiest and most convenient way to communicate and listen to customers'
needs, just as friends do in everyday life. Customers do not hesitate to send a message to the
company or express something they want. In addition, through social media, the company has
the ability to respond instantly to customer messages about questions, requests or ideas.

2.2.4 Advantages and disadvantages

Perhaps the biggest advantage of social networks is the low or no cost and the small
amount of resources needed to have a presence on social networks. As a result, social networks
have opened many doors, especially for small businesses. Through social networking sites,
brands can have direct conversations and interactions with potential customers. This type of
personal interaction can create and strengthen loyalty to brands that actively participate in
conversations on social networks.
The "word of mouth" now exists on social networks in the same way as it exists in real
life, only the difference is that the coverage of a consumer's opinions is exponentially higher
on social media than in real life. This means that the negative word of mouth will also have
more coverage on social networks as well.

2.3 Social Media Marketing

Companies have started to offer their consumers social platforms and blogs, where they
can interact both with each other and with the company. Social media is seen today by
marketers as an excellent opportunity to increase market share, as they now have a new set of
channels through which they can promote goods or services.

2.3.1 The pillars of social media marketing

1. Blogging
A blog is a content management system that facilitates the publication of short articles
called posts. A blog's software offers a variety of social features, including comments, blog
lists, trackbacks, and subscriptions, that make the blog a perfect marketing tool. Every company
that owns a website should have a blog that speaks to current and potential customers as real
people.

7
 2. Twitter & Micro Blogging
Micro blogging is a form of blogging that limits the size of each post; for example,
Twitter posts can only contain 280 characters. Most companies should be on Twitter because
it is easy, requires little investment of time and can quickly increase sales. Twitter can also be
used to announce offers or events, to promote blog posts, or to keep readers up to date with
some important news.

3. Forums
An internet forum is an online discussion site where people can have conversations in
the form of posted messages. A discussion forum has a hierarchical or tree structure: a forum
can contain a number of sub-forums, each of them can have several topics. Within each forum
topic, each new discussion started is called a "thread" and absolutely anyone can reply there
whenever they want. Depending on the forum settings, users may be anonymous or need to
register on the forum and log in to post.

4. Review sites
A review site is a website where you can post reviews about people, companies, products
or services. These sites can use Web 2.0 techniques to gather reviews from site users, or they
can hire professional writers to create reviews on the topic of interest. Two of the early review
sites are Epinions.com and Amazon.com. In general, review sites are supported by advertising.
Some sites may allow companies to pay to be listed first on the list, but they do not affect
reviews and ratings. Product review sites can also be supported by providing affiliate links to
websites that sell reviewed articles.

5. Social networks
For example, Facebook is a natural fit for marketing. Some ways in which marketers
could take advantage of this platform are:
• Establishing and improving brand image
• Establishing and consolidating the company's market authority
• Use of the network for market research (opinions and points of view, very good for
surveys)
Facebook also uses an advertising system that allows marketers to target users, with ads
based on the massive amounts of information that people reveal on the site about themselves.

8
 2.3.2 User-generated content

User Generated Content (UGC) is content published by users on various online

platforms. (Shneiderman, et al., 2011) Leung notes that UGC is any form of content developed
by users of a service or system and published in an open manner on a social networking
platform. Most traditional UGC definitions describe the importance of online platforms and
technologies that support the generation of such content. These online platforms and
technologies are forms of social media, social computing, Web 2.0, social web, virtual
communities and socio-technical systems. (Shneiderman, et al., 2011)

2.3.3 Social Media Marketing Activities (SMMA)

In order for social networks to have an efficient, functional value for a company's
marketing, it is important to define and apply marketing activities on their social networks, also
called social media marketing activities (SMMA) (Bilgin, 2018) The classification of
marketing activities on social networks involves five dimensions: trends, entertainment,
interaction, word of mouth and personalization.

2.3.4 The 5 dimensions of SMMA

Social media marketing activities are considered to be the five dimensions stated by (Kim
& Ko, 2011), these dimensions being widely used by other researchers as well. The five
dimensions are: trends, entertainment, interaction, word of mouth and personalization (Kim &
Ko, 2011).
The first dimension of SMMA, entertainment, involves the fun and joy of using a
company's social networks.
The second dimension, interaction, describes the contribution that users make to brands
on social platforms, and using social networks as a way to communicate interactively it is
possible to collect needs, opinions and suggestions about the product and brand in real time.
The degree to which the content and information of a brand on social networks is new
and updated is called the size of the trend. (Ebrahim, 2020)
Personalization is the measure and ease with which information and services can be
retrieved from a brand's social media accounts.
The last dimension, namely the "word of mouth" refers to the informational
communication between users.

9
 3. CASE STUDY AND RESULTS
3.1 Results
This chapter will present the results and their statistical analysis. This analysis was done
using Google Forms and Excel features.
Descriptive statistics
This research had a number N = 657 participants.

VERIFICATION OF ONLINE REVIEWS BY AGE

As you can see in the chart below, there are two very interesting things here, 71% of
respondents between the ages of 10 and 13 sometimes check online reviews before purchasing
a product, and 29% actually do this every time. The same situation is repeated for people over
the age of 30, 40% of them always check the reviews online, and 60% only sometimes check
the reviews before buying a product or service from a brand.

30+ 60% 40%

25-30 28% 67%

20-25 38% 56%

17-20 42% 52%

14-16 42% 48%

10-13 71% 29%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Niciodată Rareori Uneori Întotdeauna

Figure 2. Checking online reviews

HOW LONG AN USER STAYS ON SOCIAL MEDIA ACCORDING TO THE AGE

As you can see in the chart below, the time spent on social networks depends very much
on the age of the user. We notice that only people between the ages of 17 and 20 tend to spend
more than 10 hours on social networks every day. We also notice that the answers are very
diverse among respondents aged between 14 and 16 years and 20 and 25 years, but generally
the same pattern is kept.

10
 Mai puțin de o oră.

Mai puțin de 5 ore. 10-13

14-16
Ma i mu lt de 10 ore. 17-20
20-25
25-30
Între 5 și 10 ore.
30+

Între 2 și 3 ore.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Figure 3. Time spent on social media by age

HOW MANY BRANDS ARE FOLLOWED ON SOCIAL MEDIA ACCORDING TO

THE AGE OF THE USER (ADOLESCENTS / YOUNG PEOPLE)
To better observe the differences, respondents were grouped into two categories,
adolescents (between 10 and 20 years) and young people (between 20 and 30 years).
Surprisingly, we notice that the number of young women who do not follow any brand
on social media is double compared to the number of young men and double or even more than
all other categories who do not follow any brand on social networks.
On the other hand, in the chart below you can see that of those who follow 3 or more
brands on social media, the number of male adolescents stands out in front with almost double
or even more than the other categories, teenagers, young women and young men.

ma sculin
tineri

0
feminin
1
2
3
ma sculin
4
adolescenti

feminin

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Figure 4. Number of brands followed according to user's age

11
 The main reasons why respondents use social networks, the first is to stay connected and
keep in touch with family / friends (54.3%), and the second reason is to be up to date with the
news (17.5%). Next, (9.9%) to post pictures and videos, 8.5% to make new friends, and 1.4%
of respondents use social networks to shop. Then, some of the reasons communicated by the
respondents are the following: boredom (0.5%), for educational content (0.4%), inspiration /
creativity / art (0.2%), and 0.3% use social media for all the reasons listed above.
When asked about how many brands they follow on social networks, respondents stated
that they follow more than 4 brands on social networks (38.2%), while (37.4%) they follow
between 3-4 brands, and 24.4% of respondents follow only 1-2 brands on social networks.

Figure 5. Brands followed on social networks

SENDING OFFERS OR POSTS FROM BRANDS TO FAMILY OR FRIENDS

ACCORDING TO THE AGE OF THE USER
We see in the chart below that 29% of respondents between the ages of 10 and 13 send
offers or posts from online brands to their family or friends, and 71% of them sometimes do
so. We can also see that people over the age of 30 are neither in one extreme nor the other, but
all respondents sometimes send such posts or offers to friends and family. The people who
always send posts represent a minority in this case, these are the people between 14 and 25
years old. (4-10%)

12
 100% 4% 5%
10%
90%
80%
70%
71% 72%
60% 77%
80%
50% 77% 100%

40%
30%
20%
29% 28%
10% 19% 14% 12%
0%
10-13 14-16 17-20 20-25 25-30 30+

Niciodată Uneori Întotdeauna

Figure 6. Offers or online posts sent to family or friends

NUMBER OF BRANDS FOLLOWED ON SOCIAL NETWORKS DEPENDING ON

ACCORDING TO THE TIME USED
An interesting thing that we can see from the chart below is the fact that people who
spend more than 10 hours on social networks follow from 3 brands and up. 33% of respondents
follow 3-4 brands, while 67% follow more than 4 brands.

Ma i mu lt de 10 ore. 33% 67%

Între 5 și 10 ore. 33% 29% 39%

Mai puțin de 5 ore. 34% 21% 44%

Între 2 și 3 ore. 41% 24% 36%

Mai puțin de o oră. 38% 30% 32%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

1-2 3-4 Ma i mu lt de 4

Figure 7. Number of brands followed on social media

13
 4. CONCLUSION

This paper deals with the phenomenon of social media marketing and how brands can
use social networks to market their products and services, and as a practical part we conducted
a questionnaire to determine how users of social networks are influenced by this phenomenon.
The main purpose of this study was to analyze the adaptation of brands to technology, as we
enter a new era of communication.
Also, to find out what users' perceptions are about the brands that have started to be
present on social networks and whether this influences them in order to purchase a product or
service. I can say that I discovered some very interesting things with this research, for some
answers I expected, for others I did not expect.
The hypothesis I formulated: Brands, through their posts or their presence on social
networks, can determine their followers to purchase the products and services promoted by
them, was confirmed by the study, and the most relevant results have been presented in the
paper.
Thus, it was observed that respondents have a higher trust in a brand that is present on
social media and that they felt a closer connection with a brand if they interacted with it on
social networks. Moreover, it was found that people are not very influenced by friends on social
media, more than half of the respondents saying that they did not like or follow a brand just
because a friend liked or followed that brand. In terms of the platform on which people follow
at least one brand, Instagram has a huge advantage compared to other social networks.
When I sit back and look at what I have accomplished, with this scientific work, I can
say that I have done a very good job, but if I am talking about what I would do differently in
the future, I would most likely ask more questions. and more relevant to the respondents of the
questionnaire in order to find out even more interesting things. One difficulty I encountered
was when I had to analyze the data, create separate fields, transpose data and analyze it
comparatively, and I realized that it is so difficult to do these things if the question was not
asked correctly.

14
 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Kaplan, A. & Haenlein, M., 2010. Users of the world, unite! The challenges and
opportunities of social media. În: Business Horizons. s.l.:s.n., pp. 59-68.
2. Dong-Hun, L., 2010. Growing popularity of social media and business strategy. În:
SERI Quarterly. s.l.:s.n., pp. vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 112-117.
3. Frederiksen, L., 2020. The Branding Process for Professional Services Firms.
[Interactiv] Available at: https://hingemarketing.com/blog/story/the-branding-process-
for-professional-services-firms
4. DeChernatony, L., McDonald, M. & Wallace, E., 2011. Creating powerful brands 4th
edition. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann.
5. Constantinides, E. & Fountain, S., 2008. Web 2.0: conceptual foundations and
marketing issues. În: Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice. s.l.:s.n.,
pp. 231-244.
6. McKinsey, 2007. How business are using Web 2.0: A McKinsey global. [Interactiv]
Available at:
surveywww.skmf.net/fileadmin/redaktion/aktiver_content/01_Events/080514_SWISS
_KM_Tool_ Tag/Track_0_Other_Material/0005_How_firms_use_Web20.pdf/
7. Cova, B. & Pace, S., 2006. Brand community of convenience products: new forms of
customers empowerment – the case of my Nutella community. În: European Journal
of Marketing. s.l.:s.n., pp. 1087-1105.
8. Brodie, R., Ilic, A., Biljana, J. & Hollebeek, L., 2011. Consumer engagement in a
virtual brand community: an exploratory analysis. În: Journal of Business Research.
s.l.:s.n., pp. 105-114.
9. Investopedia, 2003. Brand Equity Definition. [Interactiv] Available at:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brandequity.asp
10. Mohsin, M., 2009. Encyclopaedia of brand equity management. Mumbai: Himalaya
Publishing House.
11. Shankar, V. și alții, 2011. Innovations in Shopper Marketing: Current Insights and
Future Research Issues. În: Journal of Retailing. s.l.:s.n.
12. Lipsman, A., Mudd, G., Rich, M. & Bruich, S., 2012. The power of ‘like’. How
brands reach (and influence) fans through social-media marketing. În: Journal of
Advertising Research. s.l.:s.n., pp. 40-52.

15
13. Gillin, P., 2007. The New Influencers. A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media.
s.l.:World Dancer Press.
14. Pozin, I., 2014. Small Business Expert: Answers To Your Five Biggest Social Media
Branding Questions. [Interactiv] Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyapozin/2014/11/07/small-business-expert-answers-to-
your-five-biggest-social-media-branding-questions/?sh=2af6624117ae
15. Shneiderman, B., Preece, J. & Peter, P., 2011. Realizing the value of social media
requires innovative computing research. În: Communications of the ACM. s.l.:s.n., pp.
34-37.
16. Bilgin, Y., 2018. The effect of social media marketing activities on brand awareness,
brand image and brand loyalty. În: Business & Management Studies: An International
Journal. s.l.:s.n.
17. Kim, A. & Ko, E., 2011. Do social media marketing activities enhance customer
equity? an empirical study of luxury fashion brand. În: Journal of Business Research.
s.l.:s.n.
18. Ebrahim, R. S., 2020. The role of trust in understanding the impact of social media
marketing on brand equity and brand loyalty. În: Journal of Relationship Marketing.
s.l.:s.n.

16