Samsung utilizes social media to promote its brand and engage consumers. It has major presences on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn. Samsung's objectives are to drive engagement, awareness and interest through unique, entertaining content. Younger adults and digital users are key targets. Samsung is doing well by responding to users, creating sharable content and events, but could improve by optimizing posting times, adding more contests and integrating platforms better.

1. Social Media SWOT
Analysis
MAR4233: RVC & RPC- Fall 2015
Group 16
By:
Ashley Pouya
Christopher Gawrych
Cintia Espinoza
Mariel Lora
Max Ferro

2. Company Background
• Samsung Electronics is a South Korean company, which mainly operates as a global
consumer electronics manufacturer with three main divisions: Consumer Electronics,
Information Technology & Mobile Communications, and Device Solutions (The Wall
Street Journal, 2015).
• Samsung is currently ranked as #7 on Forbes’ list of the “World’s Most Valuable
Brands,” and is a global market leader in consumer electronics (Forbes, 2015).
• Samsung is heavily focused on the smartphone industry where it maintains a market
leader position and currently controls a 21.4% share of the global market (IDC, 2015).
• Founded: January 13, 1969 (The Wall Street Journal, 2015)
• Industry: Technology hardware, storage and peripherals, and semiconductors
• Headquarters: Suwon, South Korea (The Wall Street Journal, 2015)
• Current Employees: 235,999 (Forbes, 2015)
• Performance: 2014 FY Net Sales: $305 billion, 2014 FY Net Income: $22.1 billion
(Samsung, 2015).
.

3. Company Culture
• Vision: “Samsung is dedicated to developing innovative technologies and efficient
processes that create new markets, enrich people's lives and continue to make
Samsung a digital leader” (Samsung Group, 2015, para. 4).
• Philosophy: to devote Samsung’s “talent and technology to creating superior products
and services that contribute to a better global society” (Samsung Group, 2015, para. 7).
• Corporate Values: People, Excellence, Change, Integrity, Co-Prosperity (Samsung
Group, 2015, para. 10-14).
• Vision 2020: “Inspire the World, Create the Future” (Samsung Group, 2015, para. 15).
• Vision 2020 Goals: reach $400 billion in revenue and become a top 5 global brand by
2020 (Samsung Group, 2015, para. 16).

4. Strengths
• Samsung has strong global brand recognition, which it has leveraged on social
media to reach and engage with a large consumer audience (Walgrove, 2015).
• Samsung uses event sponsorships, social influencers, and celebrity endorsers
to promote its social content and increase consumer engagement (Walgrove,
2015).
• Samsung utilizes unique, entertaining, and sharable content across its social
media accounts and encourages consumer conversations centered around its
posts (Walgrove, 2015).
• Samsung has a major presence on all of the most popular social media
platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram (Walgrove,
2015).
• Samsung’s social media managers operate like humans, rather than strictly
corporate business entities.
• Samsung has highly-responsive, dedicated customer support teams available
through its dedicated social media accounts (Kohler, 2015).

5. Weaknesses
• Samsung has to invest more time and resources into its social media presence than its
top competitor Apple, in order to build and maintain top-of-mind awareness among the
consumer audience (Walgrove, 2015).
• Samsung does not focus on a specific niche, which can make it difficult to define its
target social media audience.
• Samsung does not consistently emphasize an active presence across all of its social
media accounts, usually focusing on a certain product line, event, or campaign through
an integrated content approach that may not utilize certain accounts or platforms
(Walgrove, 2015).
• Samsung is often perceived as a fast follower by many consumers, which can
decrease the effectiveness of its social media messaging, particularly when it compares
itself to Apple (Walgrove, 2015).
• Samsung does not charge prices as high as some of its primary competitors like Apple
and Sony. As a result, consumers can perceive a link between its comparatively low
prices and assume low product quality.

6. Opportunities
• Samsung can continue to expand its social media presence and visibility to meet
increased American adult social media usage, as nearly 65% of American adults
use social media in 2015 (Perrin, 2015, p. 1).
• Younger Americans are becoming increasingly dependent on social media as part
of their everyday lives, which is an opportunity for Samsung to target and engage
younger consumers through social media to strengthen its brand.
• Samsung can drive its consumer engagement through the increased use of social
media sweepstakes and contests, particularly on Twitter and Facebook.
• Samsung can continue to target influential followers on different social media
platforms to encourage more consumer awareness and sharing of its social
media content.
• Samsung can continue to utilize social media metrics and consumer feedback to
respond to shifting consumer preferences and directly message its core
consumer groups in real-time (Ungerleider, 2014, p. 1).

7. Threats
• Samsung’s marketing focus is very broad, targeted at capturing the largest
consumer audience possible due to the scope of the global consumer
electronics market (Walgrove, 2015).
• Samsung has a variety of product lines, businesses, and geographic
markets, which can lead to difficulties in consumer discovery of its social
media content due to the large number of accounts it operates (Walgrove,
2015).
• A saturated smartphone market in developed countries and new, low-cost
competitors, like Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, are increasing the amount of
competing brands present on social media (Kovach, 2014).
• Encouraging open, two-way communication with consumers could damage
Samsung’s brand image if it receives a strongly negative response to its
products or campaigns.
• Apple has not prioritized social media marketing to reach consumers in the
past, but it may begin to do so in the future (Campbell, 2015).

8. • Likes: 1,256,578
• Facebook usage: 72% of US adult Internet users (Duggan, 2015).
• 82% of online adults aged 18-29 use Facebook in 2015.
• Samsung often promotes its brand by running integrated social
campaigns and contests, which encourage users to participate, share,
like and contribute, which creates excitement around its products
(Sheehan, 2014).

9. • 23% of US adult Internet users use Twitter
(Duggan, 2015).
• Samsung USA (@Samsungtweets) is
Samsung’s main US Twitter account.
• Followers: 523,000
• Following: 32,500
• Tweets: 34,300
• Favorites: 6,095
• Joined: April, 2009
• Samsung operates several dedicated Twitter
accounts for different purposes such as
geographic regions, brands, customer service,
product support, etc.
• For example, Samsung utilizes Twitter sub-
division channel @Samsungsupport to tackle
consumer issues immediately.

10. @SAMSUNGUSA
• 26% of US adult Internet users use
Instagram (Duggan, 2015).
• Followers: 73,000
• Posts: 447
• Average of 20 comments per photo
• Average of 1,000 likes per photo
• Samsung engages Instagram users
with visual content storytelling and
utilizes promotional hashtags to
integrate content from its other
social media accounts.

11. • 63% of adult Internet users use YouTube (Anderson, 2015).
• Subscribers: 35,360
• Views: 4,741,383
• Joined: Sept 16, 2009
• Samsung posts original video content, designed to entertain consumers, and
encourage sharing, while promoting its brand to a large audience.
• Samsung’s use of social video has been effective in increasing consumer
engagement, as it ranked second on Unruly’s “Most Shared Social Video
Brands of 2014” list (Waterhouse, 2014).

12. • 28% of US adult Internet users use Pinterest (Duggan, 2015).
• Likes: 183
• Followers: 21,200
• Pins: 224
• Samsung posts and encourages consumer sharing of its Pinterest conte
nt to promote its brand, products, campaigns, and events.

13. • 28% of US adult Internet users use LinkedIn (Duggan, 2015).
• Samsung (corporate) LinkedIn followers: 330,608
• Samsung Electronics LinkedIn followers: 647,427
• Samsung’s LinkedIn pages have sections for consumers to view its relat
ed product pages, visit its website, view career opportunities, and view r
egular posts or updates concerning Samsung’s brand.

14. Social Media Strategy Analysis
Purpose and Objectives:
• “We’re focused on growing reach and engagement by creating high quality local
or localized content. As a company that needs to sell a lot, we’re also helping to
sell products via social media. However, what’s even more important is to be
accepted by the community and be an active & helpful part of the community.
We’re trying our best to be as human as possible in the corporate world”
(Chrzanowska, 2015, para. 3).
• Samsung utilizes a content-focused approach to its social media marketing,
delivering unique, entertaining and sharable content to a broad social media
audience (Walgrove, 2015).
• The purpose behind Samsung’s use pf social media is to drive consumer
engagement, interest, and awareness of its brand.
• Samsung’s primary goal is to promote its brand, build a social community around
its brand, and encourage consumer communication.
• Users/followers of Samsung can see prior customers' comments on previously
purchased items, enabling customers to become social media advocates for the
Samsung brand.

15. Target Groups
• Samsung is a global company, with many different audiences all over the
world, therefore it has localized content based on target audiences in different
regions. (i.e.: @SamsungUSA VS. @SamsungRD)
• Throughout its different social media platforms and account types, Samsung
looks to engage digital savvy individuals, influential followers, and young
adults.
• Samsung’s core target segment demographic is primarily younger adults from
ages 18-34.
• Samsung’s baseline target socioeconomic segment in the US is middle-class
consumers.
• Samsung uses social video and event sponsorships to encourage consumer
sharing and discovery of its social media content, even among non-core
consumer groups.

16. Social Media Tools
Appropriate Tools:
• Consumers can access the most recent Samsung product catalog through its
website links and product sub-accounts on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and
YouTube.
• Samsung’s most appropriate tools to communicate and connect with its target
audience are Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.
• Samsung specifically makes excellent use of its social media presence on Twitter
and Facebook for both promotion and for customer service.
• YouTube is important to its strategy as Samsung is one of the most viewed social
video brands in the world (Waterhouse, 2014).
Advantages:
- Customer service reps can quickly see what
is being said about Samsung on social
media.
- Customers can stay updated with
Samsung’s new product offerings and
technologies while at home on their
computers.
- Samsung can more directly message and
target specific consumer groups through its
vast social media presence.
Disadvantages:
- Customer service may receive very
negative and vulgar feedback.
- Customers can view the comments of
others, which may or may not be
positive.
- Consumers may have difficulty
connecting directly to a customer
service representative for their specific
need due to Samsung’s use of multiple
sub-accounts.

17. What Samsung is Doing Right on Social Media
• Samsung uses all of the most popular social media platforms.
• Samsung utilizes social media to communicate with consumers and immediately solve
any issues they face by having dedicated customer support accounts available.
• Samsung shows features of products in everyday life with clever captions to capture
consumers’ attention. Example : using the phone for music while exercising, taking
photos of children playing, or using Samsung appliances for thanksgiving dinner.
• #SamsungGives is used throughout all platforms showing real, hands-on content of
employees serving the community, promoting Samsung’s social responsibility initiatives to
consumers.
• Samsung focuses on creating sharable, engaging content, and encourages social media
conversations about its brand through social video, influencer marketing, contests, and
events.
• Samsung uses hashtags to its advantage by creating campaigns, such as
#SamsungSolves and #SamsungCooks, which create real-time engagement opportunities
with consumers and bring more traffic to its sites.
• Samsung encourages consumers to use its promotional hashtags for a chance to be
published on Samsung’s social media sites.

18. Examples:

19. Improvements to Samsung’s Social Media Strategy
Samsung has experienced a tremendous amount of success on social media. However,
there is always room for improvement. Here are a few tips:
• Post at the right times: research the most active periods for target groups on different
social media platforms to ensure posts have the best chance to be viewed and shared
by the target audience.
• Create more contests/giveaways so there can be an increase in the two-way interaction
between Samsung and its consumers.
• Generate buzz with infographics on channels such as Pinterest, Instagram and
Facebook.
• Make sure customer support accounts are not only responding to complaints, but also
recognizing positive feedback.
• Use planning and scheduling to ensure that branded accounts are maintaining a
consistently active social media presence
• Provide more social video posts and integrate them with posts on other social media
accounts more often.
• Consider consolidating accounts on some platforms like Twitter, without confusing
current followers to increase discovery opportunities.

20. References
Anderson, M. (2015, February 12). 5 facts about online video, for YouTube’s 10th birthday. Retrieved October
25, 2015, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/02/12/5-facts-about-online-video-for-youtubes-10th-
birthday/
Campbell, M. (2015, September 16). New Apple hire suggests upcoming shift in social media marketing strategy.
Retrieved October 25, 2015, from http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/09/16/new-apple-hire-suggests-upcoming-
shift-in-social-media-marketing-strategy
Chrzanowska, Natalia. (2015, May 26). Social media strategy by Samsung Electronics. Retrieved from
http://blog.brand24.net/social-media-strategy-by-samsung-electronics/
Duggan, M. (2015, August 19). The demographics of social media users. Retrieved October 20, 2015, from
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/the-demographics-of-social-media-users/
Forbes. (2015). The world's most value brands: #7 Samsung Electronics. Forbes. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/companies/samsung-electronics/
IDC. (2015, August). Smartphone vendor market share, 2015 Q2. Retrieved from
http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-market-share.jsp
Kohler, N. (2015, March 14). 4 consumer electronics brands with amazing social strategies. Retrieved October
26, 2015, from http://www.woothemes.com/2015/05/social-media-consumer-electronics/
Kovach, S. (2014, July 22). The 'Apple of China' is eating Samsung's lunch. Retrieved October 20, 2015, from
http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-versus-xiaomi-2014-7

21. ReferencesPerrin, A. (2015, October 8). Social media usage: 2005-2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015, from
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/08/social-networking-usage-2005-2015/
Samsung. (2015). Samsung: Our performance. Retrieved from
http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/samsung_group/our_performance/
Samsung Group. (2015). Samsung Group: Values and philosophy. Retrieved from
http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/samsung_group/values_and_philosophy/
Sheehan, A. (2014, January 23). Top Tech Companies Find Success Through Social Media. Retrieved
October 25, 2015, from http://www.paceco.com/top-tech-companies-find-success-through-social-media/
The Wall Street Journal. (2015, October 19). Company profile & executives - Samsung Electronics Co.
Ltd. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from
http://quotes.wsj.com/KR/XKRX/005930/company-people
Ungerleider, N. (2014, May 19). Networked Insights reveals how Samsung used social media to hack the
iPhone. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/3030772/how-samsung-used-social-media-to-hack-
the-iphone
Walgrove, A. (2015, April 28). Content marketing showdown: Apple vs. Samsung. Retrieved October 24,
2015, from https://contently.com/strategist/2015/04/28/content-marketing-showdown-apple-vs-samsung/
Waterhouse, D. (2014, March 12). Activia, Samsung And Nike top list Of Unruly’s most shared social video
brands of 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2015, from https://unruly.co/news/article/2014/12/03/activia-
samsung-nike-top-list-unrulys-shared-social-video-brands-2014/