This document discusses social media and its use in marketing. It defines social media as a social instrument of communication on the Internet that allows people to share opinions, experiences and information. Social media has changed how people interact and how businesses operate, bringing new marketing methods. The elements of social media are divided into six categories: content creation, content sharing, networking, joint productions, virtual worlds, and plugins. The advantages of social media include easy communication and networking globally. Disadvantages include the time needed to engage actively and privacy/impression concerns. When using social media for marketing, companies should listen to customers, engage and adapt content, participate in conversations, and continue updates and content sharing.

1. Social media in marketing Assignment 2 1 (3)
HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences
Noora Moilanen 18.09.2011
Social media in marketing
What is social media? Social media is a term that is everywhere nowadays. To really explain what the
term social media means it is easiest to split the two words and define both
words separately.
The best way to describe media is that it is an instrument of communication.
This includes television, newspapers and radio, so social media would be a
social instrument of communication.
Social media offers a place where people can share opinions, experiences,
recommendations, information and almost anything else. While social medias
take place on the Internet everything is open 24 hours a day seven days a
week. It makes possible to share everything rapidly and to all over the world.
Social media has changed the way we interact with each other. It offers
countless different places and forums to be active, and to work on all the
different fields of life. Social media also brings a new aspect to way we do
business. It offers firms to see new sides of their customers and also to be
involved in the conversation about their products and services. Marketing in
social media has brought a whole new marketing method to many companies.
Elements of social media
Katri Lietsala and Esa Sirkkunen (2008) have diveded the elements of social
media in to six different categories.
1. Content creation and publishing
This category includes for example different blogs, wikis and podcasting. It is
important to be able to create real content which is interesting to others users.
2. Content sharing
In this category are all the medias where it is possible to share your own
content or someone else’s and to ad comments and recommendations. For
example to share bookmarks (del.icio.us), pictures (Flickr) and videos
(YouTube).
3. Networking and community applications
Applications in this category are probably the most known social media
elements. For example Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace are all about sharing
personal information and to network with different people. They also provide
possibilities to share pictures and other content, but the main idea is to
communicate with other people.
4. Joint productions
This category includes forums like Wikipedia, Ohmynews and Starwreck.
These pages and the content in them are made by the users and it is possible
for everyone to ad content.

2. Social media in marketing Assignment 2 2 (3)
HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences
Noora Moilanen 18.09.2011
5. Virtual world´s
In this category are all the medias, where you can appear as someone else than
yourself. You don´t have to use your own real identity. These medias also
often include different games and communication with other users who might
also have different identity. There are for example Habbo and Second Life
that are included in this category.
6. Plugins
For example it is possible to share content from another provider, like Google
Maps.
These six categories show that the social media field is very large and there are
many different ways to define social media and it´s elements.
Advantages There are many advantages when it comes to using social medias. When using
social media it is easy to communicate with your friends and also with people
you might not know, and come up with new friends and that way network
more. Communication can happen all over the world at the same time.
To get information about things you might not be familiar with, is easy end
extremely quick. You can discuss almost about any issue and there is always
someone you can share your interests with. It is easier to share personal in-
formation in social media than it might be in face-to-face situations.
Social media is also a great way to network and that way it is also a possible fu-
ture tool, when applying to different jobs. Also companies have noticed the
possibilities of social medias and social media has become a new tool of mar-
keting and also hiring. The main advantage is that using social media is mainly
free and that way accessible to all.
Disadvantages There are also some disadvantages in social medias. They are time-consuming
when you want to be an active user. There are so many different medias and
to control even a small portion of them is difficult. There are also problems
when it comes to privacy and if it is properly protected. And when you share
something in social media, there is a possibility that you might not get it away
if you later would want to. When you upload a picture to social media, the
picture becomes property of that particular social media. You also have to
make sure that you give a wanted impression of yourself, because for example
Facebook has become also a hiring tool for companies.
If you can´t use social medias properly you might give a wrong impression of
yourself to those who don´t know you well enough. This applies also to
companies. It is very easy to give a negative picture and it might ruin corporate
image and reputation within minutes.

3. Social media in marketing Assignment 2 3 (3)
HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences
Noora Moilanen 18.09.2011
Main principles in social media marketing
When using different social medias in marketing, it is important to remember
that social media can also have negative aspects if it is not used right. Social
media can be a great addition to company´s marketing plan and it is quite
inexpensive platform. Social media is an easy way to be in contact with
customers, and that brings a huge advantage to a company. They can
communicate with customers and hear their opinions about products and
almost about everything related to the company. Company can also give
information about new products and upcoming news. When a firm uses social
media in marketing they should have consistent approach to the using of
social media. They should do updates frequently enough, so that customers
and potential new customers would be and stay interested.
The main principles are; listen and observe your customers, what they think
about the products and about the company. The next one is to adapt and to
engage. This means that the company should have own content and to share
information about company and at the same keep it interesting and
entertaining. Then it is important to participate and share, which means that
company, should take part in conversation and do it so that you seem equal to
the customer. Finally the company has to keep going with social media, do
more updates, share information and also entertaining content. Competitions
are also a good way to keep customers interested.
Bibliography http://www.getitright.fi/sosiaalinen_media/mita_tarkoittaa
Sosiaalisen ja perinteisen median rajalla (pdf)
http://webtrends.about.com/od/web20/a/social-media.htm
http://socialmediapathways.com/