| dc.description.abstract | Social media has been reported to cause most of the Internet' s traffic. When looking towards the business use of social media, already 94% of companies that have a marketing department use it. Benefits to firms can be manifold ranging from improved customer relationships to cost savings by providing customer service and support through social media (Culnan, Mchugh, & Zubillaga, 2010). However, most companies lack holistic planning for their social media engagements to systematically harness the benefits. Therefore a framework is required that helps companies to develop a social media strategy while closing the gaps in their current deployment.
The qualitative research project focuses on the analysis of the social media efforts of Europe' s 50 largest software companies. Starting with a desk research that analyses the social media accounts of such companies and evaluate the external perspective of their efforts, the identified results help to contrast and select the right cases for a multi-case study through purposive sampling. The multi-case study investigates the internal perspective of eight companies in further depth. The first case serves as a test case to further refine the data collection plan.
The framework points towards three components scope, capabilities and governance that managers of social media need to take into consideration. Based on the framework, a social media cheat sheet is proposed that helps companies to develop their own strategy or identify possible gaps. Furthermore, four key strategies are identified that firms seem to follow: denial, controlled, opportunistic and explorative. Companies can use these strategies to identify the one they are currently following and the one they desire to apply. Overall, the framework and identified strategies help companies to develop and plan their future social media engagements in a more strategic and holistic way. Applying the research results allows firms to better harness the benefits of social media while mitigating negative effects. | |
