This thesis investigates and analyses the social media strategy of eight companies. How the companies measure and evaluate their activity and investments in social media channels in general, and Facebook in particular is studied through qualitative interviews. The findings are then compared and analysed. Findings indicate that companies' social media presences to a large extent are dependent on individual employees with high levels of interest for the area and that companies that have integrated social media into their others operations see more value from their efforts..

Today, social media is used mostly by people in their private life. However, companies are more and more tapping into the area of social media. To this date, mostly B2C companies have been successful in their social media strategies. This qualitative thesis aims to investigate how B2B companies can benefit from using social media as a means to communicate and build relations with their customers. The medtech industry has been chosen as the object of study.Through depth interviews with people in the medtech industry and social media experts, data has been collected in order to answer the questions of (1) how ready customers in the medtech industry are to receive information through social media and (2) how companies can build the best possible social media strategy.

When a crisis hits a company, it is very important that the company communicate with its customers. Communication is important for a company in crisis because this is a way for the company to tell their side of the story and thereby try to get the customers to see things their way. Because mass media reaches a lot of people, it is a simple and fast way for companies in crisis to get their message out to the world. Mass media can be very useful for a company, but it can also be a problem. Mass media and companies in crisis may or may not have the same purpose with the communication.

This study has examined how social media has changed food companies way of holding contests. The study examines how food companies use contests with the help of social media and how they used to do the contests before the use of social media. We have also researched the users behaviours and opinions of companies contests on and outside of social media.In this study we have interviewed four people responsible for contests on the social media department on their respective food company. We also performed a survey that was published on Facebook and followed it up with interviews from two of the participants.This study has showed that contests on social media, as a technical aspect, have given new possibilities for the design of the contests. But there are still some unexplored areas around contests on Facebook and the companies do not know exactly what the users are demanding.

The purpose of this study is to highlight the opportunities of using social media as a communicative tool to attract and engage customers on different social media platforms. In recent years social media has become an important way for business to communicate with people both national and global. The idea behind this thesis was found when we saw different approaches of how companies used social media as a marketing tool. Through a qualitative approach we did eight interviews with six different companies and two social media consults which have given us a basis of what companies really want to achieve with social media. With these interviews we were able to analyze and discuss the abilities to interact with people and how companies distribute content that engage users and increase their credibility to the company..

The purpose of this study is to investigate how social media can affect and influence the B2B-relationship. Social media is now a widespread and accepted tool for communication in many B2C-companies; therefore we find it interesting to examine how social media can find its place in the communication mix of B2B-companies. We are also aiming to distinguish standards in how social media is practiced and discussed in the context of the B2B-market. We have applied a qualitative method for this study and we have interviewed seven respondents, which are experts in social media or working with market communication at B2B-companies in Sweden. During our study we have identified several comparable attributes within the B2B market and their opinions about how social media should be approach and adopt in the communication mix of the company..

Social media has become an important marketing and communication tool worldwide, mostly through the largest social platforms Facebook and Twitter. With two-way communication via Internet companies has gotten the opportunity to interact and communicate directly with their customers. Facebook has been the focus point through the study because it has shown to be the most efficient and frequently used platform for communication. Our study aimed to confirm how communication via social media actually looks like. To be able to reach the best results, we have conducted the study from a phenomenological approach, which means; usage of qualitative semi-structured interviews to reflect the respondents experience on the phenomenon social media as a communication tool. Social media has shown to be a great way of communicating externally for companies who are willing to spend time engaging in the platform.

The purpose of my study is to give a good picture of what social media really is and how companies can make use of it, in their marketing strategy. It gets more important for every day that companies fully understand how social media works and how to act in the new digital channels. To be an updated marketer today, you need to fully understand social media and how it can be implemented in the company marketing strategy. This study gives you a snapshot over todays situation in the area of social media marketing.I have interviewed four different persons, who I believe have a great competence and are highly qualified for this kind of study. All of the interviewed persons work with social media marketing at a daily basis.

AbstractDigital media in general and social media in particular are becoming more and more important to businesses across the globe. It is an effective way to reach out to consumers and establish a good relationship with existing customers. Most companies today use digital media in order to market themselves and to establish good public relations. A lot of those companies have also realized the enormous marketing capabilities that social media provides. However, in spite of the plethora of possibilities that comes with social media it can also, in some cases, hinder the companies ? success.

AbstractDigital media in general and social media in particular are becoming more and more important to businesses across the globe. It is an effective way to reach out to consumers and establish a good relationship with existing customers. Most companies today use digital media in order to market themselves and to establish good public relations. A lot of those companies have also realized the enormous marketing capabilities that social media provides. However, in spite of the plethora of possibilities that comes with social media it can also, in some cases, hinder the companies ? success.

This B.Sc. Thesis examines how Swedish Large Cap companies communicate CSR in social media. We describe the current state of CSR communication in four different social media channels, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, and blogs. This research, supported by interviews with stakeholders and a quantitative survey, analyses the potential risks and benefits from communicating CSR via social media and provides concrete advice on the development of a CSR communication strategy for social media. Although some benefits have been realized, many companies have failed to truly reap the potential benefits from an effective social media strategy for CSR.

This paper intends to show how micro- and small businesses in the tourism and experience industry makes use of social media as a marketing tool. The study also shows the possibilities for businesses to market themselves to customers through social media. Small businesses usually don?t have the same conditions or the same marketing resources that larger companies have. For small businesses that lack marketing resources, social media is a great addition to marketing since the technology around social media is relatively simple.

ABSTRACTElin Johansson, Hanna Johansson, Camilla Nilsson Say something interesting! A qualitative study of marketing communication on Facebook                               Pages: 36With the emergence of social media, new ways has been created for companies to reach out to its audience. From being dependent on journalists to provide information, companies today have the ability to self-publish information in the open media channels. The use of social media should not replace traditional marketing communication though, but works best as a complement. It is a new environment that requires the company to adapt its working methods. Although the work is different, it is important that companies see social media as part of the overall marketing communication and not as a separate project. The purpose of this paper is to study recipient?s experience of company?s communications in social media. We have chosen to relate this to the instructions on methods of marketing communication and social media marketing as found in literature on the subject. This is to examine whether firms achieve the desired effect of the methods that are considered most appropriate. Does the message reach out? The focus of this study is marketing communication in the social media Facebook. The study consists of qualitative interviews to illuminate the recipients' views and experiences, as well as a literature study from the theoretical perspective of the sender of marketing communication in social media. The results showed that business as well as audience must interact in a functional relationship in social media. Companies should be more like the customer they are trying to reach. If companies choose to expose themselves in social media, time must be given to this, which is what the audience expects. Key words: Marketing communication, social media, social media marketing, Facebook, recipients, sender.

Title: The role of social media on today?s markets ? Companies? desire to understand theircustomersAuthors: Kristoffer Avci-Nåmark & Patrik WidlundBackground: The markets of today are characterized by dynamic conditions because of thecontinuous change in consumer preference. Due to this, the interaction between the company and its consumers is gaining importance as companies find the need to increase their knowledge about the market. Out of this need social media has emerged as a tool forcompanies to improve their communication with customers. The popularity of social media isincreasing at a rapid rate and sites such as Facebook now has around 500 million usersworldwide.

Social media has made it possible to have a conversation in real time through audio, images and text, with anyone worldwide. The easy availability of social media has created a new society. Companies and organizations have the opportunity to interact with their audiences and their target in a way not previously possible. Welcome to the Web 2.0 world!Social media is a collective name for the communication channels that allow users to communicate directly with each other in real time through text, image or sound. Examples of social media are blogs, SMS, Skype, Facebook, Flickr, Youtube, Linkedin and Myspace.The purpose of this essay is to explore social media's role and opportunities in terms of being able to influence companies and organizations marketing communication. We have used a qualitative approach and our thesis is based on a qualitative text analysis study where we have analyzed 13 articles (the articles are from scholarly journals, magazines and trade/professional) from 2007 to 2009.