Optimal ways for companies to use Facebook as a marketing channel
| Date | 17 May 2013 |
| Pages | 112-126 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-12-2012-0024 |
| Published date | 17 May 2013 |
| Author | Linnea Hansson,Anton Wrangmo,Klaus Solberg Søilen |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Optimal ways for companies
to use Facebook as a
marketing channel
Linnea Hansson and Anton Wrangmo
Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden, and
Klaus Solberg Søilen
School of Business and Engineering, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden
Abstract
Purpose – Social media has increased as a marketing channel, and Facebook is the biggest social
media company globally. Facebook contains both positive and negative information about companies;
therefore, it is important for companies to manage their Facebook page to best serve their own
interests. Although most users are familiar with business and marketing activities on Facebook, they
use it primarily for fun and personal purposes. The most effective methods for companies to use
Facebook have not been clear. The personal nature of Facebook presents unique challenges for
companies by raising ethical and social responsibility issues that are important to users. The purpose
of this paper is to discover how companies can optimize their use of Facebook as a marketing channel.
Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted. The respondents were 158 users of
Facebook in Sweden; complete answers were provided by all respondents. In a series of specific
questions and comments, the respondents were asked to describe an optimal marketing solution on
Facebook for companies. They rated different functions, which were illustrated with pictures, to help
in the cognitive process and to avoid misunderstandings.
Findings – Most users who have an opinion on the issue accept marketing on Facebook, but only in
the right amount. There are basically two groups: those who think that companies have no place on
Facebook and those who want companies to be active on Facebook. The latter group emphasizes the
importance of meaningful posts without unsolicited sales messages, and would prefer to search for the
companies themselves rather than being bombarded by company messages. By far, status updates
and pictures/images were found to be the most important functions to respondents.
Research limitations/implications – The sample consisted of only Swedish users. Another
limitation was that, since many Facebook users do not normally think about the implications of being
exposed to marketing on Facebook, they have difficulty taking a position on many issues related to the
service.
Practical implications – Theresults give companies a clear idea of how to effectively use Facebook
in their marketing efforts.
Originality/value – A large number of companies are currently asking themselves, “How can we
use Facebook in an optimal way?” The results in this study answer this question and lead directly to
saving time and resources for these companies.
Keywords Businessethics, e-Business,Internet ethics, Networking,Marketing, Facebook,Social media,
Social networking,Internet, Ethics, Sweden
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Mark Zuckerberg started the social network Facebook at Harvard University in 2004.
Its original purpose was to help students at the university to better communicate with
each other (Krivak, 2008, p. 1). Today, Facebook is the world’s most successful social
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
Received 30 December 2012
Revised 23 February 2013
24 March 2013
Accepted 15 April 2013
Journal of Information,
Communication and Ethics in Society
Vol. 11 No. 2, 2013
pp. 112-126
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-12-2012-0024
JICES
11,2
112
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