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IN THE FIELD OF TECHNOLOGYDEGREE PROJECT MEDIA TECHNOLOGYAND THE MAIN FIELD OF STUDYCOMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING,SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS
, STOCKHOLM SWEDEN 2017
Improving a company's social media strategyA study based on a competitive analysis
ELVIRA WIKLUND
KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYSCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND COMMUNICATION
Improvingacompany’ssocialmediastrategyAstudybasedonacompetitiveanalysis
ByElviraWiklund,[email protected];CivilengineerinMediaTechnology,MasterofScienceinMediaTechnology.Supervisor:ChristopherRosenqvist,StockholmSchoolofEconomics,DepartmentofMarketingandStrategy.Examiner:HaiboLi,KTH,CSCSchoolofComputerScienceandCommunication,DepartmentofMediaTechnologyandInteractionDesign.Workcommissionedby:SpreeABDateofsubmission:2017-08-03
AbstractThisstudystartedoffduringthespringof2017andhadthegoalofwiththeaidofacompetitiveanalysiscreateanewsocialmediastrategyforthecompanySpree.Duringthelastyears,digitalizationhasgrownincreasinglyandhasbecomemoreintegratedinoursociety.Togetherwiththedigitalization,theuseofsocialmediashasincreased,bothforpersonaluseandforbusinessuse.Forcompanies,theuseofsocialmediasisstillrelativelynew,soadesignedanddevelopedsocialmediastrategycanbecrucialforacompanytoreachoutintherightwayandtotherighttargetgroup.Thisstudyshowthatawell-designedsocialmediastrategycanbecreatedwiththeaidofacompetitiveanalysistogetherwithadeeperanalysisofthecompany’sownsocialmedias.Theanalysisofthecompany’sownsocialmediashelpstoillustratethecurrentflawsthatexists,whilethecompetitiveanalysisassistinfindingrelationshipsthatcanhelpthecompanygetanapprehensionofwhattheirmainfocusshouldbeon.
SammanfattningDennastudiebörjadeundervåren2017ochhadesommålattmedhjälpavenkonkurrensanalysskapaennysocialamedier-strategiförföretagetSpree.Underdesenasteårenhardigitaliseringenväxtalltmerochblivitmerintegreradivårtsamhälle.Tillsammansmeddigitaliseringenharävenanvändningenavsocialamedierökat,bådefördenenskildaindividensamtförföretagen.Menattanvändasocialamedierförföretagärfortfaranderelativtnytt,såatthaenutformadochvälplaneradsocialamedier-strategikanvaraavgörandeförattnåutpårättsättochtillrättmålgrupp.Dennaundersökningvisarattenvälutformadsocialamedier-strategikanskapasmedhjälpavenkonkurrensanalystillsammansmedendjupareanalysavföretagetsegnasocialamedier.Analysenavdetegnaföretagetssocialamedierhjälpertillattbelysadenuvarandebristersomfinns,samtidigtsomkonkurrentanalysenbistårtillatthittasambandsomkanhjälpaföretagetattfåenuppfattningomvaddebörfokuserapå.
Tableofcontent
1Introduction........................................................................................................11.1Background.....................................................................................................................11.2Researchquestion..........................................................................................................21.3Purposeandobjectives..................................................................................................21.4Delimitations..................................................................................................................31.5AboutSpree....................................................................................................................3
2Theory.................................................................................................................42.1Socialmedia...................................................................................................................42.2SocialmediainB2Bcompanies:advantagesandobstacles...........................................62.3Socialmediapresence....................................................................................................72.4Socialmediastrategy.....................................................................................................82.5Hashtagsandtheirpurposes........................................................................................10
3Methodology.....................................................................................................123.1Thesisresearchmethodology......................................................................................123.2Datacollectionfromsocialmedias..............................................................................13
3.2.1Twitter...................................................................................................................133.2.2Instagram..............................................................................................................143.2.3Facebook...............................................................................................................153.2.4LinkedIn.................................................................................................................163.2.5YouTube................................................................................................................17
4Resultsandanalysis...........................................................................................194.1ResultsfromSpree’sformersocialmediastrategy......................................................194.2ResultsfromthecompetitiveanalysisonSocialMedia...............................................20
4.2.1Spreeonsocialmedia............................................................................................204.2.2Businesstypeandcompanysizeamongthecompanies.......................................234.2.3Theuseofsocialmediaandtherelationtonumberofemployees......................244.2.4Categorizationsinrelationtosocialmedia...........................................................264.2.5Averagenumberofpostsinrelationtonumberofemployees............................274.2.6Theuseofsocialmediainrelationtobusinesstype.............................................314.2.7Analyzinghashtags................................................................................................32
5Discussion.........................................................................................................345.1Spree’sformersocialmediastrategy...........................................................................345.2Relationshipsseenfromthecompetitiveanalysis.......................................................355.3Spree’snewsocialmediastrategy...............................................................................375.4Ethical,socialandsustainabilityperspectives..............................................................385.5Methodcriticismandlimitations.................................................................................39
5.5.1Numberofcompaniesinthecompetitiveanalysis...............................................395.5.2Categorizationoftheposts...................................................................................405.5.3Timeperiodforpostsandhashtags......................................................................40
5.6Furtherresearch...........................................................................................................40
6Conclusion.........................................................................................................426.1Answeringthethesisquestion.....................................................................................42
6.1.1Thefirstsub-question...........................................................................................426.1.2Thesecondsub-question......................................................................................43
7References.........................................................................................................44
8Appendix...........................................................................................................478.1Definitionsandabbreviations......................................................................................47
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1IntroductionThissectiongivesanintroductiontothethesisresearchproblemandincludesbackground,researchquestion,purpose,delimitationsandlastabriefdescriptionofthecompanySpree,forwhichthisresearchiscarriedout.
1.1BackgroundBytheyearof2020,anentiregenerationwillhavegrownupinaprimarilydigitalworld.Theinternet,mobilephones,computers,textingandsocialmediaareallsecondnaturetothisgeneration.Thefamiliarityoftechnologyandtherelianceonmobilecommunicationsamongthisgroupwillchangebothhowweconsumeandhowwework.Thephenomenonofdigitalizationisreachingintoeverypartsofourlivesasaresultofthreedifferentsourceswhicharereinforcingeachother.Thesethreesourcesareconsumerpull,technologypushandeconomicbenefits.Consumersarenowadaysfullyadaptedtothedigitalenvironmentandnaturallyexpecttoalwaysbeconnected.Theyarewillingtosharepersonaldataandtrustinformationfromtheirclosestfriends.Atthesametimearethedigitaltechnologycontinuingtoextenditsinfluence.Thedigitalworldisbringingbroadbandtobillionsofconsumerswhilelow-costdevicesareproducedineveryindustry.Theeconomicbenefitsfromdigitalizationaremany.Agreatdealofcapitalhasbeenflowingintothedigitizationtechnologiesandcompanies,andthepublicmarketrewardstheearlydeveloperswithgreatvaluations(PwC,2017).Togetherwiththedigitalization,socialmediahasbecomeabigpartofpeople'slife,bothwhenitcomestotheirpersonallifeandtheirprofessionallife.Nowadays,usersoftheinternetdedicatearoundaquarteroftheironlinetimeonsocialmedia.Thedifficultiesthecompaniesexperienceisthattheyneedtoopenthemselvestothisnewrealityandseeitasanopportunityinsteadofathreat.Theyalsoneedtotaketheopportunityofferedbythesocialmediastoinasustainablewayimprovetheirbusinessdevelopment.Socialmediaopensupnewwaystocommunicatewithbothcustomers,suppliersandemployees.Itisfarmorethanjustamarketingtoolandcanbeusedforsalesandinnovationmanagementpurposes.Opendialogsandco-creativecontentdevelopfreshideasfornewproductsandlinesofbusiness.However,socialmediaisalsoastrategicchallengebecauseitaffectsthewholeorganization.Thegoalspursuedbytheuseofsocialmedianeedstoberootedincorporatestrategy.Thisrequireachangeinmindsetwhichishardforcompanies,
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basedonthefactthatin2014only17%ofcompaniesusedsocialmediainagenuinelystrategicway(RolandBerger,2014).Intheearlierdayswhencompaniesusedsocialmediaformarketingpurposes,everyonewasonthesamelevel,tryingoutseveraldifferenttacticstofindthesecretkeytosuccess.Nothingwasofflimitsandcompaniesjustwantedtoknowwhatworked.Today,companiesarenotasinexperiencedastheyweresomeyearsagoandinsteadoftryingtoguesswhatworks,theyhaveexamplesanddatatoworkwith.Thereareseveralwaystousethiskindofdata,andperformingasocialmediacompetitiveanalysiscanbeoneofthem.Acompetitiveanalysisonsocialmediaallowsthecompaniestogetanin-depthlookatwhattheirclosestcompetitorsaredoingtobesuccessful(Jackson,2017).
1.2Researchquestion Thismasterthesisisbasedononecentralresearchquestionfollowedbytwosub-questionsthattogetherwillbeanalyzedanddesignedintoasocialmediastrategy.Theresearchquestionis:“HowcanananalysisofaB2Bcompany’ssocialmediapresencetogetherwithacompetitiveanalysisassistinimprovingthecompany'ssocialmediastrategy?” Togetherwithsub-questions:
● Cananyrelationshipsbetweenthecompaniesincludedinthecompetitiveanalysisbeseen?
● Whatarethemaindifferencesinthecompany'sownappearanceonsocialmediacomparedtotheirmaincompetitors?
1.3PurposeandobjectivesThepurposeofthisthesisistogainbetterunderstandingoftheimportanceofagooddigitalpresenceonsocialmediasforaB2Bcompany’svisibilitytotheirintendedtargetgroup.Gainingthisunderstandingwillhopefullyguidecompaniesintherightwayandhelpthemtofindouthowtheirsituationonsocialmedialooksliketoday,butalsotofindoutwhattheywanttofocusoninthefuture.Thisstudywillalsoproposeasuggestionofhowandwhentousethedifferentkindofsocialmediastogetthemostoutoftheintendedpurpose.Thegoalistobeabletofinda
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directiveofhowacompany,inthiscaseSpree,canusetheirsocialmediasinaneffectiveandefficientwayandatthesametimekeepupwiththeirmaincompetitors.
1.4DelimitationsTheaimofthisresearchisnottoperformanin-depthresearchforeachandeveryoneofthecompany’sdifferentsocialmedias,andtheplanisnottoanalyzeallofthesocialmediapostsindetail.Neitherwillanin-depthanalyzebeperformedonthemaincompetitors’socialmedias.Thefocusofthisreportisrathertogetabriefunderstandingofhowthecompanyandtheircompetitorsareusingtheirsocialmedias,includingwhattypeofcontenttheypost,atwhattimetheyaredoingupdatesandhowoftentheyareposting.Thisistobeabletoseeifthereissomesortofcommondenominatorbetweenthecompanyandtheircompetitorswhenitcomestosubject,timeandplaceofthesocialmediaupdates.Thisresearchwillcreateabetterunderstandingandhighlighttheimportanceforacompanytounderstandhowtousetheappropriatesocialmediatogetthemostoutoftheintendedpurpose.
1.5AboutSpreeSpreeisacreativedigitalITagencywhichhavebothemployeesasconsultantsworkingattheircustomers,butalsoemployeesworkingwithin-houseprojects.Spreehasthreemainfocusareas:thefirstisthattheydevelopcustomizedsolutionswithfocusoninteractiveinstallationsandIT-systems.TheirsecondfocusareaistheircompetenceintheirconsultantsworkingwithITprojectsattheircustomers.Andthethirdfocusareaisthattheymakesuretobeinthefrontedgeintechnology,bothwhenitcomestohardwareandsoftware.Spreehasemployeeswithcompetenceinrequirementsanalysis,UXanddesign,front-andbackendprogrammingtogetherwithsensorandhardwareprogramming.Spreeproducebothoverallsolutionsorspecificpartsinprojects,dependingonthecustomerandtheprojectconditions.
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2TheoryThischapterpresentsresearchdoneearlierinthefieldsofsocialmedia,socialmediapresence,socialmediastrategyandhashtagsonsocialmedia.Thistheorywillassistasabackgroundfortherestofthereport.
2.1SocialmediaSocialmediapenetrationisever-increasingworldwide.During2016,therewereanumberof2.34billionsocialmediausersworldwide,andthatnumberisexpectedtoriseuntil2.95billionusersin2020(Statista,2016).OneofthemostuseddefinitionsofsocialmediaiswrittenbyKaplanandHaenlein(2010)wheretheystatethat:“SocialmediaisagroupofInternet-basedapplicationsthatbuildontheideologicalandtechnologicalfoundationsofWeb2.0,andthatallowthecreationandexchangeofUserGeneratedContent”.Butworthmentioningisthatsocialmediahasduringtheyearsbecomesuchabroadterm,thataccordingtoJussila,KärkkäinenandAramo-Immonen(2014)itisimportanttoconsiderthat:“socialmediaarecertainlynotaunifiedandwell-definedsetofapproaches,andthus,thisshouldbetakenintoconsiderationwhenstudyingtheuseandpotentialofsocialmediainselectedcontexts”.Consideringthis,thedefinitioninthenextparagraphwillactasthebasisoftheuseofsocialmediainthisreport.
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Figure1.Numberofsocialmediausersworldwidefrom2010to2016with
projectionsuntil2020(inbillions).Source:Statista.
Socialmediaisagenerictermforseveralwebpagesandservicesontheinternet,butcanbedescribedasmeetingplaceswheretheuserscancreatetheirowncontent,networkandmakecontactwithothers(Skolverket,2016).Socialmediahasduringtheyearsstartedtobecomeimportantdigitalmeetingplacesforacquaintancesandfriendsandareseenassubstantialcommunicationplatforms.Socialmediacanincludeseveraldifferentsocialactivitiessuchas:photosharing,videosharing,blogging,microbloggingandsocialnetworking.Withthetwo-waycommunication,socialmediascreatetheopportunityforbothindividualsandbusinessestomakemoneyonthenetworksanditalsocreatesagreatspacefortheexchangeofelectronicwordofmouth(Cawsey&Rowley,2016)Inthebeginningof2017,therewere1.87billionusersonFacebook,600millionusersonInstagram,317millionusersonTwitterand106millionusersonLinkedIn,allgiveninthenumberofactiveusers(Statista,2016).Consideringthesehighnumberofactiveusers,moreandmorebusinessesusesocialmediainordertoengagecustomerswiththeirbrandandproducts.Socialmediaarealsousedasacommunicationstoolformarketing.Withinthebusiness,socialmediacancreatecapabilitiesthatcouldendupinusefulresourcesforthebusiness,whichinturncantranslateintocompetitiveadvantagesandhigherperformance(Siamagka,etal.,2015).
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2.2SocialmediainB2Bcompanies:advantagesandobstaclesUsingsocialmediaforseveralpurposesarebecomingmoreandmorecommoninorganizationsandcompanies,butgenerallyithasduringtheyearsbeendifferencesinhowB2BcompaniesandB2Ccompaniesusethem.Onemainreasonforthisisthattheproducts,marketsandproductdevelopmentincludesubstantialdifferencesinthetwodifferentsectors.OftenareproductsproducedbyB2Bcompaniesmorecomplexandthedevelopmentofnewproductsoftentakemoretimeandthecustomersareoftennosinglepersonsbutinsteadlargeorganizations.InB2Bmarkets,therearenormallyfewercustomersthanintheB2CmarketandinB2Bmarketsitiscommonwithmoredirectandintenseco-operation.AnothermajordifferencebetweenthetwomarketsarethattheproductsintheB2Bbusinessoftenarepurchasedbyprofessionalpersonnelwhoconsiderseveralcriteriabeforebuyingproducts.TheytendtofindoutplentyofinformationabouttheB2Bproductsandtheynormallyevaluatedifferentalternativesbeforemakingabuyingdecision.BecauseofallthisdifferencesbetweenB2BandB2Cmarkets,itisarelativelycommonassumptionthatitismoredifficulttousesocialmediainB2Brelationships(Jussila,etal.,2014).AbigbarrierthatearlierdeterredtheadoptionofsocialmediasitesintheB2BcontextwasthepoorunderstandingofhowtousethesitesforB2Bmarketingpurposes.ItwasalsocommonthatitwashardtorecognizethebenefitsthatcamealongwiththeutilizationofthesitestoB2Bcompanies.MarketersoftenbelievedthatB2Bpartnersrequiredmoreindividualapproachandmorefacetofaceinteraction,whichnormallyishardtoachieveonline.Therefore,thenatureoftheonlineenvironmentwasanotherfactorwhichwasthoughttocreateasomewhatbadimpressionoftheusabilityofsocialmediasinB2Bbusinesses.Inadditiontothis,alackofcontroloverthecommunicationonsocialmediadeterredcompaniesfromadoptingthem.ThecompanieswereinearlieryearsafraidoftheimpossibilitytocontroltheexchangeofinformationonlineandwereanxioustodisclosureconfidentialinformationwhichmighthaveaheavyimpactonthefutureB2Bbusiness(Lacka&Chong,2016).
DespitethecontingencyforB2Bcompaniestousesocialmedia,statisticsshowthattheusageofsocialmediaisincreasing,andbyintheendof2015,93%ofmarketersinB2Bcompaniesusedsomesortofsocialmedia(Sobal,2015).Todate,researchshowsthatsocialmediaareefficientlyandeffectivelyusedforseveralofB2Bmarketingactivitiesincludingtargetingandconsumerrelationshipmanagement.ItisshownthatmarketersinB2Bbusinessesusesocialmediatoidentify,attractbusinesspartnersandnewbusinessopportunitiessuccessfully(Lacka&Chong,2016).
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KaplanandHaenlein(2010)emphasizesthatmarketinginB2Bbusinesseseffectivelyemploysocialmediainbrandingstrategies.Socialmediaopensupforthepossibilitytocreateauniquebrandloyaltyandbrandidentity.Customerengagementiseasilycreatedonsocialmediasandfurthermore,theycanbeusedtodirecttraffictoacompany'swebpageandtherebyincreasebrandawarenessworldwide(Veldeman,etal.,2015;Lacka&Chong,2016).
2.3SocialmediapresenceSocialmediapresenceisessentiallyapartofonlinepresencemanagement,whichreferstotheprocessofpresentinganddrawingtraffictoapersonalorprofessionalbrandonline.ImportanttoknowisthatthisterminologydoesnotrefertotheresearchandtheoryofKietzmannetal.(2011)whodefinespresenceasoneofthesevenbuildingblocksinthe“honeycombframework”.Inthehoneycombframework,presencerepresentshowuserscanknowifotherusersareaccessibleornot.Itincludesknowingwhereothersareintherealworldand/orinthevirtualworld.Inthisstudy’scontext,socialmediapresencereferstohowauserpostandhowtheyengageonsocialmedias.Itreferstotypeofcontent,frequencyinpostsandtheengagementlevelonthesocialmediaaccounts.Socialmediapresenceinthisstudy’scontextdoesnotrefertoifthecompany’ssocialmediaaccountsexistsornot,itratherreferstothecompany’scapabilitytoappearintherightwaywithintheadequatesocialmediaplatform.KaplanandHaenlein(2010)presentsaclassificationschemewhichincludethetwoelementsofsocialmedia:socialpresenceandmediarichnesstogetherwithself-presentationandself-disclosure.Theyarguethatdifferenttypesofsocialmediumscanbesortedintodifferentlevelsofsocialpresence,asshowninFigure2.
Figure2.ClassificationofSocialMediabysocialpresence/mediarichnessandself-
presentation/self-disclosure.Source:KaplanandHaenlein,2010.
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Companiescanbenefitfromhavingagoodanddevelopedsocialmediapresence.PinheroandVerissimo(2014)presentsanumberofbenefitsofferedbysocialmediapresencewherethebenefitofimprovinginformationgatheringandfeedbackbeingthemostimportantbenefit.Thebenefitofincreasingknowledgeisarguedtobesecondmostimportant.Severalotherbenefitsofhavingagoodsocialmediapresenceforcompaniescanforexamplebe:thebenefitofpromotinginternalandexternalrelationship,thebenefitofsupportingdecision-makingprocessandthebenefitofincreasedproductivity.
2.4SocialmediastrategyTobeabletodefinesocialmediastrategy,itisofgreatimportancetohaveagoodknowledgeofthetermstrategyitself.Mintzberg(1978)definesstrategyas“apatterninastreamofdecisions”whereadecisionisdefinedasacommitmenttoaction.Porter’s(1996)definitionofstrategyis“thecreationofauniqueandvaluableposition,involvingadifferentsetofactivities”.BasedonbothMintzberg’sandPorter’sdefinitionsofstrategy,EffingandSpil(2016)definessocialmediastrategyas“agoal-directedplanningprocessforcreatingusergeneratedcontent,drivenbyagroupofInternetapplications,tocreateauniqueandvaluablecompetitiveposition”whichalsoisthedefinitionwhichwillbeusedinthisstudy’scontext.Thereisnospecificsocialmediastrategythatisappliedbymostcompaniesandthereisneitherastrategythatispointedouttobethebestone.Sincesocialmediastrategiesinitselfareaquitenewphenomenon,theresearchwithinsocialmediastrategyisbroadandpointsinseveraldirections.Infact,mostofthesocialmediastrategiesdifferfromoneanother:someareverycomplexandsomearesimplerintheirstructure.Huotarietal.(2015)presentsasocialmediastrategyframeworkbasedonthreekeyelements.First,useanintegratedmarketingcommunicationstrategywithuser-generatedcontentcreation.Second,havebothaprofessionalcommunityandaciviliancommunitysothatbothprofessionalsandcivilianscandebate.Andlast,focusontrainingandencouragingemployeestousesocialmedia.Wilsonetal.(2011)presentsfourdistinctsocialmediastrategies,whichdependonacompany’slevelofresultssoughtandtoleranceforuncertainoutcomes.Thefirstapproachiscalledthe“predictivepractitioner”andrestrictusagetoaspecificarea.Itnormallyworksgreatforcompaniesseekingtodelivermeasurableresultswithestablishedtoolsandatthesametimeavoiduncertainty.Thesecondapproachis
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the“creativeexperimenter”wherecompaniesembraceuncertaintyandusesmallteststofindwaystodeveloppracticesandfunctions.Thecompaniesusingthisapproachaimtolearnbylisteningtotheircustomersandemployees.The“socialmediachampion”isthethirdapproachandinvolveslargeinitiativestocreatepredictableresults.Itmayincludeexternalpartiesanddependoncollaborationacrossseveralfunctionsandlevels.Thefourthandlastapproachisthe“socialmediatransformer”whichfacilitatelarge-scaleinteractionsthatreachesouttoexternalstakeholderswhichallowscompaniestouseunexpectedwaystoimprovethewaytheydobusiness.Importanttoconsideristhatallofthesefourstrategiesaretemporal,andmanycompanieswillprobablyprogressfromonetoanother.AquitewellknownsocialmediastrategyistheonepresentedbyKietzmannetal.(2011).Itisaguidelinewhichrelateshowfirmsshoulddevelopstrategiesforunderstanding,monitoringandrespondingtosocialmediaactivities:the4Cs.The4Csrepresentsfourwords:cognize,congruity,curateandchase.Acompanyshouldrecognizeandunderstandtheirsocialmedialandscapetobeabletounderstandtheircustomers.Itisimportantforthecompanytoknowifandwherecustomershaveconversationsaboutthefirm.Nextcomescongruity,whichmeansthatacompanyneedstohavestrategiessuitedfordifferentsocialmediafunctionalitiesandthecompany’sgoals.Thisincludesfocusingonthemostimportantfunctionalitiesofasocialmediathatwillfacilitatetheneedsofthecompany.CurateisthethirdC,meaningthatafirmneedstoactasacuratorofthesocialmediacontentandtheinteractionstakingplacethere.Actingascuratorinvolvesestablishinganunderstandingofwhenandhowoftenacompanyshouldenterconversationsonsocialmediaplatforms,andwhointhecompanythatwillrepresentthemonline.Lastcomeschase,whichmeansthatacompanyconstantlyneedtochaseforinformationintheconversationsonsocialmediastoknowwhatcouldaffectcurrentandfuturepositionsinthemarket.EffingandSpil(2016)presentsasomewhatdifferentwayofviewingsocialmediastrategy.Theypresentaframeworkthatcanbeusedforreviewingthecomprehensivenessofacompany’sexistingsocialmediastrategiesbutalsobeusedasaguidelinefordesigningnewcorporatesocialmediastrategies.Theystatetheideathatmostorganizations’socialmediastrategiesarenotyetwelldevelopedandarethereforeintroducingthesocialstrategycone,seeninFigure3.Thesocialstrategyconeintroducessevenkeyelementsasapartofacomprehensivesocialmediastrategyandcombinethesekeyelementsinthreestagesofmaturityforsocialmediastrategydevelopment.Atthebottomoftheconeintheinitiationstagearethekeyelementstargetaudienceandchannelchoice.Companiesoftenseemtostartwithmakingdecisionsregardingthesetwoelements.Inthesecondstage,thediffusionstage,companies’extenttheirattentionandaddelementssuchasthe
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definitionofgoals,allocatingresourcesandcreatingpoliciesandguidelinesforuse.Inthetopstage,thematuritystage,companiespayattentiontoallofthesevenkeyelementsincludingplanningofcontentactivitiesandmonitoring.
Figure3.Thesocialstrategycone.Source:Effing&Spil,2016.
2.5HashtagsandtheirpurposesAhashtagisastringofcharactersprecededbythehash(#)character.Hashtagsareoftenusedonmicrobloggingsites,suchasTwitter,butarealsocommononothersocialmedias,withInstagramasanexample(Tsur&Rappoport,2012).Thehashtagsymbolcanbeusedfordifferentpurposes,butisoftenusedasawayofmarkingaconversationwithintheplatform.Thehashtagthenservesasanindexingsystemintwodifferentsenses:itbothallowstheorderingandquickretrievalofinformationaboutaspecifictopicforsomeonelookingforupdatednewsonthespecificevent,butitalsofunctionssemioticallybymarkingtheintendedsignificanceofanutterance.Hashtagscanbecomparedwiththecodingsystemusedbyanthropologists:theyallowuserstonotsimplyfiletheirpostsandcommentsbutalsotosupportwhattheseare“reallyabout”andbythatindicateameaningthatmightnotbeapparentotherwise.Hashtagsoperatesimilartolibrarycallnumbers:theycollectpostsandcommentswithinaspecificconversation,makingthemeasyandquicktotofind,whilealsomarkingpostsandcommentsasbeing“about”aspecificsubject.Inaddition,hashtagscanlinkalargeamountofpostsandcommentsonagiventopicordisparatetopicsasapartofanintertextualchain,
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regardlessofwhetherthepostshaveanythingtodowithoneanother(Bonilla&Rosa,2015).Anyonecanmakeahashtagandstartcreatingpostsincludingit.Becauseoftheeaseofuse,businessapplicationforhashtagsisgrowing.Itiscommonforhostsofwebinarofin-personconferencestoprovideahashtagfortheevent.Sometimeseventheattendeesthemselvescreatesahashtagfortheevent(Golden,2010).Whenacompanyisusingahashtagintheirpostsorcomments,theyincreasethepossibilityforittospreadtoabiggergroupofpeople,makingitpossibletoseeitasamarketing-tool.Stathopoulouetal.(2017)examinestheeffectsofcreativityonconsumerbrandedhashtagengagement.Consumerbrandedhashtagengagementencouragesconsumerstoshareadvertisementonlinethroughdifferentsocialmediaplatformswiththesupportofhashtags.Theypresentaconceptualmodel,asshowninFigure4,whichincludethethreedimensionsofadvertisingcreativity:novelty,resolutionandelaboration.Theyarguethatitistobeexpectedthatthehigherthedimensionsofcreativityinanadvertisement,thehighertheprobabilitythatconsumerswillbeinvolvedinbrandedhashtagengagement.Theyalsoexpectthatcreativeadvertisementwillmorelikelygetconsumerstobeinvolvedinbrandedhashtagengagementwhenheorsheismorefamiliarwiththebrand.Sharingintentisdrivenbyengagementneeds,anditisonlytheadvertisementsthatsucceedstokeeptheviewer’sinterestthatwillbesharedonline.
Figure4.Conceptualmodelinconsumerbrandedhashtagengagement.Source:
Stathopoulouetal.,2017.
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3MethodologyThissectiondescribesthethesisresearchmethodologyandexplainswhyandhowthedecisionswasmadeduringtheprocess.Itdescribeswhichkindofdatathatwascollectedfromthesocialmedias,andhowitwasretrieved.ItalsoshortlydescribesthemethodofhowthedatawasgatheredfromSpree’sformersocialmediastrategy.
3.1ThesisresearchmethodologyTheresearchmethodologyforthisthesiswasaquantitativeresearchperformedbyacompetitiveanalysis.ThecompetitiveanalysiswasperformedbygatheringalotofdifferentkindofdatafromSpree’sandtheirmaincompetitors’socialmediaaccounts.Conductingaquantitativeresearchthroughacompetitiveanalysiscanaccomplishseveralthings:itcanoutlinewhattacticsothersareusingtohelpcreateasmartersocialmediastrategy,itcansparkideasforcreativecampaignsoruniquewaystousesocialmediachannelsanditcanrevealwhatchannelsandareascompetitorsarefocusingon,sothatabetterstrategycanbedeveloped(Allen,2016).Thegoalofthiscompetitiveanalysiswastotrytogetanapprehensionofhowtousesocialmediasinthebestpossiblewayforthecompany,andusetheretrieveddatatocreateanewsocialmediastrategy.InexcessofthecompetitiveanalysiswereinformationavailablefromSpree’sexistingsocialmediastrategyalsogathered.Theinformationwascompiledfromdocumentscomposedbythemanagementgroupsomeyearsago.Tobeabletostartcollectingdataforthecompetitiveanalysis,adecisionofwhichcompaniesshouldbeincludedinitneededtobemade.Atotalamountof27companieswasselectedbytheCEOofSpreeandseenastheirmaincompetitors.Alistwithallofthecompanies’websiteswasusedasabasetobeabletofindtheirsocialmediaaccounts.Inoccasionswherethecompanydidnotlinktotheirsocialmediasthroughtheirwebsite,asearchcontainingastringofthecompanynamewasmadedirectlyinthesearchfieldoneachsocialmediaplatform,tofindoutifanaccountexisted.
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3.2DatacollectionfromsocialmediasThefirstdecisionbeforestartingtocollectdatafromdifferentsocialmediaswastodecidewhichsocialmediaplatformstoobserveandanalyze.AftergettingaccesstoallofSpree’ssocialmediaaccounts,arelativelyquickobservationwasmadetogetanapprehensionofwhichsocialmediaswereactivelyusedandwhichwasnot.Twitter,FacebookandInstagramwasfoundtobethetopthreesocialmediaplatformthatSpreeusedmostfrequently.AccountsonLinkedInandYouTubealsoexisted,butonLinkedIntheyhadanaccountforSpree,howevertheyhadneverpostedanypoststhere.OntheirYouTubeaccount,theyhadintotalthreevideosposted,withthelastonepostedmorethanthreeyearsago.Tobeabletostorealltheretrieveddata,aspreadsheetwithcategoriesforallthedatawascreatedforeachsocialmedia.Thiswayofstoringdataisacommonmethodandisoftenusedwhenperformingacompetitiveanalysis(Jackson,2017).
3.2.1TwitterTwitterwasthemostapparentsocialmediatoanalyzeanduseforthecompetitiveanalysisconsideringitisthesocialmediaplatformSpreeusesandupdatethemostwhenattendingconferencesandsimilarevents.ThereareseveralkindsofdatathatcanbegatheredbyobservingtheTwitterprofileofacompany,forexample:numberoffollowers,numberoffollowingaccountsandthenumberoftotaltweets(showninImage1).Numberoffollowersandnumberoffollowingaccountswereseenasimportantforthecompetitiveanalysis,butnumberoftotaltweetswerefoundtobehardtocomparesinceallofthecompanieshadstartedtousetwitterduringdifferentyearsandwouldthereforehaveabigdifferenceinnumberoftotaltweets.Instead,thechoicetoonlylookatnumberoftweetsduringthelastyearwasmade.Registrationsofnumberoftweetsduringthelastmonth,thelastthreemonths,thelastsixmonthsandthelastyearweremade.AmajorfeatureonTwitteristhepossibilitytousehashtagsinthetweets.Themajorityofthetweetsontwitterhavehashtagsincluded,andforthisreasonhashtagsweredecidedtobeincludedinthecompetitiveanalysis.Acollectionofallofthehashtagsusedduringthelastsixmonthsweremade,andoutofallofthemthetopfivemostfrequentlyusedhashtagswereregisteredforeachcompany.Hashtagscangiveahintofwhattopicaspecificpostisreferredto,buttobeabletocomparethedifferentcontentinthetweets,sevencategoriesweremadeandallofthetweetsduringthelastyearwerecategorizedintooneofthem.Theseven
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categorieswere:postsfromtheoffice/workshops,postsfromconferences,postswithproducts/solutions,postsincludingcompetitions/questions,postsaboutwhatothercompaniesarewritingabout,postsaboutrecruitment,andpostswith“generalinformation”,whichforexamplecouldbeapostwishingallthefollowersaMerryChristmas.ThesesevencategorieswerechosenafterlookingthroughthelatesttweetsfrombothSpreeandtheircompetitors.
Image1.AscreenshotofSpree’sTwitteraccountprofilepage.
3.2.2InstagramInstagramwasthesocialmediathatSpreeupdatedthemostandhadbeenmostactiveonrecently.InstagramisasocialmediathatisquitesimilartoTwitter,atleastwhenitcomestothedatathatcanbegatheredfromit.BylookingattheInstagramprofileofacompany,dataofnumberoffollowers,numberoffollowingaccountsandthenumberoftotaltweetscanberetrieved(seeImage2).NumberoffollowersandnumberoffollowingaccountsweregatheredandjustasinthemethodforTwitter,thedecisiontoonlylookatthelastyear’snumberofpostsweremade,withnotationsofnumberofpostsduringthelastmonth,thelastthreemonths,thelastsixmonthsandthelastyear.OnInstagram,thepossibilitytousehashtagsisimplementedinthesamewayasforTwitter.Therefore,thesameapproachofretrievinghashtagdatawasperformed.Allofthehashtagsusedduringthelastsixmonthswerecollectedandfromthem,andthetopfivemostusedhashtagswereregisteredforeachcompany.Also,thecategoriesusedforsortingtheTwitterpostswereusedinthesamewayforthe
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Instagramposts.AllthepostsonInstagramduringthelastyearwerelookedthroughandcategorizedintooneofthesevendifferentcategories.
Image2.AscreenshotofSpree’sInstagramaccountprofilepage.
3.2.3FacebookOnFacebookpages,thereareagreatdealofdatapossibletogatheraboutacompany,buttobeabletodoacompetitiveanalysis,thepossibilitytocomparethedatawithothercompaniesisnecessary.Therefore,thedataabletoretrievefromtheFacebookaccountswaslimited.SimilartobothTwitterandInstagram,thenumberoffollowerscanbeseenontheFacebookpage,andthisinformationwasgathered.Facebookalsotracks“numberoflikes”whichissimilartofollowingapage,butyoucanlikeapagewithouttheneedtofollowitandthereforeareoftennumberoflikeshigherthannumberoffollowers(seeImage3).OtherdatathatcanbefoundontheFacebookpageandwasconsideredpossibletocomparewasthenumberofpeoplewho“havebeenhere”.“Havebeenhere”isthenumberofpeoplewhohave“checkedin”atthecompany’soffice,afeatureFacebookoffertheiruserstobeabletoshowwheretheyareorhavebeenlocated.Facebookalsoallowscompaniestopublishdifferentkindsofposts,andsimilartoTwitterandInstagramdatacanbegatheredfromthethose.OnFacebook,postsfromthelastmonth,lastthreemonths,lastsixmonthsandlastyearwasalsogathered.Tobeabletocomparetheposts,thesamesevencategoriesusedforTwitterandInstagramwasusedfortheFacebookposts,including:postsfromtheoffice/workshops,postsfromconferences,postswithproducts/solutions,posts
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includingcompetitions/questions,postsaboutwhatothercompaniesarewritingabout,postsaboutrecruitment,andpostswith“generalinformation”.ThedecisiontonotgatherdatafromhashtagsonFacebookwasmade,evenifFacebookofferthepossibilitytousehashtags.ThisdecisionwastakenbecausetheimplementationofhashtagsonFacebookhasnotbeenthatsuccessfulasithasbeenforTwitterandInstagram,anditisnotthatcommontousehashtagsinFacebookposts.
Image3.AscreenshotofSpree’sFacebookaccountprofilepage.
3.2.4LinkedInLinkedInisasocialmediawhereSpreehasanexistingaccountwithacompanypage,buthaveneverpublishedanyposts.However,theyhavetheintentiontostartusingLinkedInmore,andthereforethedecisiontoanalyzeanddoacompetitiveanalysisonLinkedInwasmade.Thedatagatheredfromthe“aboutus”boxonthefrontpageoftheLinkedInprofilewasnumberoffollowers,companysize,typeofbusinessandexpertarea(seeImage4).SimilartoTwitter,InstagramandFacebook,thepublishedpostsweregatheredfromthelastmonth,thelastthreemonths,thelastsixmonthsandthelastyear.Allofthesewerealsocategorizedintothesevencategoriesusedfortheothersocialmedias:postsfromtheoffice/workshops,postsfromconferences,postswithproducts/solutions,postsincludingcompetitions/questions,postsaboutwhatothercompaniesarewritingabout,postsaboutrecruitment,andpostswith“generalinformation”.Thedecisiontousethesamecategoriesforallof
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thesocialmediaplatformswasmadetobeabletocomparethemandanalyzethemeasier.
Image4.AscreenshotofSpree’sLinkedInaccountprofilepage.
3.2.5YouTubeYouTubeisasocialmediawhereSpreehasanexistingaccount,buttheyhavenotbeenusingitduringthelastthreeyears.YouTubeislikeLinkedInasocialmediaSpreehastheintentiontostartusingmorefrequently,sothereforeitwaschosentobeincludedinthecompetitiveanalysis.Notthatmuchdatacanbegatheredfromacompany’sYouTubeaccount,sothedatathatiswasconsideredtobeabletocomparewasnumberofsubscribersandnumberofposts:i.e.numberofuploadedvideos.Numberofuploadedvideoswereregisteredduringthelastmonth,thelastthreemonths,thelastsixmonthsandthelastyear,justaswiththepostsontheothersocialmedias.Thesepostswerealsocategorizedintothesevencategories:postsfromtheoffice/workshops,postsfromconferences,postswithproducts/solutions,postsincludingcompetitions/questions,postsaboutwhatothercompaniesarewritingabout,postsaboutrecruitment,andpostswith“generalinformation”.Image5showsascreenshotofSpree’sprofilepageonYouTube.
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Image5.AscreenshotofSpree’sYouTubeaccountprofilepage.
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4ResultsandanalysisThissectionincludestheanalysisofthedatacollectedduringthecompetitiveanalysisfromthedifferentsocialmedias.PresentedisalsothedataretrievedfromSpree’sdocumentswithinformationoftheirearliersocialmediastrategy.Themethodthatwasusedtocollectthedatageneratedalargeamountofinformation.Withthislargeamountofdata,theabilitytointerpretthedatadependsontheresearcher.Theambitionofthisstudywastoanswertheresearchquestiontogetherwithitssub-questions,andthereforewastheinterpretationofthedatawiththosequestionsasamainfocus.
4.1ResultsfromSpree’sformersocialmediastrategyThedocumentsaccessedwithinformationofSpree’sformersocialmediastrategywasreadthroughandsummarized.Theinformationthatexistedaboutthesocialmediastrategywereshortandconcisebutsubstantialtousetobeabletoseethedifferencesinthesubsequentstrategy.Table1showsthesummaryofSpree’sformersocialmediastrategyconstructedbyinformationgatheredfromdocuments.Theformersocialmediastrategyincludedwhichsocialmediastofocuson:Facebook,Twitter,LinkedInandYouTube,anditincludedwhattypeofcontenttopublishonthesocialmediastogetherwiththefrequency,i.e.howoftentheyshouldbeupdated.ForInstagramtherewerenospecificsocialmediastrategy.Table1.TablewithasummationofSpree’sformersocialmediastrategycomposed
byinformationfromdocuments.
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4.2ResultsfromthecompetitiveanalysisonSocialMedia
4.2.1SpreeonsocialmediaTobeabletoperformacompetitiveanalysiswithsomethingtopresupposefrom,Spree’scurrentsocialmediasituationwasstudiedmorecloselythantheothercompaniesincludedinthestudy.ShowninTable2aresomebriefdatapresentingfollowers,followingandtotalamountofpostsduringthelastyearforallfivesocialmediasincludedinthecompetitiveanalysis.ThisiscreatedtoeasilyshowandgetaquickoverviewofhowfrequentlyandhowmuchtimethatwasspentoneachofSpree’ssocialmedias.Table2.Tableshowingthedifferentsocialmediasfollowers,followingandposts
madeduringthelastyear.
WhenitcomestocollectandcompilethesocialmediadatafromSpree’ssocialmediaaccountsonLinkedInandYouTube,therewerenotmuchdatatocompile.OnLinkedIn,Spreehasanexistingaccount,butithasneverbeenupdatedwithanyposts,sotherewasnodatatoanalyzeandcompareduringthelastyear,incontrasttoInstagram,FacebookandTwitter.SpreealsohasanexistingaccountonYouTube,butithasnotbeenupdatedduringthelastthreeyears.Sinceitonlywasthepostsduringthelastyearthatwasgoingtobeincludedinthecompetitiveanalysis,noneofSpree’spostsonYouTubewereusedinthisstudy.ForTwitter,InstagramandFacebook,numberofpostsduringthelastyear,from30thofMarch2017backto1stofApril2016,waslookedfurtherinto.Allpostsduringthelastmonth,lastthreemonths,lastsixmonthsandlastyeararepresentedinFigure5.Duringthelastmonth,noupdateshasbeenmadeoneitherFacebookorTwitter,whileoneupdatehasbeenmadeonInstagram.Lookingatthelastthreemonths,mostupdateshasbeenmadeonInstagram,withsixupdatescomparedto
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fourupdatesonFacebookandoneupdateonTwitter.However,lookingattheupdatesduringthelastsixmonths,thepostsonthesocialmediaplatformsdoesnotdifferremarkably.Twitterisstillthesocialmediawithfewestupdates,butnumberofpostsonFacebookarenowmorethanthenumberofpostsonInstagram.Themostsubstantialdifferenceinupdatescanbeseenwhenlookingatupdatesduringthelastyear.Duringthelastyear,approximatelytwiceasmanyupdateshasbeenmadeonFacebookcomparedtobothInstagramandTwitter.
Figure5.DepictionofSpree’snumberofpostsonInstagram,FacebookandTwitter
duringthelastyear.ThetypeofcontentinthepostsonSpree’ssocialmediaswerealsolookedintocloser.AllofthepostsonInstagram,FacebookandTwitterfrom30thofMarch2017andoneyearbackwereanalyzed.Allpostsweredividedintooneofthesevenpre-decidedcategories,whichcanbeseeninFigure6.Figure6presentsthethreesocialmediasInstagram,FacebookandTwitter,dividedintothesevencategoriesshowingthepercentageofnumberofpostsineachcategory.Themostcommontypeofposts,whenlookingatallofthethreesocialmediastogether,istheconferencescategory.Morethan60%ofallofthepostsonTwitterduringthelastyeararecategorizedintothiscategory.ConferenceswerealsothecategorymostfrequentlyusedinpostsonInstagram,evenifitwasnotasdistinctasforthepostsonTwitter.Facebookisthesocialmediawherethepostshasthebiggestdistributionamongallofthesevencategories.TheonlycategorywherenoneofthepostsonFacebookweresortedintowasthecompetitionscategory,whichamongallthethreesocialmediaswerethecategorywithleastnumberofposts.Thetopthreemostusedcategorieswhenlookingatthemintotalwerepostsfromtheoffice/workshops,
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postsfromconferencesandpostsshowingproducts.Theleastcommoncategorieswerepostsaboutcompetitions,sharesfromothers,andpostsaboutrecruitment.
Figure6.Thepercentageofnumberofpostsdividedintothesevencategoriesfor
Instagram,FacebookandTwitter.ForpostsonTwitterandInstagramweretheuseofhashtagslookedfurtherinto.Allhashtagsusedinthepostsduringthelastsixmonthsweregatheredandcounted.ThefivemostfrequentlyusedhashtagsonSpree’sTwitterandInstagramaccountsarepresentedinTable3.ForTwitter,themostusedhashtagduringthelastsixmonthswas”uxopen”,whichisahashtagusedforaconferencelocatedinStockholm.ThemostusedhashtagonInstagramwas“kinect”,whichisamotionsensinginputdevicethatSpreesometimesuseforprojects.Twohashtagscanbeseenamongthetopfivehashtagsonbothsocialmedias:“hololens”and“spreetechdays”.HoloLensisapairofmixedrealitysmartglasseswhichSpreeusesforseveralprojectsand“spreetechdays”wasahashtagSpreeusedduringtheconference“MicrosoftTechDays”inSweden.Table3.TablepresentingSpree’stopfivemostcommonhashtagsonTwitterand
Instagram.
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4.2.2BusinesstypeandcompanysizeamongthecompaniesThedataforthecompetitiveanalysiswasgatheredfrom28differentcompanies,withSpreeincluded.Alloftheother27companiesareinonewayoranotherseenascompetitorstoSpreeeveniftheyarenotintheexactsamebusiness.Figure7showsthedivisionofallofthe28companiestypeofbusinessesaccordingtotheirLinkedInprofile.Spree’stypeofbusinessisspecifiedasIT.TheITbusinessisthemostcommontypeofbusinessamongthecompanies,withapercentageof25%.Secondmostcommonbusinesswith21%isthedesignbusinessandthethirdmostcommonbusinessamongthecompaniesistheinternetbusiness,withapercentageof17%ofthecompanies.The27companiesselectedasSpree’smaincompetitorsdifferinbothbusinessandcompanysize.Spreeisaquitesmallcompanywith11-50employeesaccordingtotheirLinkedInprofilepage.Apresentationofnumberofemployeesamongthe28companies,gatheredfromeachcompaniesLinkedInprofile,canbeseeninFigure8.
Figure7.Depictionofthedivisionofbusinessamongthecompaniesincludedinthe
competitiveanalysis.
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Figure8.Depictionofthe28companiesincludedinthecompetitiveanalysisdivided
intonumberofemployees.
4.2.3TheuseofsocialmediaandtherelationtonumberofemployeesInthecompetitiveanalysis,thedataofhowmanycompaniesthatwereusingwhichsocialmediaswereretrieved.Figure9presentsthetotalpercentageofhowmanyoutofthe28companiesthatareusingeachsocialmedia.Thegreencolorrepresentsthepercentageofcompaniesusingthesocialmedia,andthebluecolorpresentsthecompaniesnotusingthesocialmedia.Amongthecompanies,FacebookandLinkedInareusedbymostcompanies,whileYouTubeisthesocialmediausedbyfewestcompanies.Amongthe28companiesincludedinthecompetitiveanalysis,numberofemployeesweredividedintofivedifferentdivisions,asseeninFigure8inthepreviousparagraph.Dependingonnumberofemployeesinthecompany,numberofactivelyusedsocialmediaswithinthecompanydiffer.Figure10showsadivisionoftheaverageuseofnumberofsocialmediasdependingonnumberofemployeesinthecompany.Thecompanieswithonlyoneemployeehaveanaverageuseoftwosocialmedias,whilethecompanieswiththehighestnumberofemployeesinaverageusefoursocialmedias.Thegraphshowsthataroughrelationbetweenincreasingnumberofemployeesandincreasinguseofnumberofsocialmediascanbeseen.
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Figure9.Thetotalpercentageofhowmanycompaniesthatareusingeachsocial
media.
Figure10.Divisionoftheaverageuseofnumberofsocialmediasdependingon
numberofemployeesinthecompany.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
100%
Instagram Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
Percentageofcompaniesnotusingthesocialmedia
Percentageofcompaniesusingthesocialmedia
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4.2.4CategorizationsinrelationtosocialmediaAsmentionedinthemethodchapter,thetypeofcontentinthepostswerelookedintocloser.AllthepostsonInstagram,Facebook,TwitterandLinkedInfrom30thofMarch2017andoneyearbackwerecategorizedintothesevenpre-decidedcategories.Figure11showsthefoursocialmediasdividedintothesevencategoriesshowingtheaveragepercentageofpostineachcategoryforallthe28companies.ForInstagram,“Theoffice/Workshops”,“Products”and“Generalinformation”arethethreecategorieswiththehighestpercentageofpostsoutofthesevencategories.Postsincludedinthe“Competitions”and“Sharesfromothers”categoriesforInstagramareleastcommon,postsincludedinthesecategoriesonlycompose2%orlessoutofthetotalnumberofposts.Facebookhastwocategoriesmorecommonthantheothers:“Products”and“GeneralInformation”.Approximately60%ofthepostsonFacebookareinoneofthesetwocategories.The“Competitions”categoryforFacebookhasapercentageof0%,whichimpliesthatnotasingleoneofthecompanieshasmadeapostsonFacebookincludedinthiscategory.ThepostsmadeonTwitterareallocatedmoreevenbetweenthecategories.Postabout“Products”,“Generalinformation”andpostabout“Recruitment”arethemostcommoncategories,while“Sharesfromothers”,postabout“Conferences”andpostsfrom“Theoffice/Workshops”arelesscommon.Theonlycategorywith0%ofthepostsarethe“Competitions”category.Almost45%ofthepostsmadeonLinkedInareincludedinthe“Products”category,whichimpliesthatnearlyhalfofthepostsmadeofthecompaniesonLinkedInarepostsrelatedtoproductsmadebytheowncompany.Postsinthecategory“Competitions”aretheleastcommonpostsonLinkedIn,withhardly1%ofthetotalnumberofposts.Postsfrom“Theoffice/Workshops”,postsabout“Recruitment”andpostsincluding“Generalinformation”arethethreesecondmostcommonlyusedcategoriesonLinkedInafterthemostcommoncategory“Products”.
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Figure11.Diagramshowingthepercentageofthetotalamountofpostsdividedinto
sevencategoriesforInstagram,Facebook,TwitterandLinkedIn.
4.2.5Averagenumberofpostsinrelationtonumberofemployees
Inthecompetitiveanalysis,allpostsduringthelastyearwereregisteredforallofthecompanies.Figure12-15presentschartsshowingnumberofpostsmadeduringthelastmonth,lastthreemonths,lastsixmonthsandlastyear,dependingonsizeofthecompany.ThesizeofthecompanyisretrievedfromthecompaniesLinkedInpages,andaredividedintofivecategoriesrangingfrom1employeeto201-500employees,representedbydifferentcolorsinthechart.DataretrievedsolelyfromSpree’saccountsisalsoshowninthefigures,representedasagreendottedline.Theverticalaxisrepresentstheaveragenumberofpostsforthecompaniesduringthespecifictimeperiod,andthehorizontalaxisrepresentsthevarioustimeperiods.AchartofYouTubewaschosennottobeconstructedsinceonlyfouroutofthe28companiesinthecompetitiveanalysishadpostedanythingonYouTubeduringthelastyear.Figure12presentnumberofpostsduringthelastyearonInstagram.ThecompanywithonlyoneemployeedidnothaveanInstagramaccountandisbecauseofthatnotincludedinthechart.Inthischart,noclearcorrelationcanbeseenbetweennumberofemployeesandnumberofposts.Companieswith51-200employees,arethecompanieswhichupdatethemostonInstagramwhenlookingatthelastsixmonthsandlastyear.However,lookingatthelastmonthandlastthreemonths,thecompanieswith51-100and201-500employeesarepostingsimilaramountofpostsduringthesetimeperiods.Thecompanieswith2-10and11-50employeeshas
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duringthelastyearpostedlesspoststhancompanieswith51-200and201-500employees.Thebiggestdifferenceinnumberofpostsinrelationtonumberofemployeesisseenwhenlookingoneyearback.Duringthattimeperiod,thecompanieswith2-10and11-50employeeshaspostedlessthanhalfasmanypostsasthecompanieswith51-200and201-500employees.Spree’snumberofpostsareoverthelastsixmonthssimilarwiththecompanieswith2-10and11-50employees,butSpreehasduringthelastyearcreatedlesspostsintotal.
Figure12.DiagramshowingaveragenumberofpostsonInstagramduringdifferenttimeperiods,withthecompaniesdividedintofourcategoriesdependingoncompany
size.ThedatafromSpree’sInstagramaccountisalsopresented.ThedatacollectedfromFacebookdiffersomewhatincomparisontothedatacollectedfromInstagram.ThedatafromFacebookcanbeseeninFigure13,andinthischartisalsothecompanywithonlyoneemployeeincluded,sincethatcompanyhasanaccountonFacebook.Inthischart,acorrelationcanbeseenbetweennumberofemployeesandnumberofposts.Thecompanieswith201-500employeeshasduringallthetimeperiodsoftheyearthehighestnumberofupdates,andthecompanieswith51-200hasduringtheyearsecondmostupdates.Spreehassimilarnumberofpostsasthecompanieswith11-50andthecompanywith1employee,whenlookingatallthedifferenttimeperiodsduringthelastyear.Companieswiththesizeof2-10numberofemployeeshasduringthelastyearmadeleastnumberofpostoutofallthecompanycategories.
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Figure13.DiagramshowingaveragenumberofpostsonFacebookduringdifferenttimeperiods,withthecompaniesdividedintofivecategoriesdependingoncompany
size.ThedatafromSpree’sInstagramaccountisalsopresented.Figure14presentsthedataretrievedfromTwitterduringthelastyear.ThecompanywithonlyoneemployeedidnothaveaTwitteraccount,andisbecauseofthatreasonnotrepresentedinthechart.JustasinthechartforFacebook,thechartforTwittershowsacorrelationbetweennumberofemployeesandnumberofpostsdependingonsizeofthecompany.Thecompaniesinthelargestcompanysize,201-500employees,hasduringthelastyearmadealmosttwiceasmanypostsonTwitterasthesecondlargestcompanysizegroupwith51-200employees.Allofthedifferentcompanysizesshowanincreaseinnumberofpostsbetweenthedifferenttimeperiods,butthatisnotthecaseforSpree.TheonlyupdatesSpreehasmadeonTwitterisduringthelastthreemonthsandthelastsixmonths.Noupdatesweremadeduringthelastmonth,andbetweenthelastyearandlastsixmonths,therewerenoupdatesmadeeither.
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Figure14.DiagramshowingaveragenumberofpostsonTwitterduringdifferent
timeperiods,withthecompaniesdividedintofourcategoriesdependingoncompanysize.ThedatafromSpree’sInstagramaccountisalsopresented.
LinkedInis,amongallofthecompanysizes,thesocialmediawiththeleastnumberofupdatesduringthelastyear.Neitherofthetwosmallestcompanysizes:1employeeand2-10employees,haveaLinkedInpagewithanyupdatesduringthelastyear,andarethereforenotseeninFigure15whichrepresentstheupdatesmadeonLinkedInduringthelastyear.AcorrelationbetweencompanysizeandaveragenumberofpostsduringthetimeperiodscanbeseenforLinkedIn,justaswithFacebookandTwitter.SpreehasaLinkedInprofile,butdonothaveanyupdatesduringthelastyear,andarethereforeseeninthechartasastraightlineinthebottomofthechart.
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Figure15.DiagramshowingaveragenumberofpostsonLinkedInduringdifferent
timeperiods,withthecompaniesdividedintothreecategoriesdependingoncompanysize.ThedatafromSpree’sInstagramaccountisalsopresented.
4.2.6TheuseofsocialmediainrelationtobusinesstypeAsmentionedearlier,allthe28companiesincludedthecompetitiveanalysisweredividedintotendifferentbusinesstypes,dependingontheirselectionontheirLinkedInprofiles.Therelationbetweenbusinesstypeandthecommonnessofeachsocialmediawasseenassignificantforthecompetitiveanalysis.Anotationofwhichsocialmediaseachofthe28companieswereusingweremade,andthensortedintotherightbusinesstype.Apercentageofhowmanycompaniesineachbusinesstypethatusedeachofthesocialmediaswerecalculated.Infigure16,tenlightgreycirclescanbeseen,representingeachofthetendifferentbusinesstypes.Ineachlightgreycircles,smallercirclesincolorscanbeseen.Eachcolorrepresentingaspecificsocialmedia.Thebiggerthecircle,themorecommonisthatsocialmediaamongthecompaniesinthespecificbusinesstype.Ifabubbleissmallitmeansthatasmallpercentageofthecompaniesinthatbusinessusesthesocialmedia,andifabubblenotexistatall,noneofthecompaniesinthatbusinesstypeusesthatsocialmedia.Thereisonebusinesstypewhereallofthecompaniesuseallsocialmedias:thePersonnelbusinesstype.Thisisshownbyeverycoloredcircleinthelightgreycircleisinmaximumsize.IntheITbusiness,FacebookandLinkedInarethemostcommonlyusedsocialmedias,whileYouTubeistheleastcommonusedsocialmedia.ThecompaniesincludedintheArchitecturebusinesstypeonlyusestwosocialmedias:FacebookandLinkedIn,andthecompaniesintheMoviebusinesstypeonlyusesthreesocialmedias:Facebook,TwitterandLinkedIn.Theleast
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commonsocialmediaamongallofthebusinesstypesisYouTube.YouTubeisonlyusedbythreebusinesstypes:IT,PersonnelandSoftware.
Figure16.Depictionofthecommonnessofeachsocialmediadependingonbusiness
type.
4.2.7Analyzinghashtags
Hashtagswerecollectedfromtwosocialmedias:TwitterandInstagram.Theywereretrievedfromallthepostswithhashtagsduringthelastsixmonths.ForInstagram,15outofthe28companieshadhashtagsincludedintheirpostsduringthistime.Therestofthecompanieseitherdidnotusehashtagsintheirposts,orhadnotbeenpostinganythingatallduringthelastsixmonths.ForTwitter,only12outofthe28companieshadmadeanypostswithhashtagsduringthelastsixmonths.Sincethehashtagswereretrievedfromsofewcompanies,itishardtodrawanydefinitiveresultsthatcanapplytoallcompanies.However,lookingatthecollectedhashtags,severalofthemwereincludedinthesametypeofposts,andthemajorityofthemcouldbedividedintothreedifferentcategories:hashtagsabouttheowncompany,hashtagsfromconferencesorhashtagsabouttechnology.Exampleofhashtagsincludedinthecompanycategorywas:#expologyor#screeninteractionwhichisthenameoftwocompaniesincludedinthecompetitiveanalysis.Hashtagsincludedinthecategoryconferenceswereforexample#UXopenwhichisaconferencein
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StockholmforUXdesignand#tdswewhichistheofficialhashtagforMicrosoftTechdays.Inthetechnologycategoryhashtagslike#hololensand#VRwereincluded.Table4showsnumberofhashtagsincludedineachofthethreecategoriesforbothInstagramandTwitter.Whenlookingatthetable,onecanseethatthetypesofhashtagsareuseddifferentlyonInstagramandTwitter.OnInstagram,hashtagsaboutthecompanyarethemostcommoncategory,with14hashtags,whileonlyfivehashtagsareincludedintheconferencecategoryandsevenhashtagsareincludedinthetechnologycategory.OnTwitter,themostcommonhashtagsareincludedintheoppositecategories.Themostcommoncategoriesareconferenceswithelevenhashtagsandtechnologywithtenhashtags,whiletheleastcommoncategoryiscompanywithsevenhashtagsinthatcategory.Table4.Tablepresentingnumberofhashtagssortedintothreedifferentcategories
forInstagramandTwitter.
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5DiscussionThissectiondiscussesthemainfindingsoftheconductedresearchandwhattheimplicationsofthefindingsareforSpreeasacompanywhenitcomestosocialmediapresence.Theresultsfromthecompetitiveanalysisareputintherightcontextsinceindividualnumbersontheirowncanbemisleading.Theresearchquestionofthismasterthesisreportis:“HowcanananalysisofaB2Bcompany’ssocialmediapresencetogetherwithacompetitiveanalysisassistinimprovingthecompany'ssocialmediastrategy?”.Tobeabletoanswerthisquestion,thedataretrievedinthestudyneedstobeanalyzedanddiscussedwhileputintherightcontext.Spree’ssocialmediastrategywilllaterinthissectionbedevelopedandimproved,withtheaidoftheresultsfromthecompetitiveanalysis.
5.1Spree’sformersocialmediastrategyThedatafromSpree’sformersocialmediastrategyshowthattheirmainfocuswassupposedtobeonFacebookandTwitter.Itwasonthesetwosocialmediastheyweresupposedtohavemostfrequentupdates,whileLinkedInandYouTubewasgoingtobeupdatedlessfrequent.Instagramwereprobablysuchanewsocialmediawhenthestrategywascreatedsoitwasforthatreasonnotincludedinthestrategy.Facebookwasaccordingtothesocialmediastrategygoingtobeupdatedwith“gossip”andthingsSpreedoes,andbeingupdatedeachweek.ButwhenlookingatthedataretrievedfromSpree’ssocialmediasinchapter4.2.1,onecanseethatduringthelastmonth,Facebookhavenotbeenupdatedatall,andduringthelastthreemonthsithasonlybeenupdated4times.Thecontentinthepostshaveontheotherhandbeenfollowedquitegood,sincethemajorityofSpree’spostsonFacebookareinthecategories“Theoffice/Workshops”,“Products”and“GeneralInformation”,andthesecategoriescohereprettygoodwith“gossip”andthingsSpreedoes.Twitter,whichaccordingtotheformersocialmediastrategy,weregoingtobeupdatedweeklyoratleastmonthly,neitherhaveanyupdatesduringthelastmonth.Lookingbackduringthelastthreemonths,onlyoneupdatehasbeenmade.WhenitcomestothecontentonTwitter,thestrategywastoupdateinformationofwhereSpreewereandsharecoolsolutions.TheresultsfromtheanalysisofSpree’sTwitteraccountshowthatmorethan65%ofallthepostswereincludedinthe“Conferences”category,butonly12%ofthepostwere“Products”or“Sharesfrom
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others”,sothestrategyconnectedthecontentinthepostswerenotfollowedcompletely.Spree’sYouTubeaccountdonothaveanyupdatesatallduringthelastthreeyears,sothesocialmediastrategyforYouTubehavenotbeenfollowedatall.InSpree’sformersocialmediastrategy,theplanwastofromtimetotimepostvideosshowingmaterialfromlabsessionsetc.ThesocialmediastrategyforLinkedInwastosendoutinvitationsandlinktoblogpostsfromtimetotime,butthishasnotbeenfollowedeither.Duringthelastyear,notasingleposthasbeenmadeonSpree’saccountonLinkedIn.ThecomparisonofSpree’sformersocialmediastrategywiththedataretrievedfromSpree’ssocialmediaaccountsshowthatSpreehavenotbeenfollowingthestrategytheycreatedacoupleofyearsago.Italsoshowsthatthestrategyisinneedofanupdate,mostlybecauseoneimportantbigsocialmediaismissing:Instagram.ThecomparisonoftheformersocialmediastrategyandthedatafromSpree’ssocialmediaaccountwilllaterinthissectionbeusedasinformationandguidancewhenthenewsocialmediastrategyisdesigned.ThisdatacollectionandanalysisperformedonSpree’sownsocialmediascaninthesamewaybeappliedtoanyothercompanyaswell.Justasdescribedinthissection,performingananalysisonacompany’sownsocialmediashelpstofindoutwhatisworkingwell,butalsohighlighttheflawsofthecurrentsituation.Beingawareofwhatisworkingandwhatisnot,isofhighimportancetocreateanew,improvedsocialmediastrategy.
5.2RelationshipsseenfromthecompetitiveanalysisAspresentedinthetheorypart,earlierresearchshowthattheearlyadoptionofsocialmediainB2Bcompanieshavehadsomeobstacles.Therehasbeenapoorunderstandingofhowtousethesocialmediasitesformarketingpurposesandithasbeenhardtorecognizethebenefits.Butthedatacollectedduringthecompetitiveanalysisshowthatallofthe28companiesuseatleastonesocialmediaactively.ThisresultstrengthensthestatisticsfromSobal(2015),showingthattheusageofsocialmediainB2Bcompanieswasmorethan93%by2015andisconstantlyincreasing.Theresultfromthecompetitiveanalysisshowedthatallofthe28companiesuseatleastonesocialmedia,butonlyafewofthemareusingallsocialmedias.OnlyfiveoutofallthecompanieshaveaccountsonbothInstagram,Facebook,Twitter,
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LinkedInandYouTube.Theresultshowedthattherearetwosocialmediasusedbymostofthecompanies:FacebookandLinkedIn.Thatthesetwoarethemostpopularmediasarenotthatsurprising,sincemostofthecompaniesincludedinthecompetitiveanalysisareB2Bcompanies,andthesetwosocialmediashaveseveralfunctionsdesignedforespeciallycompaniesandnotonlyforpersonaluse.LinkedInisasocialmediathatworksasasocialnetworkingservice,andismeantforprofessionalnetworkingforemployersandjobseekers(LinkedIn,2017)soasaB2Bcompany,thebenefitofhavinganaccountonLinkedInareseveral.AcompanycantakecareofamajorpartoftherecruitmentonLinkedIn.Theycanbothfindnewinterestingemployeesandalsopostjobsavailableatthecompany.Itisalsoagreatplatformtobeactiveonsincetheplatformsiscreatedforbusinesspurposes.Facebookontheotherhand,isasocialmediaplatformwithlotsoffunctionalities.It’smadeforbothpersonaluseandbusinessuse,sincecompaniescancreateownFacebook-profiles.Facebookisagreatsocialmediatouseforacompanyconsideringitisoneofthebiggestsocialmediasintheworld,sothereisagreatpossibilitytoreachouttoagreatdealofpeopleeasily(Statista,2017).YouTubeisthesocialmediaincludedinthecompetitiveanalysisusedbyfewestcompanies.Lessthan20%ofthecompanieshaveaYouTubeaccount,andevenfewercompanieshavepostedsomethingduringthelastyear.WorthmentioningisthatYouTubeactuallyisoneofthefastestgrowingsocialmediasatthemoment(Oza,2016),soevenifthecompetitiveanalysisshowthatmostcompaniesdonotuseit,itmightbeconsiderabletoincludeinthesocialmediastrategyforfuturepurposes.Theresultsindicatethatdependingonthecompanysize,thenumberofsocialmediasthecompanyusevary.Aroughrelationbetweenincreasingnumberofemployeesandincreasinguseofnumberofsocialmediaswereseen.Onereasonwhythisrelationshipwasseencanbethatbiggercompanieswithmoreemployeeshavemoreandbetterresourcestotakecareofthesocialmediapartinthecompany.Withmoreemployeesinthecompany,thebiggerarethechancethatsomeoneworkingforthecompanyhavetimetofocusontheirsocialmediaaccounts.Thecompanieswithmoreemployeesarealsowithgreatprobabilitycompaniesthatarequitewell-known,whichcanresultintheirsocialmediasbeingbiggerandhavemorefollowersthansmallercompanies.Ifacompanyhasonesocialmediawithlotsoffollowers,thereisagreatchancethatthefollowerswillfollowtheirothersocialmediaaccountsaswell.
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5.3Spree’snewsocialmediastrategySpree’snewsocialmediastrategyhasbeencreatedbyanalyzingtheresultscollectedduringthecompetitiveanalysis.Spreewantedtheirsocialmediastrategytobeeasytounderstandandfollow,andpreferablypresentedinamatrix.Table5presentsSpree’snewsocialmediastrategybasedonfourdifferentdivisions:content,frequency,targetgroupandmeasurement.Thecontentcategorypresentswhattypeofcontentthatshouldbepostedoneachsocialmedia.Thisinformationisbasedontheresultsfrom4.2.4showingwhattypeofcontentthatismostcommontopostoneachsocialmedia.Thecategorypresentedfirstineachsquareisthetypeofcontentthatshouldbepostedmostfrequent.Importanttorememberthatthisonlyissupposedtogiveanindicationonwhattopostonthedifferentsocialmedias,itdoesnotmeanthatthesecategoriesaretheonlythingsthatareallowedtopost.Thesecondcategoryisfrequency,whichpresentshowoftenpostsshouldbemadeoneachsocialmedia.Thisisbasedontwothings:thepopularityamongthecompaniesofeachsocialmediapresentedin4.2.3andtheresultfrom4.2.5whichpresentsaveragenumberofpostsinrelationtonumberofemployees.ThefrequencyissettobepossibletofollowforacompanyofSpree’ssize,andshouldbeseenasabenchmarkratherthanarequirement.Thetargetgroupcategoryisbasedontheresultfrom4.2.4whichshowswhattypeofcontentthatismostcommononeachsocialmedia.Itisalsobasedonananalysisofthecontentoneachsocialmediaforthecompanieswiththehighestnumberoffollowers.Companieswithahighnumberoffollowersdomostlikelyhaveagoodsocialmediastrategyandknowshowtoreachouttotherighttargetgrouponeachsocialmedia.Thecombinationbetweenthisanalysisandtheresultsin4.2.4givesasufficientestimationofwhattargetgrouptofocusonforeachsocialmedia.Thelastcategoryinthesocialmediastrategyismeasurement.Thiscategoryisimplementedtobeabletoseeifthesocialmediastrategyisworking,butalsotogetaquickapprehensionofwhatkindofpoststhatworksthebestoneachsocialmedia.Theinformationineachsquareisbasedonthedifferentfunctionseachsocialmediaprovides.
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Table5.Spree’snewsocialmediastrategycreatedbytheresultsfromthecompetitiveanalysis.
Thenewsocialmediastrategyisbasedonthe4Cs,thetheorypresentedbyKietzmannetal.(2011).ThesocialmediastrategyletsSpreerecognizetheircustomersandtargetgroup.ItalsogivesSpreethepossibilitytohavecongruity,astheyhavedifferentstrategiesfordifferentsocialmedias.Togetherwiththeabove,thestrategyalsoletsSpreeactasacuratorwhenapplyingthemeasurementcategory.ThesocialmediastrategyalsoletsSpreechaseforinformationintheconversationsonsocialmediatoaffectthefuturepositioninthemarket.Sincenodirectrelationshipsintheuseofhashtagscouldbeseenfromthecompetitiveanalysis,itishardtoincludeitinthenewsocialmediastrategy.Theresultatleastshowedthatmostofthehashtagsincludedinthepostscouldbedividedintothreemaincategories:hashtagsabouttheowncompany,hashtagsfromconferencesorhashtagsabouttechnology.ThesethreecategoriescanbeusedasaguidelinetoworkfromwhenSpreewillusehashtagsintheirposts.
5.4Ethical,socialandsustainabilityperspectivesInallresearchdrivenbydatagathering,especiallyinresearchdrivenbypersonaldata,theresearcherneedstoconsiderthequestionofintegrity.Thisstudyhowever,donothandleanypersonaldata,onlydataavailableforeveryonetocollectandanalyze.Theethicsofdatawhenworkingwithcompaniesiseasiertohandle,andinthisreporttheethicalprinciplesisratherhowmuchacompanycanimitateothercompaniesinordertostillkeepitethical.
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Thisreportisnotdirectlyconnectedtosustainabilityfromanenvironmentalviewsinceitisfocusesondevelopingasocialmediastrategy.Intermsofsustainabilityfromasocialandeconomicperspective,itisofgreatimportanceforthecompanytoknowthatthesocialmediastrategyfromtimetotimeneedstoadapttothesocialchangesthatwillevolve.Thisreportisbuiltonacompetitiveanalysisperformedonfivesocialmedias:Instagram,Facebook,Twitter,LinkedInandYouTube.Thesesocialmediaswerechosensincetheyweretypicalsocialmediasusedbycompaniesatthisspecifictime.Inafewyears,themostcommonsocialmediasmighthavechangedcompletely,andtobeabletokeepthestrategybothsocialandeconomicsustainable,itneedstobeadaptedtothesechanges.
5.5MethodcriticismandlimitationsInresearch,therearenoperfectmethodsoridealwaystodothings.Therearealwayspartsthatcouldbedonedifferentlytogetbetterandimprovedresult.Forthisthesis,therearesomedecisionsthathavebeenmade,whichmighthaveaffectedtheresultsinonewayoranother.Thesedecisionsandshortcomingsarediscussedinthissection.
5.5.1NumberofcompaniesinthecompetitiveanalysisOneofthefirstdecisionsmadeduringthisstudy,wastodecidehowmanycompaniestoincludeinthecompetitiveanalysis.SinceFacebook,Twitter,Instagram,LinkedInandYouTubeweregoingtobeanalyzedforallcompaniesinthecompetitiveanalysis,toomanycompaniescouldnotbeincluded.Butatthesametime,tobeabletoseesomerelationshipsorcorrelations,toofewcompanieswouldnotresultingoodresultseither.EmployeesatSpreegottheassignmenttowritedowntheirmaincompetitorsonalist,whichresultedin27companies,andthatnumberseemedlikeasuitableamountofcompaniesforthestudy.Withlesscompaniesincludedinthecompetitiveanalysis,itwouldhavebeenpossibletoobtaindeepermoreanalyzedresults.Andwithmorecompaniesincludedinthecompetitiveanalysisitmighthavebeenpossibletoseesomemoreapparentrelationshipsandcorrelationsbetweenthecompanies,andbeabletodrawbetterconclusionsfromthose.
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5.5.2CategorizationofthepostsTobeabletogetanunderstandingofwhatthecompaniespublishonthedifferentsocialmedias,acategorizationwithsevencategorieswerecreated.Thiscategorizationisprobablynotthebestoptimalcategorizationforthespecificpurpose,sinceitiscreatedbyonlyonepersonandwascreatedafterarelativelyquickoverviewofsomeofthepostsonafewsocialmedias.Ahighernumberofcategorieswouldhavebeenbettertogetafairerdivisionoftheposts.Asaconsequence,duetothecategorization,severalofthepostswerehardtofitintoanyofthesevencategories.Itwasalsoquitehardtodecidewheresomepostswouldfitbest,becausesometimestheywouldfitintotwooreventhreecategories.Thisproblemtogetherwiththefactthatthousandsofpostsweregonethroughquitefast,mighthaveresultedinsomepostsbeingcategorizedintoacategorywhiletheywouldhavefittedbetterinanotherone.
5.5.3TimeperiodforpostsandhashtagsAdecisionthatneededtobemadeinthebeginningofthestudywashowlongbackintimethecompetitiveanalysisshouldgo.Tobeabletoseearelationshipbetweentheupdates,thedecisionfellonlookingatallthepostsmadeduringthelastyear.Theresultmighthavebeenbetterandmorereliableifpostshadbeenlookedatduringalongertimeperiod.Acompanycanforexamplehavebeeninactiveduringthelastsixmonths,butareusuallyveryactiveotherwise,whichwillresultinabadupdateratewhenlookingatthelastyearintotal.Ifthetimeperiodhadbeenlonger,itwouldhavegivenaresultwhichreflectstherealitybetter.HashtagsonTwitterandInstagramwerelookedatsixmonthsback.Thistimeperiodismostlikelywaytooshorttobeabletodrawanydefiniteconclusionsofthetrendsforhashtags.Thereasonwhythistimeperiodwaschosentobeonlysixmonthswasbecauseoftheamountoftimeitwouldtaketogothrougheachpostandwritedownallthehashtagsusedduringthelastyear.Theresultfromthisspecificpartofthestudywouldforthatreasonbelookedatasanindication,notanabsolutefact.
5.6FurtherresearchThefocusofthisresearchhasbeentoexaminehowananalysisofacompany’ssocialmediapresencetogetherwithacompetitiveanalysiscanassistinimprovingthecompany'ssocialmediastrategy.Thecompetitiveanalysisofthisresearchisnot
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anin-depthanalysisandcouldusefullybecomplementedbyresearchgoingdeeperintosomesections.Thepostsinthisresearchisnotanalyzedindetail,theyareonlydividedintooneoutofsevencategories.Atextanalyzeorasimilarmethodofthepostswillgiveabetterunderstandingofwhattheyreallyareabout,andwillthusgiveamoredetailedresultofwhatkindofpoststopostonwhichsocialmedia.Anotherthingthatcouldbeaddedforfutureresearchisthecomparisonifsomesocialmediashavebeenusedmorefrequentduringspecifictimeperiods.Thisinformationcouldbegreattobeabletoseesometrendsintheusageofsocialmediasandbeabletopredictfuturetrends.
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6Conclusion
6.1AnsweringthethesisquestionThemainquestionofthismasterthesiswas“HowcanananalysisofaB2Bcompany’ssocialmediapresencetogetherwithacompetitiveanalysisassistinimprovingthecompany'ssocialmediastrategy?”.Theconclusionofthisstudyprovesthatacompany’ssocialmediastrategycanbeimprovedwithsuccessbyimplementingacompetitiveanalysisonthesocialmediasfortheirrivalcompanies.TheanalysisofSpree’ssocialmediapresencewascarriedoutbyretrievingalargenumberofdatafromtheirsocialmediaaccounts.Thisdatawaslatercomparedtotheirformersocialmediastrategy,whichshowedthatthestrategywasnotfollowedasplanned,anditalsoshowedthatitwasinneedofanupdate.Theanalysisofacompany’scurrentsocialmediapresencecaninthiswayhelptocreateanimprovedsocialmediastrategysinceithelpstohighlighttheflawsofthecurrentsituation.Thisreportalsoshowsthatasocialmediacompetitiveanalysiscanhelpacompanytoseeifthereareanyapparentrelationshipsamongthecompanies,whichcanhelpthecompanytogetanapprehensionofwhattoputtheirmainfocuson.Asearlierresearchshow,B2BcompaniesaregenerallynotasexperiencedasB2Ccompanieswhenitcomestotheuseofsocialmedia,whichmakesacompetitiveanalysisaperfectmethodtouse,especiallyforB2Bcompanies.
6.1.1Thefirstsub-question
Thefirstsub-questionofthismasterthesiswas“Cananyrelationshipsbetweenthecompaniesincludedinthecompetitiveanalysisbeseen?”.Theshortanswertothatquestionis:yes,relationshipsbetweenthecompaniesincludedinthecompetitiveanalysiswereseen.Arelationbetweennumberofupdatesduringthelastyearandcompanysizewereseen:thebiggerthecompanysize,themoreupdatesweremade.Arelationshipbetweenwhattypeofcontentthatwasmostcommontopostonsocialmediawerealsoseen.Postsincludingproductsandpostswithgeneralinformationarethetwocategoriesmostusedwhenlookingatallthedifferentsocialmediaplatformstogether.RelationshipsinhashtagsonTwitterandInstagramwerealsodiscovered.Themajorityofthehashtagsusedcouldbecategorizedintothreecategories:hashtagsabouttheowncompany,hashtagsfromconferencesorhashtagsabouttechnology.
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6.1.2Thesecondsub-questionThesecondsub-questionofthismasterthesiswas“Whatarethemaindifferencesinthecompany'sownappearanceonsocialmediacomparedtotheirmaincompetitors?”.TheresultfromthecompetitiveanalysisshowedthatSpree’ssocialmediaappearanceinsomewaysdifferedcomparedtotheircompetitorswhiletheyinotherwayswerequitesimilar.ThemostsubstantialdifferenceweretheusageofLinkedIn.SpreedidnotuseLinkedInatall,whileitamongthecompaniesinthecompetitiveanalysiswereusedoftentopublishpostsabouttheirproducts,recruitmentandgeneralinformation.ThecompetitiveanalysisalsoshowedthatSpreeupdatedtheirsocialmediaaccountswithdifferentcontentthantheothercompanies.AnexampleisthatalmosthalfofSpree’spostsonTwitterareaboutconferences,whileitamongtheothercompaniesareratheruncommontouseTwitterforthatkindofposts.
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7References
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8Appendix
8.1Definitionsandabbreviations
B2B Businesstobusiness
B2C Businesstoconsumer
Electronicwordofmouth
Thepassingofinformationfrompersontopersonbyoralcommunication
FacebookAsocialmediawheretheusercanadd“friends”,exchangemessages,poststatusupdatesanddigitalphotosandsharedigitalvideosandlinks
Followers Personswhosubscribeandreceiveupdatesfromanaccount
Following Apersonisfollowinganaccountwhenheorshesubscribeandreceiveupdatesfromit
InstagramAsocialmediawheretheusercancapture,editandsharephotos,videosandmessageswithfriendsandfamily
LinkedInAsocialmediawheretheuserhandlestheirprofessionalnetwork.Itworksasaforumwhereuserscanconnectwithnewandoldcolleagues.
Subscribers SubscribersonYouTubearethesamethingasfollowersareforothersocialmedias.
Tweets ThenameofthemessagesonTwitter.
Twitter Asocialmediawhichworksasamicroblogwheretheuserwritesmessagesshownontheuser’sprofilepage.
YouTube
YouTubeisavideo-sharingsocialmediawhichallowsuserstoupload,view,rate,shareandaddfavorites,reportandcommentonvideosandsubscribetootherusers.
www.kth.se
