Brand Pages on Social Media. What for? Exploratory evidence from digital marketing managers

Considering the rapid development of social media and their penetration in business marketing actions, the changes brought to the firm-customer interactions, and that social interactions are enhanced by social media, it is reasonable to ask a) what actions companies take, what their motivations are, what policies and strategies they follow, and what outcomes do they expect; and b) what social benefits arise from the use of such social media channels. The present work is a part of a study which is in progress. Interviews with two firms that have popular brand pages on Greek social media, present preliminary evidence about the actions firms take, the motivations that led them getting involved, and the derived outcomes. Making prize competitions, promoting new products/services, asking for feedback, and enforcing customers to give them new ideas, are the main firms’ actions. The basic motivations are to strengthen and enhance their relationships with customers, to gain brand awareness and brand loyalty, and implement marketing actions. Word-of-mouth, brand awareness, brand loyalty, increase of sales, and the acquisition of new customers, were referred as the main benefits for companies. Several future research opportunities are suggested to extend these preliminary findings both on the companies’ and customers’ side.