Towards Greater Understanding of Social Media Marketing: A Review

Abstract

Marketing researchers and practitioners show significant interest in understanding the opportunities and usage of the phenomenon of social media and its usage in marketing. Literature indicates that social media marketing is increasingly vital to corporate marketing strategies. Social media is increasingly seen as an impactful channel to promote interactions between companies, customers, groups, advertisers, forums and marketers. Given the importance of social media marketing, this paper attempts to review current scholarly social media marketing literature and research, including its beginnings, current usage, benefits and downsides, and best practices. Avenues for future research and conclusions are also presented.