AbstractsBusiness Management & Administration

Social media as a marketing channel in an energy company

by Veli Hämäläinen




Institution: Satakunnan ammattikorkeakoulu
Department:
Year: 2014
Record ID: 1132506
Full text PDF: http://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/78755


Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to study the potential of social media as a marketing channel especially for energy companies. The main focus was on predetermined social media channels Facebook, Youtube and Google, since it was proven that those are most popular channels as well as the most functional and beneficial for an energy company. The main weight in the study was from a marketing perspective, but issues from the communicational perspective are also dealt, since it can be considered as part of marketing. Customer service is considered as the executive function in charge of the social media marketing efforts, since the case company does not have a separate marketing department. The importance of customer service is discussed in general, since it is the representative of the company and dealing with the customers on a daily basis. The conceptual framework described the combination of customer service, marketing efforts and social media in order to create a network between the energy company Rauman Energia Oy and its stakeholders. In order to create a functional network, theoretical information was gathered and studied before the actual research process. The theoretical background thus gave the necessary foundation for advance further into studying other companies and their utilization of social media. The empirical research was conducted using benchmarking and relying on the information collected and analyzed from the social media channels of other energy companies. In addition, other companies regardless of their business field provided useful information about possible topics and the executional method of the whole process when embarking upon the social media- based marketing efforts. The results of the study revealed great examples of how social media is utilized in some companies. A new marketing tool also provides and requires new marketing methods. Energy companies have not utilized or discovered this fact, but resort to familiar and traditional marketing methods. The social media channels of energy companies have not reached high popularity rates. The reasons behind this are fro example the price of energy, customers´ perception of energy companies as a monopoly, and the general lack of interest to energy-related issues. With interesting topics that are beneficial to the customers, the situation could be change.; Tämän opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli sosiaalisen median potentiaalin tutkiminen markkinointikanavana erityisesti energiayhtiöissä. Tutkimuksen pääpaino oli ennalta päätetyissä sosiaalisen median kanavissa eli Facebookissa, Youtubessa ja Googlessa. Nämä kanavat olivat todettu olevan niin suositummat kuin energiayhtiölle toimivimmat ja hyödyllisimmät. Pääasiassa tutkimus toteutettiin markkinoinnin näkökulmasta, mutta kommunikaation näkökulmaa käytettiin myös, sillä sitä voidaan pitää tärkeänä osana markkinointia. Asiakaspalvelua pidetään sosiaalisen median toimeenpanevana elimenä, koska kohdeyhtiöllä ei ole erillistä markkinointiosastoa. Asiakaspalvelun tärkeyttä käsitellään yleisellä…