Social Media Marketing: An Evaluation Study in the Wellness Industry

An evaluation study focusing the use of social media in six Swedish wellness companies is described and analysed. The study is a part of the research project "Efficient learning for quality in the wellness industry". Social media have become increasingly popular the last few years, and are rapidly changing the ground for marketing activities. The field is, however, still immature and there are hitherto very few studies focusing the actual use by service organizations and the efficiency and quality effects of social media for marketing. The research method in this evaluation study is qualitative in-depth interviews carried out with employees responsible for the social media activities in the studied companies. The interviews are analysed according to the contents analysis method. The main results are that the initiation of the use of social media in the organizations generally was started by an "enthusiast" in the organizations. The enthusiast could be very good at initiating the use, but it could be dangerous to rely on only one employee in the long run. However, most often the use spreads to more employees in the organizations after some time. Social media and the shift towards relationship marketing have affected the marketing profession substantially. According to the interviews, the work of the respondents had become more hectic and difficult to plan due to fast technological changes and rapid feed-back from the customers. New skills and competencies are needed due to this change of the profession. There is also a need to develop clear policies regarding the use of social media by the employees. Unclear policies tend to contribute to misunderstandings and misbehaviour by some employees, such as confounding the private and professional use of social media, which could lead to negative consequences for the organization. According to the results most of the studied organizations express uncertainty concerning planning and evaluation of social media for marketing. They also experience lack of time for this work. They argue that using social media for marketing is important; but the benefits are often unclear. Formulating and monitoring the goals, management could develop social media into powerful marketing tools which also contribute to the organization's efficiency and quality. Developing skills and practices for this is a challenge as well as a potential.