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EMBS - UNIVERSITÄT KASSEL
Master Thesis Exposé
Content Marketing in Social Networks
Sophie Hillebrand
13.11.2014
Content Marketing in Social Networks 2
Abstract
Title: Content marketing in social networks
Keywords: Social media marketing, content marketing, content strategies, social networks,
Facebook, social media user behavior
Background: As online marketing and especially social media marketing have become more
and more important in the recent years, many companies have entered social networks. There
are multiple strategies to implement social media marketing activities in the marketing mix,
however, best practice strategies for the area of content marketing in social networks have not
yet been established.
Purpose: It has not yet been established how and why exactly users respond to different con-
tent strategies in social networks. It is necessary to find out how to generate maximum user
engagement through the different content of social media activities, as its main purpose is the
communication with the consumers rather than promotion. I would like to find out which type
of content strategy leads to maximum user engagement, what type of content communication
leads to the highest response, what type of reaction is caused by content marketing, and how
situational dimensions like the timing of posts or the motivation behind interacting with the
post affect the success of a post.
Methodology: In order to examine the response of users to different content strategies, there
will be a quantitative questionnaire, which will be distributed via Facebook. Examples of dif-
ferent content strategies will be abstracted from Facebook. The target group of this study is
European citizens between 18-30 years that are active Facebook users. The theoretical impli-
cations of the results of this study should entail a clear characterization of the variables related
to content marketing and user engagement as well as a connection between content strategy
variables that have a significant impact on user engagement in social networks. The findings
will contribute to the research of the growing application of social media in marketing strate-
gies by establishing, which content strategy and content type is the most effective in creating
user engagement in social networks and what the reasons behind its success are.
Content Marketing in Social Networks 3
Table of Content
List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................... 4
List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................... 4
1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1. Relevance ................................................................................................................................ 5
1.1.1. Social Media Marketing .................................................................................................. 5
1.1.2. Social Media User Behavior ............................................................................................ 7
1.1.3. Content Marketing ........................................................................................................... 9
1.2. Problem Statement ................................................................................................................ 13
1.3. Research Question ................................................................................................................. 15
2. Literature Review .......................................................................................................................... 17
3. Hypotheses .................................................................................................................................... 21
4. Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 24
5. Overview of Chapters .................................................................................................................... 25
6. Plan of work .................................................................................................................................. 26
References ............................................................................................................................................. 27
Content Marketing in Social Networks 4
List of Tables
Table 1: Social media user behavior segments (own representation) ........................................ 8
Table 2: Content Strategies (own representation) .................................................................... 12
Table 3: Hypotheses funnel (own representation) .................................................................... 16
Table 4: Hypotheses table (own representation) ...................................................................... 23
Table 5: Plan of work (own representation) ............................................................................. 26
List of Abbreviations
SM – Social media
UGC – User-generated content
SNS – social networking sites
SMM – Social media marketing
CM – Content marketing
Content Marketing in Social Networks 5
1. Introduction
1.1. Relevance
1.1.1. Social Media Marketing
For the definition of Social Media (SM) it is necessary to first understand the terms “Web
2.0” and “User-Generated Content” (UGC). Web 2.0 describes the internet as a platform,
which users are constantly changing trough active collaboration and participation. Platforms
like Facebook, Twitter or Wikipedia have replaced the outdated platforms of the web 1.0,
where personal websites or pages like the Encyclopedia Britannica Online were used. UGC is
the total of all applications of SM that is public and has been created by end-users (Kaplan &
Haenlein, 2010, p. 61). According to Kaplan and Haenlein, “Social Media is a group of Inter-
net-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web 2.0,
and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content” (2010, p. 61).
Mangold and Faulds describe different types of SM outlets: social networking sites (SNS) like
Facebook, creativity works sharing sites like YouTube, user-or company-sponsored blogs,
collaborative websites like Wikipedia, commerce communities like Ebay or social bookmark-
ing sites like Digg (2009, p. 358). They further argue that companies need to adopt a new
communication paradigm that suits the new way of dissemination of information through two-
way communication on social networks (2009, p. 364). The new model of customer commu-
nication in the web 2.0 describes this process as follows: the isolated process of the absorption
of information, evaluation and learning is now outdated. The actual process in the web 2.0 is
more complex and dependent on the opinions and interaction with other community members
online. The communication is now decentralized and the company needs to target especially
opinion leaders in the targeted community to gain the maximum reach of a communication
message (Wagner, 2011, p. 83). Weinberg and Pehlivan state that companies can effectively
reach their consumers through SM activities if they are able to build a relationship and em-
power their customers (2011, p. 282). As customers even expect companies now to maintain a
SM presence, SM has altered the communication with customers profoundly (Nair, 2011, p.
46). To summarize, social media marketing (SMM) “provides meaning and connection be-
tween brands and consumers and offers a personal channel and currency for user-centered
networking and social interaction” (Chi, 2011, p. 46).
The number of active Facebook users has surpassed one billion by the end of 2012. In the
beginning of 2014, it has reached 1.28 billion active users (“Facebook figures of monthly
active users 2008-2014”, 2014). A study of the Fortune 500 companies showed that in 2012,
63% of the companies maintained an official Facebook page (Okazaki & Taylor, 2013, p. 56).
Content Marketing in Social Networks 6
By 2013, it was already up to 70% (Gesenhues, 2013). Using this medium proposes opportu-
nities for companies as it is enables them to engage in very timely and direct consumer com-
munication and can be achieved with less budget than via the traditional communication
channels (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010, p. 67). However, it also creates risk for the company´s
reputation, image and financial situation if there is no strategic SM strategy behind its activi-
ties (Aula, 2010, p. 44-45).
The aim of any marketing strategy is to increase consumer brand loyalty. Studies have shown
that SNS contribute significantly to building strong brands (Shen & Bissell, 2013, p. 629-
630). According to Sashi, the goal of SM activities is the creation of customer engagement.
For him, customer engagement is more than just loyalty; it goes “beyond awareness, beyond
purchase, beyond satisfaction, beyond retention, and beyond loyalty” (2012, p. 257). Brodie,
Ilic, Juric and Hollebeek define consumer engagement in virtual brand communities as “[…]
specific interactive experiences between consumers and the brand, and/or other members if
the community. Consumer engagement is a context-dependent, psychological state character-
ized by fluctuating intensity levels that occur within dynamic, iterative engagement process-
es” (2013, p. 107). The consumer engagement process model shows the triggers initiating the
engagement, the sub processes like sharing, learning advocating and the outcomes like loyal-
ty, trust and commitment (2013, p. 110). Sashi proposes the customer engagement cycle with
distinct stages of the process of establishing a more intimate relationship applied to social
networks. The stages of the cycle are defined as connection, interaction, satisfaction, reten-
tion, commitment, advocacy, engagement and in the end connection again.(2012, p.260)
For Rogers, Chapman and Giotas the fulfillment of the goal of customer engagement strongly
depends on the creation of content that the users will want to share. He argues further that it is
crucial for the company to which kind of content will be shared by the users and how it can
reach more customers (2012, p. 120). Which social media mix increases customer engage-
ment to the maximum still needs to be established. The preferences for activities can also de-
pend on the brand and the type of user (Sashi, 2012, p. 267-268).
Content Marketing in Social Networks 7
1.1.2. Social Media User Behavior
There are different models to describe the individual segments of social network users. For-
rester researchers have classified with the help of their “Social Techographics” model seven
types of users according to their behavior on SM platforms. Each type is not exclusive; users
can be more than one type at the time (Fletcher Jones, 2009). As there are many different
types of users, companies need to avoid strategies that aim to satisfy all users simultaneously.
The goal is to tailor the strategy to each group according to their behavior (Fleming, 2012).
The seven types are creators, conversationalists, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators and
inactives. The target group of this thesis, European users between the ages of 18 to 30, con-
sists of 33% creators, 37% critics, 11% collectors, 58% joiners, 69% spectators and only 17%
inactives (“Social Technographics Profile Europe”, 2014).
Another way to segment users is the latent segmentation approach, which classifies users ac-
cording to behavioral and socio-demographical variables. The descriptive criteria are gender,
age, experience with SM, frequency of participation in SNS, time spend on SNS per week,
profile location in the social network, number of contacts, nature of contacts, number of social
networks they use and motives for using SNS. The authors create four cluster profiles: Intro-
verts, novel users, versatile users and expert-communicators (Alarcón-del-Amo, Lorenzo-
Romero, & Gómez-Borja, 2011, p. 547-548). The authors conclude that socio-demographic
data is not enough to establish segments of social networks users, but that the behavior is a
more adequate way. The company has to propose an added value by understanding the users´
needs. Active participation by sharing and commenting on posts needs to be offered to more
versatile users and expert-communicators, while offering only passive participation to intro-
verts and novel users (Alarcón-del-Amo et al., 2011, p. 553).
Vinerean, Cetina, Dumitrescu and Tichindelean have developed a framework of four types of
users resulting from a factor analysis. Their variables included the general SM activities, the
last performed SM activities, the trust in sources on SNS, the positive reactions to online ad-
vertisements, the experience using SM, the clicking of the ad, the log in pattern, the time
spend per log in sessions, the concern for privacy and the importance of SM. After the factor
analysis the authors called the four emerging types of users: expressers and informers, engag-
ers, networkers and socializers, and watchers and listeners (2013, p. 71-72).
Another typology of SNS users was established by Foster, West and Francescucci. After the
analysis, the authors have established a cluster with four distinctive segments of user behavior
on social platforms: the social media technology mavens, info seekers, socializers and mini-
mally involved. The segmentation is based on the online participation of users: First the crea-
Content Marketing in Social Networks 8
tion content for other users, the communication and socialization with other users on social
networks and lastly the information seeking activities on social platforms. Each segment uses
SM for different reasons and has therefore be targeted differently by marketers. It is necessary
to find out the customs, needs and motivation of each group in order to create a successful SM
strategy (2011, p. 10-11).
After analyzing the already existing segmentation models, I was able to define one global and
general definition of SM behavior that will be used further on in this study.
The Creators/Communicators
The Socializers
The Information seekers
The Minimally Involved
The table below shows how the different segmentation approaches can be summarized.
Segmentation ac-
cording to :
Author Model Segments
Activities/Behavior Forrester Social Media Lad-
der
Creators
Conversationalists
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
Spectators
Inactives
Activities/Behavior Foster et al. Clusters SMT Mavers
Socializers
Info Seekers
Minimally Involved
Activities/Behavior Vinerean et al. Typology Expressers / Informers
Engagers
Networkers / Socializers
Watchers / Listeners
Behavior/Socio-
demographic Varia-
bles
Alarcón-del-
Amo et al.
Latent Segmentation
Approach
Expert-Communicators
Versatile Users
Novel Users
Introvert Users
Table 1: Social media user behavior segments (own representation)
Another dimension of user behavior on SNS is the motivation behind SM activities. Heinonen
creates a conceptual model that gives insights into the different motivations by the customers
as well as recommendations on how to target the different users according to their motivation
(2011, p. 359). There are also different motivations behind the sharing behaviors on SNS.
Previous research found out, that messages that evoke strong emotional responses are more
likely to be forwarded. Another motivation to share is self enhancement and self-expression
through the sharing of online ads that consumer find entertaining, interesting or important
Content Marketing in Social Networks 9
(Taylor, Strutton, & Thompson, 2012, p. 13-14). Toubia and Stephen argue that intrinsic and
image-related utility are the basis of motivations in SM. The relative importance of the two
categories depends on the type of content posted by users and the structure of SNS (2013, p.
387-388). Berger and Milkman conclude that it is not only value exchange and self-
presentation that motivates users, but also by very positive content with others to increase
their mood. This content can be practically useful, entertaining or informative, as long as it
helps others, generates reciprocity or increases their reputation (2012, p. 201).
1.1.3. Content Marketing
It is necessary to distinguish between the terms content strategy and content marketing (CM).
Rose describes CM as “[…] a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and
valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audi-
ence — with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”(2013). CM is outlining the
actual content that a company uses to communicate with their audience, the story they want to
tell and the mode of engaging with their customers. In short, it is a marketing strategy that
aims to create and intensify the bond between the company and their customers. On the other
hand, content strategy is the tool that manages the formulation, distribution and control of
content, which can be seen as a strategic asset of the company (Rose, 2013).
At the heart of CM are the different content strategies, which have different aims and purpos-
es. They can entertain, inspire, start a conversation, and teach or provide relevant information
(Hanbury, 2011) for users that are very different in their technical knowledge about the con-
tent as well as in their interests and culture (Dödtmann & Wagner, 2012, p. 42). The aims of
a content strategy are to implement long-term, realistic and achievable publishing plans and to
adjust communication strategies across channels with all of them working towards the same
goal. In this way, companies can decrease costs by eliminating unnecessary communication
efforts and focusing on content that the target audience needs. These efforts can improve the
company´s overall performance across all channels (Kissane & Halvorson, 2011, p. 1-3). Fur-
thermore, the content topic has to be aligned with the appropriate distribution channel. Break-
ing news and posts to build engagement should be shared via SM (Sabatier, 2012, p. 201).
According to Parson, the focus of companies on SM platforms is to connect with the users and
building relationships with customers instead of simply informing about new products and
promotions. However, companies still prefer to control the wall content rather than letting
users post directly on their wall without a prior respond to another post (2013, p. 35). An
analysis of the Fortune 50 Facebook pages conducted in 2010 showed that companies are
Content Marketing in Social Networks 10
benefiting from the opportunities of SM, however not to its fullest extent. The pages were
mainly one-sided; communication came from employees or customers having product prob-
lems without responses from the companies. Some companies had posts about mission state-
ments and news releases. The majority of 80% was not using their pages for the distribution
of information. In addition, only 24% of the Facebook pages included a minifeed with recent
material. 65% of the companies´ pages included photos, 31% posted videos and 36% posted
links to the own company or other fan sites (McCorkindale, p. 7-8). In addition, the types of
posts differed across brands and industries. Fashion companies for example like to use celeb-
rity endorsement and posts of prestigious events (Parsons, 2013, p. 35).
There are different ways to categorize SM message content. According to Rohm, Kaltcheva
and Milne SM content has to be functional, informative, timely, relevant, entertaining and
sharable with the aim of creating positive brand awareness, customer engagement and finally
purchases. The authors established five classes of brand-consumer interactions that support
the alignment of SM strategy and content with consumers´ motives to reach these goals. The
classes resulting from their research are product information, brand engagement,
fun/entertainment content, timeliness and incentives/promotions (2013, p. 306).
Another way to categorize content strategies has been established by de Vries, Gensler and
Leeflang: Vividness, interactivity, informational content, entertaining content, position and
valence of comments. Posts with vivid content generate a higher number of likes while inter-
active posts generate a higher number of comments than other types of posts (2012, p. 83-84).
Chauhan and Pillai investigate with the help of a conceptual model the influence of content
type, content agility, posting day and content context on the number of likes and comments of
a post. They conclude that the content type and context had significant impact on the user
engagement, as well as the form of the presentation of the message (2013, p. 43-44).
Swani, Milne and Brown describe three types of message strategies on Facebook: the use of
corporate brand names, the use of emotional content and the use of direct calls to purchase or
“hard sell” promotional approaches (2013, p. 270). After examining the effectiveness of these
strategies posted by Fortune 500 Facebook accounts, the authors concluded that using the
brand name strategy is especially successful in the B2B sector, while the emotional strategy
succeeds in the B2C sector. The promotional strategy is the least effective message strategy
compared to the other strategies. These findings are conform with the general idea of SM as a
communication platform and relationship building forum instead of generating purchases im-
mediately (2013, p. 285-286).
Content Marketing in Social Networks 11
A study of beauty company´s Facebook presence established categories of communication
activities such as event, product, promotion, entertainment and other. The authors tested how
many companies are using which type of communication and how engaging it is. According
to their investigation the most successful tool to generate likes and comments are surveys
(Shen & Bissell, 2013, p. 647-648).
Research has also established different types of posts. An exploratory study about the Face-
book usage of Jordanian telecommunication companies established seven different categories
of posts: Giveaways, national holidays, societal, product related, questions and other. The
companies were not especially focusing on advertising their products on social networks and
neither are they primarily focused sharing informative content. Questions were used to engage
users and gain market insights. The category of giveaways aims to increase participation with
the help of contests. Most posts included pictures, the minority showed text and video. Users
engaged with giveaways the most, followed by questions. Societal posts and posts about
products and services received the least engagement (Al-Mu´ani, Saydam, & Calicioglu,
2014, p. 209).
In 2013, Parson established 20 different categories of wall content after analyzing 70 official
web pages on Facebook from different brands: Ad campaigns, product information, sponsor-
ships, apps, games, downloads, calls for involvement, career or business opportunities, celeb-
rity or athlete information, acknowledgements, company information and news, contest or
sweepstakes, customer comments, entertainment related, holiday greetings, live events, vide-
os, photos, polls, questions, and video or You Tube links (p. 33-34). Content like consumer
incentives, coupons, and sweepstakes increase the involvement of the customer and leads to
him to a purchase, which is in the end the ultimate aim. However, the number of likes of a
post does not measure the number of sales caused by one a post, but it gives a good indication
when comparing this kind of sales promotions over time (p. 35).
Another examples of types of content itself according to Weinberg are lists, breaking news,
games, controversial news stories, videos or pictures (2012, p. 349-350). Hanbury lists further
content presentation methods like articles or blog posts, infographics, cartoon drawings, ani-
mations, tutorials, podcasts or presentations (2011).
The situational context also influences the success of posts: One study concludes that new
posts appear on average 24 times a month hence customers receive an update only every few
days because companies need to be careful to not annoy their audience (Parsons, 2013, p. 35).
The study of Jordanian telecommunication companies measured an average of 2.3 posts per
Content Marketing in Social Networks 12
day (Al-Mu´ani et al., 2014, p. 209). The optimal strategy to maximize user engagement in
terms of timing of the post and the frequency in between posts has not yet been established
(de Vries et al., 2012, p. 90).
The table below shows a summary of all approaches and a general categorization of ap-
proaches.
Author Segmentation
De Vries et al. Vividness
Interactivity
Informational content
Entertaining content
Position
Valence of comments
Rohm et al. Product information
Brand engagement
Fun/entertainment content
Timeliness
Incentives/promotions
Swani et al. Corporate brand names
Emotional content
Promotions
Shen & Bissell Events
Product
Promotion
Entertainment
Chauhan & Pillai Content type
Content Agility
Posting day
Content Context
Al-Mu´ani et al. Giveaways
National holidays
Societal
Product related
Questions
Table 2: Content Strategies (own representation)
After combining the different categories, I have established three distinct categories that will
be used further on in the thesis:
- Information Strategy
- Entertainment Strategy
- Interactivity Strategy
Content Marketing in Social Networks 13
Further, situational variables identified in the literature can be classified as:
- Timing or frequency of posts
- Position or context of posts
Leaning on Aristotle´s rhetoric, there are three kinds of persuasion techniques or rhetoric
means marketers can use.
Logos – the rational argument, that appeals trough technical arguments or the high-
lighting of benefits to the customer.
Pathos – the emotional approach, that tries to stimulate emotions in the customer in
order to purchase something
Ethos – the reputational approach, that tries to appeal to the customer´s reputation or
character.
How to communicate a message and what content to use that gets heard by the customer de-
pends on the customer´s understanding of the message (Kissane & Halvorson, 2011, p. 29-
31). Successful communication has to reach as many communication partners as possible
through the easy dissemination of the communication without losing its message or effect
(Wagner, 2013, p. 64).
1.2. Problem Statement
Rogers et al. state that the content itself as well as the position of the content may have a high
impact on the process of creating user engagement. It is necessary to understand which con-
tent is more likely to be shared by users and go viral and whether the content is able to reach
new customers (2012, p. 120). There are many studies examining the network structure and
influences, but few on the propagation of content. How different communication approaches
impact the customer and the most effective themes and general content to engage users and
reach new customers have not been established (2012, p. 127). As there are still no clear
guidelines on how to implement and use content on SM, the following paragraphs aim to give
a short overview of the most recent findings and also limitations in this field.
Parsons examines 70 brand pages on Facebook and concludes that they all have different
looks and use different tools to encourage users to interact with them. The content of posts on
Facebook varies across the different brands, industries and goals of the marketing effort. Par-
sons questions how users respond to posts, if they actually notice ads and if there is an inter-
action with the brand in addition to only liking the page. There should be further research
Content Marketing in Social Networks 14
whether SM content has the power to influence the buying behavior and leads to purchases,
and if so, how companies can benefit from this new marketing method (2013, p. 35-36).
De Vries et al. test the drivers for brand popularity on SM platforms and conclude that the
positioning of the post in the beginning of the official brand page increases the brand popular-
ity. They also find out that posts with vivid and interactive content generate a higher number
of likes while interactive posts generate a higher number of comments than other types of
posts (2012, p. 83).They suggest further research to investigate the influence of the frequency
of posts in the brand liking process and how SM can enhance customer relationships, market-
ing communication and branding (2012, p. 90).
Chauhan and Pillai investigate with the help of a conceptual model the influence of content
type, content agility, posting day and content context on the number of likes and comments of
a post (2013, p. 43-44). They concluded that the content type and context had significant im-
pact on the user engagement, as well as the form of the presentation of the message. They
argue that future research needs to establish the specific type of content that increases the us-
er´s interest and creates higher customer engagement (2013, p. 45).
Furthermore, a content analysis of beauty companies on Facebook tests the different activities
that can be used on Facebook and its consequences. The authors established categories of
communication activities such as promotions, open-ended questions, polls or Q&As and test-
ed how many companies are using the type of communication and how engaging it is. Com-
panies prefer engaging activities like Q&As or beauty polls to simple product promotion and
rather like open-end questions like Q&As than interactive questions with limited options like
beauty polls. The most successful tool to generate likes and comments are surveys according
to this study. The authors suggest further research to investigate the different tools and its
effects more thoroughly (Shen & Bissell, 2013, p. 647-648).
In the end, the SM mix that increases customer engagement to the maximum needs to be es-
tablished. The preferences for activities can also depend on the brand and the type of user
(Sashi, 2012, p. 267-268).
There have been findings about the fact that different posts on social networks generate a dif-
ferent level of customer engagement. Also, different content and form of communication
cause a different level of interaction. But how and why has not yet been established. The aim
of this paper will be to establish a framework, which will help to understand which type of
content creates maximum user engagement with all relevant variables.
Content Marketing in Social Networks 15
1.3. Research Question
In order to investigate the effects of CM on SNS it is necessary to limit the variables to
achieve a better overview.
There are multiple goals of SM strategies that can be used to measure the effect of marketing
activities. In this thesis I would like to focus on content that generates maximum user en-
gagement.
Which type of content strategy leads to maximum user engagement?
- Information Strategy
- Entertainment Strategy
- Interaction Strategy
What type of content communication leads to the highest response (likes, comments, shares)?
- Link
- Promotion
- Q&As
- Quiz
- Poll/ Voting
- Event
- User-Generated Content
What form of content presentation method should this content possess?
- Text
- Pictures
- Videos
What effects does the combination of strategy, form and context have on the user according to
Aristotle?
- Logos
- Pathos
- Ethos
What type of reaction is caused by CM?
- Notice ad
- Like of post
- Comment of post
- Share of post
- Like of brand page
- Purchase
How do situational dimensions affect the success of a post?
- Timing of post
- Frequency of posts
Content Marketing in Social Networks 16
Table 3: Hypotheses funnel (own representation)
Situational context
Timing of posts Frequency of posts
Type of reaction
Notice post Like post Comment on
post Share post
Like of brand page
Open website of
brand Purchase
Effect on user (Aristoteles)
Logos Pathos Ethos
Content presentation method
Text Picture Video
Type of Content
Link Promotion Question Quiz Poll/Voting Event UCG
Content Strategy
Information strategy Entertainment strategy Interaction strategy
Type of User
Communicator/Creator
Socializer Info seeker Minimally involved
Aim of Strategy
Maximum user engagement
Content Marketing in Social Networks 17
2. Literature Review
Author Year Title Published Content SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Kaplan, A./
Haenlein, M.
2010 Users of the world, unite!
The challenges and opportu-
nities of social media
Business Hori-
zons. 53
Concept of SM, web 2.0,
UGC, classification of SM ,
recommendations for compa-
nies for the use of SM
Mangold, G./
Faulds, D.
2009 Social media: The new hy-
brid element of the promo-
tion mix
Business Hori-
zons. 52(4)
Impact of content, timing and
frequency of SM conversations
for marketing strategy
Weinberg,
B./Pehlivan, E.
2011 Social spending: Managing
the social media mix
Business Hori-
zons. 54(3)
ROI for SM Spending - differ-
ent approaches how companies
use SM
Nair, M. 2011 Understanding and measur-
ing the value of social media
Journal of Cor-
porate Account-
ing & Finance.
22(3)
Cost issues related to SM,
what, how and where to suc-
cessfully measure user en-
gagement on social media
Rogers, M./
Chapman, C./
Giotsas, V.
2012 Measuring the diffusion of
marketing messages across a
social network
Journal of Direct,
Data and Digital
Marketing Prac-
tice. 14(2)
ROI of SM, user engagement
measurement, Targeted adver-
tising on Facebook, content
engagement metrics, recom-
mender systems, type of con-
tent more likely to be shared
Campbell, C./
Pitt, L./
Parent, M./
Berthon, P.
2011 Understanding consumer
conversations around ads in a
web 2.0 world
Journal of Ad-
vertising. 40(1)
Interpretation of consumer
conversations around user
comments on ads, archetypes
of consumer-generated ad
conversations
Ramsay, M. 2010 Social media etiquette: A
guide and checklist to the
benefits of social marketing
Journal of Data-
base Marketing
& Customer
Strategy Man-
agement. 17(2-3)
Facebook etiquette, recom-
mendations for the use of SM
platforms for companies
Aula, P. 2010 Social media, reputation risk
and ambient publicity man-
agement
Strategy &
Leadership.
38(6)
Risks for reputation through
SM, new strategies for publici-
ty management with SM
SOCIAL NETWORKS
Boyd, D./
Ellison, N.
2007
Social network sites: Defini-
tion, history and scholarship
Journal of Com-
puter-Mediated
Communication.
13(1)
Introduction features, purpose,
history, key changes and de-
velopments concerning SN
Dunne, A./
Lawlor, M./
Rowley, J.
2010 Young people's use of online
social networking sites – a
uses and gratifications per-
spective
Journal of Re-
search in Interac-
tive Marketing.
4(1)
Gratifications sought and ob-
tained on social networks,
motives of the use of SN, U
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Content Marketing in Social Networks 21
3. Hypotheses
In this thesis, I would like to explore the effect of different content strategy on users. The user
dimensions have been explained previously and can be summarized as follows:
The Creators/Communicators
The Socializers
The Information seekers
The Minimally Involved
Marketers need to target their customers individually depending on the different type of users
on SM platforms. As there are different CM strategies, we can differentiate between:
Information strategy
Entertainment strategy
Interaction strategy
Different strategies should be aimed at different users:
- H1a: The Information strategy is most accepted by the information seekers.
- H1b: The Interaction strategy is most accepted by the socializers.
- H1c: The Interaction strategy is most accepted by the creators/communicators.
- H1d: The Entertainment strategy is most accepted by the minimally involved group.
As previously stated, different types of users show different behavior on SNS (Alarcón-del-
Amo et al., 2011; Foster et al., 2011; Vinerean et al., 2013). With these hypotheses, I would
like to verify my classification of user types and the most suitable strategy to target them.
Different content has different effects on customer engagement:
- H2a: Interactive content leads to the most user engagement.
- H2b: Entertaining content leads to more user engagement than informative content.
- H2c: Informative content leads to the least customer engagement.
De Vries et al. have tested the level of effectiveness of informativeness, entertainment and
interactivity of a brand post and have found out that posts with vivid, entertaining content
generate a higher number of likes while interactive posts generate a higher number of com-
ments than other types of posts. In general, they could prove that highly interactive content
has an influence of the post, however entertainment and informativeness have no significant
impact (2012, p. 83). For this thesis, I will rank the engagement level of each type of content.
Different content presentation methods lead to different kind if user engagement
- H3a: Vivid elements like videos lead to the highest number of likes or comments.
- H3b: Vivid elements like photos lead to a lower number of likes or comments than
videos but to more than simple text posts.
- H3c: Simple text posts lead to the least user engagement.
Content Marketing in Social Networks 22
Pillai and Chauhan tested the different content types with the categories text only, text and
link, text and video, text and image, web link only, video only and lastly text, web link and
image and their impact on the success of the post. They found out, that the content type in
general has a significant impact on the success, but not which and how (2013, p. 46). With
this collection of hypotheses I would like to test the different results from the use of different
presentation methods of content.
Motivation to interact with a post according to dimensions of Aristotle:
- H4a: Informative content will be liked/ commented/ shared due to Logos.
- H4b: Entertaining content will be liked/ commented/ shared due to Pathos.
- H4c: Interactive content will be liked/ commented/ shared due to Ethos.
These assumptions are based on my idea and understanding of Aristotle´s Rhetorics (source),
as there no research has yet been done on the dimensions of Aristotle and the motivation be-
hind the social media user behavior. Therefore, I would like to find out how the different di-
mensions relate to the sharing on SNS.
The role of the dimension of timing and frequency of the post:
- H5a: The time of the day of the posting significantly affects the number of likes and
comments of a post.
- H5b: The day of the week of the posting affects significantly the number of likes and
comments of a post.
- H5c: The frequency of posting activity affects significantly the impact on number of
likes and comments of a posting.
The optimal strategy to maximize user engagement in terms of timing of the post and the fre-
quency in between posts has not yet been established (de Vries et al., 2012, p. 90). Pillai and
Chauhan have already tested the posting day with the categories Monday-Tuesday, Wednes-
day- Friday and lastly the weekend. They concluded that almost50% of the posts were done
from Wednesday to Friday. They further found no significant relevance between the day of
the posting and the success of a post. In another variable, content agility, they tested the time
of the day that lead to the maximum user engagement. According to their results, posts in the
second half of the day, and especially in the evening are most commonly and significantly
contribute to the success of a post, as users have more time then. The authors suggest further
investigation about the timing and frequency (2013, p. 46). From this set of hypotheses I ex-
pect to obtain information when and how often users wish to see updates that would lead to
maximum user engagement.
Content Marketing in Social Networks 24
4. Methodology
In order to test the stated hypotheses I will conduct a quantitative study with the help of an
online questionnaire, which is easy accessible and promises are greater reach than an offline
questionnaire. Previous researchers in this field have also successfully conducted an online
questionnaire (Chu, 2011; Hermida, Fletcher, Korell, & Logan, 2012; Parsons, 2013). The
questionnaire will be spread across Facebook, as it is one of the most important social net-
works. Facebook will also be used as test platform and examples of content will be taken from
there. The target group is European citizens between 18-30 years that are at least user of one
SM platform (Facebook) and are using it at least once per week. The questionnaire will be
distributed online. The sample size was calculated with the help of the Sample Size Calculator
by Raosoft. The final sample size according to Raosoft will be around 350 participants, with a
level of confidence of 95% and a response distribution of 50 % (“Sample Size Calculator by
Raosoft, Inc,” 2014). Alarcón-del-Amo et al. have successfully used a similar sample size
with 399 candidates to test similar hypotheses of user behavior online (2011, p. 548).
In the first part of the questionnaire I will ask about the general behavior on Facebook, how
often they use SM, the motivation to use it and the activities they participate in order to put
the participants into the corresponding cluster. Something similar has been done by Rohm et
al., who have created a correspondence analysis that maps the 5 categories of social media
interactions and variables like age, gender etc. (Rohm et al., 2013, p. 301) In the next part, I
would like to include pictures of the different posts on Facebook according to each strategy to
find out which activities are most successful and lead to maximum consumer engagement.
The examples will be introduced in the literature part of the thesis. I would like the partici-
pants to answer what their reaction is to the post - if they would like it on Facebook, comment
on it, share it, watch the video, click on the link, like the brand page or purchase the product.
This aims to test the level of user engagement the posts causes. Next, the motivations why
they like something will be asked and why they would or wouldn´t share something with the
help of scales from the Handbook of marketing scales. Furthermore, I will create a section to
find out about the situational factors such as time and frequency. In the last part of the ques-
tionnaire I will include demographic questions to be able to make assumptions according to
age, gender or educational background. The program used to analyze the obtained data will be
Sphinx. The type of statistical analysis methods will be specified later together with the spe-
cific questionnaire. There will be a cluster of the user behaviors as previously presented,
which enables me to categorize the motivations, engagement factors and situational context.
Content Marketing in Social Networks 25
5. Overview of Chapters
1. Introduction
1.1 Relevance
1.2 Problem Statement
1.3 Research Question
2. Social Media Marketing
2.1 Introduction SMM
2.2 Social Media Goals
2.3 Social Networks
2.4 Facebook Advertising
2.5 User – Behavior on Social Networks
2.6 User Actions on Social Networks
3. Content Marketing
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Types of Content
3.3 Content Strategies
3.4 Example Content Analysis
4. Hypothesis
5. Research Design –Methodology
6. Analysis
7. Results
8. Conclusions
8.1. Implications
8.1.1 Scientific Implications
8.1.2 Managerial Implications
8.2 Recommendations and Limitations
Content Marketing in Social Networks 26
6. Plan of work
Workplan 2014 2015
September October November December January February
37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Preliminary
Analysis
Definition Topic
Research Literature
Reading Literature
Exposé
Introduction
Literature Review
Methodology
Hypothesis W
Review W
Method
Design Questionnaire
Data Analysis design
Puffer time Hand in Intermed.
Report W W W Data Collec-
tion Distribution Question-
naire
Data Analysis Preliminary Analsysis Intermediate Presentati-
on Table 5: Plan of work (own representation)
Content Marketing in Social Networks 27
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