Customer Engagement through Social Media

Abstract

Globalization has resulted in the expansion of markets and therefore the proliferation of competitors. With the advent of Web 2.0, consumers have easy access to information on competing brands, including prices and services. They have a range of choices considerably larger, which gives them more power. We can observe a shift of power from businesses to consumers. In addition, Web 2.0 has also allowed social media to grow, providing an alternative to mass media. Companies can interact at all times with their customers in order to maintain their relationships. With this rise of the competition, companies need to engage consumers to reduce their costs, and ensure a sufficient sales volume. Customer engagement is not a new concept, however, companies often have difficulties retaining their customers, and focuses on the acquisition of new customers, which requires more means, time and money. However, social media is the latest platforms that evolve quickly; we can see difficulties in their management. The purpose of the study is to understand how companies can engage consumers through social media. The qualitative survey was conducted to understand consumer reaction to the activities of companies on social media. This research aims to recommend companies to adopt strategies on social media in order to engage consumers at low cost.