This study analyzes the social media marketing of ecommerce business in Vietnam. On the basis of a literature review, the article has built a theoretical basis according to the social media marketing framework of Felix et al. (2017). Đề tài Hoàn thiện công tác quản trị nhân sự tại Công ty TNHH Mộc Khải Tuyên được nghiên cứu nhằm giúp công ty TNHH Mộc Khải Tuyên làm rõ được thực trạng công tác quản trị nhân sự trong công ty như thế nào từ đó đề ra các giải pháp giúp công ty hoàn thiện công tác quản trị nhân sự tốt hơn trong thời gian tới.
Trang 1SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING OF VIETNAMESE E-COMMERCE BUSINESS: SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS
MA.Dang Phuong Linh Thuongmai University Email: dplinh@tmu.edu.vn
Abstract: This study analyzes the social media marketing of e-commerce
business in Vietnam On the basis of a literature review, the article has built a
theoretical basis according to the social media marketing framework of Felix
et al (2017) Then, secondary statistics are also analyzed to clarify the current
situation of e-commerce development in Vietnam, as well as the status of social
media marketing in Vietnam In-depth research by the method of expert interviews,
the results have clarified the reality of this marketing activity in Vietnamese
e-commerce business according to four detailed contents (scope, culture,
structure and management) From there, the article proposes some solutions and
recommendations for e-commerce businesses and Vietnamese state management
agencies to support the promotion and management of social media marketing
more effectively in the future.
Keywords: e-commerce, marketing, social media marketing, e-commerce
business, Vietnam.
MARKETING QUA MẠNG XÃ HỘI CỦA CÁC DOANH NGHIỆP THƯƠNG MẠI ĐIỆN TỬ VIỆT NAM: THỰC TRẠNG VÀ GIẢI PHÁP
Tóm tắt: Nghiên cứu này phân tích marketing qua mạng xã hội của các
doanh nghiệp thương mại điện tử (TMĐT) ở Việt Nam Trên cơ sở tổng quan tài
liệu, bài viết đã xây dựng cơ sở lý luận theo khung marketing qua mạng xã hội
của Felix và cộng sự (2017) Tiếp theo, các số liệu thống kê thứ cấp cũng được
phân tích để làm rõ thực trạng phát triển thương mại điện tử tại Việt Nam, cũng
như thực trạng hoạt động marketing qua mạng xã hội tại Việt Nam Đi sâu nghiên
cứu bằng phương pháp phỏng vấn chuyên gia, kết quả đã làm rõ thực trạng hoạt
động marketing này tại các doanh nghiệp TMĐT Việt Nam theo bốn nội dung chi
tiết (cách thức tiếp cận, văn hóa, cấu trúc và quản trị) Từ đó, bài viết đề xuất một
số giải pháp và kiến nghị đối với các doanh nghiệp TMĐT và các cơ quan quản
lý nhà nước Việt Nam nhằm hỗ trợ thúc đẩy và quản lý hoạt động marketing qua
mạng xã hội một cách hiệu quả và lành mạnh hơn trong thời gian tới.
Từ khoá: Thương mại điện tử, marketing, marketing qua mạng xã hội,
doanh nghiệp thương mại điện tử, Việt Nam
Trang 21 Introduction
Since its appearance in the late 1990s, the Internet has been widely applied today
on a global scale, paving the way for the development of many new technologies, as the
foundation for online specialized e-commerce business models, financial transactions via
internet channels, websites and mobile applications (Rose et al., 2011; Qin et al, 2014) In
recent years, the world has witnessed a strong development of social networks, allowing
users to exchange, interact and share information and knowledge almost instantaneously
with each other; leads to changes in customer behavior, intensity and trading habits In the
marketplace, e-commerce businesses are also quick to adapt, grasp trends and strongly deploy
compatible marketing methods, now popularly known as social media marketing, to reach
and interact with its current and potential customer sets (Felix et al., 2017; Li et al., 2021)
In Vietnam, e-commerce is growing rapidly, especially from the Covid-19 crisis, with
an average rate of 16%/year; in 2021, retail sales will reach 13.7 billion USD, accounting
for 7% of total retail sales of consumer goods and services nationwide, up 27% compared to
2020 (Ministry of industry and trade, 2022) If the reality is that the market (e-commerce)
is expanding with many models and modes of operation with support from digitization
and information technology, the research in this field will slow down and not attracted the
right amount of attention from the scientific community Leading to clear research gaps on
e-commerce in our country
This article, in the above context, focuses on an urgent current research gap on the
type of social media marketing that is being widely deployed in practice, but lacks scientific
research The purpose is to clarify the status and contents of social media marketing of
e-commerce business; then propose solutions and recommendations to promote and improve
the efficiency of this activity in Vietnam
2 Theoretical framework of social media marketing of e-commerce businesses
2.1 E-commerce business
The term E-commerce covers transactions related to the performance of financial
activities, buying and selling of products and services through the Internet, Web and/or mobile
applications (Qin et al., 2014; Li et al., 2021) In the theoretical basis, there is currently
no unified definition of e-commerce, which has been developed and proposed by different
approaches Li et al (2021) define e-commerce as “a type of business that provides services
and products on electronic systems through marketing, distribution, buying and selling” Qin
et al (2014) define e-commerce as “the process in which traditional commercial activities are
carried out by electronic means” Poon and Swatman (1999), according to the new electronic
technology approach, define e-commerce as “the sharing of business information, the
maintenance of business relationships and the conduct of business transactions by electronic
technology based on the Internet”
From the above concepts of e-commerce, e-commerce business refer to businesses that
specialize in electronic transactions of buying and selling goods and services with customers
via the Internet This is an online business model in which the operational structure includes:
exchange, purchase, sale, production, sales, marketing and distribution of products and
services of participants through the internet system E-commerce businesses operate in
different market segments and can be conducted on computers, tablets, smartphones and
other smart devices All products and services are available through e-commerce transactions,
including books, music, airline tickets, and financial services such as stock investments and
Trang 3online banking Business will post (directly or indirectly by suppliers) information about
products and services on their e-commerce website, in accordance with the classification
of transaction products and services From there, buyers will search for products that match
their needs and make payments directly when receiving products, or through other online
payment methods such as Visa - Master bank card, PayPal, Amazon Pay, eBay, Google Pay,
Apple Pay
The development of science and technology promotes the e-commerce business model
on the basis of advantages brought to both businesses and customers (Rose et al., 2011)
Specifically, for businesses, e-commerce provides marketing and sales channels with a
worldwide customer base; allows to save time and costs of business operations through
electronic transactions; at the same time, the e-commerce system establishes and maintains a
presence on the web, from which businesses affirm their position, identity and brand image,
contributing to competitive advantages; as well as increasing the ability to learn, absorb
and manage knowledge in the busines (Aydemir, 2013) On the other hand, for customers,
e-commerce facilitates the shopping experience, takes less time, and is more convenient with
rich product information available on e-commerce websites (Rose et al., 2011)
Besides the benefits, e-commerce also comes with some risks and limitations
E-commerce risks are classified into 4 basic categories (Forsythe và cộng sự, 2007):
financial risks related to payment information and personal data when performing online
transactions; product risks including problems related to product misidentification and high
delivery charges; time and convenience risks associated with delivery delays and unreliable
e-commerce sites Besides risks, e-commerce also has limitations such as: customers cannot
directly experience products, lack of human interaction, difficulties in database integration
and new technology changes (Lacka and Kai, 2014)
2.2 Social media marketing
In marketing, social networks are platforms in which people build networks and share
information and/or affection with each other (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010) The special nature
of social networks is dynamism, the ability to connect widely and equally among interacting
groups (Peters et al., 2013); thereby creating fundamental changes to the marketing
activities of business, forming social media marketing Specifically, social media marketing
is understood as including marketing techniques to promote products and services using
social media platforms and social media websites (Felix et al., 2017) This is a method to
realize advertising activities for products and services by using social media channels on the
internet Accordingly, social media marketing is considered an online platform that connects
business brands with consumers, and provides a channel to connect, interact, build brands
and share information on social media even user-centric
Social media marketing provides businesses with ways to reach a larger audience,
increase their ability to attract new leads, and interact with existing customers (Peters et al.,
2013; Felix et al., 2017) Through social media marketing, businesses can create an authentic
connection with potential customers instead of just conveying direct marketing messages
Therefore, it is a great tool to effectively influence, attract and engage customers Another
benefit of social media marketing is its broader reach Resources on social media channels
are larger and broader than offline sources Social media marketing reinforces transparency
within the company Media data can serve as an important source of information for customer
analysis, market research, and new ideas from the Community, simultaneously capture and
create value, develop new strategic resources, improve marketing effectiveness
Trang 4However, social media marketing also has some risks and disadvantages (Li et al.,
2021), including: first, the open space of the social network environment, businesses can
be affected, by negative reviews from customers, thereby affecting business activities of
business Second, information is easily misleading, social media platforms are full of fake
news, do not verify authenticity or validity This has a significant impact on the company’s
stock value and loss of potential customers Third, cybersecurity risks - social media accounts
can breach network security, violate customer confidentiality, leak intellectual property, and
violate policy or corporate code of conduct
Figure 1: Theoretical framework of social media marketing
Source: Felix et al (2017, page 4)
Social media marketing is considered a revolution of marketing and promotion, allowing
e-commerce businesses to have a huge impact on the needs of customers globally and is an
effective method to promote products and services Felix et al (2017) develop a theoretical
framework for social media marketing, focusing on four contents including: scope (defender
or explorer), culture (conservatism or modernism), structure (hierarchies or networks) and
governance (autocracy or arnachy)
In terms of scope, e-commerce businesses using social media marketing have two basic
approaches to target audiences The first is a defender scope, whereby social media marketing
acts primarily as a one-way communication tool Businesses use social media marketing
as a pure communication tool to deliver content to customers, communities or employees
However, this method only focuses on the retail customer aspect, so there are many limitations
when applied in the B2B market Second, the explorer scope to comprehensive interaction as
a true collaboration tool, focusing on leveraging the potential for collaboration and integration
Trang 5of technology into social media marketing, while emphasizing two-way interaction with
various stakeholders such as customers, employees, suppliers and government agencies The
explorer scope facilitates fully open, two-way integrated communication and collaboration,
rather than just one-way information transmission This scope has many advantages over
the conservative scope, and the potential for comprehensive growth in both B2C and B2B
markets than the protective approaches, and at the same time, is suitable for development
needs of the digital age
In terms of social media marketing culture, there are also two different streams The
conservatism culture exhibits an encapsulated, internally focused and risk-averse nature;
therefore almost incompatible with the type of social media marketing Modernism marketing
culture is characterized by flexibility, valuing customer engagement on social networking
sites even though these opinions are contrary to the message intentions of the company
However, this approach also presents certain risks, because of the open space and dynamic
characteristics of modernism culture, customers have many opportunities to control many
aspects of the content business posting on social media Therefore, e-commerce businesses
must develop methods to evaluate the level of ownership they claim for marketing messages
on social networking platforms
Regarding the structure of social media marketing, this content refers to the
organization and division of social media marketing tasks within the business The social
media marketing structure defines individual roles and responsibilities for the maintenance
of online platforms There are two main types of structures Firstly, the hierarchical structure
represents a centralized social media marketing structure, for example an e-commerce
busines with a high need for control and an organization with an almost military nature
The advantage of this type of structure is transparent control over a business’s social media
activities, when content ownership and overall social media maintenance is delegated to a
specific department Other entities and departments must get permission before uploading
content, such as human resources who want to run apps through Twitter, they must contact
social media Secondly, the network structure represents a type of social media marketing
structure with fragmentation, decentralization, decentralization, and cross-functional control
The idea of a network structure for social media marketing emphasizes that marketing
activities are the shared responsibility of all departments and therefore a dedicated social
media marketing director is no longer necessary again This structure is similar to the modern
quality management structure, where quality is the job of every employee in the busines, not
simply the goal of a “quality department”
Social media marketing management refers to how an e-commerce business establishes
a set of rules and guidelines, as well as a way to control responsibilities for social media
marketing within the business, including: autocratic and liberal governance In the autocratic
model of social media marketing management, a department or person is given full control
and control of social media marketing and at the same time establish precise regulations on
the duties of each individual in the company for interactions on social networking platforms
In contrast, the state of freedom manifests itself in the form of business freedom, in which
there are no specific rules or guidelines that specify, departments/employees are responsible
for participating in social media marketing activities and are free to act as they please on
social media platforms
Trang 63 Research methodology
In order to carry out the research according to the theoretical framework built above,
two basic research methods are deployed, namely the method of synthesis and analysis
of documents and the method of expert interview corresponding to two types of primary
and secondary data are collected and used Secondary data is collected through secondary
sources including scientific articles, research papers of domestic and foreign researchers,
books, journals, reports and mass media sources They aim to build a theoretical basis and
actual data for research At the same time, the collected data will be the basis for building the
interview questionnaire for primary collection
Primary data source was collected by conducting in-depth interviews with online
marketing experts, leaders and marketing managers of a number of e-commerce businesses
Under the purposeful sampling strategy, experts are recruited according to their job position,
experience, and direct exposure to social media marketing activities in the real industry
context The research conducted in-depth interviews with 16 marketing experts from typical
businesses (Mobile World, Dien May Xanh, FPT Shop, Tiki, Shopee, VNP Group, Lazada,
Sendo) in Vietnam The experts interviewed came from a list of social media marketing
experts identified through management magazines, business magazine interviews or because
they are mentioned as experts with knowledge and experience in personal communication
and marketing development orientation for e-commerce businesses
After the information and data sources were fully collected, a number of qualitative
analysis methods by interview method and case analysis method were conducted Situation
analysis is a set of methods used to analyze an organization’s internal and external environment
in order to understand the organization’s capabilities, customers, business environment,
these data help the author grasp the current situation of e-commerce development in general
and the form of social media marketing in particular in Vietnam The obtained statistical
data will then be analyzed using quantitative analysis methods, from which the author can
devise integrated strategies to address the limitations and related backlog issues to the form
of marketing via social networks in e-commerce business
4 Result and discussion
4.1 Situation of e-commerce development in Vietnam
With the growing popularity and importance of e-commerce itself, the number of
people actively shopping online has grown significantly According to the General statistics
Office (2022), the service and tourism industries, including resort and catering, will decline
sharply in 2021 due to the impact of the Covid epidemic, and the trading and retail sectors
will decrease by 0.21 %, industries are still loading, warehousing decreased by nearly 5.02%
compared to the same period in 2020 In general, in 2021, the operation of the commerce,
communication and service industries in general will be strongly affected, the economy will
be affected Accordingly, Vietnam’s economy also achieved the lowest growth rate in the
past 30 years, at only 2.58% However, in the same period in 2021, under the strong impact
of the Covid pandemic, the e-commerce industry made strong progress, keeping the growth
rate stable at 16% Vietnam compared to other Southeast Asian countries is considered as
one of the countries with a prominently developed e-commerce retail market, second only
to Indonesia As of March 2022, an additional 1,446 electronic exchanges have entered the
retail market in Vietnam; The proportion of revenue of the retailing of goods and services
on e-commerce floors increased by 27% over the same period last year (Ministry of industry
and trade, 2022)
Trang 7In 2022, the average annual growth in the number of online shoppers in e-commerce
over the monitored period 2017 - 2022 will increase at an average rate of 1.09%, reaching
from 57-60 million based on on forecast The estimated value of one person’s online shopping
is estimated to reach $260-285 in 2022, an increase of 1.14% compared to 2021 According
to a report of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy - Ministry of Industry
and Trade, compared to the total retail sales of consumer goods and services nationwide, the
proportion of B2C e-commerce revenue will reach about 7.2%-7.8% in 2022 and the goal by
2025 will reach 10% of the total retail market revenue in Vietnam The percentage of people
using the Internet is forecasted to increase by 2%, reaching 75% in 2022 These figures show
an overview of the development status of Vietnam’s e-commerce, in which, this market is
in a strong development phase and is reported to continue to grow at a high rate in the near
future
The e-commerce market in Vietnam is not only growing rapidly in size, but also
expanding in many aspects Firstly, the e-commerce market in Vietnam offers a variety
of products Secondly, building many utilities and improving the shopping experience on
customers’ multi-platform systems, customers can experience shopping on websites and
mobile applications According to the statistics of Ministry of industry and trade (2022),
There are 29,370 websites and 999 electronic trading floors nationwide Thirdly, it is more
convenient to integrate direct payment systems, eg COD and online shipping, e.g debit,
credit card payments, Apple Pay Paypal
However, there are still some limitations Firstly, e-commerce floors only focus on
business activities in the center, big cities without expanding to smaller markets such as:
communes and rural districts Secondly, the value of goods and services bought and sold
on online platforms has a relatively small exchange value with about 70.4% of goods and
services valued at less than 1 million VND Thirdly, information security issues need to be
paid more attention
4.2 Current status of social media marketing activities in Vietnam
The medium for social media marketing is made up of internet-related applications
based on Web principles of technology and ideology, allowing content to be produced and
shared Due to the interactive characteristics of social networks, which allow for knowledge
sharing, collaborative activities and greater community participation compared to marketing
media formats such as radio, TV and newspaper Therefore, social media marketing is
considered to be the most important communication channel to spread brand information,
including blogs, internet forums, consumer review sites, social networking sites (Twitter,
Bloggers, LinkedIn and Facebook)
In Vietnam, according to the report of VCCI (2021), the number of active social media
users reached 65 million people, accounting for 67% of the total population, and this number
is expected to continue to grow rapidly in the coming time Social media users are also
very active Accordingly, the average time a Vietnamese uses a social network is 2 hours 22
minutes and 89% of internet users have joined or contributed to a social network in the last
one month The most used social network in Vietnam is Facebook, accounting for 98% of
the market, followed by Youtube with 89% and Zalo accounting for 74% of Internet users In
addition, Instagram, Tiktok, Printerest are also attracting many users, especially Z generation
Besides, to entertainment purposes, social networks also play an important role when up to
58% of users when they use it for business purposes Besides the popular global social
Trang 8networks mentioned above, in Vietnam, there are also many smaller-scale social networks in
the country, mainly in the form of forums such as Otofun, Tinhte, Webtretho, Lamchame, etc
or some new forums appeared recently such as Hahalolo, Gapo, Lotus, etc The number of
users increases, the customer file is increasingly expanding for e-commerce businesses and
high ability to interact and share information, showing that social media marketing play an
important role in the promotion strategy for e-commerce businesses Social media marketing
in Vietnam thrives because it meets three core values: connection, interaction, and customer
data First, social networks have proven to be extremely effective, acting as a bridge and an
online marketing channel to advertise to customers This is also the most popular form of
marketing with more than 94% of large and medium business and 79% of small businesses
reporting using social networks as a marketing channel for products and services According
to Statista, spending on social media marketing is expected to double, from $36 million in
2017 to $76 million in 2024 Second, interacting and exchanging products and services on
social networks is always highly effective According to the E-commerce White Paper of the
Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy in 2022, 42% of consumers participating in
the survey participate in interactive activities and make purchases through social networking
sites such as Facebook, Tiktok, higher compared with the rate of 2020 (33%) Therefore, the
efficiency of business activities via social networks is also appreciated compared to other
online trading platforms Specifically, 57% of businesses participating in business activities
via social networks, 42.4% of websites and applications providing e-commerce services have
revenue from advertising fees via social networks and social media trends The direction
of businesses participating in social media marketing activities is reported to continue to
increase over the years Third, social networks also have the effect of supporting other
e-commerce platforms when the effectiveness of social media marketing affects the traffic
volume and competitiveness of the exchanges (YouNet Media and Iprice Group) The reason
for this result is because social networks have an impact on every stage of customer buying
behavior, and are also an important communication channel for businesses to introduce
products to customers and connect customers together
In terms of the growth potential of social commerce, according to VCCI, global social
commerce revenue will reach $22 billion in 2019, forecast to grow more than 200% over
the next 5 years, to $67 billion in 2023 Therefore, surveying consumers about shopping
habits, 70% of buyers said they search for information about an item on Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, or Snapchat In recent years, social networking platforms have been providing more
utilities for businesses to take advantage of and turn it into an effective tool in marketing For
example, in 2016, Facebook experimented with a marketplace product introduction booth,
allowing to display information and images about items to buyers and exchange information
with customers through various methods different communication methods Similarly, Zalo
also has Zalo Shop feature, which helps businesses create a virtual store displaying many
items, relatively complete communication about their goods, prices, business information,
shipping policies to customers It can be seen that the common point of social networks when
developing e-commerce at this time is to provide features to post products with detailed
information (price, product description information and other information) At the same
time, social networks also provide utilities in finding information about products, exchanging
information and making transactions with sellers right on the platforms
4.3 Actual situation of implementing social media marketing content in e-commerce
businesses in Vietnam
Trang 9In-depth analysis of the current situation of social media marketing in e-commerce
business in Vietnam according to the developed theoretical framework, the interview results
show that:
The reality of the scope, according to the results of in-depth interviews, shows that
the majority of e-commerce businesses in Vietnam focus on using the explorer scope rather
than the defensive scope Firstly, when it comes to the defensive scope, in general, social
networking sites only act as a static marketing tool, ie the main purpose is still to focus
on one-way presentation of general information about products and services, but has not
yet integrated online support tools to provide two-way interactions between customers and
businesses Large business in Vietnam still use this strategy as a brand protection strategy
For example, Apple’s promotion strategy in Vietnam market, Apple’s marketing does not
focus on increasing RAM of iOS devices by copying other brands This gives tech-savvy
people confidence in brand quality According to experts, a defensive scope is the simplest
way to protect a business’s position through efforts to neutralize the various effects of rival
businesses For example, almost all beauty brands in the Vietnamese market have incorporated
marketing of organic products to counter the growing popularity of purely organic brands
This increases the product range and helps the business grow at the same time
However, the discovery strategy is still applied by nearly 60% of e-commerce
businesses in Vietnam because: firstly, in the context of the limited means of communication
on social networks, it is necessary to focus on to develop a social busines A social busines
means a business that has extended interactions with its customers One airline in Asia,
for example, used social media not only as an external communication tool, but also as an
internal communication tool They integrate business activities and processes with social
networks, thereby improving business performance Secondly, according to experts, the use
of social networks is not only from a marketing perspective but is also more holisticly, the
explorer scope From there, social media can be used for many different purposes According
to statistics, the number of Facebook users in 2021 will reach 65.56 million people, Youtube
with 66.33 million people and Zalo with 62 million people, businesses need an open and
flexible approach to create meaningful interactions on these social networks to maximize the
benefits achieved, therefore, the discovery approach has been adopted by most of the small
and medium business B2B marketing statistics show nearly a third of B2B professionals
think that selling via social media allows them to build deeper and better relationships with
their clients and customers Social media marketing events further show that up to 70% of
B2B companies find that the explorer scope helps in better lead generation and conversions
The current state of culture in social media marketing, according to experts interviewed,
conservatism is less applied by e-commerce businesses, especially young businesses
Industry experts say this trend occurs because the conservative culture is mostly internally
focused Employees and senior management have not formed the necessary confidence in
the success of social media marketing, and have not formed strategies to accept and deal with
the risks that this activity poses can bring And this is also the most important thing, senior
managers must be convinced, from which they can build a suitable and effective social
media marketing strategy
For businesses that adopt a modern culture, it shows that they can reach a more diverse
set of customers According to statistics, the number of active visitors on social networks
reaches 56.6% of the total population, by 2022, about 72% of the Vietnamese population
Trang 10uses social networks Therefore, in order to promote the effectiveness of marketing activities,
more than 67.8% of e-commerce businesses have applied modern culture to their marketing
strategies B2B social media statistics show that the vast majority of B2B and B2C marketers
choose Facebook as their primary advertising medium, with 89% and 96% of them active
on the platform respectively The second most popular platform is LinkedIn, used by 81% of
B2B marketers and 53% of B2C marketers The third place goes to Instagram, where B2C
advertisers lead, with 83% using the platform, compared to 72% for B2B marketers
However, due to the openness of synergism, as opposed to traditional media, consumers
and customers can control many aspects of the content a company posts on social media
Therefore, e-commerce businesses are forced to have policies to re-evaluate the necessary
level of ownership for marketing messages on these platforms As a business, it’s important
to consider what brand image or content will be marketed on social media When a business
uploads a message, it is likely to be falsified in some way as a fake or prank, i n a positive
light, the business is attracting attention However, there should also be controls to protect
the image and brand of the business In 2019, around 66% of social shoppers said they wrote
an online review at least once, while 2020 saw a massive increase in online reviews, with
72% of consumers Social media users report that they have written online reviews for local
businesses Therefore, applying modern culture in marketing strategy will make it easier for
businesses to deal with customer reviews
The current state of structure in social media marketing: Although many interviewees
underestimated the hierarchical structure, this is the current common structure in e-commerce
businesses for their marketing activities but some of the perceived advantages in the
hierarchical social media marketing structure mentioned include: content ownership and
overall social media retention should be assigned to one department only For a hierarchical
marketing structure, an effective marketing strategy requires a KPI (key performance
indicator), 30% of marketing professionals list KPIs as the top control over marketing activity
When talking about the structure of social media marketing, there is a view of experts
that: Social media marketing should be a function that crosses all processes and parts of the
organization, and therefore, must have the supervisor Marketing director or special specialist
will take on the leadership role And then it can take five or ten years for the marketing
to merge into the sub-fields of the business According to the network structure, the skills
required by a customer relationship manager will be integrated with social skills, including
social media marketing After that, the business will no longer need social media specialists,
which will only be part of the job descriptions in the respective jobs
The experts in the responses from the in-depth interviews assessed the advantage of
the network structure (compared to the hierarchical structure) For example, respondents
emphasized the importance of a “flat hierarchy” and the belief that “social media works best
as an interdepartmental structure.” 90% of business owners and marketing professionals
say that this marketing structure can promote increased brand exposure between businesses
and customers through social networks, pushing the brand’s image to the top positions more
competitive advantage According to GlobalWebIndex, 54% of internet users use social
networks to research products 33% of internet users prefer to contact a brand via social
media rather than calling a call center directly At the same time, 77% of marketing experts
assess that social networking can have an impact on increasing traffic on business websites