The internet and development of internet-based application such as social media and digital technologies changed the way of marketing communication. The emergence of social media provides the opportunity for firms to communicate with their customers in a two ways and interactive communication. There is a need for companies to adapt their marketing communication strategies to the technology development. Therefore the purpose of this research is to explore the contributions of using Facebook as a social media platform in promotion mix for small firms in local market.
In this research a single case study; Pizza Express as a Swedish small firm has been studied in 21 days. The researcher applied mixed model approach to collect data. In order to collecting quantitative data, Facebook insight has been applied and qualitative data has been collected by the author. It should be mentioned as the author is the small firm’s owner therefore all findings are valid and accurate. Also it should be considered that as this research is a single case study research so the findings cannot be generalized and applied for all cases.
All the data has been analyzed by applying existed theories and the models to guide the research to answer research question. In this research, new communication model by Mangold and Faulds (2009) has been used to understand how Facebook can be applied in promotion mix then Murdough (2009) social media measurement process has been considered to choose the right metrics and tools for collecting data. Then Grönoors (2004) interaction and communication model helped the author to analysis the findings.
The results of the research showed that the small firm by using Facebook as a social media platform in promotion mix can increase brand awareness and reputation, generate word-of-mouth communication, improves customer relationship by communicating with customers and resolving their problems and uncertainties. Also using Facebook provides a knowledge platform that helps the small firm to shape and design its products and services in a way to meet its customers’ satisfaction. In the other hand the results showed that using Facebook in order to have an immediate short-term transaction was not cost efficient. Also, as customers have the opportunity to express themselves, there is a risk for small firms if they generate negative word-of-mouth which jeopardizes small firms’ brand and reputation.