IMPROVE THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN BANKING SECTOR – THE CASE STUDY OF BIDV

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
KHOA QUẢN TRỊ VÀ KINH DOANH

---------------------

LÊ THÚY NGÂN

IMPROVE THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
IN BANKING SECTOR – THE CASE STUDY OF BIDV
NÂNG CAO VAI TRÒ CỦA MARKETING MẠNG XÃ HỘI
TRONG LĨNH VỰC NGÂN HÀNG. NGHIÊN CỨU CỤ THỂ
TẠI BIDV

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH

HÀ NỘI - 2020


ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
KHOA QUẢN TRỊ VÀ KINH DOANH

---------------------

LÊ THÚY NGÂN

IMPROVE THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
IN BANKING SECTOR – THE CASE STUDY OF BIDV
NÂNG CAO VAI TRÒ CỦA MARKETING MẠNG XÃ HỘI
TRONG LĨNH VỰC NGÂN HÀNG. NGHIÊN CỨU CỤ THỂ
TẠI BIDV
Chuyên ngành: Quản trị kinh doanh

Mã số: 60 34 01 02
LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS.TS. NGUYỄN VIỆT KHÔI

HÀ NỘI - 2020


DECLARATION
The author confirms that the research outcome in the thesis is the result of author‟s
independent work during study and research period and it is not yet published in other‟s research
and article.
The other‟s research result and documentation (extraction, table, figure, formula, and other
document) used in the thesis are cited properly and the permission (if required) is given.
The author is responsible in front of the Thesis Assessment Committee, Hanoi School of
Business, and the laws for above-mentioned declaration.

Hanoi, date of …… / …… /……..
Le Thuy Ngan

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I have gained huge knowledge, skill and insights from my MBA course. The course raises
my capacity of administration and management up to the next level.
I declare that this is a true copy of my thesis. The content of this thesis has been approved
by the committee of Vietnam National University, Hanoi – Hanoi School of Business and
Management (HSB). This thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other
University or Institution.

In order to finish this project successfully, I have received many helps, supports and
guidance from many people who I would like to thank sincerely.
First of all, I would like to thank all the professors of MBA program, especially Assoc.
Pro. Dr Nguyen Viet Khoi – my supervisor. Then I would like to thank deeply to respondents and
interviewees who allowed me to gather enough data for this research. Finally, I would like to
express my thanks to my husband, my family, my colleagues and my fellow friends who always
stand by me during the past two years and encourages me to keep moving from the beginning of
my study.
Hanoi, date of …… / …… /……..
Le Thuy Ngan

ii


TABEL OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................. 1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................................. ii
TABEL OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... iii
ABBREVIATION ............................................................................................................................ v
LIST OF TABLE ............................................................................................................................ vi
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER 1. THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
- THE UPDATED TREND AND APPLICATIONS IN BANKING INDUSTRY ..................... 1
1.1.Overview of social media marketing ....................................................................................... 1
1.2.Social media marketing channels: ........................................................................................... 5
1.3.Social media marketing channels in banking sector: ............................................................. 12
1.3.1. The social media channel used popularly in banks: ....................................................... 13
1.3.2. The social media channels in Vietnamese Banking Industry: ........................................ 17
CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DATA ANALYSIS ............................. 19

2.1. Methodology and research methods ..................................................................................... 19
2.1.1. Methodology and research methods ............................................................................... 19
2.1.2. The datas: ....................................................................................................................... 19
2.2.Data analysis .......................................................................................................................... 27
2.2.1.Users of Social Media: .................................................................................................... 27
2.2.2.Purpose of using Social Media ........................................................................................ 30
2.2.3.The popular Social Media Sites ...................................................................................... 31
2.2.4.Time used for Social Media ............................................................................................ 33
2.2.5.Banks should use Social Media Sites or not ................................................................... 34
2.2.6.Which activities Bank use Social Media for ................................................................... 35
2.2.7.Which of the following social media platforms does your bank use for marketing
purpose: .................................................................................................................................... 37
2.2.8.Social Media Marketing in Sale ...................................................................................... 37
2.2.9.Social Media Marketing in Customer Service ................................................................ 38
2.2.10.Social Media Marketing in Customer Relation ............................................................. 40
2.2.11. Social Media Marketing in Recruitment ...................................................................... 41
2.2.12.Social Media Marketing in Branding ............................................................................ 42

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CHAPTER 3. VALUATING THE EFFICIENCY OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING CHANNELS IN BIDV ........................................................................................ 46
3.1.Introduction about BIDV ....................................................................................................... 46
3.1.1.Summary about BIDV foundation and development: ..................................................... 46
3.1.2.Organiz ational and Governance Structure ..................................................................... 47
3.1.3.BIDV Main Products and Services: ................................................................................ 49
3.1.4.Business Performance ..................................................................................................... 50
3.1.4.1.Fund Mobilization .................................................................................................... 51
3.1.4.2.Credit ........................................................................................................................ 51

3.1.4.3.Investment ................................................................................................................ 52
3.1.4.4.Services ..................................................................................................................... 52
3.1.4.5.Key financial indicators ............................................................................................ 54
3.2.Analyze the current application of social media marketing channels in BIDV ..................... 55
3.2.1.Analyze factors affecting to BIDV and BIDV‟s social media marketing ....................... 55
3.2.2.BIDV‟s social media marketing ...................................................................................... 61
3.2.2.1.BIDV Social Media Marketing in Sales ................................................................... 61
3.2.2.2.BIDV Social Media Marketing in Branding............................................................. 64
3.2.2.3.BIDV Social Media Marketing in Customer Service ............................................... 67
3.2.2.4.BIDV Social Media Marketing in Competitor Analysis .......................................... 68
3.2.2.5.BIDV Social Media Marketing in Recruitment ........................................................ 68
3.3.The advantages and disadvantages of using social media marketing tools in BIDV ........... 69
3.3.1.The advantages ................................................................................................................ 69
3.3.2.Disadvantages .................................................................................................................. 70
CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING THE ROLE
OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN BIDV.......................................................................... 71
4.1.Development orientation of BIDV......................................................................................... 71
4.2.Solutions to enhance the importance of social media marketing in BIDV ............................ 72
4.3.Recommendations .................................................................................................................. 72
LIMITATIONS .............................................................................................................................. 77
APPENDIX 1 QUESTIONNAIRE IN ONLINE SURVEY ....................................................... 79
REFERENCE................................................................................................................................. 83

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ABBREVIATION

BIDV

Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam

SMCC

Social Media Contacting Center

AMA

American Marketing Association

IVR

Interactive Voice Response

CRM

Customer Relationship Management

v


LIST OF TABLE

Table 1: The Social Media channels and their business characteristics: ......................................... 11
Table 2: The participants of the discussion ..................................................................................... 21
Table 3: Summary of the benefits of Social Media Marketing for banking businesses .................. 27
Table 4: Time used for social media ............................................................................................... 33
Table 5: Should banks have their own social network ................................................................... 35
Table 6: BIDV fund mobilization 2013-2017 ................................................................................. 51
Table 7: Credit 2013-2017 ............................................................................................................... 51

Table 8: Financial performance 2015-2017 ..................................................................................... 54
Table 9: Business result 2014-2017................................................................................................ 54

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Average hours/week spent on online activities worldwide ................................................ 2
Figure 2: Benefits of Social Media Marketing: ................................................................................. 5
Figure 3: The Social Media Landscape 2008, by Fred Cavazza ....................................................... 6
Figure 4: The Social Media Landscape 2009, by Fred Cavazza ....................................................... 7
Figure 5: The Social Media Landscape 2011, by Fred Cavazza ....................................................... 7
Figure 6: The Social Media Landscape 2012, by Fred Cavazza ....................................................... 9
Figure 7: Social Media Universe for businesses ............................................................................. 10
Figure 8: Banks‟ top preferred social media platforms in America ................................................ 14
Figure 9: Number of comments about bank on social media the first 4 months 2014 .................... 17
Figure 10: Number of Internet/ social media users around the world 2018 .................................... 28
Figure 11: Most popular messaging app .......................................................................................... 29
Figure 12: Social media service popularity ..................................................................................... 29
Figure 13: Top 10 reasons for social media usage .......................................................................... 30
Figure 14: Social media users, classified by app ............................................................................. 32
Figure 15: Which activities American Bank use Social media for .................................................. 36
Figure 16 : Organizational Structure .............................................................................................. 48
Figure 17: BIDV Governance Structure .......................................................................................... 49
Figure 18: Net service income 2015-2017 ...................................................................................... 53

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INTRODUCTION
1.

Rationale:
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating,

communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers,
clients, partners, and society at large (Approved July 2013 by AMA1 ).
Launched in the early 2000s in the form of innovative online applications that
facilitate online content sharing, Web 2.0 rapidly evolved into a phenomenon elevating
online communications to a new level (Constantinides and Fountain, 2008). All actions of
marketing from creating demand to take it in products and deliver, exchange value for
customers are implemented on Internet. What began as an array of platforms for online
interactions with focus on entertainment quickly escalated into a global phenomenon
where connectedness to the online networks is everything and the aptitude to “follow,”
“like” or “share” means power. The astonishing popularity and the fast rate of adoption of
social media lead enthusiasts to speculate on the potential goldmine for marketing that lies
within the complex web of user commentaries, testimonials and communities, linking
consumers with products and brands (Beer, 2008; Eccleston and Griseri, 2008; Hardey,
2009).
So that businesses are no longer dismissive the role of Digital Marketing in
reaching the target customers as well as building brand for products and their own
businesses. According to a research statistic, Internet advertising gains 33% of the cost for
advertising US companies in early 2012. That same year was the birth and development of
the powerful Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Pinterest ... By the
preeminent features, Social networking has attracted millions of people with various ages,
geographic areas and different interests participating in. That makes up a plus the great
pile.
Only a short time ago, many marketers said that social networking is not suitable
for brands. However, the trend has changed. The result in recent survey indicates that

many brands, including high-class brands, such as Mercedes, Burberry.., also actively
invest in Social Media Marketing like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube..to launch mass
marketing and enhance interaction with users. According to a survey from Alterian2, many
company is using social networking to attract new customers and raise awareness about
brand. This survey polls 400 senior marketing executives from the big brands and gets
1
2

American Marketing Association
(Big US company in collecting and analyzing datas)

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results: 30.1% said that attracting customers is the most important goal in social media
marketing; 26.5% to strengthen brand awareness. Up to 90% agree that should coordinate
Social Media Marketing in overall marketing strategy of company at present period. A
recent study by Exact Taget2 also showed that digital devices revolutionize the purchasing
decision; More than 90% customers believe in online reviews of products, and 18%
customers are at least affected by an online ad last 12 months.
In Vietnam, the development of advertising through social networking is no longer
new to businesses as well as individuals self-employed. The benefits, interaction ability
and high orientation help social media marketing beginning to be used like an extremely
effective communication tool. The more and more people read, watch, search information,
news or reports through internet than other tradition way.
Figure 1: The increasing of internet users

Figure 2: The increasing of users on digital platforms

Follow Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) 09/04/2015

3.

Digital Marketing Agency in Indianapolis USA

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If Twitter is the most popular social networking site in the US, Facebook is not
only successful in the world but also the most powerful advertising method in Vietnam.
Currently, there‟re about 42 millions Facebook user in Vietnam (statistics in 2016)
compared with Vietnamese population 93 millions (45%). That‟s an impressive figure.
According to Nielsen Vietnam Cross-Platform Insights Report 2015, Vietnamese
used average 24,7 hours per week to online, increasing 9 hours than 2014.
Figure 3: The average online hours per week

Understanding the importance and impact of social networking to business in
general and finance/ banking in particular, on 08/04/2015 BIDV launched SMCC Social
Media Command Center. Although the activities of SMCC are quite basic and achieved
some certain success but so far SMCC is still just stop in advertising to complement the
main activities of the bank. That doesn‟t take full advantage of social networking brings. In
addition to the role of marketing to customers preferential programs or attractive products/
services of bank, BIDV has not collected data to analyze and research the demand and
behavior as well as capture the new trend of the bank‟s customers now. According to
information from the leader of the BIDV SMCC, the center has not officially conducted a
survey on the effectiveness of interaction, the extent of the brand spread through the social
media marketing tool. Therefore, by this research, we will evaluate the results of the social
media tool at BIDV and then propose a solution to improve the strategy to promote the role
of social media at BIDV.
2. Literature review

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After more than 10 years – developing in the international market, Digital
Marketing has attracted the attention of many researchers. Kotler (2003) argues that digital
marketing is part of internet marketing, which focuses on product planning, pricing policy
and distribution in the marketplace through electronic tools. In this sense, the concept of
digital marketing is ambiguous, and may coincide with internet marketing. Dave Chaffey
(2012) asserted that digital marketing is the management and implementation of marketing
activities by using electronic media tools such as website, email, iTV, wireless devices
combined with digital data related to characteristics and behavior of customers. This view
extends the storage of customer profiles through digital data that will be a valuable resource
for every business in developing new products through significant segments.
According to Damian and Calvin (2009), digital marketing is using of digital tools
that include not only phones, email, websites but also social networking sites such as
Facebook, twitter, etc.. to spread your image to customers and sell goods, services through
online sites like amazon. This view emphasizes the development of the image of the
business and the way they approach consumers through selling goods. But the limit of this
research is not showing how to expand the awareness of business brand by digital
marketing. Because at present not just making a company website, its personal page like
Facebook, twitter and putting goods or services on Internet is bringing you money.
Kent and Ian (2009, pp. 60-61) conclude: "Digital marketing is the future
development of marketing, which takes place when most, or all marketing strategies of a
company used digital channels. Digital channels are accessing channels that allow
marketers to communicate continuously, bi-directionally and personally to each customer;
These communications provide data from each interaction with customers to forecast for
the next like network center. In addition, marketers continually use real-time information
about customer behavior and direct customer feedbacks to improve and optimize
interaction". So, according to Kent and Ian, this will be the future trend of marketing, and

emphasis on the direct interaction of customers of firms.
Hue D.T and Lukas (2014) suggested that social marketing is a programmatic
process that applies marketing principles and techniques to promote voluntarily behavior
change. This is quite true for some specific business areas. The very cold spread of social
networking has helped businesses elicit and orient the needs of consumers. Hence they can
increase the sale of goods and services. But the banking sector is especially unique with its
specific products that social media is just broaden the scope of image recognition,
promoting existing products and services.
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Daiana Tont (2013) showed the advantages of using social media include the fact
that brands can create conversations that engage on a 1-1 basis, which add value for the
consumer along the process on a functional, experiential and psychological level (Pine and
Gilmore 2011). This distinctive approach actively enriches the consumer‟s experience with
the brand establishing an emotional connection and ultimately integrating the brand as part
of their lifestyle (Pine and Gilmore 2011). The key role in building and developing
relationships with consumers across different social media platforms is communication–
engaging, entertaining and triggering responses from consumers. What this research
indicated is the reality and trend in marketing objective of business. But in banking field
where providing unshaped – goods, it needs a significant strategy of social media marketing
to do that.
Celine (2012) indicated in her research that the theoretical analysis on the one hand
used a wide literature review to discuss the main business benefits of Social Media
Marketing, explain why every business should create their Social Media sites and maintain
their presence on them regularly. On the other hand, the empirical analysis examined the
main marketing techniques used by companies on the Social Media channels, analyzed how
businesses should develop their Social Media Sites. Besides, the limitations and risks
encountered by businesses implementing Social Media Marketing strategies were presented
in order to show the negative aspects as well. This research gave us the comprehensive

view about the role of social media marketing in both positive and negative side. In
addition, we can find the advantages of each social media channel to be suitable for each
business in common and for bank in particularly.
Bontis and Booker et al (2007) studied the different effect of social media marketing
in bank. That is the mediating effect of organizational reputation on customer loyalty and
service recommendation in the banking industry. The findings suggest that bank reputation
among customers can be improved by focusing on customer satisfaction. Customer loyalty
and the likelihood of customer recommendation can be enhanced by increasing reputation.
This reinforces the belief that reputation has an important role to play in the banking service
environment. It can be implemented by using the spreading ability of social media
marketing.
Chikandiwa et al (2013) gave out the research related about the social media
marketing in South Africa Bank indicated about the existing models to be used the social
media adopting models or implementing models and how to measure each model. But both

xii


of those are infancy level, it is necessary to develop more than that to apply for another
bank in other areas.
3. Research Objective
As we knew, nowadays, Social Media Marketing is widely used by businesses. It is
considered as a weapon that can be used largely for free and very easily, in comparison
with other promotional tools (Levinson, J.C. & Gibson, S., 2010). The main purposes of
using Social Media Marketing are the amplification of word-of-mouth marketing, market
research, general marketing, idea generation and new product development, co-innovation,
customer service, public relations, employee communications and reputation management.
Indeed, social networks can increase product and brand awareness, web traffic, customer
loyalty, but also improve the company‟s Search Engine Optimization, and even increase the
success of new product launches. According to Hubspot (2012), 57% of SMBs say social

media is beneficial to their business. Thus, this research shows the overall knowledge about
the social media marketing and some common tools or channel used the most.
The second thing this research focuses on the reality of using social media tool in
banking sector in Viet Nam. The specific case study in BIDV.
The last thing is the solutions suggested to improve the role of social media
marketing in BIDV.
4. Objects of research:
The development of information technology and the explosion of social network in
life lead to the changing of marketing activities to adapt to the needs of a part of the
population, especially the generation is in the stage: Generation Y (Young generation - born
in 1977 - 1994) and younger generation (Z generation born in 1995 onwards). Pham Hong
Hoa (2013) said that approaching customers through online channels such as mobile
phones, email, social networking ... is gradually becoming a popular trend. Over the past 10
years, transactions through electronic banking systems in the banking sector have been
increasingly promoted, helping banks and customers save time as well as transaction costs
while in the case of opening economy, competition in the banking sector is becoming more
intense than ever.
Understand this situation, BIDV quite invests in approaching customers through
social media tool (Facebook page). But there are not an official evaluating research about
the results of using this and suggest some solutions to improve existing strategy appropriate
to present trend which has been changing day by day.
5. Research scope:
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5.1 Location scope: this study is carried out in BIDV with major information
from one of the biggest branch in BIDV: BIDV Central Transaction 1 Branch and SMCC
Department. All are located in Ha Noi where the population spends much time on internet.
5.2 Data and time cope:
-

Secondary data: is collected in BIDV report period 2015-2017 about the

number of followers, level of interaction.
Primary data: is collected via direct survey from October – December 2017.

-

5.3 Content Limitation
The research subject relate to many wide problems and there are many things to
indicate this. But in this research I just focus on how the social media marketing is used in
BIDV, take full advantage of it and the orientation in future. In research scope, we don‟t
mention what BIDV achieved in social media activities or comparing with other
competitors or standard of industry.
6. Research Methodology:
In order to archieve the overal aim and specific aim of this study, the author will use
in majority Interpretivistic research methods (quanlititative approach) because of the lack of
quantitative figures relative to our subject, and the inherent biases and errors associated
with questionnaires and interviews. These methods allow for the interpretation of observed
and researched data, where critical theory is examined and assumptions about its use in
practice are broken down. Then, the relations and use in our subject is suitable for
predictions and analysis. In this report, the interpretive use of Social Media Marketing
theories for research has been used. We also have used some Positivistic research methods
when dealing with statistics. Indeed, some quantitative customer facts and figures have
been used to analyze and strengthen the results and use of Social Media Marketing
techniques.
6.1. The types of information
They are collected on the following:


Secondary data is collected from BIDV reports, competitors‟ reports and

reliable outsource reports.


Primary data is collected through two ways:

+ Data collection through focus - group interviews (qualitative interviews):
Select one from the target group and conduct in-depth interviews and discussion. Focus Group interview was conducted by gathering a group of 10 people. People are
concentrated in groups with the same demographic characteristics and socio-economic
xiv


conditions, avoiding instances of interaction and conflict among group members when
discussing. Focus – interviews include experts, managers of marketing and other
department and staffs. Discussion time can last about 1.5 hours and audio / video
recorders are used to record the content of the interview.
+ Data collection through observation and investigation (Quantitative
approach)
Observe the available research from internet by reliable sources.
From that the author can give some conclusions.
Observe, perceive and record customers‟ behavior who use
products and services directly in BIDV SGD 1 branch.
Build a list of criteria that appropriate with collected observation.
+ The author also prepares the online research questionnaire for study‟s aim.
Online instruments designed solely for this study have been used to capture data from
the selected sample. The instrument has been developed using the Google form service.
A new Google account was created specifically for this project. New forms were used
for each case and data collected was used for analysis. Protection of the identity of the
respondents was maintained. The created links were uploaded on the social sites and also

sent to available contacts through messenger.
Type of question is category question, ranking question, rating questing
and open question. Sampling method used is purposive sampling. That method permits
to select cases that will best enable to answer research questions and to meet objectives
of the study. Non – probability sample size choice is also used.
6.2 Limitations of methodology:
Interviews and questionnaires on the awareness of banking social media are very
limited in response. Online questionnaire: The online questionnaire is often quicker and
less detailed. Also the validity of such surveys are questionable as people might be in a
hurry to complete it so might not give accurate responses and may not be willing to share
details.
7. Structure of the thesis:
The expected structure of this thesis as following:
Chapter 1: The theoretical framework of Social Media Marketing - The
updated trend and applications in banking industry
1.1 Overview of social media marketing
1.2 Social media marketing channels
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1.3 Social media marketing channels in banking sector
Chapter 2: Research methodology and data analysis
2.1 Methodology and research methods
2.2 Data analysis
Chapter 3: Valuating the efficiency of using social media marketing channels
in BIDV
3.1 Introduction about BIDV
3.2 Analyze the current application of social marketing channels in BIDV
3.3 The advantages and disadvantages of using social media marketing tools in
BIDV

Chapter 4: Findings and recommendations for improving the role of social
media marketing in BIDV
4.1 Development orientation of BIDV
4.2 Solutions to enhance the importance of social media marketing in BIDV
4.3 Recommendations


Conclusions, limitations and research contributions

xvi


CHAPTER 1
THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING - THE
UPDATED TREND AND APPLICATIONS IN BANKING INDUSTRY

1.1.Overview of social media marketing
Social Media appeared in 1978 when the first Bulletin Board Systems exchanged
data over phone lines with other users. According to Evans (2008): „When the Internet
really started to take off, consumers started to tune out those carefully crafted messages
and take more control over how they voiced their experiences with products and services.
From websites to blogs, to forums and message boards, conversations started to spring up
around products, brands, and companies. These conversations have had more influence on
what others buy, subscribe to, and believe is valuable than any marketing message could
manage.‟ Nowadays, Social Media Marketing and more particularly Social Networks have
been influencing strongly in consumers‟ purchasing decisions, mainly because they
amplify word-of-mouth.
According to Evans (2008), Social Media relates to a self-generated, authentic
conversation between people about a particular subject of mutual interest, built on the
thoughts and experiences of the participants. Therefore, Social Media is definitely all about

sharing and aiming at a collective vision, often intending to offer a more-appropriated or
informed choice at the end. Furthermore, Social Media changes over time as it allows
people to generate the content in a participative way whenever they want to add any
additional piece of information. Social Media are also evolving constantly as they are part
of internet high technologies, which are modified regularly with additional or replacing
features. Social Media covers a wide variety of “online and mobile, word-of-mouth forums
including social networking websites, blogs, company sponsored discussion boards and
chat rooms, consumer-to-consumer email, consumer product or service ratings websites
and forums, Internet discussion boards and forums, and sites containing digital audio,
images, movies, or photographs, to name a few” (Hollensen, 2011). Social Networks, or
Social Media Sites, which are the main actors in the Social Media medium, can be defined
as online communities of people who typically share a common interest or activity,
providing a variety of ways for users to interact and having the ability to facilitate
communication.

1


Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein [2] define social media as "internet
applications based on the technology and ideal of web 2.0, which facilitates the creation
and exchange of information by users. "
In Viet Nam, as proposed by the Ministry of Information and Communications,
social media is "an information system that provides the community of users with a
network of services that store, provide, use, search, share and exchange information to
each other, including the creation of a personal website, forum, online chat, audio and
video sharing, and other similar forms of service. "
Social Media is growing every day. Even if 90% of the 18-24 internet users use
social network via any device at least once per month, social media affects every age group
with much higher increase rates for the age groups over 35 (Hubspot, 2012). Also, when
looking at the average hours per week spent on online activities, we can definitely see that

the world is becoming more social, with an average of 4.6 hours per week spend on Social
Media Sites worldwide (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Average hours/week spent on online activities worldwide

The number of active social media users has surpassed 2 billion and is expected to
reach 2.44 billion by 20183. This is not just the playground of millennials. Users of all ages
are well represented in the social universe, especially on the big three: Facebook, LinkedIn
3

“Digital in 2016” report, We Are Social
2


and Twitter. Those between the ages of 25 and 44 comprise the largest share of users, but
consider that 62% of online adults that user Facebook and 20% that use LinkedIn are 65 or
older4
With the development of social media, world marketing in general and Vietnam in
particular, gradually change to take full advantage of the strong connection of social
networks..

Social media marketing is a marketing communication activity on such social
media platforms. Social Media Marketing is marketing that focuses on people, not products
(Diamond, 2008). The products can be presented by the company with as many qualitative
features and promotional tools as possible, but what really matters is the comments and
appreciations left by the customers. People provide the content, and this is the reason why
Social Media Marketing is so scary and challenging for marketers. They do not control the
marketing content anymore. Negative word-of-mouth can be spread worldwide in a couple
of minutes only. With the explosion of Internet-based messages transmitted through the
Social Media, they are now a main factor in influencing many aspects of consumer
behaviour, such as awareness, consideration, information gathering, opinions, attitudes,

purchasing decisions and post-purchase evaluation. International marketers need to
recognize the power and critical nature of the conversations being hold by consumers using

4

Social Media Update 2016, PewResearch Center
3


Social Media. Consequently, the ability of influencing the crowd effectively is the main
quality needed by the marketing team (Evans, 2008).
Technology has been changed the consuming habit of customers. They trust in
personal recommendations than brand‟s messages. The traditional sales funnel is a
consumer model based on the “four A‟s”: “aware, attitude, act and act again.” Now then, P.
Kotler (2016), the shopper pathway now has “five A‟s”:
AWARE

APPEAL

ASK

ACT

Advoca
te

TE

“Aware” – Consumers become aware of brands through marketing, personal
experience or recommendations from other people.

“Appeal” – The most attractive brands rise to the top.
“Ask” – Buyers seek data online via social networks, reviewers, the media or your
brand.
“Act” – Buyers select purchases based on their data, buy what they want and use it.
“Advocate” – People develop preferences for brands and make repeat buys. A
query or negative comment can prompt proponents to defend their brand publicly.
Across all the demograghics, a growing number of users are relying on online
sources, including social media, to support their buying or investment decisions. According
to a recent report from Google:
- 65% online consumers look up more information online now than they did a few
years ago.

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- 66% of smartphone users turn to their phones to look up something they saw in a
TV commercial.
- Searches of businesses “near me” doubles in the past year.
- 82% of smartphone users use a search engine when looking for a local business.
- 82% of smartphone users consult their phones while in a business deciding what
to buy.
- Mobile conversation rates have increases 29% in a single year.
- One in three millennials say they have purchased a product as a result of
watching a how-to video5 .
Figure 2: Benefits of Social Media Marketing:

%
90
80
70

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

85
69

65

58

58

55

51

46

40

%

Source: Stelzner, 2012
Social media have redefined the way people interact with one another, enabling people
to build relationships without geographic and demographic barriers.

1.2.Social media marketing channels:
The Social Media domain is a huge medium that can be divided in many different
types of channels. Every marketer has his own way of distinguishing one Social Media
from another. Therefore, in this section, we will present the almost popular model, Social

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Shape Consumers Preferences in their I-Want-to-Buy-Moments, June 2016,
ThinkwithGoogle
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Media Landscape by Fred Cavazza. Finally, we will provide our own list of Social Media
channels and illustrate them all in our model of Social Media channels.
Fred Cavazza, a French web business consultant, has become famous with his blog
posts presenting his vision of the Social Media Landscapes every year (Figure 2-3-4). He
started in 2008, dividing the Social Media channels into ten main groups: publish, share,
discuss, social networks, microblog, lifestream, livecast, virtual worlds, social games and
MMO. Through the years, he has been updating his model with the changes in Social
Media Marketing. In 2009, he started to put the social platforms in the center of the Social
Media Landscape, with four main groups around: Expressing, Networking, Sharing and
Gaming. Then, in 2011, Cavazza gave the central position of his model to Facebook and
Google which are both connected to the seven main areas of Social Media: Publish, Share,
Discuss, Commerce, Location, Network and Games.
Figure 3: The Social Media Landscape 2008, by Fred Cavazza

Source: Cavazza, 2012.

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Figure 4: The Social Media Landscape 2009, by Fred Cavazza

Source: Cavazza, 2012.
Figure 5: The Social Media Landscape 2011, by Fred Cavazza

Source: Cavazza, 2012.

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