Facebook and YouTube as marketing tools (442)

Following the primary and secondary research, there are three recommendations for using
social media as a marketing tool to increase awareness of 2 RED.

Firstly, results from the focus group research suggest Facebook is the most preferred social
media platform for participants looking for information about boiler companies. Therefore,
Facebook is recommended as one of the main social media tools for promoting 2 RED. In the
focus groups, 6 out of 13 participants suggested they would look for reviews on Facebook.
Godes and Mayzlin‘s (2004) suggested that customers rely on online customer-created
information to make purchasing decisions. Therefore, the researchers recommend that
2RED encourage their customers to post positive comments on Facebook, in order to build
awareness and trustworthiness through Facebook.

In addition, 31% of the focus group participants suggested that if a business has a
professional online presence, such as uploading professional content to Facebook, it will
create a more trustworthy image in the minds of potential customers. Lee, Park and Hen
(2011) demonstrated that online customer reviews (OCRs) will have higher levels of impact
on consumers’ purchasing intentions when the business has professional trustful online
presence then the reviews are effective in influencing consumers’ purchase intention.
Therefore, 2 RED need to make sure their Facebook page, including the contents they post
are professional and trustful.

Secondary research illustrated that “sharing” is the most valuable feature of marketing on
Facebook (Yuki, 2015). Tactics such as “tag” or “#” can make Facebook posts reach wider
target audiences. For example, tagging 2 RED.’s customers on the post after the service, will
make the business visible to the customers’ Facebook friends. This will help to improve the
publicity of the business. “#” is another tactic which is recommended for use on Facebook.
It allows the business to be more searchable, shareable and public (Agnes, 2013). This will
enable 2 RED’s brand name to be seen by a wider target audience through “#” the service
name, the brand of the installed boiler or the service location, etc.

Furthermore, an interesting opinion was found from one of the focus groups. 5 participants
were interested in receiving tips and advice of new boilers or boiler services through social
media platforms. The researchers recommended to use YouTube as a communication
channel for 2 RED providing tips and advice on boilers, boiler maintenance and other
activities related to 2 Red. YouTube enables easier engagement with customers through
video content, as the customers feel more of connection with the company. Video contents
posted on YouTube also suggest linking to 2 RED’s website, to demonstrate the quality of 2
RED’s service which is one of their UPS and increase customer engagement.

REF:
Yuki, T. (2015). What makes brands’ social content shareable on Facebook? An analysis that
demonstrates the power of online trust and attention. Journal of Advertising Research, 55
(4), 458-470.

Agnes, M. (2013). The risks and benefits of Facebook hashtags. Public Relations Tactics, 20
(8), 8.

Godes, D. and Mayzlin, D. (2004), “Using online conversations to study word-of-mouth

communication”, Marketing Science, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 545-60.

Lee, J., Park, D. and Han, I. (2011). The different effects of online consumer reviews on
consumers' purchase intentions depending on trust in online shopping malls. Internet
Research, 21 (2), 187-206.