function to blogs but focus more on shorter updates such as (Twitter and Tumblr),
social bookmarking sites such as (Pinterest and Reddit), virtual worlds sites such as
(Inworldz) and rating sites such as (Angie’s List) which enables people to
communicate freely with each other and contribute their knowledge about a brand or
product. In recent years there have also been increasing new trends in social media
which includes the location based services sites such as (Foursquare and Waze)
which reward its users by providing a timely update regarding their location and
whereabouts.
At the same time users are exposed to an advertisement as a cost of getting the free
services which marketers see as a good opportunity to effectively promote their
products (Edwards, 2011). Another increasing new trend in social media involves the
daily deals or referred to social couponing such as (Groupon and All Deals Asia).
These websites promotes retailers products at a special price for a limited amount of
time which often influences the users to make an impulse purchase (Kruszka, 2012).
Based on a study, almost half of marketers believe that Facebook is the most
essential medium in their social media promotion strategy. This figure is then
followed by LinkedIn with 16 percent, blogging and forum sites with 14 percent and
followed by micro blogging with 12 percent. These figures indicate that marketers
view networking sites and blogs as the most essential and effective mediums for their
social media promotion strategy (Stelzner, 2013).
Besides providing benefits to individuals, the social media is also used by many
companies to achieve their objectives. Social media promotion is defined as a paid
form of company’s promotion whereby carefully planned messages to be delivered
and budget allocation is essential (Vukasovic, 2013). Social media can be used by
companies for promotional purposes which influence buyers to act or to build and
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