Social media use by companies: An evaluation on social media experts

This study aims to discover the aims, habits and reasons of the companies in using social media by analysing social media experts. Social media expertise is a newly developing occupation. The study is composed of four chapters. In the first chapter, the literature on the social media and its usage that developed together with Web 2.0 technology is dealt with. Statisctics on the social media usage in the world and in Turkey is compared and information on the most frequently used social media services, i.e. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube is provided. In the second chapter, companies' aims in and reasons for social media use is examined with reference to advertisement and public relations practices. In this respect, relevant research on Turkey is analysed. The third chapter is based on the research methodology; the aim, limitations and questions of the research is explained. For this research, mixed method is applied. Consequently, there are 6 indepth interviews and 122 online surveys are conducted. Quantitative data is analysed with SPSS 20 and indepth interviews are used for descriptive analysis. As a result of the evaluation of the findings, it is discerned that the most frequently used social media service for firms is Facebook, whereas for individual social media experts, Instagram. In the interviews with social media professionals, the participants emphasized the effectiveness in ensuring communication with the target audience at the right time thanks to the fact that social media provides accessibility, low cost, speed, up-to-date communication and innovation, and stated that social media will be the focus of our life in the future, especiallyin the areas of advertising, marketing and sales.