Fortune 500 companies' use of social media as a marketing tool

Tim Randall

Social media including: "blogs, chat, discussion boards, microblogs, podcasts, ratings, and social networks" (Grainger, J. 2010) are pervasive in the current global culture and economy. The advent of this ubiquitous communication medium has fundamentally changed the dynamics of interpersonal contact, but has also spread to the interaction between business and the consumer. Social Media and the Fortune 500: How the Fortune 500 uses, perceives, and measures social media as marketing tool analyzes this growing usage of social media by business in the context of both utilization and efficacy. These questions are particularly crucial when considering that "86% of marketing professionals were using social media in their marketing and communication efforts; however, 84% of respondents said they don't currently measure the ROI (return on investment) of their social media programs" (Grainger, J. 2010). In order to explicate this phenomenon, a review of the existing literature on the topic is a useful starting point.

Research Problem

The Grainger dissertation attempts to discern what "social media assets each company on the Fortune 500 employs, how Fortune 500 communication professionals perceive social media as a marketing tool, and how companies measure the effectiveness of social media marketing efforts" (Grainger, J. 2010). From the onset the author indicates that the available academic literature on social media is "scarce at best" (Grainger, J. 2010), yet the findings which are presented provide a fundamental basis of content knowledge. The literature aligns itself sufficiently with the underlying questions of social media usage, its effects, and its results. There is method to the author's selection of material, namely their use of quantitative data in defining social media. A prime example is the "Forrester Research on the digital landscape" (Grainger, J. 2010) which outlines how consumers specifically use social media in their daily interactions. The provision of statistical data throughout the literature review underscores the author's understanding that social media is not an amorphous concept, but rather it must be categorically analyzed for its unique applications. Befitting a thesis on investment returns of social media the literature review provides a through basis of content examination.

Relevance of Literature to Research Question

Social media as a dissertation topic is particularly tricky because of its inherent nature as a dynamic change element. Succinctly, the constant evolution of social media is its defining characteristic, and attempting to explain its role is the academic equivalent of nailing Jell-O to the wall. Yet,