Characteristic of Social Media Marketing Strategy and Customer-Based Brand Equity Outcomes: A Conceptual Model

Social media is increasingly recognized by companies as an important and efficient marketing channel to connect with consumers. Existing research on social media is focused on studying issues related to social media and branding from consumers’ side at the individual or group level including social media adoption and practice, the interactions and dynamics of brand communities, and online consumer behaviors. Furthermore, social media marketing activities are found to have strong influence on brand reputation and brand equity. Still, very little research studies the effect of different dimensions of social media marketing strategy on important customer-based brand equity (CBBE) outcomes such as brand awareness, brand judgments, brand feeling, and finally brand resonance. The questions of what level and what kind of social media marketing activities are needed to help firms build CBBE are not properly addressed. Furthermore, the differential impact of different social media activities on different components of CBBE is not clear. Yet these concerns are extremely important for any company to develop its social media marketing strategy effectively. This chapter contributes to the literature by introducing four important dimensions of social media marketing strategy: Variety, Diversity, Intensity, and Connectivity. Variety refers to how many different social media platforms and applications are being used in the brand social media marketing strategy. Diversity refers to the variety of marketing activities in which the brand utilizes social media efforts. Intensity of activities relates to how frequently the brand organizes online events and activities across the different platforms. Connectivity refers to how well those platforms are linked together and work as a whole to help brand achieve brand strategy. Our propositions suggest that while being in social media can generate brand awareness, different social media platforms establish different brand associations, creating different effects on CBBE. Particularly, blogs and microblogs are found to associate with building brand performance and brand judgment; content sharing sites can generate brand imagery and brand feeling; and social networking sites show the purpose of building brand resonance (brand relationship). Furthermore, different social media activities produce different impacts on CBBE pyramid. By providing promotion and entertainment information, companies can get their online users’ attentions. However, positive brand performance and judgment can be best generated by opening online sales and support and public relations. Finally by engaging online customers in marketing research and crowdsourcing activities, firms are able to strengthen their brand resonance with their surround communities. The successfulness of these activities is moderated by their frequency and connectivity with each other. The propositions in this chapter also convey some managerial implications. This chapter helps firms have a better and clearer view of how social media activities can be utilized effectively and efficiently. The results facilitate the uses of social media based on firms’ branding strategy because the choices of social media channels and activities are shown to help achieve particular branding objectives.