Facebook marketing : what do users think of it?

The Internet is part of our daily lives, has been for decades in continuously increasing proportion and continues inevitably on the same path. We use it for getting information, entertainment, shopping, in our work and studies and, above all, for communication. E-mail is a familiar mode of communication, but among the later trends in the Internet is the social media with its various manifestations. It provides us means to stay in touch with our family and friends and to meet new people and to socialize among the likeminded. Social media is hoarding ever more larger share of people’s time that spend in overall and especially in the Internet. The most significant by far is the Facebook.com, the phenomenon that has grown at an unpreceded pace and today it attracts more visitors than any other web domain except Google.com. \n \nThe change in behaviour presents a challenge and an opportunity in a marketer’s perspective. The people are withdrawing from the television and other established marketing channels but at the same time they are flocking to a new environment that is far more interactive and with the right tools in skilled hands it also provides more information about the audience. People let you know who they are and what are their interests. However, the people aren’t just mere spectators, or receivers any longer, instead they are participants. At best they are willing to become endorsers by joyously parading their new shoes in public. On the other hand they may vent out their frustration about the car that had to be taken into service yet again. While they are eager to share their lives as never seen before, their awareness about the possible negative outcomes is contstantly heightening. At the same time the users feel more ownership over the content that they share and are quite easily offended if that content is misused or if their personal space is intruded. \n \nFacebook has a massive database with detailed information of its users and the means to utilize that for marketers. But how to engage that crowd? This thesis takes an attempt to find out from the users themselves what they feel is the right way to reach them in order to get the message out there.