UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies Business School
MEASUREMENT AND FINANCIAL VALUE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS
Jonna Kumpu 291267 June 2020
Abstract
UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies
Department
Business School
Author
Jonna Kumpu
Supervisor
Juho Pesonen
Name of the Thesis
Measurement and financial value of social media marketing in destination marketing organizations
Major
Tourism Marketing and Management
Level
Master’s thesis
Date
12.6.2020
Pages
91 + 2
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to explore, how social media marketing is currently planned, measured, and utilized financially as well as in decision-making in Finnish destination marketing organizations (DMOs). The study focuses on Facebook and Instagram as marketing channels. Previous study suggests that there are no standardized methods for measuring social media marketing. Nevertheless, destination marketing organizations have pressure to demonstrate the extra value they create with their marketing activities to maintain the budgets and allocate the budgets more to digital and social media marketing.
The research method was qualitative, and the data for the research is collected by conducting semi-structured theme interviews. Eight representatives of DMOs across Finland were interviewed for the study. The interviewees were chosen with purposive sampling. The data was analyzed with a theory-guided content analysis method. In this method, previous research has been utilized in forming the research questions and interview questions for the research. Also, the themes formulated for the study are based on theoretical framework.
The findings of the study suggest that the practitioners understand the role of social media and they have gained understanding in how to utilize it in destination marketing.
Nevertheless, their actions may be more experimental, and the use of social media marketing may not be documented, even though the goals were clear. When it comes to measurement, basic metrics are used. The findings also suggest that measuring financial value is difficult.
However, in addition to the financial value, non-measurable data is important. Sensing the feelings and thoughts in channels is the driving force for social media marketing, as it may imply the engagement of customers. The value of social media marketing is extremely valuable, even though challenges exist in putting the value into financial measures.
Nevertheless, social media marketing is utilized in decision-making by top management especially with the help of measurable data. In addition to this, non-measurable measures are utilized in product development and marketing planning.
Key words
Destination marketing, social media marketing, destination marketing organization, marketing measurement, financial value of social media marketing
Tiivistelmä
ITÄ-SUOMEN YLIOPISTO
Tiedekunta
Yhteiskuntatieteiden ja kauppatieteiden tiedekunta
Yksikkö
Kauppatieteiden laitos
Tekijä
Jonna Kumpu
Ohjaaja
Juho Pesonen
Otsikko
Sosiaalisen median markkinoinnin mittaaminen ja taloudellinen arvo matkakohteen yhteismarkkinointiorganisaatioissa
Pääaine
Matkailumarkkinointi ja -johtaminen
Työn laji
Pro gradu -tutkielma
Päivämäärä
12.6.2020
Sivut
91 + 2
Tiivistelmä
Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, miten sosiaalisen median markkinointi nykyisin suunnitellaan, sekä miten sitä mitataan ja hyödynnetään taloudellisessa mielessä suomalaisissa matkakohteiden yhteismarkkinointiorganisaatioissa. Tutkimus keskittyy Facebookiin ja Instagramiin markkinointikanavina. Aikaisemman tutkimuksen mukaan sosiaalisen median markkinoinnin tulosten mittaamiseen ei ole standardisoituja tapoja.
Yhteismarkkinointiorganisaatioilla on kuitenkin painetta osoittaa sosiaalisen median markkinoinnin synnyttämä arvo budjetoinnissa sekä kohdentaakseen budjettia digi- ja sosiaalisen median markkinointiin.
Kyseessä on laadullinen tutkimus, johon kerättiin aineisto puolistrukturoiduilla teemahaastatteluilla. Tutkimusta varten haastateltiin kahdeksaa Suomessa toimivaa yhteismarkkinointiorganisaation edustajaa. Haastattelijat valittiin harkintaan perustuvalla otannalla. Aineiston analysoinnissa käytettiin menetelmänä teoriaohjaavaa sisällönanalyysia. Tässä menetelmässä aikaisempaa tutkimusta hyödynnettiin tutkimusongelman ja -kysymysten muodostamisessa. Tutkimusta varten valitut teemat perustuvat myös teoreettiseen viitekehykseen.
Tutkimuksen mukaan sosiaalisen median markkinoinnin rooli ymmärretään yhteismarkkinointiorganisaatioissa sekä ymmärrys sosiaalisen median markkinoinnin hyödyntämistä kohtaan on kasvanut. Siitä huolimatta sosiaalisen median markkinointia ei ole välttämättä kirjattu mihinkään selkeistä tavoitteista huolimatta. Löydösten mukaan taloudellista arvoa on vaikea mitata sosiaalisen median markkinoinnissa. Kuitenkin myös sosiaalisesta median kanavista saatua laadullista tietoa pidetään tärkeänä. Tutkimuksen mukaan sosiaalisen median arvo on mittaamattoman arvokas, vaikka sitä ei voidakaan mitata välttämättä rahallisesti. Sosiaalisen median markkinointia hyödynnetään päätöksenteossa johdon osalta erityisesti mitattavissa olevien määreiden perusteella. Lisäksi laadullista tietoa hyödynnetään tuotekehityksessä sekä markkinoinnin suunnittelussa.
Avainsanat
Kohdemarkkinointi, sosiaalisen median markkinointi, matkakohteen
yhteismarkkinointiorganisaatio, markkinoinnin mittaaminen, sosiaalisen median markkinoinnin taloudellinen arvo
Contents
1 INTRODUCTION ... 1
1.1 Background ... 1
1.2 Aims and scope of the study ... 2
1.3 Key concepts ... 4
1.4 Structure ... 5
2 MEASUREMENT AND FINANCIAL VALUE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING .. 6
2.1 Destination marketing ... 6
2.2 Social media marketing... 8
2.2.1 Description of social media marketing ... 8
2.2.2 Paid, owned, and earned media... 10
2.2.3 Social media marketing in tourism ... 13
2.2.4 Branding and social media marketing... 17
2.2.5 Social media marketing measurement and financial value ... 19
2.3 Theoretical framework ... 28
3 METHODOLOGY ... 32
3.1 Qualitative research ... 32
3.2 Data collection ... 32
3.2.1 Conducting the study ... 32
3.2.2 Semi-structured theme interviews... 34
3.3 Analysis of the data – Content analysis ... 36
4 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ... 39
4.1 Description of social media marketing in DMOs ... 39
4.2 Planning of social media marketing in DMOs ... 40
4.2.1 Goals of social media marketing... 40
4.2.2 Documentation of the goals ... 45
4.3 Social media marketing measurement ... 48
4.3.1 Ways of measuring ... 48
4.3.2 Other factors relating to social media marketing measurement... 51
4.3.3 The use of non-numeric data... 54
4.4 The financial value of social media marketing ... 57
4.4.1 Financial value ... 57
4.4.2 Financial models and frameworks ... 60
4.5 Decision-making based on social media marketing... 63
5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ... 69
5.1 Main findings and theoretical implications... 69
5.2 Managerial implications... 76
5.3 Evaluation of the study - trustworthiness and ethics ... 78
5.4 Suggestions for further research ... 80
6 REFERENCES ... 82 APPENDICES
Appendix 1 Interview questions
Appendix 2 Information to the interviewees
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1. Tasks of the DMO ... 7
Figure 2. Paid, owned, and earned media ... 12
Figure 3. A cycle for steps for successful social media marketing ... 16
Figure 4. Framework for branding in destinations... 19
Figure 5. Theoretical framework concerning the measurement and financial value of social media marketing... 28
Table 1. Previous study relating to social media marketing measurement. ... 27
Table 2. Details of the interviews. ... 33
Table 3. Information about DMOs... 39
Table 4. Findings relating to the goals of social media marketing in DMOs ... 41
Table 5. Findings relating to documenting the goals in social media marketing in DMOs .... 45
Table 6. Findings relating to the most used metrics by the DMOs... 48
Table 7. Other findings relating to social media marketing measurement ... 51
Table 8. Findings relating to non-numeric data in social media marketing... 55
Table 9. Findings relating to financial value in social media ... 57
Table 10. Findings relating to the use of financial models in DMOs ... 60
Table 11. Factors relating to decision-making based on social media marketing ... 64
1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background
Social media has become an important marketing tool for destination marketing organizations.
It is an increasingly valuable means of sharing information and experiences while travelling (Munar & Jacobsen 2014), thus creating word-of-mouth about travel destinations and experiences. A great deal of decisions to travel to a destination comes from friends or relatives, and the role of social media is also in the increase when making travel decisions (Pike 2016).
Also, social media has given new and vast number of possibilities for companies, but also destinations to practice marketing and implement campaigns. It is widely known among practitioners that destination marketing organizations (DMOs) have their role in marketing, while trying to attract more visitors to a destination (Pike & Page 2014). Therefore, DMOs also have their role in marketing the destinations of today via social media channels.
The pace of social media has accelerated in recent years and changing forms. When travelers post their pictures and comments of their holiday in social media, this poses challenges in demonstrating value for DMOs as they lose control of brand image in social media to user- generated content (Pike 2016.) Also, Morgan, Hastings & Pritchard (2012) suggest that DMOs no longer can control the destination story or its image with social media, but rather it is the consumer who has the control. As a result of the rapid change and increased consumption in social media and other digital marketing channels today, making accessing information possible regardless of place and time, also the customer behavior and customer purchase journeys have changed dramatically, as the consumers are moving unsystematically along the purchase journey (Järvinen 2016).
Within the emergence of social media, practitioners in DMOs have gradually understood the importance of social media marketing and its measurement. According to prior research, however, there are no standardized methods for DMOs to measure marketing effectiveness.
Nevertheless, it is vital for destination marketers to know what to emphasize in social media marketing and what actions would result in the best financial benefits and more visitors to the destination. According to Agostino & Sidorova (2016), the performance metrics are difficult to measure due to their fragmented nature. It is not clear, which forms of social media should be measured and in what ways. Furthermore, Pike (2016) states that not enough research is
done to control the results of destination marketing around the world. Also, there is inadequacy in the evaluation of online activities implemented in destination marketing organizations.
DMOs tend to evaluate “what can be measured instead of what should be measured”, meaning that marketing tactics are not chosen according to social media marketing strategy, but rather according to a tool that is easy to acquire and use. (Morgan et al 2012, 75.) However, the question is how marketing practitioners know what kind of marketing is effective in terms of financial value. How do they measure social media marketing, and what brings the best results, the biggest audience in social media and possibly the biggest turnover to the destinations?
Therefore, it is vital for destination marketers to understand, what kind of financial value their actions create when doing social media marketing. This is also because destination marketing organizations are typically funded by public sector. Destination marketing organizations have pressure to demonstrate the extra value they create with their marketing activities. If they fail in proving the extra value, it is possible that the marketing budgets will be diminished (Morgan et al. 2012.) Furthermore, organizations need the allocation of budgets increasingly to digital marketing (Järvinen 2016). The same is likely to apply to destination marketing organizations when they must be able to prove the value of social media in destination marketing.
The idea for this thesis generated from the author’s interest in digital and social media marketing. First, an expert in the field was discussed with about the idea for the master’s thesis topic. Consequently, the topic itself was formulated with the thesis supervisor. The author has experience already in sales processes, however, an interest in developing knowledge in marketing and its measurement made the author to choose the topic.
1.2 Aims and scope of the study
Previous research has been made to explore the possibilities of social media marketing in increasing brand awareness, customer engagement and customer loyalty (Chan & Denizci Guillet 2011). Previous studies concern specifically promotion, product distribution, communication, management, and research (Leung, Law, van Hoof & Buhalis 2013).
However, there is not much research on investigating the social media effectiveness implemented in marketing management (Morgan et al. 2012). Therefore, a need exists to demonstrate the financial value of social media in the field of tourism. Also, when the financial value can be measured, it is easier to prove its value to partners and stakeholders. In addition
to this, there is a need for case studies focusing on qualitative aspects concerning the effects of social media (Zeng & Gerritsen 2014.) When it comes to the aspects of social media relating to owned, paid or earned media, in earlier research, there is also less focus on company’s effort (e.g. marketer-generated content) in owned social media (Goh, Heng, Lin 2013). So far, most research has concentrated on earned social media in customer-centric focus, whereas in some research, the attempt has been made to measure the effect of product characteristics (Ayeh, Leung, Au & Law 2012; Chang, Chou, Wu, Wu 2018).
As a lot of prior research has concerned the traveler’s point of view (Munar 2012), this thesis focuses on supplier’s perspective. Destination marketing can be implemented in various levels, namely in local, regional or national level (Buhalis 2000; Mariani, Mura & di Felice 2018), so in this thesis, the focus is on destination marketing organizations operating in regional level across Finland. This kind of research has been implemented in some countries, like Italy (Mariani, Mura & Di Felice 2015), but not in Finland. In addition to this, Usakli, Koc &
Sönmez (2017) have investigated the usage of social media marketing tools of DMOs in several European countries by implementing content analysis.
The goal of the thesis is to investigate how social media marketing is planned and measured, as well as to know how the financial value of social media marketing is utilized in DMOs.
Furthermore, a purpose of the study is to improve knowledge in how social media marketing is utilized in DMOs’ decision-making. Therefore, the research questions of the thesis are:
• How is social media marketing planned and measured in DMOs and why?
• How is the financial value considered and measured in social media marketing in DMOs?
• How is social media marketing utilized in decision-making?
The results of the thesis will contribute to current knowledge regarding measurement as well as the implementation of financial value of social media marketing. With the help of this study, destination managers will get insights into measurement and financial value of social media marketing in destinations and perhaps do benchmarking. In this thesis, the focus of the study is mainly on owned media, referring to the content that the DMOs produce themselves, as well as paid media, referring to the content that the DMO buys from a partner. Previous research on social media in tourism and hospitality has concentrated mainly on Facebook and Twitter
(Stankov, Lazic, & Dragicevic 2010; Hays, Page & Buhalis 2013; Jabreel, Moreno, & Huertas 2016; Mariani et al. 2018), because they have usually been the most utilized social media platforms by tourism organizations. However, results of the study by Usakli et al. (2017) show that Instagram and Facebook posts of DMOs create higher levels of customer engagement compared to Twitter and YouTube posts (Usakli et al. 2017). Therefore, the focus of this study is on Facebook and Instagram as marketing channels. They are used especially in B2C marketing in DMOs.
1.3 Key concepts
social media marketing Kaplan and Haenlein (2010, 61 defines social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content”. With the help of social media, users generate and share content in social network sites interactively, in the form of visual, narrative, or audio content (Munar 2010). When travelling, with social media tourists can tell about their real-time experiences online (Munar & Jacobssen 2010).
Social media marketing, on the contrary, is one of the marketing tools applied in digital marketing context. The advantage of social media is the possibility to do marketing in a cost-effective way. The challenge of social media marketing, on the other hand is the difficulty of engaging audiences when they are interacting with their networks (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick 2012.) Therefore, the knowledge of well-functioning advertising techniques is important.
DMO The main tasks of the destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are to manage the tourism system, to improve the destination attractiveness, and to enhance the destination performance and marketing effectiveness (Soteriades 2012), and thus, to attract more visitors to a destination (Pike & Page 2014). Destination marketing organizations are typically funded by nations, states, and cities.
Various stakeholders in the destination may have differing interests,
making it more challenging to make decisions concerning destination marketing (Morgan et al. 2012).
social media
marketing measurement Social media metrics and analytics are commonly utilized to measure the success of social media marketing (Peters, Chen, Kaplan, Ognibeni & Pauwels 2013). The most established evaluation techniques in digital marketing are KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). ROI (return on investment) is commonly used to evaluate the financial effects of marketing actions.
However, there are no unified methods for marketing measurement, even though attempts have been made to develop different kinds of measurement techniques. (Agostino & Sidorova 2016.)
1.4 Structure
This paper consists of sections based on structural guidelines typical of similar types of studies.
After the background and introduction to the study, the paper will proceed to theory section, introducing the reader the theoretical concepts and previous research. First, the role of destination marketing will be discussed, with a special focus on the differences compared to corporate marketing. Second, the concept of social media marketing, and its effects on marketing as such will be discussed. As social media marketing has its several forms; the concepts of paid, owned and earned media will be discussed in the following chapter. Third, how social media marketing has affected tourism sector and previous research concerning it will be covered. Fourth, the role of branding in social media marketing will be introduced. Last, in the theory part of the thesis the current state of measuring social media marketing and financial value will be discussed from the point of view of previous research. The methodological section of the study includes introducing the research methods – referring to semi-structured theme interviews as a research method, leading to analysis and findings, which are compared to the theory in the theoretical conclusions section. Finally, managerial implications, research ethics and suggestions for further research are presented at the end of the thesis.
2 MEASUREMENT AND FINANCIAL VALUE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
2.1 Destination marketing
Marketing of destinations is increasingly competitive today, and only the best managed destinations are likely to thrive (Buhalis 2000). According to Pike & Page (2014), reasons for the increased competitiveness between tourism destinations can be seen in the globalization of travel and business, technology development, and the increase in the level of income providing new opportunities for travelling. Therefore, destinations are forced to find new ways to be more competitive and to provide their visitors memorable experiences. Destination marketing organizations (DMOs) have a primary role in increasing the competitiveness of the destination.
One of the main purposes for destination marketing organizations is to attract more visitors to a destination (Pike & Page 2014.) As Soteriades (2012, 109) states, the role of the destination marketing organization is to “manage the tourism system, to improve the destination attractiveness, and to enhance the destination performance and marketing effectiveness”.
(Soteriades 2012).
Despite of attracting more visitors to a destination, destination marketing organizations should keep the balance between the strategic objectives of all stakeholders, such as business owners, residents, authorities, and funders in the destination (Buhalis 2000; Morgan et al. 2012; Pike &
Page 2014). Moreover, they should consider the sustainability of local resources. Also, DMOs should be able to differentiate their product offering as well as establish partnerships between both public and private sector locally. Moreover, they should be able to take advantage of technological development to stay competitive, as well as follow their strategic management and marketing. Destination marketing is also defined by the tourism policy in the area, which aims at coordinating with the regional strategic plan (Buhalis 2000.) Middleton and Hawkins (1998, 8) state that “a marketing perspective is essentially an overall management orientation reflecting corporate attitudes, that in the case of travel and tourism, must balance the interests of shareholders and owners with the long-run environmental interests of a destination, and at the same time meet the demands and expectations of customers.” (Middleton & Hawkins 1998). The main tasks of DMOs are also listed in figure 1.
Figure 1. Tasks of the DMO (Paraphrasing: Buhalis 2000; Soteriades 2012; Pike & Page 2014)
However, as there are similarities in tourism marketing and corporate marketing, tourism destinations cannot be marketed in the same way as companies, which have budgets of totally different scale. Destinations, referring to areas where consumers travel to spend their holidays or travel for business, usually comprise of multiple small or micro enterprises providing the service offering with their own marketing plans, still competing against each other (Buhalis 2000; Soteriades 2012; Pike & Page 2014.) Therefore, destinations are more complex and diverse than specific tourism products (Ooi & Stöber, 2010). Different stakeholders have their own interests, which need to be managed by destination marketers (Buhalis 2000; Morgan et al. 2012; Pike & Page 2014). Destination marketing organizations continuously aim at putting resources together with all stakeholders to promote the destination as one instead of competing, thus making destination marketing very challenging (Buhalis 2000; Pike & Page 2014).
However, DMOs have no control over marketing actions and product development of tourism companies operating in the region. (Pike & Page 2014).
Destination marketing organization can exist in local, regional, or national level (Buhalis 2000;
Mariani et al. 2018). Another typical characteristic for the destination marketing organizations is the funding by nations, states, and cities (Morgan et al. 2012; Pike & Page 2014). DMOs also have a challenge of showing the value of the marketing actions they implement to their stakeholders to get proper funding in the form of budgets (Morgan et al. 2012). To be successful in the competitive environment, destinations are considered to apply strategic marketing focus.
The destinations, which respond to changes proactively and apply strategies, are the ones that foster (Soteriades 2012.)
To date, destination marketing has been researched from several points of view. Examples of the research themes in the supply side are “destination information systems, the politics of DMO governance, destination lifecycles, stakeholder collaboration, brand identity and development, funding and marketing communications”, whereas in the demand side, themes referring to “consumer perceptions, decision making and loyalty have been interesting topics for the researchers” (Pike & Page 2014, 202-203.) Especially during the last fifteen years, attention has been paid by researchers to digital marketing in destinations (Mariani et al. 2018).
Today, social media is one essential form of digital marketing; therefore, it deserves the focus on research concerning destination marketing. Therefore, it will be discussed more closely in the following chapters.
2.2 Social media marketing
2.2.1 Description of social media marketing
Social media has emerged in the 2000s as one form of digital marketing (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). The aim of digital marketing is to gain marketing objectives with digital technologies (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). In the era of “Web 1.0”, there was hardly any interaction among the users and publishers on the Internet. Moreover, information published online was static (Hays et al. 2013.) With Web 1.0, one-way communication is enabled, whereas with Web 2.0, first introduced by O’Reilly in 2007, is a platform, which enables communication exchange, therefore giving advice to consumers better than before (Yu, Duan & Cao 2013).
There is no one single definition for social media. However, depending on the context, it can be linked with terms such as “social websites, consumer-generated media, user-generated
content and even Web 2.0” (Chan & Denizci Guillet 2011, 347). According to Kaplan &
Haenlein (2010), social media means online tools based on social interactions and user- generated content (UGC). It is defined by three main aspects, which separate these technologies by other “web-based tools, real-time communication, many-to-many interactions and user-generated content” (Kaplan & Haenlein 2010, 61). Today, in the era of Web 2.0, the internet consists of various review sites and social media platforms, where information is created and shared actively by posting comments, photos and videos by the users in real time (Kaplan & Haenlain 2010; Munar 2010; Ayeh, Au & Law 2013; Agostino & Sidorova 2016).
In this way, a company can create engagement to social media posts. Types of social media are
“blogs and microblogs, social networking sites, virtual worlds, collaborative projects, content community sites, and sites dedicated for feedback”, to name but a few (Chan & Denizci Guillet 2011, 347).
Social media marketing, in turn, can be defined as “a social and managerial process, by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through a set of Internet-based applications that enable interaction, communication, collaboration of user-generated content and hence, sharing of information such as ideas, thoughts, content and relationships” (Kotler, Bowen & Makens 2006, 30). In terms of marketing, user-generated content refers to the idea of the relationship between the buyer and the seller. For both small and large businesses, social media brings opportunities to either generate or increase sales or lower advertising costs (Järvinen 2016). In addition to this, UGC on social media might help learning more about the traits of consumers using specific social media channels (Leung et al. 2013). Therefore, by accessing the valuable information of UGC will help marketers in designing and developing the marketing of products, as well as in product development as such.Even though social media marketing is one of the digital marketing tactics, it does not equal to online marketing, even though it can be regarded as web-based in nature (Chan & Denizci Guillet 2011; Järvinen 2016).
As it was mentioned, with social media consumers can take part in communication. In social media advertising, advertisers can create a dialogue with the target group. In this way, the advertisers can react to possible negative comments, use positive comments in future advertising and utilize direct feedback to improve product’s performance and characteristics.
Thus, it is vital for advertisers to remember that they cannot control content but become part of the conversation by talking to consumers, thus being actors in the network. This is the main
difference compared to traditional advertising, where it is possible to control communication only by sending one-way message to the consumer (Ayeh et al. 2012; Peters et al. 2013;
Blakeman 2014.) Also, Lalicic & Gindl (2018) point out that marketers should understand how to create social media campaigns in a way that they create appeal in comparison with traditional marketing campaigns. In addition to this, it is important for marketers to understand, which social media campaigns are most effective for engaging consumers. Srinivasan, Rutz &
Pauwels (2015) say that special features in social media marketing are better targeting, better tracking, and better responding (Srinivasan et al. 2015). Compared to traditional media, social media enables new and more closely targeted forms of advertising. As an example, owned brand messages can be targeted based on earned messages the consumer has been exposed to via re-targeting. The ways of retargeting can be friend referrals, self-posting or mentions (Lambrecht & Tucker 2012.)
In today’s marketing environment, marketing actions should be combined by online and offline marketing. Marketers must take one step further and use interactive social media to able to communicate with their customers. Moreover, for marketing practitioners, social media should not only be an online distribution channel, but in addition to this, an effective tool to implement service recovery, build relationships with customers and build brand loyalty in the community.
That is why companies actively engage in social media (Chan & Deniczi Guillet 2011; Ayeh et al. 2012; Lalicic & Gindl 2018.) Due to rapid development, some companies even have a pressure to adopt various digital channels (Leung et al. 2013). Because social media is growing much faster than traditional marketing, it has become an essential part of a company’s marketing mix. As digital media in general is fragmented in nature, it may cause challenges in allocating marketing budgets from traditional media to digital and social media (Valos, Ewing
& Powell 2010.) It should be noted that as the marketing budgets tailored to social media marketing tend to increase, there is a need for understanding the effectiveness of these marketing metrics within the social media (Thornhill, Xie, Jin Lee 2017).
2.2.2 Paid, owned, and earned media
In order for marketers to be able to apply their marketing strategy, they have to take into consideration three types of media in order to reach their potential customers online, namely:
paid media, earned media (also referred to as earned social media or ESM) and owned media (also referred to as owned social media or OSM). According to Chaffey & Ellis –Chadwick,
(2012), paid media especially refers to bought media, covering traditional print and TV advertising as well as in digital advertising, a pay for a click, lead or sale, which eventually generates sales. In other words, it refers to communication created and shared by the brand in its online social network channels, such as a Facebook Fan page or in YouTube, and the content is therefore controlled by the brand (Thornhill et al. 2017; Colicev, Malshev, Pauwels &
O’Connor 2018).
Owned media refers to different kinds of media, which is controlled by a company owning the channel’s purpose (Chaffey & Ellis –Chadwick, 2012). So, owned media is distinguished from earned media in terms of who owns the site and who begins the communication. These may include websites, blogs, e-mail lists and social media presence (Thornhill et al. 2017; Colicev et al. 2018.) Owned content (also referred to as organic content) in social media is a low-cost form to find information on products and services. This kind of information is free and offers an opportunity for consumers to learn about the product (Thornhill et al. 2017).
Finally, earned media refers to engagement received from audience in the form of likes, comments, or shares, and even creating the content in social networks (Chaffey & Ellis – Chadwick, 2012; Thornhill et al. 2017; Colicev et al. 2018). It is kind of media in which social media activities are not directly generated or controlled by the company, but communication is initiated by a third-party. These include for example “blog posts, conversation in online forums and communities and online ratings and reviews” (Stephen & Galak 2012, 625). In other words, the main difference for a marketer between owned and earned social media marketing is that owned marketing is controllable, while earned marketing is type of business, which is out of company’s control (Thornhill et al. 2017).
Figure 2. Paid, owned, and earned media (Adapted from Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick 2012)
Despite the popularity of social media marketing today, the impacts of OSM and ESM are not understood well enough, leading marketers using any form of media without proper knowledge of their implications. According to Baker, Donthu & Kumar (2015), research was only started to help marketers to implement their social media channels and engage today’s digitally knowledgeable customers. However, the business value of OSM exposures initiated by companies and consumer-generated ESM exposures is less recognized (Thornhill et al. 2017).
According to research, OSM that is positive in nature, also has a positive impact on brand purchase (Anderson & Simester 2013). Also, OSM offers informative messages to consumers, which in turn provides information accessible to consumers more easily (perceived knowledge). Thus, it is more likely to contribute to purchase behavior (Thornhill et al. 2017.) However, getting information from ESM source may have a bigger effect on changing consumers’ opinions and thus, it influences purchase behavior. Also, because WOM often relates to a certain topic and is socially interactive, ESM is likely to have a bigger impact on high-involvement consumers who want to have a conversation on mutual interest topics with like-minded people (Srinivasan, Rutz & Powels 2015.)
When it comes to tourism business, owned social media is maintained largely in smart tourism practices to maintain the tourist’s emotional connection to a product (Wang, Li, & Li 2013).
Marketing practitioners can utilize owned social media as a source of customer voice and market information to learn from their experiences about tourism products, to identify new
tourism destinations or get warnings concerning certain tourism products on time (Sun & Lee 2017). Also, getting insights from customers would contribute to getting customers engaged in co-creating tourism products or improving existing ones, for example by employing questions or polls. In addition to this, companies can operate marketing campaigns in owned social media to stimulate sales. In Facebook for example, marketers can use different kinds of methods for engaging the customers in their brand page, such as photos of landscapes, words, quotes, questions, or contests (Chang et al 2018.)
Previous research suggests that more visitors can be attracted to a company’s website with successful marketing campaigns in social media due to greater levels of ‘range, richness, reliability and timeliness’ in social media compared to traditional ways of marketing (Hays et al. 2013, 225). Also, astudy by Chang et al. (2018) investigated a company’s marketing efforts on its Facebook brand page, referring to owned media in a travel agency. The results implicate that campaign activities on Facebook positively affect sales of tourism products.
2.2.3 Social media marketing in tourism
The emergence and development of social media has also impacted the hospitality and tourism industry deeply (Tussyadiah & Fesenmaier 2009; Chan & Denizci Guillet 2011). Until now, social media marketing has been studied in tourism from several points of view, such as hotels, airlines, travel agencies. According to these studies, social media is effectively utilized as a marketing tool in the industry (Chan & Denizci Guillet 2011; Leung, Schuckert & Yeung 2013;
Denizci Guillet, Kucukusta & Liu 2016). However, this has not always been the case. In this chapter, previous research concerning the impacts of social media marketing in tourism and especially in destination marketing will be discussed in greater detail.
Social media has changed the way consumers plan and spend travelling (Gretzel & Yoo 2008;
Hudson & Thal 2013). Travelers increasingly search information on the internet and social media channels. For today’s travelers, social media is an important means of information searching and decision-making, as they share their experiences with social media technologies (Inversini, Cantoni & Buhalis 2009; Xian & Gretzel 2009; Chan & Denizci Guillet 2011;
Munar 2011; Zeng & Gerritsen 2014; Leung et al. 2013.) Within social media, tourists rely on the opinions and experiences of others in their decision-making, as a result of the experimental character of tourism products and services (Litvin, Goldsmith & Pan 2008). Several social
media channels are important advocates in tourism purposes. Some of the channels are “blogs, podcasts, messaging applications, or media-sharing sites such as YouTube, a microblogging site Twitter, social networking sites, like Facebook, Instagram or a review site, such as TripAdvisor” (Munar 2012, 104.)
Now that tourism is increasingly competitive, destinations are compelled to find new ways to enhance their market position. Due to the rise of social media, companies within tourism cannot ignore the role the evolving reputation of social media and its role in travel planning. (Leung et al. 2013.) In this perspective, social media provides a tool for DMOs to reach a global audience with less resources (Hays et al. 2013). Therefore, if well managed, social media demonstrates a source of competitive advantage for destinations (Mariani et al. 2018).
Companies and destinations can get valuable information on competitive advantage and the desires that customers have by communicating with customers in social media channels. This will help marketers in getting new ideas and utilizing them in planning their products and services for customers’ needs (Huang, Yung & Yang 2011.)
Compared to traditional marketing, social media marketing offers new ways of reengineering and applying business models and operations in destination marketing organizations. In addition to service and product development, these include marketing, networking, and knowledge management (Zeng & Gerritsen 2014.) Social media is an effective marketing channel and can be wisely used in combining marketing communications and tourism marketing (Sotiriadis & van Zyl 2013). In overall, the idea of combining the traditional marketing with social media marketing might help in spreading marketing to a greater audience, by also contributing to an enhanced destination management partnership (Cho & Huh 2010; Huang et al. 2011; Tham 2013). Also, with social media, the website popularity can be improved with increasing number of visits to the website (Zeng & Gerritsen 2014). Lalicic &
Gindl (2018) even state that tourists usually visit social media platforms more frequently than destination’s websites. In their study, Leung & Bai (2013) suggested that travelers’
involvement is also likely to have a positive effect on their intention to revisit social media pages.
Research reveals that social media is mainly us ed by tourism organizations in the areas of marketing, management, communication and product distribution (Leung et al. 2013; Leung et al. 2013). According to earlier research relating to supplier’s perspective, DMOs have struggled
with understanding the uniqueness of social media, even though they have accepted it as part of their online marketing strategies. As a result of this, it was previously underfunded or even neglected (Agostino & Sidorova 2016). According to Hays et al. (2013), the majority of DMOs are not using social media as effectively as they could in terms of interacting with and engaging customers. In the study, it was also found that especially DMOs with proper leadership distinguished the opportunities of social media. However, according to Mariani et al. (2015), DMOs are starting to understand the role of social media as a marketing tool, some of them having distinct ways of utilizing social media, while other being more passive. Thus, the divide between regions in the use of digital marketing is decreasing.
Research shows that the aim of destination marketers is to get as much engagement as possible through the social media channels. Different companies can attract their consumers, however, marketing efforts that should lead to engagement may be unauthentic or inconsistent (Kwok &
You 2016.) However, the most important thing for a destination marketer is not actually the number of followers in the social media channel, but rather how much it increases web traffic and generates travel bookings (Pike 2016). Usakli et al. (2017) found in their study, that the higher the engagement or interaction in social media, the higher the number of international tourist arrivals is. This is the goal for every destination marketer in increasing the number of visitors in the destination. In addition to this, the results of the study suggest that DMOs use social media marketing as a marketing channel rather than as a customer service tool. In the figure below, the steps for successful social media marketing in terms of engaging customers by Gretzel, Yuan & Fesemaier (2000) are presented.
Figure 3. A cycle for steps for successful social media marketing (Adapted from Gretzel et al. 2000)
When it comes to marketing strategies in social media marketing, they should be planned to document the long-term, strategic perspective of the organization to show the direction and help in executing the tactics over a time period (Heinze, Fletcher, Rashid & Cruz 2017). As social media in tourism has become at least as important means of doing marketing as in other industries, it is also becoming a more and more important element in marketing strategies. The study by Hays et al. (2013) show that the use of social media is still largely experimental, leading to significantly varying strategies among DMOs. Therefore, destinations should provide a formal, but flexible strategy, which can be modified in ever-changing marketing practices. This would improve the social media efforts in the future (Hays et al. 2013.)
Also, Munar (2012) suggested that the ever-changing forms of social media results in unformal strategies based on trial and error, which are the result of informal knowledge and personal involvement. However, the success may be affected by the need for formalization between the organizational cultures and social media initiatives. Also, the top-management level may not totally understand the strategic value of social media nor the fast transformation pace of web- based communication (Munar 2012.) Nevertheless, DMOs should be able to adapt to the changing marketing environment and use social media more effectively (Lalicic & Gindl 2018). Also, previous research suggests that the adoption levels of social media are likely to vary depending on the country, showing variation of social media combined in their online marketing strategies (Mariani et al. 2015).
2.2.4 Branding and social media marketing
With destination branding, it is possible to communicate the uniqueness of a destination, thus separating it from its competitors (Marine-Roig 2015). Many destination marketing organizations believe in the power of social media in building a strong brand. Nevertheless, the right communication is a challenge for a destination brand in DMOs (Huertas & Mariné-Roig 2016a; 2016b.) In this chapter, the role of branding in social media marketing is discussed, including recent research concerning the topic.
There are several definitions for what destination branding in the field of tourism is. One of the most comprehensive definitions for branding is formulated by Blain, Levy & Ritchie (2005), referring to destination marketing as a set of activities, which “1) supports the creation of a name, symbol, logo, word mark or other graphic that readily identifies and differentiates a destination; (2) that consistently convey the expectation of a memorable travel experience;
which (3) serves to consolidate and reinforce the emotional connection between the visitor and the destination; and which (4) reduces consumer search costs and perceived risk. Collectively, these activities serve to create a destination image that positively influences consumer destination choice.” (Blain et al. 2005, 337.)
Just like in marketing across industries, the purpose of all marketing communications of destination marketing organizations is to contribute to brand identity, which is a way for the destinations of transmitting images of the destination to the minds of the tourists, whereas the destination image represents the perception of the tourists concerning the destination (Marine- Roig 2015). Several users of the destination brand can associate and identify themselves with the identities built by the destination (Huertas & Mariné-Roig 2016a). This association ultimately leads to the attachment of the brand and the intention to visit the destination. Within the existence of social media, the users are the ones who shape the brand and the media.
Eventually, building brand awareness and brand loyalty are the communication objectives of social media (Blakeman 2014). Algesheimer, Dholakia & Hermann (2005) demonstrated that active participation of users in social media contributes to the emotional attachment and consequently, increases brand loyalty. Also, Laroche, Habibi & Richard (2013) found in their study that brand communities in social media positively impacts the relationship between the brand and the users, as well as credibility and brand loyalty.
The study by (Ekinci & Hosany 2006) states that by building a strong destination brand personality, destinations can stay better competitive in comparison with other destinations.
With social media, the likelihood of influencing brand building of the destination increases in the long run. However, it is less likely to have an immediate increase the tourist visitor numbers (Wang, Yu & Fesenmaier 2002; Gretzel, Fesenmaier & O’Leary 2006). According to (Hosany, Ekinci & Uysal 2007; De Moya & Jain 2013; Stepchenkova & Zhan 2013; Huertas & Mariné- Roig 2015; 2016b), destinations can communicate their brand through functional or emotional elements. To compete with other destinations, they should take the both elements into account when communicating the brand (Hosany et al. 2007; Huertas & Mariné-Roig 2015; 2016b.) In their study, Lalicic, Huertas, Moreno, Gindl & Jabreel (2018), suggested recommendations for destination managers to adjust their communication strategies with a destination brand and to speak with one emotional message. Thus, it is recommended for the destinations to compare their brand communication strategies and develop their own distinctive ones, especially in terms of emotional brand values. By doing this, the strategies, the positioning of the destination, online image and ultimately destination competitiveness can be improved, as the emotional values of a brand generate positive reactions from potential visitors. (Lalicic et al. 2018.) According to Huertas & Mariné-Roig (2015), communicating certain emotional brand values in social media leads to greater interactivity and consequently, it improves the brand image of tourism destinations (Huertas & Mariné-Roig 2015). The model for successful branding in social media marketing can be seen in the figure 4 on the next page.
Figure 4. Framework for branding in destinations (Adapted from: Mariné-Roig 2015; Huertas & Mariné Roig 2016a, b; Blakeman 2014; Algesheimer et al. 2005; Laroche et al. 2013; Ekinci & Hosany 2006; Lalicic et al.
2018)
Harrigan, Evers, Miles & Daily (2016) argued in their study that to engage customers, tourism brands must have strategies for developing customer engagement. Also, it is vital for tourism brands to understand, how they can use different functions of social media, namely pictures, videos, polls, reviews, comments, or blogs in terms of branding. With different actions, it is possible for brands to build an outstanding image on social media. This would ultimately lead to customers identifying the brand among others (Harrigan et al. 2016.) However, Moreno, Jabreel & Huertas (2015) and Huertas & Mariné-Roig (2016a, b) state that DMOs do not have certain strategies for communicating their brand values nor brand communication strategies for various social media channels.
2.2.5 Social media marketing measurement and financial value
In this chapter, various types of measuring social media marketing and its financial value are explored, starting with the definition of the most essential terms relating to the topic, such as metrics and analytics. The research implemented so far concerning the topic will be reviewed, with a focus on tourism sector. Also, the importance of measuring social media marketing is discussed. Finally, recently developed frameworks for measurement are presented.
Measurement of social media marketing
In earlier days, the focus of tourism industry has been on visitor numbers instead of yield.
However, the notion that tourism visitor numbers have less meaning if the expenditure invested into the destination is not considered has gained popularity. A focus on yield is now considered to be an important aspect in business strategies in order to improve competitiveness of the destination (Dwyer, Forsyth, Fredline, Jago, Deery & Lundie 2007.) Social media is a source of strategic information, among other things, which can be utilized for developing several business strategies in tourism sector, such as visitor satisfaction as a result of product development, solving visitor problems, learning about visitor experience, analyzing competitive strategies as well as monitoring the image and reputation of the destination (Munar 2010). Thus, strategic management of social media is vital to a destination marketing company if it desires to have financial returns and a successful business (Leung et al. 2013). According to Peters et al (2013), social media must have a distinct approach to measurement, which cannot follow the measurement systems of traditional or offline media. Also, utilizing marketing performance data in marketing decisions in overall positively impacts the performance (Zoltners & Singa 2005).
From marketing perspective, it is especially important that social networking sites, namely social media channels should be evaluated for their effectiveness (Michalediou, Siamagka &
Christoduulides 2011), highlighting the importance for companies to assess the financial contribution of social media activities (Hanna, Rohm & Crittenden 2011). According to Germann, Lilien, & Rangaswamy (2013), many marketing managers are skeptical towards the use of performance measurement data. Thus, they tend to count on intuition and experience when making decisions. On the contrary, Agostino & Sidorova (2016) state that with the adoption of different social media technologies widely, both practitioners and academics have understood the organizations’ important role in measuring the contribution of social media activities in business purposes. This applies in terms of financial input as well as value generated by social media data from users’ interactions (Agostino & Sidorova 2016.)
In general, there is little research done to give guidelines on the ways for planning engagement tactics and the impacts on social media communities (Järvinen & Karjaluoto 2015).
Nevertheless, within the emergence of digital marketing platforms and the possibility to utilize data obtained from them, the use of real-time quantitative data and statistics is increasing in the
form of data-driven marketing (Patterson, 2007; Valos et al. 2010; Gök, Peker & Hacioglu 2015). Also, many times the information on marketing evaluation that destination marketers have is mainly tacit, lacking shared knowledge on marketing management (Morgan et al.
2012). According to marketing literature, this phenomenon is quite common among marketing practitioners (Phippen, Sheppard & Furnell 2004).
In addition to this, several studies relating especially to traditional, offline marketing state that marketing performance measurement is usually affected by the focus on subjective measures, including brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. There are difficulties in linking them with financial metrics, which often are in the interests of top management (Rust et al. 2004; Seggie, Cavusgil & Phelan 2007; Stewart 2009.) According to research so far, industry practitioners in tourism sector have inadequate knowledge about the financial returns on their investment in terms of social media marketing, leading to significant differences in the knowledge of social media assessment among DMOs. (Leung et al. 2013; Mariani et al. 2015.)
Another challenge in measuring social media marketing is the impact of spillover effects, meaning that the exposure to other marketing channels may influence the exposure of social media channels. (Li & Kannan 2014). Also, Järvinen (2016) mentions difficulties relating to the impact of a marketing activity from other effects. For example, if the sales of a product or service increase as a result of a marketing campaign, it is challenging to determine which part of the total sales increase as an outcome of a particular campaign, such as campaigns relating to new products, news published about the company, price promotions or improvements in the economic situation, to name but a few (Järvinen 2016.) Therefore, metrics, which not only listen to the core brand, but also the noise across the system are needed in social media dashboards (Peters et al. 2013). Metrics will be further discussed in the next chapter.
Metrics selection
According to Peters et al. (2013), social media needs to be managed in the same way as all other media, which have goals in the organization. Nevertheless, as social media differs from other forms of media, it also needs to have its distinct approach for measurement.
In digital marketing, strategy and digital marketing metrics should be aligned, just like in any other marketing strategies. By doing this, the assets of measurement will increase.(Phippen et
al. 2004; Järvinen & Karjaluoto 2015.) Also, both in online and offline marketing, performance metrics that would be well-defined helps organizations to assess their relevance and avoid misunderstandings and confusion (Bourne, Mills, Wilcox, Neely, & Platts 2000). According to marketing literature, selecting too few metrics will not capture the multidimensional nature of marketing, and too many may lead to confusion (Clark 1999; Pauwels, Ambler, Clark, LaPointe, Reibstein, Skiera, Wiesel 2009). Homburg, Artz, & Wieseke, (2012) state that cause- and-effect relationships in metrics are more likely to lead to better performance in terms of strategy and the ’breadth’ of the metrics system. Thus, the key point for marketers is to understand the interrelationships between the metrics (Stewart 2009).
According to Järvinen, Töllinen, Karjaluoto & Javawardhena (2012), large companies use digital marketing measurement more actively compared to small and medium-sized firms. This relates to the notion that larger companies have more resources and knowledge for the implementing web analytics successfully. On the contrary, Frösen, Luoma, Jaakkola &
Tikkanen (2016) state that the benefits depend on the context; large firms may benefit from a marketing performance measurement system that is comprehensive, while small firms will manage better with a more focused set of metrics. Also, smaller budgets in small companies, including destination marketing organizations, are one of the main reasons for implementing the metrics acquired directly from social media channels (Hays et al. 2013). Nevertheless, Chaffey & Patron (2012) suggested that organizations should first select the digital analytics metrics by identifying the key performance indicators (namely the ones that take the company’s digital marketing goals into considerations and applies such metrics) and then differentiate them from other metrics.
Nevertheless, previous research suggests that firms tend to focus on following simple metrics, such as the number of likes or followers without having a system for supporting assessment of social media or other marketing methods (Agostino & Sidorova 2016). Also, Peters et al.
(2013) state that single metrics, such as likes, followers, and views are tempting to focus on.
However, these aspects may not reflect the important forms of social media. For example, the number of followers is not sufficient, if the followers are not engaged or their networks are small. Therefore, managers should assess the reach out of their core network to be able to assess the potential organic reach of any message. The organic reach mentioned does not have to be equal with the number of core followers, mainly because highly influential and engaged users
may overcompensate with less engaged followers with smaller networks and less influence.
(Peters et al. 2013).
Analytics
Analytics is an essential part of social media marketing measurement. Next, analytics will be further explored based on the literature review.
The literature concerning analytics provides insights not just on social media marketing, but mainly to digital marketing in general. However, the marketing literature generally provides only little information on how to analyze and interpret the performance (Järvinen 2016).
Analytics can be defined in several ways. For example, the web analytics data (WA) are utilized for the purpose of understanding behavior of online customers, for measuring their responses to digital marketing (DM) stimuli and to optimizing digital marketing elements and actions, which enhance customer behavior that benefits the business (Nakatani & Chuang 2011). In this thesis, the concept of analytics refers especially to social media analytics. In his dissertation, Järvinen (2016, 20), defined digital analytics as “the collection and deployment of digital data for measuring and optimizing digital marketing performance”, referring to the web analytics, social media monitoring and marketing automation. Social media analytics can be divided into content-based analytics and structure-based analytics, depending on whether the object of analysis relates to the investigation of customer feedback, products reviews, images and videos, or the investigation of likes and comments and their relationship (Gandomi & Haider 2015).
Web analytics in general offer objective and quantitative metrics, which can be easily communicated to top management (Järvinen 2016).
The research shows that with the help of analytics, it is possible to generate more sales, profit and return on investment (Germann et al. 2013; Germann, Lilien, Fiedler, & Kraus 2014).
Järvinen (2016), names several opportunities for digital analytics. First, with digital data, including social media channels, more detailed data concerning customer behavior is provided, when traditional marketing analytics only provides the outcomes of behavior, namely transactions. Second, with digital analytics it is easier to acquire genuine behavior and users’
opinions in their natural environment, instead of just asking for the preferences of customers with surveys and interviews. Third, with digital analytics it is easier to track the behavior of not just customers but of all users, which helps in acquiring more customers. Fourth, the
behavioral data including locational information enables delivering personalized marketing messages. Finally, the insights from digital analytics data can be utilized in offline marketing.
For example, it is easier for marketers to analyze how offline advertising increases the number of website visitors, thus enhancing the results (Järvinen 2016.)
Analytics skills and measurement technique knowledge is vital in utilizing data for marketing performance (Germann et al. 2013). In addition to this, web analytics can be automated and standardized, nevertheless, they require adequate analysis and interpretation (Phippen et al.
2004; Chaffey & Patron 2012). However, the data consisting of various types of formats, including text, videos, or photos can be a drawback in digital analytics (Sivarajah, Kamal, Irani,
& Weerakkody 2016). Another challenge in web analytics is the nature of the backwards looking analytics, thus giving implications on the past and not the future (Seggie et al. 2007;
Järvinen & Karjaluoto 2015).
Nevertheless, the data analysis is the most important phase of marketing performance measurement if the company is willing to improve its performance. It is useless to gather information from digital analytics, if the data obtained from digital analytics is not analyzed sufficiently (Phippen et al. 2004; Chaffey & Patron 2012). According to Patterson (2007), analytics skills are not regarded as main assets of the organizations, as marketers rather rely on creativity rather than analytical skills. When it comes to web analytics tools, according to Nakatani & Chuang (2011), they should be chosen according to organization’s goals instead of using free, easily accessible analytics, which are many times used among marketing organizations. Peters et al. (2013) have similar views in their research, as many companies have a bottom-up, data-driven process of collecting and using the metrics, referring to the notion that the metrics are acquired in the easiest way possible. For example, small and medium sized companies choose the tools for metrics offered for free, like Facebook Insights or Google Analytics.
In their study, Järvinen & Karjaluoto (2015) highlight that metrics selection tends to vary between the organizations, referring mainly to web analytics in digital marketing in general.
Also, in the field of tourism, benchmarking the social media analytics is challenging, because DMOs are reluctant to reveal their strategic information to competitors (Mariani et al. 2015).
This also applies to strategies and marketing plans of the destinations (Buhalis 2000). In the next chapter, the techniques, and frameworks for measurement especially in social media
marketing are introduced as they appeared in the literature review.
Frameworks for measurement
ROI (return on investment), which is probably the most utilized financial indicator both in traditional and social media marketing, can be measured through different tools. It is traditionally used to measure short-term returns (Rust et al. 2004). It was initially developed for comparing capital projects where the investment is made one time, after which the returns flow during the following years (Ambler & Roberts 2008). In tourism, measures of the return on marketing investment can inform organizations in the private and public sectors similarly about allocating marketing resources effectively as well as the ways of tourism development, which best match with the goals of operators and destination managers. Stakeholders with differing goals focus on different target markets (Dwyer et al. 2014.) Fisher (2009) states that ROI in social media is lacking its point because it is unable to measure community reactions.
Therefore, this metric is lacking the overall picture. As it was mentioned, there is no universal system for measuring effectiveness or return on investment (ROI) (Mariani et al. 2015; Moro, Rita, Vala 2016; Agostino & Sidorova 2016).
According to previous research of social media marketing measurement, managers are not only interested in cold numbers, but rather the sentiment gained through social media posts. Then again, social media managers in DMOs have said they are more interested in promotional value of social media rather than sales of tourism packages and services in the destination (Mariani et al. 2015.) The study by Chan & Denizci Guillet (2011) report similar types of results: some companies are not committed to their actions in social media marketing, because there is not enough evidence on the usefulness of return on investment in social media marketing efforts (Chan & Deniczi Guillet 2011). As there is a limited amount of evidence on the financial value on social media marketing, companies may not be convinced that their marketing efforts in social media would bring results efficient enough. They are also not sure about how much they should invest in social media marketing to get satisfying results. Measuring the success and effectiveness of social media activity is a challenge for DMOs because they may use metrics from social media accounts in different ways (Leung et al. 2013.)
Nevertheless, several researchers have developed ways to measure social media marketing, which are applied in different ways in different contexts. These methods have used in tracking for long in the tourism sector and they are used tools for marketing across industries (Morgan
