Marknadsföring via sociala medier : Vilka marknadsföringsmöjligheter ger sociala medier för småföretag inom turism- och upplevelseindustrin?

Sammanfattning: This paper intends to show how micro- and small businesses in the tourism and experience industry makes use of social media as a marketing tool. The study also shows the possibilities for businesses to market themselves to customers through social media. Small businesses usually don’t have the same conditions or the same marketing resources that larger companies have. For small businesses that lack marketing resources, social media is a great addition to marketing since the technology around social media is relatively simple. For micro- and small businesses in the tourism industry social media increase the opportunity to reach (potential) customers in a relatively cost-free way. In the study, three companies working in the tourism sector were chosen, two micro-enterprises and one small business. Representatives from the three companies were interviewed about how the company worked with social media. I conducted a literary review to see what marketing opportunities social media provide for small businesses. I also conducted a content analysis where I analyzed each company's social media. The results of the study showed that Facebook was used by all companies and it was also the medium that was used most frequently by the companies. Facebook has a large number of members and on Facebook companies can integrate several different media such as images, video, text-based messages, information, applications, etc. in a way that the other social media cannot offer. The study also showed that YouTube was considered by many to be an important medium for tourism and experience businesses. However video marketing is used very little by companies. This was verified by my interviews and my content analysis; the companies in the study used YouTube and video marketing in a very small extent.