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A. I. Correia et al.
we are a small company with few resources’—EAT6), the lack of knowledge of
available advertising resources (‘To know how to invest we need someone professional to work with us’—EAT2; ‘When we have a full-time employee in the SM area,
we will think about making investment in paid publications’—EAT1), inability to
generate professional content (‘We do not invest in paid publications, as we are in
a stage of learning how to generate content’—EAT2) and in the strategic option of
managing the company’s communication policy (‘In the initial phase of our company
we invested in advertising on Facebook, to make ourselves known. Currently, we do
not invest in paid publications’—EAT4). It is also important to highlight the idea
defended by some of the interviewees that they prefer to invest in advertising on
Google than in SM: ‘Our company’s investment in SM is lower than what we do in
Google, because the greatest return comes from Google Ads’, (EAT5). EAT7 also
highlights the inconsistency of investment in SM: ‘we only invest when we have
promotional campaigns’.
Regarding the perception of the advantages of using these communication channels, it is important to assess the different views. In general, all companies consider
that the presence in the SM is a way to create and increase their notoriety: ‘Everyone
is in the SM. If we want to be known, we also have to be present’ (EAT2). For companies such as EAT1 and EAT6, segmentation capacity and low cost are valued: ‘SM
are a fundamental tool for niche communication, much more effective than offline
and with a much lower or even non-existent investments’ (EAT2). They are also
considered an appropriate channel to communicate the positioning of companies:
‘We use SM to promote our differentiating business arguments’ (EAT1) and interact
with customers: ‘We do many actions with our customers, asking them for testimony
of their experiences and stories in text or photographs for us to publish’ (EAT7).
Another advantage of using SM is, in the opinion of EAT6, the possibility of consolidating its network activity: ‘It is a way of being connected to the companies that
work with us in preparing our offer’. SM are considered a bridge between the first
contact of consumers with the companies’ offers and the consequent access to the
website for a more detailed information search: ‘People who consult our SM and
want to know more about us, usually end up consulting the website’ (EAT5); ‘Social
networks will always be the bait to bring people to our application and/or website’
(EAT1).
In the interviewed companies there is a perception of some risks associated with
the use of SM as a means of communication. For EAT1, the separation between
personal and professional content is essential: ‘For safety and effectiveness I always
try to separate my personal SM from those of the company, but I admit that due to the
size of the company there is some overlap (and even conflict) between the personal
pages and those of companies’. On the other hand, EAT7 emphasizes that ‘SM can
also have negative impacts, because bad communication policies can create a bad
association with the brand, even in the posts of personal pages’.
Regarding the second dimension under analysis, it is intended to assess the
perspective of tourism activity companies in view of the current and future use
of SM to promote activities and/or experiences within the Viana do Castelo Littoral
A. I. Correia et al.
we are a small company with few resources’—EAT6), the lack of knowledge of
available advertising resources (‘To know how to invest we need someone professional to work with us’—EAT2; ‘When we have a full-time employee in the SM area,
we will think about making investment in paid publications’—EAT1), inability to
generate professional content (‘We do not invest in paid publications, as we are in
a stage of learning how to generate content’—EAT2) and in the strategic option of
managing the company’s communication policy (‘In the initial phase of our company
we invested in advertising on Facebook, to make ourselves known. Currently, we do
not invest in paid publications’—EAT4). It is also important to highlight the idea
defended by some of the interviewees that they prefer to invest in advertising on
Google than in SM: ‘Our company’s investment in SM is lower than what we do in
Google, because the greatest return comes from Google Ads’, (EAT5). EAT7 also
highlights the inconsistency of investment in SM: ‘we only invest when we have
promotional campaigns’.
Regarding the perception of the advantages of using these communication channels, it is important to assess the different views. In general, all companies consider
that the presence in the SM is a way to create and increase their notoriety: ‘Everyone
is in the SM. If we want to be known, we also have to be present’ (EAT2). For companies such as EAT1 and EAT6, segmentation capacity and low cost are valued: ‘SM
are a fundamental tool for niche communication, much more effective than offline
and with a much lower or even non-existent investments’ (EAT2). They are also
considered an appropriate channel to communicate the positioning of companies:
‘We use SM to promote our differentiating business arguments’ (EAT1) and interact
with customers: ‘We do many actions with our customers, asking them for testimony
of their experiences and stories in text or photographs for us to publish’ (EAT7).
Another advantage of using SM is, in the opinion of EAT6, the possibility of consolidating its network activity: ‘It is a way of being connected to the companies that
work with us in preparing our offer’. SM are considered a bridge between the first
contact of consumers with the companies’ offers and the consequent access to the
website for a more detailed information search: ‘People who consult our SM and
want to know more about us, usually end up consulting the website’ (EAT5); ‘Social
networks will always be the bait to bring people to our application and/or website’
(EAT1).
In the interviewed companies there is a perception of some risks associated with
the use of SM as a means of communication. For EAT1, the separation between
personal and professional content is essential: ‘For safety and effectiveness I always
try to separate my personal SM from those of the company, but I admit that due to the
size of the company there is some overlap (and even conflict) between the personal
pages and those of companies’. On the other hand, EAT7 emphasizes that ‘SM can
also have negative impacts, because bad communication policies can create a bad
association with the brand, even in the posts of personal pages’.
Regarding the second dimension under analysis, it is intended to assess the
perspective of tourism activity companies in view of the current and future use
of SM to promote activities and/or experiences within the Viana do Castelo Littoral