Internship Research Problem Overview

Marketing is an organisational investment. Effectiveness and value in marketing investment is therefore necessary. The more knowledge and understanding the organisation has of the operating environment, the less inherent the risk of a wrong and costly investment decision. In particular, the risk involved with investment in online marketing channels, and specifically social media channels needs to be investigated. Currently it is unclear for GCT what risks the organisation will face in operating within an online social environment in order to capitalise on the benefits which social media as a marketing platform offers. Through an analysis of different formats of online social media the most effective methods of capitalising the e-channel strengths can be identified and applications recommended.
An estimated 100,000 new profiles are created each day on social media network ‘Facebook’ (Serino, 2008). Although a social media network such as ‘Facebook’ offers an online marketer the opportunity for widespread exposure, the question is how effective are these social media channels in reaching the target audience for a particular organisation, and what are the most effective ways of utilising these channels to benefit DMO’s? When taking into consideration the amount of clutter by which ‘Facebook’ is surrounded, the dominant purpose of use, and the prevailing user characteristics, there may be more value in posting a homemade video on ‘YouTube‘, or perhaps starting your own group on ‘MySpace‘.
The objective is not just reaching the target audience, but providing them with a unique, transparent space which engages and encourages conversation. With so many avenues for online destination marketing through the wide array of online social media, it is beneficial to understand the characteristics of each one. This research project will investigate a sample of online social media channels which cover the broad categories within the online social media sphere. This information will help GCT determine the best method to make use of social media as a marketing channel.