Problem:  Integration of social media tools in marketing practice of B2B companies is not a widespread phenomenon yet. However, particular patterns of involvement already exist. Companies get connected through social media and they use Web 2.0 tools to engage the customers in communication and to interact and build relationships with them.   Purpose: The overall purpose of this thesis is to deepen and broaden the knowledge of the application of social media into the communication strategy of B2B micro-firms. It aims to compare the integration of social media in direct and indirect, or through publications in press, ways of communicating the customers, and investigates if social media are an appropriate tool to build relationships with the customers.    Method:  In order to fulfil the research purpose, authors conducted a case study research, used an inductive approach, and gathered the primary data through observation and interviews. Respondents were representing a supplying company, mass media professionals and retailing companies.   Conclusion:  Integrating of social media channels can be performed through linking different online platforms of the company, engaging its business partners in joint projects and following customers’ preferences in their choice of the appropriate channels. Results of the study illustrate that social media can empower the companies to create, maintain and reinforce relationships both with customers and mass media professionals. The study differentiates various social media platforms in their relevance for communication with customers and mass media professionals. It demonstrates that the blend of the social media and traditional platforms employed by a company is not a constant, but rather a dynamic combination, coordinated with the goals and resources of the company and its marketing strategy. Finally, it suggests companies to be consistent and persistent in developing their social media strategy, providing timely and constantly updated information.

Problem discussion – we identified the gap concerning the lack of researches in exploring the impacts of both business and social networks in B2B companies’ internationalization process based on the network model proposed by Johanson and Mattsson (1988), especially taking the Chinese environmental factors into consideration. Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the importance of environmental factors and networks for B2B companies to internationalize into the Chinese market. Methodology – The thesis adopts the abductive approach and employs a qualitative research strategy. In order to obtain relevant information, multiple case study is chosen. The primary data are collected through semi-structured interviews with three Swedish B2B companies. Secondary data such as scientific articles, reports and books are also used in this thesis. Findings – Firstly, this thesis concludes that B2B companies’ business activities in internationalization process in China are influenced by four environmental factors: cultural, legal, economic and political factor. Secondly, business networks have impacts on the process of international extension, penetration and international integration, whereas the impacts of social networks are clearer in the phase of penetration. Thirdly, in China, there is no clear distinction between business- and social networks, but the building of trust is important in developing networks. Besides, B2B companies have to rely on their local employees when utilizing Guanxi in business activities. Managerial Implications – The managers should not only focus on the advantages, but also constantly perceive the risks in the Chinese market. Besides, managers could also take specific advantages of their Chinese employees’ social networks. Furthermore, managers should connect and coordinate the networks in different countries. Finally, managers could rely on their local employees to utilize Guanxi in business interactions. Theoretical Contribution – Firstly, this thesis identifies four key market environmental factors and their impacts for companies’ business activities in the Chinese market. Secondly, this thesis contributes to Johanson and Mattsson’s (1988) network approach by elaborating on the impacts of both business- and social networks in the three phases respectively. Thirdly, this thesis proposes a new conceptualized model that provides a deeper understanding and a clearer demonstration of the importance of environmental factors and networks when firms internationalize into global markets. Limitations – The results of this thesis might be limited to generalize to all kinds of market segments or industries. Moreover, in this thesis, the impacts of social networks are only identified in the phase of penetration. Keywords - Internationalization process, B2B companies, Environmental factor, Business network, Social network, Network approach, Impacts of network, the Chinese market

Background: Internet, as everybody knows, has a lot of advantages and possibilities. One of these possibilities for companies is changing their business to electronic commerce (e-commerce). Almost all companies might need this type of business to sustain in future and compete with others. Most of the traditional businesses decide to change their business to e-commerce to have more profits in the future. However, this kind of commercial (e-commerce) may have its own risks and difficulties. Therefore, financial drivers can help companies to start or change previous business to e-commerce better and more easily. Purpose: The aim of this study is to demonstrate the importance of financial drivers for business to business (B2B) companies when they are starting an e-commerce. Since financial drivers might motivate the companies to start with e-commerce. Design/Methodology/Approach: A qualitative method and two case studies in the plastic industry are used. There are six interviews with a company named Alpha and two with a company named Beta. The researcher chooses the semi-structured interview for this study. The data are collected from mentioned interviews and secondary data. Findings: The finding of this study is divided into two parts. A) The necessity of companies to start an e-commerce, B) The importance of the financial drivers for B2B companies. This study shows that the financial driver has a significant effect to start an e-commerce. The advantages of selling products through e-commerce are as follows: increasing sales and revenues, decreasing transaction costs, improving liquidity problems, introducing the company brand and reaching products in 24/7. Practical implications: The result of this study has several implications for B2B companies such as management motivation to start an e-commerce. This study introduces financial drivers as an important key to motivate management to start with e-commerce.

Importance of the Study: Over the last decade or so the B2C organizations are making full usage of the social media platform as a tool of their marketing mix. However, the adoption of social media in the marketing activities of the B2B sector has not quite registered the growth which the B2C organizations have. The reason behind this being previous failed experiences of the B2B sector with the social media marketing usage. Furthermore, the B2B firms do not put many efforts in their social media activity as compared to B2C firms. Thus, the study of social media on the marketing management of the B2B firms becomes important. This was done by studying the case of multiple B2B firms and drawing best practices inferences from it. Purpose of the study: The reason why this study has been undertaken is due to the fact the previous studies have focused upon ‘why’ B2B firms have failed to achieve the success which B2C firms have achieved using social media marketing platforms. There is a lack of quality research studies on what techniques the B2B organizations are using currently as there have been rare cases of finding the success with the use of social media for the B2B firms. Thus, the purpose of this study was to research successful marketing techniques used by the organizations which have found success using social media and which can be used by other B2B firms. Methods: The mixed research method was adopted for this study as the study has been divided into two parts qualitative case study method and the quantitative survey method. The cases of five B2B firms namely Huawei, Accenture, Novartis, American Express and Lucid Press was taken to draw inferences about the best marketing techniques for B2B firms on social media. These findings were further validated by the quantitative survey which had 50 B2B marketing professionals randomly selected. Major Findings: Some of the major findings were that the B2B firms use e-books, webinars, case studies and infographics in order to present top to bottom information about their products and services to their B2B clients. Furthermore, when it comes to social networking websites, it was found that LinkedIn was more popular than the Facebook for the marketing of the B2B firm's products and services.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:44:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Lucia Borella Guido.pdf: 11225510 bytes, checksum: dee7e32b6893feabcaeb1621d86eddfd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-12 / Deep changes verified in society during the past last decades have impacted the way companies perform their business and work upon their communication. In this context, the main objective of this thesis is to refer to Facebook use as a communication element in companies models in a B2B basis, organization by which their main characteristic is to sell to intermediates or to other companies. Through the application of a study case methodology, it is analyzed two corporate profiles: the Autodesk and Braskem, and both elect Facebook as being one the main platforms on corporate communication in the digital environment. As a complement to the research it is used the content analysis technique aiming in assisting in the investigation about the content and the objective of released messages represented by their posts. The results show to be favorable to the use of Facebook as a communication tool when structured based on objectives and organization strategies. Language in social networks establishes a dialogue providing information sharing among people and corporations / As mudanças profundas constatadas na sociedade durante as últimas décadas também impactam a forma como as empresas realizam negócios e exercem a sua comunicação. Nesse contexto, o principal objetivo desta dissertação refere-se ao uso do Facebook como elemento de comunicação em empresas B2B, organizações cuja característica principal é vender para intermediários ou para outras empresas. Por meio da aplicação da metodologia de estudo de caso, analisa-se dois perfis corporativos: Autodesk e Braskem, sendo que ambos elegem o Facebook como uma das principais plataformas de comunicação da empresa no ambiente digital. Como complementação à pesquisa utiliza-se a técnica de análise de conteúdo, a fim de auxiliar a investigação sobre o conteúdo e propósito das mensagens publicadas, representadas pelos posts. Os resultados mostram-se favoráveis à utilização do Facebook como ferramenta de comunicação, quando estruturada com base nos objetivos e estratégias da organização. A linguagem nas redes sociais estabelece um diálogo, proporcionando compartilhamento das informações entre pessoas e corporações

Sociala medier beskrivs idag som en ny marknadsföringsplattform med en rad olika kommunikationskanaler. Något som är utmärkande för just denna plattform är den makt som ges till konsumenterna i och med att en stor del av kommunikationen numera ligger hos dem. Detta ger företag som skall marknadsföra sig en ny roll och en svårighet uppstår i hur de skall anpassa sitt varumärke efter de nya kanalerna. Baserat på detta problem har studiens syfte formulerats vilket är att ta fram underlag för hur ett företag med B2B-inriktning kan marknadsföra sig och sitt varumärke i olika sociala mediekanaler och hur valet av dessa kanaler påverkar företagets varumärkesvärde. Uppsatsen utgår ifrån fyra huvudområden vilka är marknadsföring, B2B, varumärken samt sociala medier och tillsammans utgör de den teoretiska grunden i arbetet. Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ metod i form av intervjuer som strävar efter att ge svar på hur ett B2B-företag skall arbeta med marknadsföring i sociala medier för att stärka sitt varumärke. I arbetet har även ett caseföretag vid namn Elanders använts. Det är ett B2B-företag som i nuläget står utan marknadsföring i sociala medier men som har uttryckt en önskan om att påbörja ett arbete med detta. Empirin i studien har framtagits med hjälp av intervjuer och sedan delats upp i två delar. En del som enbart berör företaget Elanders och en annan del som fokuserar på branschkunnigas åsikter om marknadsföring, sociala medier och varumärken. Empirin har sedan analyserats med hjälp av studiens teorier samt modeller. Studien har gett svar på hur B2B-företag kan ta hjälp av sociala medier för att stärka sitt varumärke, men även uppmärksammat vilka fällor som dessa företag bör akta sig för gällande användandet av denna typ av marknadsföring. Vidare har studien kunnat ge konkreta råd om vilka och vilket antal kanaler som anses lämpligt att använda samt hur B2B-företag bör gå tillväga för att upprätthålla kanalerna på bästa möjliga sätt. Studien visar även på relevansen att företaget i ett tidigt stadium tänker ut en tydlig strategi som stämmer överens med dess resterande mål och marknadsföring samt vikten av att det ger någon det huvudsakliga ansvaret för kanalerna. Ett B2B-företag bör även införskaffa kunskap om sökmotoroptimering, tänkbar konkurrens och ha en tydlig bild av kundernas användande av sociala medier. / Social media is today described as a new marketing platform with a series of different communication channels. Something that is especially unique for this platform is the power that has been given to the consumers based on the fact that a great part of the communication takes place through them. This gives the companies who are going to market themselves a totally different role and a difficulty arises in how to adapt their brand after these new channels. The study therefore aims to provide guidelines for how a B2B company can market themselves and their brand in social media channels and how the choice of these channels affects the company’s brand. Marketing, B2B, branding and social media are the four main areas forming this essay, and together they create the theoretical foundation of the work. The study has been made with a qualitative approach with interviews that seeks to provide answers on how a B2B company should work with marketing in social media to strengthen its brand. The study has also used a company named Elanders as a case. Elanders is a B2B company that currently does not market itself in social media but has expressed a desire to do so. The empirical data in the study has been developed by interviews and has then been divided into two parts. One that only address the company Elanders and another one that focus on the opinions of experts regarding marketing, social media and branding. The empirical data has then been analyzed by looking at the theory and the models of the study. As a result we now have answers regarding how a B2B company can strengthen its brand by using social media, but also what kind of traps a company should be aware of regarding the use of this type of marketing. Furthermore, the study give specific advice on which channels to use and how many that are considered appropriate in order to maintain the channels in a successful way. We have in this study also been able to see the relevance of formatting a clear strategy that is consistent with a B2B company’s goals and marketing and the importance to give someone the main responsibility for the channels. It is also beneficial for a B2B company to learn more about search engine optimization, to be aware of potential competition and to have a clear picture of how the customers use social media.

Although a metric for marketing is of great importance to B2B SMEs, there is no clear metric to start from on LinkedIn. The purpose of this study is to investigate how brand awareness can be measured on the social media platform LinkedIn. The study was conducted in collaboration with the B2B company Croisette Real Estate Partner where the approach was to distribute a survey via the company's company page on LinkedIn, where the aim was to compare the degree to which a respondent could retell of two posts from Croisette's LinkedIn page and how they had interacted with the posts. Four qualitative interviews were also conducted where marketers in both the B2B and B2C sectors were asked how they measure brand awareness today. The study's findings regarding the survey concluded that most respondents were able to retell what the posts were about without having interacted with the posts. The interviews concluded that brand awareness is measured in different ways and mostly outside of social media platforms like LinkedIn. Conclusions drawn are that marketers should not limit themselves to only one metric, but that metrics such as likes, comments and shares are not the focus for measuring brand awareness effectively.