Riassunto analitico
When social media are associated to the business domain, the most obvious and natural way of conceiving it is to expect them to be used in the Business-to-Consumer (B2C) context. This is motivated by some intrinsic features of social media, among which the potentiality of reaching an enormously vast audience in a relatively easy way. Nevertheless, Business-to-Business (B2B) companies should not be excluded from this reasoning, too. As a matter of fact, some tools offered by digital platforms may bring benefits to industrial businesses, as well. This is particularly true for what concerns LinkedIn, the social media platform that mostly fits with B2B requirements, and whose functionalities may allow companies to achieve relevant business goals.
As such, social media usage in the B2B context represents a relevant topic to analyse and, consequently, it is taken as focus of the present research; in particular, this is done by emphasizing the potentiality of implementing advertising campaigns on LinkedIn to obtain business leads. In so doing, the perspective taken is that of System Ceramics S.p.A., and the focus is put on four countries – Vietnam, Indonesia, Egypt and Bangladesh – that are deemed attractive for the company’s purposes. To develop the study, a theoretical framework about social media and more specifically about LinkedIn is provided. Then, an in-depth analysis of the four country-markets paves the way for the elaboration of digital strategies, which are intended to be potentially run on the platform and to be addressed to the targeted audiences in each selected market.
The results of the analysis indicate how social media may be conceived as support tools for B2B companies to increase brand awareness, rather than as primary tools through which to obtain business leads. Then, the research suggests the need to support the design of digital strategies with a preliminary, comprehensive market analysis, so as to identify the peculiarities of each industry and to tailor advertising campaigns accordingly. Moreover, the identification of some criteria is needed to impartially evaluate the appropriateness of implementing these digital campaigns, which have to be coherent with overall corporate internationalisation strategies. Finally, the present research project suggests the possibility of conducting additional studies aimed at verifying the capability of LinkedIn to offer to B2B companies some strategic tools through which to obtain relevant business leads.
|
